Super Sunday: Speaking About Missions and Child Dedication

Yesterday was a wonderful day for us.  First, Eli and I had the chance to speak at Journey Ministries, the church we're attending here in Michigan.  We were given the entire sermon time, which was an enormous blessing since missionaries are not often given much time to speak during church services.  We simply told our story - how we came to be on this path toward the mission field, our call to missions, and why we're passionate about medical ministry.  We love sharing our story and talking about missions, so Eli and I were both excited for the chance to speak and talk with so many people after the service.  Even though we've had the chance to speak at a few churches before, this was particularly special because my parents and my sister's family were there, and because many people from the church I grew up in were also there.

Directly after we spoke, we dedicated our son Asa to the Lord.  My best friend Corrie, who happens to be the Director of Children's Ministries at the church, joined us on stage for the dedication.  It was marvelous to have her do the dedication for our son.  Corrie explained what Asa's name means and then read these verses we had chosen for the occasion: "Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God....Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life" (2 Chronicles 14:2, 15:17).  And that is our prayer: that our son, Asa Everett Horn, would be fully committed to the Lord all his life and do what is good and right in His eyes!

Corrie brought Caleb and Kai from their classroom so they could join us for the dedication, and although I wondered if one or both of them would create a scene while on stage, they did amazing!  Caleb literally ran down the aisle when he saw Eli and they didn't seem to mind all the people staring at us.  The only minor interruption happened when the pastor was doing the vows and asked if we were committed to raising Asa to know Jesus, and Kai said "No!  No!" because Eli was trying to hold him still.  We laughed and quickly responded "Yes!"  It all went very well.

It was wonderful to have my family there too, and afterwards we returned to my parent's house and feasted on a smoked turkey my brother-in-law had made.  We were so thankful for such a joyous day and the chance to be surrounded by family and friends!