Brooks' Dedication

Sunday, we vowed before our church, alongside our church, to raise Brooks in accordance with God's word. In introducing our newest babe, Bob shared the same prayer he's shared at our other children's dedications, "That Brooks would grow to know and love Jesus. And come to echo the Apostle Paul's words in Philippians, that knowing Jesus is more valuable than anything he may gain or lose in this life." 

Bob and I take our vow very seriously, though we rejoice that salvation belongs to the Lord (Jonah 2:9). Our best efforts to teach our kids about Jesus won't be enough to save them. Nor will their best efforts to obey be enough to save. Again, salvation belongs to the Lord. I love that, because if their faith were entirely dependent on our actions they'd be doomed.

That's not to say our actions don't matter. How we teach our children will shape their understanding. So we will do our best to teach our little ones about their Savior and their need for him... Gosh.... How could we not after tasting the sweetness of his sacrifice? But we will certainly not pretend our actions or lack thereof had anything to do with them seeing the Lord as beautiful. All of that praise is reserved for the one who saves.