It took a lot of planning while being on the other side of the country, while moving, while John's in AZ...all to happen within days of us arriving to CO assuming things went according to plan!
Just like everything else we seem to do, I picked a date, committed to it and allowed divine intervention to take the lead and let things fall as they may.
Our wedding was this way when John was deployed and we weren't 100% sure he was going to be there.
Our move was this way, with John being gone during the whole packing process and arriving home in time for me and the babe to just leave him all over again a few days later.
Somehow whenever we're faced with a task that seems ever so daunting, the cards fall the way they may and it makes for amazing memories.
We had visited churches over the years while in NC and landed at Manna for a while. We attended off and on, wanting to get more involved but never able to take the plunge because of John being gone all the time. Once Brynlee was born, needless to say, our attendance fell to the "we'll go on Easter" type of thing and it's something that always bothered us because we were both raised different--yet, when push came to shove, Sunday's might be John's only day off, etc and we totally broke our attendance habits.
Because John and I have never actually lived in CO while dating, engaged, or married, we haven't really claimed a church home there either.For most people this would seem like a problem when planning a dedication, however, I saw an amazing opportunity.
I designed a dedication invite and sent it out to all our friends and family--our own handpicked congregation--the people that have always supported us through thick and thin, people we have always been able to call on, and also that would be the backbone of this deployment being a success, not a downfall for our little family.
This was so important to us and we were SO grateful when we virtually had 100% RSVP to participate as our "congregation."
These people consisted of all walks of life for us. Elementary school, middle school, high school, college, Colorado, Oklahoma, North Carolina...you name it, this concoction of our amazing support system took time out of their Sunday to participate and we couldn't feel more humbled or blessed.
Pastor Ed conducted her dedication, who was also the pastor that married us.
Pastor Ed came from my home church in high school although he was never actually a pastor to me.He was the mid high pastor while I was in high school and through a weird turn of events I connected more with him than any of the other leadership. He's played a magnificent role in John's and my relationship and it wasn't even a question that he had to be the one to bless our growing family.
We learned the day of the event that his was actually his first baby dedication which made it even that more special for us and him!
John picked out the life verse for Bryn and he did a great job at it.
"...be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9.
I had been struggling on a life verse for a while, nothing really jumping out at me or finding any little link that might tie in to how I feel as a new mom, growing family, and as spiritual inspiration for my daughter.
I found this verse among a few others that stood out enough to make it on a paper list and I handed it to John to decide.
He called me from Yuma, during his last week of pre deployment training, and said he picked this one because it was everything he wanted and wished for Brynlee, especially for when he's not able to be there to encourage her himself.
It made perfect sense to me and I was 100% sold.
We also decided to use this event as almost an official introduction of Brynlee to family and friends, most of whom had never met her. It was so great to finally get to do that and John was all but shy when showing off his baby girl.
To make things even more complicated, we also had this event serve as a deployment send off of sorts for some that we knew we probably wouldn't be able to see during leave.
In order for all the circumstances to be viewed in a happy way, we decided to have a BBQ afterwards where we could all sit, relax, watch the Bronco/Steeler game and just enjoy each other's company.
Since the event was at my parents house I wanted to make sure they enjoyed the event, not conducted it, so I hired caterer(s), photographer, and enlisted the Pinterest help of my crafty sister in law for DIY ideas that would leave my parents to enjoy the friend and family community as much as the rest of us!
We did things a little unconventionally for sure, making our own congregation and all, but I don't think it could have gone any better had it been in a church with hundreds of people. I posted a ton of these pictures on FB, so I'll only post a few of the main ones to show you how awesome her dedication was.
Thank you all who were there for coming and supporting us and our little family. We love each and every one of you so dearly and already appreciate so much the love and support we felt not only on that day, but throughout our years and years of friendships with many more years to come!
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| No worries, Bronco's won. :) |
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| Four generations. :) |
