Our Prayer for Emma

I shared briefly on Instagram that over the weekend, we had Emma dedicated, but I wanted to take the time to write out my thoughts and prayers here, too.

What is a baby dedication? 
It's kind of like infant baptism, except that I believe people get baptized when they choose to follow Jesus. Dedicating a baby just means we are committing ourselves to raise her according to God's standards, as we pray she grows up having a relationship with him! It's not commanded in the New Testament that you do this; but there's examples of it being done (like how Jesus was presented at the temple as a baby). It's also a reminder for the community to be involved with encouraging the parents and the little one, and we're so thankful for the pastors praying for us (as seen in the pictures below).

At our church, they have the parents think of 5 traits we want to see developed in Emma, which helps us think longterm...further than just the diapers and baby food stage 😉 We made a list of traits for Aiden, and without even trying, some of the same ones were on our list for Emma!



Our prayer for Emma is that God makes her...

1. Brave  |  that she would act boldly in faith, that she would be full of faith and not fear. 
2. Compassionate |  that she would be like Jesus and have compassion on the people she encounters. 
3. Joyful  |  that the joy of the Lord would be her strength, and she'd rejoice always!
4. Full of integrity  |  that she would stand up for what God says is right, even when it's unpopular.
5. Disciplined  |  that she would daily spend time reading God's Word, that she would have self-control 

I also really like the idea of praying a verse over your kids, and way back when I was making baby girl nursery decor for Emma's room, I stumbled upon Jeremiah 17:7-8:

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

 (At the celebratory family lunch afterwards...I'm just thrilled we got a picture with everyone looking at the camera! Haha!)

You can read more of my mama heart here in the letter I wrote to Aiden when he turned one, and Emma's birth story.