dedication day

the day caroline was dedicated was special for so many reasons. let me count thy ways.
1.  it was a sweet thing to dedicate her at hillside.  a place we have called home since before we had kids and people we have loved since before we were married.  with them, we have gone from young marrieds to expectant parents to rookie parents to still-trying-to-figure-this-whole-parenting-thing-out-3-kids-later parents.

2.  it was an honor to share our heart and our prayers for caroline.
i shared this little story:  ben was out of town the week before the dedication.  when he returned, kinsley excitedly told him that we get to "raise caroline up" in church on sunday.  it only took me a second to connect the dots and figure out how she came to that conclusion.  i had an earlier conversation with her about the meaning of a dedication.  i told her that we want to raise caroline up in a home that loves jesus.  in a home that serves him with our whole hearts.  that prays for each other and with each other.   how very precious that she took it so literally.

3.  my heart still warms up when i reflect on who was standing up with us.  how amazing that my 3 best friends all had babies at the same time as me.  we got to dedicate them together.  something i will never forget.

girls--i love you more than you know.  i remember everything you said about carter, isla and wyatt.  thanks for the precious memory.

4.  2 little bonus memories from that day:   it was awesome watching ben help lead worship for the last time.   the church also surprised me with a sweet goodbye and video tribute for coordinating children's ministries.

a pic of our clan.   these friendships---husband to husband---child to child---wife to wife will be deeply deeply deeply missed.   (carter, kinsley and mason are apparently MIA)  and yes, that would be 10 kids between us all.