We had the opportunity to formally dedicate our baby girl, Lilah to the Lord this weekend at our church. It was a huge blessing to be surrounded by family and friends huddled up praying over Crystal, Ezra, Calla, Lilah and I. Part of the ceremony was reading aloud a letter we had written for Lilah and sharing the life verse he had chosen for her.

We are far from perfect parents but just like everyone else, we have hopes, dreams and prayers for our kids…and so this is our letter to Lilah…

• We pray that you will love Jesus first…that as you grow and learn to trust Him, that you will forfeit your heart, soul, mind and strength to the One we are confident has the power to save us all, King Jesus.

• We pray that those around you will know God’s love because they know you…that your life implores people to be reconciled to Christ.

• We pray that you will know who you are and whose you are, that you can rest in both your identity and belonging in Christ.

• That you will have only the pain that is necessary to bring you to give your life to Jesus and that your life will be marked with the fullest amount of joy that He will bring to your life.

• We pray that you will be gracious, giving, integrous, thankful, discerning and faithful…that you will see the best in people before you see the worst in people and that you will look out for the left out.

• That you will be protected and surround yourself with people who will challenge and encourage you to live a life in love with Jesus.

• We pray that your roots run deep in Jesus and that, though you may go through seasons of wandering, doubt or even rebellion, you will always come home to Him.

• We pray that you will trust Jesus enough to let Him be enough…because He is.  We pray that you will know…really know… that without Jesus, you have nothing, but with Him, you have all.  We pray for you to have a hunger for His Word and the courage to draw ever closer to Him.

• We pray that Jesus will relentlessly pursue you, hold you, stretch you, groom you, grow you and send you.

Lovely Lilah, it is intimidating to realize that the people we choose to be now has everything to do with who you will become.  What we model for you matters…and that is a beautiful responsibility and joy.

• We promise to nurture you and guide you, to support you, believe in you, and discipline you in love.

• We promise not to put you first, but to put Jesus first and allow Him to shape our decisions and attitudes as your parents.

• We promise to hold you when you need held and listen to you when you need heard…to value you, respect you, and cherish you.

• We promise to speak truth into you and over you, to model genuine gratitude, to give and receive grace.

• We promise to point you in the way of Jesus and teach you to trust the Holy Spirit.

• We promise to believe in your dreams and encourage you to become the woman God will graciously lead you to be.  We will love you enough to let you bravely follow Jesus, no matter where He calls you.

• We promise to always love you.  Always.  There is nothing you could do to make us love you more or love you less…the way we feel about you doesn’t depend on your choices or circumstances.  The way we feel about you has been sealed since the moment we first knew of you.  We love you today, forever, and always.