We had a pretty busy time this past weekend but it was full of family and love. This past Sunday was Marlee’s baby dedication. Now… I grew up Catholic so the tradition for our families growing up was infant baptisms. But the church that Ryan and I are members of does baby dedications. (The difference here for those who are curious is that we believe original sin [and all sin] was abolished with the crucifixion of Jesus and salvation comes when the individual chooses to make the commitment to Jesus).

We were both really thrilled to be able to do this with Marlee since her story and arrival in our family was such a God-led journey. I’m not going to lie – it was a hard and painful road, and there were plenty of moments of doubt. But we certainly learned and grew a great deal along the way. We learned to trust God, to rely on Him and each other. We learned how to listen and follow His call no matter how hard or confusing or challenging. And for those things I’m incredibly grateful because my relationship with Jesus has grown in a way I don’t think it otherwise would have.

So on Sunday, we dedicated Marlee. We did this because we realize what a gift she is – what an absolute blessing. We acknowledge that she is only ours by the goodness of God and we are dedicated to raising her knowing Him. We also dedicated her because our church is where our journey to her began. It was our community that loved, supported, and guided us on our journey to better knowing God and His will for our life. Introducing her to our church family as a whole so they can lift her up and help her grow to know Jesus too is super important to us.

We are so thankful that we have both of our families nearby, a loving church community and amazing friends who have been by our sides and continue to lift us up! We love that Marlee is so loved and we love that she will always know how much she is loved by us, everyone and especially Jesus!