Emma's Dedication at Cornerstone

On September 16th we had Emma Lynne dedicated at the church we attend, Cornerstone in Chandler. All of our girls have been dedicated as babies-each of the other girls were dedicated at Phoenix First and they were all a lot younger than Emma.  Nanny still bought a beautiful dress, as she purchased all the girls' dedication dresses.  Dedication is not a Baptism, but rather a public statement we as a family are making to raise our children to know the Lord and all that comes with that. We had all six of us on stage in the church because I know that it is not just David and I who will be teaching Emma, but her sisters will play a large role in that as well.

What I truly loved about the way Cornerstone does their baby/child dedication is that there is a required class both parents must take before participating in the dedication ceremony.  It was not new information for us...in fact one of the women who run it laughed when she found out Emma was our fourth and said she should be asking us for advice!  Even though the information was not new and we already do so many things they talked about, it was another wonderful opportunity for David and I to know more about the heart of this church we have been attending for about two years now.  We took a baptism class with Chiara this past summer and both that class and this one were fantastic.  The topics discussed were right in line with what David and I believe for our family.

The lovely people in charge of this time ensure you feel special.  They have a photographer take family pictures, your guests get reserved seating, and we get a certificate and lovely prayer book for moms.

I am so grateful that not only my parents came, but my grandparents and Barbara brought my cousins.  It was a really nice family time at the church and after for dinner.  Hard to believe this is the last time we will do this, so I tried to soak it all in.

Here is our family picture.  Love it!

Great Grandparents, Rachel, Nick, Us, My Parents, and Barbara.  Wish my uncle could have been there too....maybe photoshop!