I had meant to have Pepper dedicated when she was a bit younger but the dates never seemed to work out. I am very glad we waited to that family could be there, but I have to admit that dedicating a talking, active 18 month old is a bit more of a challenge than I had planned on. At the University church, the service starts right at Pepper's usual nap time. Not only that but she is usually hungry by the time Sabbath School is out. So we were prepared. We had snacks and books and pacis etc. I was a little worried from the very beginning when they had us sit on the second row. We are more of a back of the church kind of family since Pepper tends to be a bit loud and distracting. At first Pepper did really well, distracted by lots of family around her. I breathed a premature sigh of relief.
There was a baby dedication right before us and at the end of that Pepper let out a very loud, "Wow!", that I am sure was heard by the entire church. It was at that point that I knew this would be a challenge. I grabbed a paci, some raisins and hoped for the best. Pepper actually did really well for the first couple of minutes. She did ask for a snack, and then a paci, but I was ready for it. Then she snuggled down on my shoulder and I thought we were going to breeze right through the rest of the dedication. Then, right before prayer, Kris had all of our family stand up to show support. For the first time Pepper caught sight of Uncle Ralph, who she is very fond of. Immediately she said, "Raph!" and then proceeded to say his name over and over with increasing volume during the entire prayer. I tried hold the paci in her mouth, but that did nothing. I tried to quietly "shhh" her, to no avail. I was amazed at how calmly Kris continued praying despite all the commotion. When the prayer was over and we sat back down we caught Ralph with the biggest smile on his face.
I am so happy that Pepper is dedicated to God. I pray that she will be able to have a balanced, thoughtful spirituality. I feel that family plays an important part in this. We all have spiritual journey's to share with her and I believe that she can take something positive from each one. Thank you all for being a part of Pepper's life!
