Dedicated
My kids just went into the kitchen to eat lunch. I am in the bedroom preparing for a nap. It's what they've been waiting for to come out of hiding.
Yesterday I decided that it was time to dedicate my home. I had considered doing it at Christmas with my oldest in town to make it feel like an occasion, but between my new job and holiday chaos, it just didn't seem right to try to squeeze it into one of her three evenings here. It deserved to be its own event. So when I realized that I had the kids with me this Sunday and there wasn't a whole lot going on after church, I invited Noah and Anna to come over for a short family meeting and lunch.
It's an anniversary of sorts. On February 5, 2018, I spent my first night at home alone in my rental house after moving something less than half of our marital belongings out over several weeks in December and January. I shared with Noah, Anna, Tom and Amelia some of the tender mercies I'd experienced in the past year, mostly related to timing issues on finding suitable housing. Noah and Anna were seated with me in the front room. Tommy had begrudgingly come up from his basement lair to sit on the stairs. Up on the landing, I had opened Amelia's bedroom door and left it that way when she refused to come out. It's what I had to work with.
After sharing my thoughts, I offered the following prayer:
Our Loving Heavenly Father, we come before Thee today to dedicate this house as a sacred edifice where the Holy Spirit can reside. We dedicate it as a place where we can worship and grow spiritually and as a place where we can find safety from the world and become people of grace who can participate in eternal family relationships. We ask Thee that the Holy Spirit may be with us, that we may feel the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives. We offer this prayer of dedication with gratitude for Thy love for each one of us in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
After the prayer, Tom disappeared into Amelia's room. Anna and I played Othello while we waited for the cake to finish baking and the rolls to finish rising. Noah patiently attended to his phone. When lunch was finally ready, Noah invited Tom and Amelia to come to the table. They didn't. That's typical on a given night with me, but until now they have always come when others are here. Noah, Anna and I enjoyed roast beef, gravy, vegetables, rolls, salad and homemade yellow cake with berries and cream for dessert. My son who doesn't believe in God asked the blessing on the food. He's a generous person.
Tom and Amelia are now out on the landing making the floorboards squeak because they think I am trying to sleep. It's revenge for my working out in the front room at 5:15 a.m. most weekday mornings. Tom referred to it as "jumping right on [his] head." Neither one of them would come to church with me today. Tom got up and showered and dressed, but I don't know whether he ever walked over to the chapel. Amelia refused to get out of bed.
Yesterday I decided that it was time to dedicate my home. I had considered doing it at Christmas with my oldest in town to make it feel like an occasion, but between my new job and holiday chaos, it just didn't seem right to try to squeeze it into one of her three evenings here. It deserved to be its own event. So when I realized that I had the kids with me this Sunday and there wasn't a whole lot going on after church, I invited Noah and Anna to come over for a short family meeting and lunch.
It's an anniversary of sorts. On February 5, 2018, I spent my first night at home alone in my rental house after moving something less than half of our marital belongings out over several weeks in December and January. I shared with Noah, Anna, Tom and Amelia some of the tender mercies I'd experienced in the past year, mostly related to timing issues on finding suitable housing. Noah and Anna were seated with me in the front room. Tommy had begrudgingly come up from his basement lair to sit on the stairs. Up on the landing, I had opened Amelia's bedroom door and left it that way when she refused to come out. It's what I had to work with.
After sharing my thoughts, I offered the following prayer:
Our Loving Heavenly Father, we come before Thee today to dedicate this house as a sacred edifice where the Holy Spirit can reside. We dedicate it as a place where we can worship and grow spiritually and as a place where we can find safety from the world and become people of grace who can participate in eternal family relationships. We ask Thee that the Holy Spirit may be with us, that we may feel the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives. We offer this prayer of dedication with gratitude for Thy love for each one of us in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
After the prayer, Tom disappeared into Amelia's room. Anna and I played Othello while we waited for the cake to finish baking and the rolls to finish rising. Noah patiently attended to his phone. When lunch was finally ready, Noah invited Tom and Amelia to come to the table. They didn't. That's typical on a given night with me, but until now they have always come when others are here. Noah, Anna and I enjoyed roast beef, gravy, vegetables, rolls, salad and homemade yellow cake with berries and cream for dessert. My son who doesn't believe in God asked the blessing on the food. He's a generous person.
Tom and Amelia are now out on the landing making the floorboards squeak because they think I am trying to sleep. It's revenge for my working out in the front room at 5:15 a.m. most weekday mornings. Tom referred to it as "jumping right on [his] head." Neither one of them would come to church with me today. Tom got up and showered and dressed, but I don't know whether he ever walked over to the chapel. Amelia refused to get out of bed.
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