Raegan's dedication

Sunday, we dedicated our little girl to the Lord.

In our church, we don't baptize them when they're babies. We wait and let them make that personal decision themselves. So we make a "public announcement" of sorts. Where we present them to the Lord, as parents, saying that we will raise them up to love the Lord. They get "paraded" around the church so the church family can see them, while a song is being played/sung. And then the elders of the church pray over each of them. It all sounds extremely formal. But it really isn't. Basically, we're just celebrating their lives and all the promise that it holds under God.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come unto me." He said it to the disciples, who were trying to keep the kids away, thinking he could focus on the adults. At least that's my guess. And I'd take a further stab at the reason being that children can be loud. unpredictable. distractable and distracting.

Well...that would about sum up Raegan as we dedicated her. And I'm so willing to bet that the disciples would have made a bee-line toward my child, asking that we retreat behind the olive trees, away from Jesus and the listening crowds! ...The above picture is to prove that Raegan was quite content when the whole "process" started!

FYI...Raegan is 4 months old now. And she doesn't take to strangers. She can tolerate them, but she doesn't like them very much. In fact, she's just now starting to interact pleasantly with people outside of her immediate family. Knowing this, I was already a little iffy about her being carted around the church by a "stranger". So, we were tossing around the idea about waiting a little longer to dedicate her. But it's a gamble either way: will she become more or less outgoing as she ages? Who knows. So we went ahead, called the church, and set it up.

So Sunday morning, every thing's going well. She's happy all during worship. And then...she starts to fall asleep. Jet and I exchange glances. And JUST as she's getting ready to doze off, one of our pastors asks for the babies that are to be dedicated to come up to the front. Two friends and I had planned to have our babies dedicated on the same day...so tons of family members are all walking up to the stage. :)

Jet hands Raegan off to David. We asked him specifically if he'd be a part of her dedication since he's known ME since I was born. I look at Jet and mouth, "Just pray." We both knew Raegan was a ticking time bomb at this point.

The guy starts to sing...the babies are being walked around...every thing's going well. She's not crying. not crying. steady, girl...you can do it. And then, from the congregation, someone reaches out and grabs ahold of her foot to squeeze it. Because you know, who can pass by a cute baby and not touch them?

But that was enough to set her off. She screamed her "back off" cry. And then it just progressed from there. Because once a tired, teething baby starts crying, only falling asleep can make it all better.

Here's David with a very weepy Selah. In the background you can make out Debbie, his wife...Kristy, who is taking pictures for Leanne...and Jolanthe, who is taking video for me. :)
Finally! All the pastors bring the babies back up and hand them off. Jet takes her and tries to calm her down. He leans over and says, "She's starting to poop."

Seriously, am I on candid camera here?! Can it get any worse?

...maybe you don't understand. Raegan doesn't poop often (yes, I am a parent discussing my child's pooping habits on the Internet), so when she does...watch out! She stains her clothes. She stains the clothes of the person holding her. She cleans out her system...a week's worth...all at one time. Jet and I hold our breath. I'm start thinking "Can I make a break for it, if I need to? Technically, does the whole dedication thing still count if she's back in the nursery and not up here?" ;)

Raegan makes it clear that she only wants me to hold her. But I'm afraid if I take her, she'll think I'm going to nurse her. And then when I DON'T nurse her, it's A-L-L going to break loose because this girl has got some lungs.

For those of you currently childless readers, allow me to add that there is no talking an upset baby down from her fury. There's no reasoning with her. I am at her mercy. And on stage, no less!

Out of no where, I hear the Lord say, "Put her finger in her mouth and rub her gums". Now, grant it, I know she's teething. But the whole finger-in-the-mouth scenario just hasn't cut it before. But I'm desperate. I mean, I figure God's all-knowing, right? So maybe, just maybe, he does have some sort of clue concerning this inconsolable, squirming child.

And lo and behold, it works like a charm. So I rub and rub and rub...until my arms start to get tired from holding her. I think "she's calmed down now. I'll just pass her back to Jet, since she was fine with him before all this starts." But nope. Screaming commences. I shake my head and take her back...still waiting for the soloist to bring this song to a close. For the record, I loved the song (at least before the crying started) but it has got to be the longest dedication song known to mankind. Or so I felt...

Notice, at this point, I'm not thinking about the lovely thing we're doing. I'm not thinking about what a precious moment this is. I'm not even thinking about the words of the song that I'm so desperately wanting to end. No...I'm just thinking "rub the gums. rub the gums." over and over again.
Our pastor, asking me and Jet questions about our commitment to raise her up in "fear and admonition of the Lord". I'm pretty sure I'm not really thinking anything too deeply at this point...just "focus on his face, nod yes when he looks at you, rub gums."
David and our pastor praying specifically for Raegan. Again, I can't tell you what was prayed because my arm hurt and praying my own prayer: "Please don't let her get upset that David is touching her! Please don't let her cry! Please let this whole thing just end!"

Yes...I realize, the depth of my spirituality at this point is all-together inspiring.

"Just rub the gums! Rub the gums!" My new mantra.
Prayer for the parents and siblings and extended family. Notice that Raegan and I are MIA. She started to cry harder through little Josiah's prayer time, so I walked off the stage so Phil and Leanne could actually HEAR what was being prayed over their child.

So yeah, Jesus DID say to bring the little children to Him. He just didn't say what to do after the fact, when we're standing up there doing the "presenting" and the child is...being a child. *grin*
Thankfully, He's got a lovely sense of humor and most likely enjoyed the whole thing...crying and all. In fact, I'm sure he was in heaven saying "Calm down, Christin. Seriously. Lighten up, she's just teething."

Kids...they are God's gift. I know it. I love my girls like crazy. It's just that sometimes I think the whole package is somewhat of a gag gift...meant to make you learn to laugh when you're tempted to get uptight.

I know the dedication didn't run as smoothly as I would have hoped. But, in all sincerity, we are both committed to raising her up to love the Lord. I just pray that when the time comes, she will choose for herself to love Him. To not just go through the motions, but to really dig into the things of the Lord. And to seek his will for HER life.