Dedication Sunday

I love my husband. He is not a planner, yet when we decided to do a dedication for Carina, he came up with an entire plan on how he wanted her service to look. Originally we thought we would dedicate her at the hospital when she was born. But in case she didn't survive delivery, our pastor suggested we may want to ensure we get to dedicate her while she is alive. He suggested praying over my belly and dedicating her that way. It made complete sense..just one more thing we hadn't considered. I assumed Ken would want me to handle the plans for the dedication. But when we talked about it, he had come up with a whole plan on his own. I wanted to make sure he was/is involved with this process as much as he wants to be. And anything I could make happen for him, I wanted to make happen. It's so much harder for him to connect with her since he's not the one carrying her. So having him plan this service meant a lot to me and to him.

The thing that struck me the most was that he wanted to have the dedication at the church, with our whole church. I was kind of surprised. I figured he would want to do a small private service, but when I questioned him about it, he said, "They're our family too. They should be there." He was so right. Our church family had been praying for us since the beginning. They have been amazing in lifting us up and because of them, and others, we have really felt like God is right here with us, carrying us when it's just too much to handle.

Ken wanted us to write a letter to Carina together, but knowing we wouldn't be able to read it ourselves, we asked our pastor to read it. Then he wanted to have our pastor pray over me and the baby, including the church in lifting us up, as they've been so faithful in doing. Finally, he wanted the song 'I Still Believe' by Jeremy Camp to be played. We asked our church band if they would handle that.

Our church was in the process of changing locations (and still are), so our last Sunday at the church building we've known for 3 years would be the 27th of February. This was a week after we decided to do the service at the church. Our pastor said he could make it work for us to do it on this date. I have family in several places in the country. A sister in Alaska, and a brother and sister-in-law living in Illinois. I have another sister in Orlando. I contacted all of them, letting them know what our plans were and that, understanding the expense and last minute plans, we would love to have them there if they were able to make it. Someone graciously paid for my sister in Alaska to fly down, and my brother and sister-in-law also found time in their hearts and lives to be here for us and Carina. I could not believe that God had worked it out for my entire family to be at the dedication. It was the first time we'd all been together in 5 years.

During the week before the service, my mom ended up in the hospital with a serious case of pneumonia. We were afraid she wouldn't be able to be at the service. It turned out the hospital wanted to keep her until Sunday afternoon. Thank God for technology! We were able to set up a computer and skype with her in the hospital. She was able to see and hear the whole service. Ken's parents and my Aunt and Uncle were also present at the dedication. The service was beautiful. Our pastor read the letter we wrote. Ken and I wept silently. Our church and pastor lovingly prayed for our precious baby as our family encircled us. And Carina kicked.

The band did an amazing job with the song Ken picked and we were blessed. It was hard. But it was good. And God was glorified.

Thank you to everyone who came and was a part of that special moment with us.

Kristin