Dedicated to the Lord

Earlier today, Brett and I had the honor of standing before our church congregation and dedicating our precious second born son to the Lord.

Looking so doggone handsome!

This occasion was made even more special by the fact that Porter's Oma and T-Pa were able to attend (much more on their visit very soon!). It was lovely having other loved ones there to witness this early step on his spiritual journey.

Munching on Oma's necklace while waiting.

Yet another element that made dedicating Porter special was the fact that we did so alongside two other amazing couples from our small group. Our babes were all born within three months of each other, and we look forward to watching them grow to be friends over the next couple of years. 

Lucky to do life with these folks!

An important part of baby dedications was reading a blessing that each set of parents had written for their child. It was so sweet hearing each daddy share about his and his wife's love for their perfect gift from God.

 Dave and Corrie with their beautiful daughter, Ellie.

 Sean and Jen with their sweetie pie, Michael.

 And, of course, Brett and me with our little man.

Here is the blessing that we read over Porter:

Porter Knight, 
We are absolutely in awe of the gift that God gave our family in you. You bring your daddy, mommy, and big brother such joy each and every day. It is hard to comprehend that as great as our love is, God's love for you is infinitely greater! We have so many hopes and dreams for you, Porter, most importantly that you would come to understand His amazing love and know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. We pray that God would help us as your parents to model that love and guide you always toward Him. We can't wait to see what wonderful things He has in store for your life. We love you so, so much, Precious Boy!

Special moment.

After that, our pastor and friend, Doug, had us confirm our commitment to raise up our children in a Christian home. Then he asked the rest of the congregation, as well as several church elders who were on stage with us, to pray for Porter, Ellie, and Michael -- specifically, that they would come to know Christ and experience His love at a young age. 

Laying hands on our boy.

After dedications were finished, several older children from our kids' ministry came up on stage for a special Mother's Day performance. I'm pretty sure it doesn't get better than seeing little ones so excited singing about Jesus. Makes my heart smile so big! I just love envisioning Kaiser and Porter a few years from now, up on stage in a group like this.

 Cutie patooties. 

Kaiser's good buddy Koen.

Brett and I are so thankful to have been entrusted with the care of our boys, and we take our responsibility to bring them up to love and serve the Lord seriously. We feel very blessed to have a church family supporting us along this journey!

This kiddo feels blessed, too!

(A special thanks to Megan for her hard work coordinating today's baby dedications, as well as our friends Tuff and Mary and Kacia for taking and sharing photos with us. They completely saved the day when we experienced some "technical difficulties" with our camera!)

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

3 John 1:4