Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.
Full of honor and majesty is His work, and His righteousness endures forever.
He has gained renown by His wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful.
Psalms 111:1-4
In this season of the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years), we often forget that this is a time to thank God for all we have. The Lord had a plan when He did His great works. God made everything for His glory. As a group of believers, we should give thanks to God when we are together and when we are not. The Lord is present at all times, and He hears our prayers of thanks.
On Mother’s Day, many churches hold baby dedications to thank God for the birth of new little ones. When our son was born, we were going to a Methodist church, so we had a christening. We had already decided to do his christening the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We had the same plan for our daughter. When our daughter was born, we had already moved to a Baptist church. Baby dedications are done there in May. I was able to talk to our Pastor and the Children’s Director about doing a dedication service the Sunday before Thanksgiving for both children. The reason for doing all this at Thanksgiving was that I had miscarried our first pregnancy. When we got pregnant with our son, it was in November. We wanted to give thanks to the Lord for getting us through the miscarriage and sending us our son to us. We wanted to do the same with our daughter. I don’t know about my husband, but I wanted to honor and thank God for our blessings—especially during such a special time of year.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Going through rough times can teach anyone to be thankful. Losing a child can make one thankful for the little ones we do have. I know I have a very soft spot for my son because I took a hard hit when we lost our first. I still think about that one to this day.
As a group of believers when we dedicate our children to the Lord we are thanking Him for sending us this little bundle of joy that brings love, pain, heartache, and everything else that goes along with it. In the company of other believers, we thank God for this little person and pledge to teach him/her the Judeo-Christian values for which our country was founded and to teach the child to be a person who loves and honors God through worship and service.
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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for our children and the children of our friends and family. You send us a great gift when you send new little ones to the church. We pledge to teach them Your ways and to honor You through service. We thank You for Jesus and the sacrifice You made as a father. In Jesus’ name, amen.
