Before we moved, I wanted to dedicate our son at our current church. Though we hope to create new roots and find a new church family, it was important to me to dedicate him in front of our support system up to this point. We wanted to share with them in the joy of our first born but also ask of them to continue to pray and support us as we journeyed across the country to make a new home.
The timing ended up being a little crazy. We were trying to get our home ready to rent, were staying at my parent's house, were having movers come, and had a going away party all in the same weekend. But despite the busyness, I am so grateful that we made the time for the dedication. It was a very special and emotional morning that we were able to share with our family and church. It was the sending off we needed and the opportunity to say our goodbyes.
Since we were staying with my parents we had a small family gathering later that day at their house to celebrate the baby dedication. All of our things were packed up by then but I still wanted to put together a little vignette of some sort to help celebrate. The night before, much past my bed time, my mom hunted around her house for supplies so I could throw together this little banner and decoration. I was pleased with what I was able to do with some plain white copy paper and a sharpie! And luckily I had already gifted my parents framed photos for grandparent's day!
I also wrote out a few verses and gathered a couple vases and a plant my mom had around.
I love associating music with special events in life. I remember during the service listening for when they would start singing 10,000 Reasons as it was time for me to get the baby out of his car seat and ready to go on stage. Now every time I hear that song I think of this day and the state of our hearts about moving. It is a sweet and emotional memory that I am thankful for.
Brent was also able to play in the worship band one last time (to add to our crazy weekend - but we are grateful it all worked out!). I love that in this photo you can see Brent on stage, the silhouette of my in laws, my mom raising her hand worshiping, and the stroller. Insert heart emoji.
The following week was Brent's birthday and we would be on the road on our cross country trip. So I put together a little surprise birthday celebration for him the same night. It was our last chance to celebrate with family and he ended up really appreciating it.
We said our goodbyes days later, so this was our last celebratory gathering with our family which made it especially sweet. In the midst of the chaos (and adapting to being parents) that we have been through the last two months, it is moments like these that remind me to pause and take the time to celebrate. It might not have been as planned and elaborate as I would have liked, but we still celebrated and will forever have the memories (and photos!) to look back on.
