Dedicated to the Lord

Tomorrow is Sunday, November 12, and we are going to publically dedicate Gideon to the Lord at our church (Hiawatha Church).

Gideon Emmanuel Nelson was born on November 2, 2005, right on his due date! Though it was a somewhat tumultuous birth, we had a very real sense that God was with us and that every detail was in His hands. There are no guarentees when it comes to having kids, except that God will walk along side of us giving us what we need to raise them, as we need it.

Gideon is a Hebrew name meaning "warrior", and his Old Testament name sake was a brave man of faith. Because of his faith in God, he defeated the Midianites though his army was extremely outnumbered. We pray that someday Gideon has such faith in the Lord. Emmanuel means "God is with us" and is one of the names used to refer to the Messiah. Our family was blown away by God's grace shown to us through Gideon's difficult birth--God WAS with us! We wanted to memorialize that by making Emmanuel Gideon's middle name. As long as Gideon is alive, and perhaps as he is remembered after he is gone, his middle name--Emmanuel--will be a powerful testimony to a God who is always with us. He is not some impersonal power that merely set creation in motion. No, the God of the entire universe came to earth as a baby, lived among us and sacrificed His life so that we might be free and have an intimate friendship with Him. That's good news!

So, tomorrow, we will simply reiterate that we as parents take responsibility for raising Gideon in a way that Honors God, but that ultimately he belongs to the Lord and is in His hands.

Gideon, we love you very much! You are a sweet treasure and we look forward to seeing the man God intends you to be unfold before us.

Mom & Dad