Dedication Day

This Easter was made all the more special for us having Grandma, Nana and Poppa here for a real family weekend. And Granddad wasn't far from our thoughts, although we knew he was being well looked after staying with James, Ann-Marie and Jack for his birthday (Saturday) and for the long Easter weekend.

When we knew that we would have 3 out of 4 grandparents with us over Easter, we also seized the moment to hold Mylo's dedication on Good Friday. Bex and Jonny Gilling (our wonderful youth pastors at The Rock) had agreed to take the ceremony for us, and we were honoured to also have many of our close friends able to attend and share in the day with us.

Jonny spoke beautifully and Bex prayed a wonderful prayer for us as a family. I especially loved the words Jonny brought about the responsibility each and every person who was there had as bringing something unique into Mylo's life, and his use of the African proverb  'it takes a village to raise a child' was so apt when we looked around at each of the special friendships we share with those who came and celebrated our commitment to raise Mylo in God's ways. Everyone who was there is part of 'our village', because the parenting journey is definitely not an isolated accomplishment of the 2 people whose genes brought Mylo into the world. I also shared a few words on our behalf:

'Today is an auspicious day. Easter is always a special time. The true Easter that is. As much as we love the indulgence of easter egg hunts and the smell of hot cross buns fresh from the oven, what we really celebrate today is Jesus dying on the cross to save mankind, and then rejoice on Sunday in him conquering over death itself. Easter is a special time for us as a family too. Both Mark's and my birthdays often fall on this weekend (and I was actually born on Easter Sunday - Mark arriving into the world exactly a year to the day later!), so it is wonderful that we were able to celebrate Mylo’s dedication this weekend too.

I was reflecting on our parenting journey so far, and I just wanted to say how much we appreciate all the friendship and love we have from you our family and friends as you support us in this journey we’re on together. Having the opportunity to even become a parent is a real gift from God, and so we must never take for granted that our children are also His children. We have a responsibility to ensure that our children know God as their Heavenly Father, and know what Jesus has done for them. In the long run, it will be up to each of them as individuals to decide to whether they will choose a life lived with God at the centre, but we as parents have such a precious privilege to be able to introduce our children to Him.

We feel really blessed to be able to parent 2 delightful boys, and we're already enjoying seeing how Mylo’s personality is developing, and how different he already is to his big brother. Variety is the spice of life as they say! Today we’d like to ask God for the wisdom to know how to be a good and godly parent to Mylo through the years, to be able to understand his uniqueness, to encourage him in his strengths and support him in his weaknesses. More than anything, we also want to thank God for the precious gift that is Mylo, and for the opportunity to love him and watch him grow, and for bringing him into our family.'



Thank you to all our wonderful friends and family who shared with us in this oh so special day, whether by attending, or by your thoughts and prayers from afar.