Oooooh Dedication!

Yesterday at our church family service we had Annie-Joy's dedication ceremony. For those who don't know, it's a similar to a christening but without the water! During the service the parents & Godparents publicly recognise that a child is a gift from God & commit to bringing them up following God's guide lines in the bible & to teach them all about God so that when he or she is old enough s/he can decide to trust God & follow his ways for him/herself.
The service was beautiful, fun & simple with great worship from the band & a fun talk from Pastor Dave & Phil. Each child in the congregation was given an activity pack with modelling clay, pens & paper & they used these to make & drew things they loved & were thankful to God for. At the end of the talk they were all given a chance to show them to the whole church (about 900+ people). Our boys LOVED it!
Do you like Annie's feet by the way? She thought you might! There were seven children being dedicated altogether & each parent was given a minute to read out a letter to their child expressing their hopes & dreams for their own child. Here is what I wrote for Annie-Joy;

Annie-Joy Faith

You are God's precious gift to us & our family. you are our fourth & last child but you are by no means the least! We chose your name carefully- in fact it took us almost until your first birthday for us to be sure that we had the perfect name for you! But God knew you & your name before you were even born. he told us through many different people that you would be a huge joy to us & in your two years of life we can say without a shadow of a doubt how true that is!

Annie means 'grace' & every day your very existence reminds us of God's undeserved grace & favour on our lives. We hope & pray that as you grow you will be a person who shows God's amazing grace to all those who share your life.

Annie-Joy, we hope that you will always delight yourself in God & know that the joy of the Lord is your strength & your stronghold to see you through your life. (Nehemiah 8:10)

And of course we hope & pray that you will grow in faith in your Heavenly Father throughout your life. In the words of Ephesians 3:16-18 we pray that Christ will make his home in your heart as you trust in him. that your roots will grow down into God's love & keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand how wide, how long, how high & how deep God's love for you is.

Annie-Joy Faith you are beautiful & we thank God for you. We love you!

After the service we had 25 guests & 2 dogs back to our house for a delicious meal cooked by Lee & my dear Dad followed by jellies & trifles made by my dear Mum. We had a wonderful time together. It was relaxed & fun to have so many people to share our celebrations with. Sadly my parents were unable to be there as they were snowed in!

I didn't manage to take any photos of the celebrations but I did a little photo shoot of AJ in her dedication dress in our newly tidied study. she thought it was a bundle of laughs!

She liked playing with the tiny lamps shades from a set of fairy lights that I have waiting to be put up in the study.

Here she is poking through the hole & trying to look into it saying 'Hello? Anybody in there?' in a silly voice!

She also liked the circles on my cushions. I like the sweet little white bow on the back of her dress....

.... and her sweet little tippy toes as she reaches up to the door handle.

She likes looking out of windows & standing in front of them too!

Annie-Joy & I made fairy cakes to eat after the dedication meal. AJ wanted to do it all so it took rather a lot longer to make them than I had planned. Good fun though!

I decorated them in pinks & creams with lots of glitter & sparkles. Annie made her own decorations next to me at the table with off cuts of fondant icing while I made butterflies & brushed them with blossom powder.

This is the cake that AJ chose to eat. Yummy!

And a totally unrelated photo of AJ pushing the trolley in Aldi on one of our Friday food shopping trips. Teddy came with us that day. I think he is delving down into the trolley in search of the bananas.... :o)

Hope all who read are well. Enjoy your day! :o)