Last Sunday, we participated in a baby dedication service at our church. Because we believe that a person should come to Christ of their own free will, we did not have our baby baptized or christened. We believe our role as parents is to nurture our children spiritually, according to the Bible and our faith in Christ. So really, this service was about dedicating ourselves as parents to teach our children to follow Jesus. Although my participation in this service was a little disrupted by our baby’s insistence that he be fed right before it was our turn to come forward and present ourselves, it was a blessed service, and I want to write about it to remember…
Before our baby was born, I “nested” intensely, making sure every detail was just right for baby. Packing bags over and over. Consulting baby books and online resources. Quizzing friends who had babies about childbirth and post-partum recovery. Preparing a birth plan. The house was scoured. Every nook and cranny cleaned, organized as I prepared a room of baby comforts, blankets, books to read. Creating a home for him to dwell.
As parents, we build a spiritual dwelling for our children also. Since our baby arrived 7+ months ago, oh the delight we have in him, his smiles, his laughter, the light in his eyes. We see him grow, learn, change week by week. Day by day his spirit shines forth stronger as he becomes more self-aware. And we wonder. Who is this little boy? Who will he become? What will his dreams be? Will he be happy? Will he know love?
What we’re really wondering is whether he will have a spiritually fulfilling life. And that is something parents can lovingly provide their child. We have dedicated ourselves to:
…use love, affection, tenderness, grace, and our life example to teach our child about God
…teach him to have faith
…to pray
…be truthful
…seek God
…and know God keeps His promises
Love and care went into preparing a physical home for our baby’s arrival. Now our time and energy is directed to creating a home that fosters his new life, physically and spiritually. What an awesome responsibility! We pray his life is blessed, filled with abundance, and that he would seek the Lord in “true faith, firm hope, and ardent love.”
How do you share your faith with your children?
T Rex Mom
Sunday 17th of October 2010
First, great posting and a great, great, great photo of you with your little guy. I love the expression on his face.As for how we share our faith with our children. At this point in their lives, it more about integrating it into our routine. For example, family prayers before bed or at meals. We've taught our toddler how to bless our food and he LOVES it. Sometimes saying 2 or 3 prayers before our meals. And even if I get him started on his meal and proceed to get his sister ready, he will actually bless his food without my prompting him. It's the sweetest thing ever.
Teresa Choplin
Sunday 17th of October 2010
I love this. We try to teach our boys how important it is to treat everyone with respect and understanding. I think its so important to teach them while they are young so when they get bigger and older, they too understand!
Crunchy Beach Mama
Saturday 16th of October 2010
Getting to know God is very important to us too for our children. Not only do the kids have their weekly class we also try to do story time every night where we read a daily kids devotion and then talk about it. It is so fun to see how they interpret things sometimes!Another thing we are trying to do with them is say grace before every meal. When I grew up it was only a holiday thing but we're trying to make it an every meal thing :)