Dedication

You might think that if you were shopping for a baby boy's special occasion occurring on October 21, you'd be safe buying pants, a long sleeved shirt, and a sweater. You might even think you should get the matching hat so that his ears will stay warm. You'd think....but you'd be wrong. It was 80 degrees here in Chi-town on the day of Isaac's dedication (which is similar to a baptism, for all you non-evangelicals). But, as my mother taught me and hers taught her, we put beauty before comfort and got Isaac all decked out in his sweater ensemble. We did leave the hat at home, though.

It was a really fun weekend, and I was actually glad for the warm weather. I was nervous because I was hosting my first family gathering as The Mom and had 18 people over for dinner after church on Sunday, but everything went well. Both sets of my grandparents were able to come to town for it, which meant a lot to me. Grandma Julie and Grandpa Jerry drove down with my sister Carrie. Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Dick took the train to Union Station where Zach picked them up and then proceeded to drive like his normal Chicago-loving self, while Grandma silently suffered in the back seat. My sister-in-law Amanda (aka Mango) and my niece Nadia and nephew Sam were also here, as well as my parents and Zach's. Zach's brother Josh lives in town now, so he was there, and so were our best friends and Isaac's godparents, Peter and Liz.

At our church, the parents are invited to say a little something before the pastor prays his blessing over the baby and family. I was sure I was going to be an absolute mess, bawling my eyes out, barely understandable, with black streaks of make up running down each cheek. I even had Mango bring a box of tissue up on stage with us for me. But, surprising even myself, I just got a little choked up and didn't even spill any tears. I think I was just too nervous talking in front of the whole church to get too involved emotionally.

Zach, on the other hand, was much more emotional than I expected him to be. It was so cute. His voice kept cracking as he attempted to gain control. He had everyone in tears. I love that I am married to a man who is emotional when it counts.

Our camera batteries died after one picture on Sunday. (Grrr....) I'm waiting for some family to send me some more, so I'll post those when we get some. In the mean time, here's what Zach and I said about dedicating our boy to God.

Here's what I said:

Zach and I got a heart wrenching phone call about 8 months ago. A good family friend of ours has a little girl named Anna who, at 2 years old, was diagnosed with a horrible form of cancer. Every test, every attempt to heal her since then has yielded only the worst possible news for the family. Zach and I, and a lot of other people, have been praying for Anna's healing every day since then.

When Isaac came along 5 months ago, my compassion for little Anna's parents grew tenfold. Now I understand a mother's love. My feelings for Isaac run way deep down in my guts. I never knew I could love so deeply, and I can't imagine what it must be like for Anna's mom to watch her be so sick.

I realized more fully when we heard of Anna's diagnosis that being a Christian doesn't guarantee you an easy life. When I held my baby in those first few days, I was very afraid that something bad might happen to him too. I had a running conversation with myself: one side of me said, “You never know what might happen. God doesn't guarantee that everything will be OK.” The other side of me said, “Yes, but God is good!” But that phrase, God is good, didn't mean anything to me, and it wasn't enough. I felt I couldn't trust Him. I was afraid to trust God with Isaac.

But today I am ready to dedicate Isaac to our good God, I am ready to trust him with my son, and what got me to this place was a very simple truth. When I told Zach how I was feeling, he reminded me, “Kate, God is not only good, but he also loves Isaac.” As deep as my love is for my baby, God loves him more. He knit him together in my womb; He created him to have this fuzzy hair and dark grey eyes, dimpled hands and chubby thighs. Isaac was God's idea, his child. Isaac was God's gift to me, and so today I dedicate him back to God, knowing that while life might not be perfect for him, God will passionately love him through anything that may come our way.

And here's Zach's:

Names have significance. Isaac is named for one of the Old Testament patriarchs, born miraculously to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. Isaac's name means laughter, and already he's brought an amazing amount of happiness and joy to our lives. The Biblical Isaac is also the little boy who was nearly sacrificed to God, which is a story of increasing significance for me. When I think about how his father Abraham must have felt, I begin to understand the pain that God endured to redeem us, and how deep his love runs.

Isaac's middle name is David, after both the Old Testament king and his grandpa, my dad. For better or worse, we form a lot of our ideas about our Heavenly Father by watching our earthly fathers. Many people see God as distant, uncaring, or even vindictive because of the way their fathers treated them. I, instead, learned that my Heavenly Father is faithful, that he rejoices when we succeed, that he's there to pick us up when we fall, that he loves us, and that he prefers Star Trek: The Original Series over all other Star Trek shows. [Here Zach was crying pretty hard, so he said, "I'm really glad that joke was there." The congregation was cracking up.] Now it's my turn to teach these truths (all except the last one) to my son. Today, we dedicate Isaac to God's plan for his life, and we pray for wisdom and humility and strength as we raise him.