Today we dedicated Isaac to the Lord. We wanted to do it today because Brian's mom and sister were visiting. It was beautiful.
The pastor quoted Ephesians 1:5
In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will...
"In the Old Testament, there are only three people who were adopted, the two most prominent being Moses and Esther. In the New Testament, however, the concept of adoption looms large in the letters of St. Paul, for Paul uses adoption as a metaphor for what it means to belong to Christ Jesus.
'In love,' he says, 'God decided in advance to adopt us as his sons through Jesus Christ.' Into our hearts he has sent the Spirit of his own Son to witness that we are now God's children! Because we are sons, we look to God, calling him Abba, Father.
May this same deep relationship grow in the home of Brian and Dawn. They have waited many years for this event, and God, in his grace, has not forgotten them. Isaac may not know this now, but God has placed him in a home where he will be loved unconditionally. If I could change only slightly the passage we read at the beginning, it would read, 'In love Brian and Dawn decided in advance to adopt Isaac,' and it would be entirely appropriate to say, as did St. Paul, that they did this 'through Jesus Christ.' It is Christ's love that stands as the eternal pattern for us all! May this family be truly blessed."
Then our pastor held him, anointed his head with oil, and prayed for him. When he finished praying, he looked at Isaac and he had a HUGE smile on his face! He said to the congregation, "he's smiling!" and people gasped and Aww'd. Isaac kept smiling until after we sat down.
After the sermon, we had communion and Brian spilled his wine on me and Isaac! Oops! :)
It was a beautiful day. I can't imagine the dedication being any more perfect. I loved every moment of it. ♥
