Greer's Baby Dedication and Mother's Day

What a special day this was for me. Not only did I wake up to celebrate being a mother to 2 of the greatest gifts the Lord has ever given me, but today was also the day we dedicated Greer to the Lord. We had family and friends join us in celebrating her dedication, and it turned out to be a beautiful day all together. I am so thankful for the family that traveled down to be a part of Greer's special day, and also for the family and friends that took time out of their own Mother's Day to come celebrate with us in our church and eat with us afterwards. It was truly an amazing day.

Greer wore the same gown that Knox, Lee, Jessica and her girls (Lee's sister), AND Lolli (Lee's mom) wore when they were dedicated. I just love love family heirlooms, so this gown was extra special for my children to wear. I took about 800 pictures of Greer that day, and out of those she stuck her tongue out in about 790 of them! I hope to get a chance to dress her back up for some better photos...

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to dedicate our children to the Lord (since they already belong to Him), and what it means in our role as parents. As I was standing there listening to our pastor, Mark, read over different scriptures, it occurred to me that it really felt like I should be dedicating myself to Greer (and Knox). That I would dedicate my life as a mother to seeking out the Lord's wisdom and guidance in raising them, and that I would be obedient to all the places He is calling me to lead them. The girls from small group and I are always talking about the fact that if we are truly wanting to raise our children in Christ's image, then we are going to have our work cut out for us. It seems as though raising child in this day and age to follow Christ means going against the grain in every area. It means not blending in with their peers. It means being the super weird parent at times. It means being focused on other things rather than popularity and success (although we do expect our children to give 100%, but accepting their natural bents). It pretty much means to train our children to be what society is calling "uncool" these days. How easy does that sound? Man, just the thought of the kids getting older makes me want to run and hide at times...

Greer Bennett Lawson, I dedicate my life to raising you under the supervision of the One who gave you to me. I can promise you that it will be extremely hard at times - almost too hard, but I can also promise you that He will never leave you or forsake you. The Lord tells us that "He who began a good work in you will carry it out until completion" and I can assure you that there will be trials of many kinds to refine you and shape you into the complete woman He desires you to be. I promise to pray with you and over you, I promise to speak truth to you, I promise to hold your hand when it hurts really bad, and most importantly I promise to never, ever stop loving you along the way.

And in closing, I wanted to show you what Lee did for Mother's Day. He took both Knox and Greer's birth announcements and had them matted and framed. I love it... So creative! It hangs on our bedroom wall, so now I get to see my babies first thing every morning. 

He also cooked a delicious breakfast (with the help of a certain red headed guy), and let me lay by the pool with my sister the Saturday before. Let me tell you...those few "off" hours were NICE! I wish every weekend was Mother's Day weekend :). I could definitely get use to it!