Emma's Baby Dedication

It would be easy to focus on the difficulties of being an interfaith family, but one of the upsides is the special moments we get to celebrate twice.  In our case, we have been fortunate enough to have a Baby Blessing in the LDS church and a Baby Dedication at my church.  Although they are differnet, in spirit they are very similar - promising to raise our child to know the Lord, be the best family we can be for our child, and having the support of the church family behind us as we strive to uphold our promise.

In December we held Emma's Baby Blessing and on February 12 we held a Baby Dedication for her at my church in Utah, South Mountain Community Church.  As I mentioned earlier, most of Elliott's family was able to be there, making the day even more special.

Pastor Rod Jost read a passage of scripture for us to focus on:

'For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope'. - Jeremiah 29:11

I know this to be true for our sweet Emma and take great comfort in knowing how much our Lord loves this little one, even more than Elliott and I do (which is honestly impossible to imagine).

Pastor Rod also told us the meaning of her name, Emma Elizabeth (which is something we never considered when choosing her name):

Emma - All-containing

Elizabeth - My God is a vow (a solemn promise)

Emma was such a good girl!  Although the following pictures feature her as a little stoic, she was amazingly quiet, alert and good-natured for naptime.  She even tried to take the microphone from Pastor Rod when he offered it.  Such a special day!