We have been wanting to dedicate Ava to the church since the day that she was born, but we had not yet found a church that we felt like we were a part of. When Ava was four months old we started to attend Cross Point and even though we have not become members of the church, we feel at home at this church and for the first time in our mine and Travis' relationship, we feel that we belong to this church.
Although we have been attending this church for the last 14 months, they only have child dedications twice a year. The first one that they had was too soon after we joined and we were still not sure if we were going to regularly attend this church. The second dedication was the weekend of Ava's first Birthday and although we already had the family in town we felt like there was so much going on already this weekend. So when January came I contacted the church and found out that there next dedication would be Sunday, March 24th, so I let everyone know, purchased invitations, and started planning for a weekend to celebrate Ava.
The stress first started on planning where my 13 family members who were coming in from out of town would stay. Once it was decided that some of my family would stay at our home and the rest at the Swearingen's, then I started to stress on activities and food for the weekend. The Swearingen's offered to host a celebration party the Saturday before Ava's dedication but then they had a pipe burst in their home. There were still gracious to host the event and had workers there days leading up to the party. I then had an issue with the invitations once they came in and instead of saying "join us as we dedicate Ava Marie to The Lord" they instead said "join us as we dedicate Ava Marie The Lord." I went back and checked the proof and sure enough I approved the proof with this wording. I contacted the printer and offered to pay to have new ones done and they were nice enough to make the correction and reprint at no cost. Just when I thought we were in the clear, I found out that our church was changing the date of the dedication to Sunday, April 21st. We already had family who had purchased plane tickets to come in and we had plans to be out of town this weekend. We discovered that the three satellite campuses that our church has was still going to have the dedication in March so we made the change to have her dedication at the Franklin campus.
I kept trying to tell myself that it did not matter where Ava was dedicated, but inside I was so upset not to be dedicating her at our church and on top of it, I was not sure what to expect from the satellite location.
Well our family started arriving the Thursday prior to her dedication and it was a fun weekend. The dinner Saturday night could not have been more perfect with the food and fellowship with close friends and family. Then on Sunday morning it was cold and dreary as we pulled up to New Hope Academy where they hold church service on Sunday and as soon as we walked through the door I felt right at home and we were welcomed warmly to the Franklin Cross Point Church. Since it was Palm Sunday they talked about the Saturday before Jesus' resurrection and the importance of waiting. At the end of the service they held communion which was so perfect for the day. Afterwards they held the dedication ceremony and Ava Marie along with another little boy were dedicated to the church.
I am so pleased with her dedication to the church and feel so blessed to have had so many family and friends who love Ava enough to come and support her and us during this special time in her life.
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