A Special Day

Cori Belle and mommy on Mother's Day

Yesterday was a special day for our family. Not only was it my first Mother's Day, it was the day we dedicated our sweet baby girl to the Lord.

Our Family

The whole family came to church to support our precious daughter, including her God parents, Lance and Lauren, and some close family friends of ours. Chauncey introduced us in front of the church congregation and recited a special poem he wrote for Cori. And, Pastor Jeff prayed over our little family of 3. He prayed that Cori Belle would live up to her name, meaning God's peace and that she would truly feel the beautiful peace of God in her life.

Mia, Cori, Aunt Amber, me

Cori Belle and Mia

After church, Dave and I hosted some family and friends at our house for a celebration lunch in honor of Cori. Dave and Lance made their "famous" brown sugar and cayenne pepper bacon bugers, which were delicious! I made homemade mac and cheese. Rose brought a salad. My mom made her "famous" Mexican cheese dip. Lauren made some yummy carrot cake cookies. And, no party would be complete without Chauncey's margaritas! It was such a wonderful time to celebrate such a special day!

Cori and Pops playing "swirling finger!" :)

Cori playing with YaYa!

After everyone went home, Dave, Cori, Mav and I all took a walk around our neighborhood. This has become a tradition in our little family these days. We are LOVING that it doesn't get dark until 8:30 and we can spend time together, walking and talking, as a family. It was a nice time to reflect on the day and talk about what it means to us to dedicate Cori to the Lord. We love that we live in Gainesville where we are surrounded by such a wonderful church family. It is so nice to live life with those who will encourage our little girl in her own personal walk with Christ. By dedicating her we are promising to raise her in a family where the Lord comes first and all that we do is for Him and His glory.

I was listening to a CD on parenting today and the speaker asked a question. He asked, "Where do we want our children to be 100 years from now?" My answer is, with Christ of course! The only way we can ensure that our children will be with Christ at the end of their life is to raise them knowing Christ from the beginning. Ultimately, choosing Christ is their own personal choice, but how will they know if we don't teach them? ... The speaker also made a profound statement to think not about what we want our children to be when they grow up, but WHO we want them to BECOME when they grow up. I want Cori to be a person of character. Someone who loves the Lord with all her heart, who treats her neighbors as she would herself, who has compassion, a heart of kindness and peace, is humble, honors her mother and father, is a light in this dark world we live in. I am so glad that we have a Savior who can help her become all these things. But, we as parents have a job to do! We most model these things in our lives so our children can watch and learn. I pray to be a Godly example to my children!!

Thank you to everyone who was a part of Cori's baby dedication yesterday and for making it such a special day. Thank you to all our friends and family who choose to live their life for the Lord. May you be an example to my sweet girl.

Until next time...