dedication

Yesterday was Eliana's dedication. It was so special to share this with our Zurich family and to have so many friends and grandparents (honourary ones too) come forward and surround us for the prayer, and join us at our house afterwards. We have the unusual priviledge of being part of two church families these days, so we're looking forward to sharing this with our friends in Clinton soon too. The tradition at Zurich is to read a letter that you've written for your child during the dedication. I love that. So below is our letter to Eliana.

Eliana, your name in Hebrew means “The LORD has answered”. And He has answered us with the beautiful gift of you in our lives. Over and over again, He has proven Himself to be faithful. And so we know your name will prove true: He will answer you too.

We gave you your mom’s middle name: Joy. And you have already brought such joy to us in four short months. To look into your face, to hear your gentle heart as you coo and even as you cry, is to know what a gift you are from God. You are another Child of Promise. You give us such joy.

We chose Psalm 65 for you because the meanings of your given names are so prevalent in it. We hope it will become dear to you as you grow older. The first 8 verses of Psalm 65 read:

“What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion.
We will fulfill our vows to you, for you answer our prayers.
All of us must come to you.
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.
What joy for those you choose to bring near…

You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds
O God our Saviour
You are the hope of everyone on earth
even those who sail on distant seas.
You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength
You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves
and silenced the shouting of the nations.
Those who live at the ends of the earth
stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets,
you inspire shouts of joy.”

Our prayer for you is that you’d seek God with all your heart. And that when you come to know Him as a faithful and generous God, you would in turn live your life as His faithful and generous servant. And we pray that you’d know this joy the Bible speaks of. He is the hope of everyone on earth. He provides us with every good thing we have. No matter what life looks like to us, He always is our source of true joy. We pray that wherever He places you, for the good things He has in mind for you to do, that people would know through you what hope and what joy there is in Him.

Eliana, we love you. And we love that you are ours. But really, by dedicating you, we acknowledge that you belong to God. We pray He would enable us to raise you, His daughter, with the kind of life and love that remind you of Him. That you would see in us the kind of joy and faith that we long for you to have. It’s a high calling. So we ask for God’s help, and the encouragement of our family and our church family.

Eliana Joy, welcome to our family.

Love, your Dad & Mom.