This weekend Liam was able to be dedicated at our church. This was an opportunity for Ryan and I to make a public statement about how we will raise Liam, and additionally for the church to commit to join with us in this process. I don't have my photographs yet, but when I do, I will post them. For now, you can see them at the Standen's blog.
As a testament to the baby dedication process, I can already see the many people who are having an impact on my son's life: Liam's grandparents, who love him more than anyone else, a godly woman from our church who is mentoring me, the wonderful people in the nursery who are dedicated to serving my son (and me, so I can go to church and Sunday School!), the middle school parents and students who love Liam and are constantly asking about and praying for him, the pastors and their wives, the small group of moms who meet together in Bible study and prayer... I can keep listing, but I think you get the point.
The church is a huge blessing for our family and I can readily see the members taking an active servant-hearted roll in supporting Ryan and me as we take on the wonderful and daunting responsibility of raising our son. I rest in the knowledge that God will bless the efforts that we are making and also that he has put many people in our lives who will support, train, direct and redirect, and pray for us on this adventure called parenting.
I have been reading (and re-reading, and going back, and...) Shepherding a Child's Heart and we are using the principals laid out in the book as one of the building blocks for parenting Liam. Yesterday I read this quote, and I thought it apropos for today, "Unless you take behavior apart in this way, (you will have to read the book to know what this way means) you end up always addressing the externals. You will be like the man who tries to solve the problem of weeds in his lawn by mowing the grass. The weeds always grow back." Tedd Tripp
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