Dedication

As I mentioned in my last post, today, March 6, is the 1-year anniversary of Caden's discharge date from the hospital. He spent the first 8 weeks of his life inside the walls of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. What a great and glorious day it was for us to be able to take him home. And, I have to say it was a little intimidating as well. Our baby boy had so many health problems and had to have five surgeries in that time. We weren't sure if we would know how to take care of him. But slowly we became more confident. And he began to grow and develop in his own time and his own way.

During the past 18 months we have spent many hours on our knees asking God for strength to deal with Caden's life-threatening health issues. During my pregnancy, we had him annointed with oil (through me as the vessel). We placed the life of our unborn child at the feet of God and told him we would trust him. This is easier said than done and we often tried to take control back into our own hands with no success, reminding us once again to turn Caden back over to Him.

There are people around the world, many whom we have never met, who committed themselves to praying for Caden without ceasing. What a blessing for us to know that people were praying for our baby and for us. Throughout these many months, I have repeatedly been told, “you are so strong” in regards to how well we have weathered this situation. First of all I have to say, I am not strong on my own. All the strength I have comes from God. He gives me what I need. Second, I do not feel strong. Every day is a struggle. But I do what I have to do in order to fight for Caden and make sure he has everything in place to help him become the best person he can be.

With all that being said, I should get around to the purpose of this post. Today we had the most beautiful dedication service for him at our church. Our pastors allowed us to take up about 15 minutes of the service just for Caden. On this day, we dedicated him to God. It was such a wonderful program. First we played a slideshow documenting Caden's life. Most people do not really know what we've been through and what Caden had to endure. And, because we've kept him isolated at home for much of the time in order to keep him healthy, most people haven't gotten to know him either. After the slideshow, our pastor called me, Greg, Kyler & Caden to the front, as well as Greg's dad who is a pastor also. Our pastor said a few words and shared some scripture with us. Then, Greg's dad shared some thoughts and insights as well. Then the rest of our family was called up to join us as our pastor said a dedication prayer over Caden. At that point, we sat down and we had a friend sing “Bring the Rain” by Mercy Me whose lyrics are very meaningful to me. This song makes me cry every time I hear it. Here are the words in case you are not familiar with the song (you can also go to http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/mercyme/bringtherain.html and you can play the song):


"Bring The Rain"

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty


When the special music was over, the praise team sang “He Knows My Name” which is another song we really like. It was a truly special day and Caden did amazing! He just looked around and took it all in. He's not used to being around large groups of people and I could tell he was a little overstimulated. He is usually pretty shy around new people and I was afraid he would cry when the pastor held him for the prayer. But he did great, Caden even leaned his head on his shoulder. It was so sweet!

I had a pretty hard time holding it together during the slideshow. It was kind of weird because I've seen those pictures a thousand times and I've lived through the experience, but there was something about the occasion today which caused me to be very emotional and the tears were falling freely. Thankfully I was able to pull it together before I had to go up front. But I could hear the reaction of the people in the church as they watched the slideshow. It definitely had an impact on them.

It truly was a special day and we are so blessed to be part of such a wonderful, loving, church family. Caden will be surrounded in love as he grow up. An amazing day filled with emotion. Sadness. Relief. Sorrow. Joy. Gratitude. Love. Hope. And so much more. Thank you all for coming along with us on our journey. It's going to be a long one and we've only just begun. Your prayers, love and support are what sustain us and help us get through each day. We love you all! Thank you!

I will post more pictures of the dedication later.

And, if you didn't already read my last post, it has lots of great pictures of our family. :)