Nora's Dedication

So I know that there are a TON of pictures in this blog post; however, you have to look at them in this order, especially the pictures of the actual service. The facial expressions of my children are priceless. John even has his shirt lifted at one point while on stage! Enjoy!! 

Nana LeAnn came to help celebrate Nora's dedication. Thanks for driving up Nana!

Look at those sweet eyes!

When I see this, I try not to think about wrestling my children to actually dress up. Wait...not my children - MY SON - who refuses to "be fancy". I did get a button up shirt on him, which he kept unbuttoned and wore a baseball shirt underneath. But in this picture, don't they all look put together and sweet. :) Never a dull moment in this household.

 Okay so here is the service...

Good news is that we all ended up on stage in front of our church family and was able to dedicate Nora. We have dedicated all of our children at Lakeland, but for some reason, this dedication really touched me. (Wait that sounds bad...they all were special but this one was a little different...just keep reading...)

Anyway -

We have been at Lakeland for 6 years. We have become part of this community and this community has become an influential piece in my children's lives, my husband's life and my life. We now have a child upstairs in Kid Zone, a child in Early Childhood and then a baby in the nursery. The upstairs classes are a new chapter in our lives. It is becoming very clear that the things that are taught stick with my kiddos. We are starting to see the conversations and the time that volunteers have committed to with our children have stuck in their little minds. 

As Dan asked the congregation questions about helping raise my sweet Nora and being committed to being influential in her little life, I knew that it wasn't just a "yes". It is more of a "hell yes!" because that is what Lakeland people do. They step in when necessary. They pray daily. They take their roles seriously and work hard at making our children know what being a Christian really is. They are committed.

And I don't know about you, but this parenting thing is hard and I am glad that I have people in my life who will help me figure it out.