Yesterday, my husband and I dedicated our son, Jayden, in church. It was a public proclamation that we will raise our son in a Godly way with the help of our parents, relatives, and the church.

It was a lovely five minutes, but there were hours of anxiety that surrounded it. 😮

What to Wear?

It wasn’t hard to find what my son was wearing. He had a good selection in his closet, so we chose a hat and built his outfit around it.

I, on the other hand, had way more thinking to do because:

1. I had nothing that I wanted to wear.
2. I had no plans for what to do with my hair…. and
3. I go to a black church, so going to the front of the church looking a hot mess is not an option. 😐

Crisis was averted by my sister, though. She helped me pick out my outfit and suggested how I should wear my hair.

(Note: She liked my hair in a high bun, and I did wear it like that. But upon reviewing pictures, I think I should have just worn it down. My face is too round for updos. 🙁 )

Rise and Shine

The day before the dedication, I worked behind the scenes at the church’s annual women’s conference. I had to get to the church by 6 a.m. and I didn’t leave until 5 p.m. I slept around midnight and had to wake up on Sunday at 4 a.m.

Needless to say, I was TIRED! :/

I was getting ready, my husband was getting ready, my sister was getting ready, we had to get my son ready, we had to coordinate with the grandparents where and when to meet, and we were out the door by 6:45 a.m.

The Waiting Game

When we got seated in church, the waiting game began. Would Jayden start getting restless? Would he start babbling? Would he have a fit because he’s hungry? ❓

And while those questions looped in my head, I heard a rumbling come from his direction. Yup… he pooped something serious three minutes before service started.

I rushed out to change him and prayed that it didn’t get on his clothes. By the grace of God (won’t He do it?), the poop barely missed his dress shirt. 🙂

I got back inside to the service and Praise and Worship continued.

It’s Show Time

Now we were cutting into Jayden’s nap time. I wanted him to be awake for dedication, but he was apparently too tired to fight the sleep away. 😳

By the time I looked over, he was knocked out in his dad’s arms. And a few minutes later, we were called up to the front of the church for baby dedications.

The pastor spoke, an associate pastor prayed for us, we got a baby Bible, we got a DVD of the dedication, and then we headed back to our seats. 🙂

Don’t Fail Me Now

You’d think I’d let out a sigh of relief, but the hardest part was just about to start.

We were seated towards the front of the church, and the sermon was about to start, but all I could think of was, “What will happen when Jayden wakes up?” He likes to babble, so I was hoping for no sudden outbursts. o_O

I felt two big brown eyes pop open in the middle of pastor’s sentence, and then… I waited.

He was pretty quiet in the beginning. But as he started to fully wake up, he felt the urge to “speak” softly. 🙄

He reached out for my mom, and when he was done being entertained by her, he reached out for my dad. Towards the end of the sermon, he made his way back to me with no major incidents! (He may have been a bit of a distraction to those sitting around us, but they were talking back to him, so I’m guessing they weren’t bothered by it.)

All of this had me wondering how parents of young children sit in the front of the church with their kids every week. You may have a week or two of good behavior, but sooner or later, you’ll be the distraction who gets up too frequently during the sermon to quiet your child, or the parent who refuses to acknowledge that their child’s cries can be heard by the whole church. 😕


This is why I enter the sanctuary each Sunday and head straight for the designated “cry room.” LOL! 😀