“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7 ESV
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 ESV
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” Psalm 127:3 NLT
“So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.” I Samuel 1:28 NIV
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Many years ago, my daughter Shelly was dedicated to the Lord Jesus at the age of thirteen weeks. Her dad and I felt that dedicating our precious baby girl to the Lord was a great way to show how seriously we took responsibility for her spiritual care. For this momentous occasion, we returned to our hometown from the Texas coastal city where we lived. Shelly’s dedication to the Lord was held in the same church where her dad and I had married sixteen months earlier and where her grandfather had preached for many years before his death.
For any readers who might not be familiar with the practice of baby dedications within a church community, I will explain what it means to dedicate a child to the Lord. While some church denominations in the Christian faith baptize children as infants, other denominations do not. Instead, they dedicate the child to the Lord at a very young age. For a baby dedication, parents come before the church congregation, affirming their belief that every child is a gift from God, acknowledging God’s sovereignty over them and their children, and asking for grace and wisdom as they carry out the responsibilities of their children’s spiritual upbringing. They also come praying that their child might one day trust Jesus Christ as Savior for the forgiveness of sin. It’s a sincere gesture on the part of parents as they symbolically give God’s gift, their child, back to the Lord to be used for His good purposes. The church community plays a crucial role in this process, as they commit to support and pray for the parents and the child and to also help in the child’s spiritual upbringing. This is what Shelly’s dad and I did on that special day. Unfortunately, three years later, due to no fault of my own, I found myself divorced from Shelly’s dad.
Feeling the weight of raising Shelly as a single parent, it was in that challenging circumstance that I trusted the Lord even more to help me care for my little girl. We were very close as mother and daughter, and Shelly grew into a sweet little girl. She was always happy and fun-loving. She loved people and everything about life. Her smile was BIG, and her eyes sparkled so brightly. At the age of nine years, she asked Jesus into her heart to be her Lord and Savior. Shortly after that, she was baptized by immersion, as was the practice of our church denomination.
During her teen years, Shelly became increasingly social and enjoyed many friends. Most were girls and boys who attended our church, but a few of her friends had never been taught about Jesus by their parents and did not have a personal relationship with Him. As the high school years rolled around, it was apparent that some of Shelly’s non-Christian friends had begun to walk a different path than her. One of her friends, Amy, died from a medical issue during her sophomore year of high school. Amy’s death shook Shelly and her friend group to the core. It was their first experience with death in such a real and in-your-face manner. Another non-Christian friend of Shelly’s, who was twice her size, became verbally abusive to Shelly, even to the point of threatening to cause physical harm to her. This was an immensely challenging time for Shelly and me. I was very relieved when Shelly escaped this situation a few weeks later. Thankfully, she and her “friend” parted ways without the physical trauma we were expecting, but were praying wouldn’t happen.
What I’ve shared above are only two of many instances where I saw God’s hand of protection over Shelly during her formative years and beyond. I believe it started with the faithfulness of two imperfect young parents who humbly brought her to be dedicated to the Lord. There’s just something about symbolically giving these precious gifts back to the Lord. This action indicates that a person is willing to LET GO and LET GOD, as they assume some BIG spiritual responsibilities.
Over the years, even during times of struggles, I always kept myself and my sweet daughter connected to the church, for I knew it was there where we would find the needed strength to maneuver life on earth as well as sustain bright hope for our eternal life to come. At church, we experienced solid biblical teaching and a Christian community flowing with God’s love. We both loved Jesus deeply. I am grateful for the teachable moments God provided and for the spiritual nuggets related to our mutual Christian faith that I was able to share with Shelly. I am thankful to have made good on my promise to God. It wasn’t perfect, but it was sincere.
Many years have passed since Shelly’s baby dedication. She is now in Heaven, but I thank God for these special memories that ran through my mind during my prayer time two days ago. The memories passed by while I was praying for Shelly’s 12-year-old daughter, my granddaughter, Sophie, who has recently begun a new school year as a 7th grader. As I did for Shelly, I pray that the Lord will continue to protect Sophie because she, too, was brought forth by her parents and dedicated to the Lord at an early age. As it was with her mother, Sophie accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior at the age of nine years and was baptized by immersion a few weeks later. Shelly wasn’t physically present to see it take place, but I know she would be beaming from ear to ear and celebrating that her baby daughter had found Jesus!
I praise God for parents who have dedicated their children and have been instrumental in seeing them come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. As I have done through this post, there is no doubt that given the opportunity, many would share God’s faithfulness in watching over their children as they teach them about Jesus. Seeing God’s hand of protection and care for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren is a priceless gift.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, You created each of us by Your power and from a heart of unimaginable love. We can never thank You enough for providing a way whereby we can live abundantly here on earth and eternally with You in Heaven. I praise You for baby dedications and for parents who will take on the responsibility of teaching their children about Jesus. Please help more young parents understand that their spiritual inactions have deadly eternal consequences worse than anything we can imagine. Bless all children with Your hand of love and give them protection as they grow and learn more about Jesus. I pray this in His name. Amen.
