This past June, Shannon gave birth to our second boy…Mason Lee David Qualls.  While Mars Hill Church doesn’t believe in Infant Baptism, we do have baby dedications.  This Sunday (Christmas), our church will be having baby dedications.  If you aren’t familiar with baby dedications, this is where the parents present the child to the church, the church and the parents promise to raise the child to know about Jesus, and they pray for the child and family.

There isn’t anything magical about a baby dedication. It doesn’t make the child a Christian (only Jesus can do that).  It’s actually more for the parents and the church.  This isn’t to try to secure the child a place in heaven, but it’s to set in the heart of the parents and church how the child should be raised. If it doesn’t save the child, why should you do a  baby dedication?

Well here are the three reasons, Shannon and I are doing it.

1. It’s Biblical

You see in the Old Testament that God gave Abraham a sign to show that he and his family were dedicated to the Lord (circumcision).  As we entered the new covenant, we see that this particular symbol was done away with as the sign. Baptism replaced it as the sign of someone that has believed in Jesus for their salvation.  While some would now say that we should now baptize infants because of this, I don’t see enough in scripture to support baptizing children (another topic for another time).  I see baptism consistently happening when someone comes to a personal faith in Jesus.

What I do see constantly in scripture though is parents being dedicated to raising their children to know Jesus.

• Deuteronomy 6
• Proverbs 22:6
• Luke 2:22-24

2. It’s Counter-Cultural

Where I live in Albuquerque, NM, it seems like you generally have three options when it comes to the subject of dedicating your child –   Abandonment, Religion, or Spirituality.  The majority of kids in Albuquerque will grow up without a dad in their house.  They will never know what it means to have the daily influence of a man in their lives.  They will grow up having daddy issues that only Jesus can save them from.  By the grace of God, my boys will not have to experience that.

To say that Albuquerque is steeped in Catholic tradition would be an understatement.  While I believe there are a lot of Catholics that love Jesus and I’ll be hanging out in heaven with, there are a lot of Catholics in this area that feel they have get in to heaven free ticket.  They will site that they were baptized as an infant and took their first holy communion at such and such an age.  There faith is based in a ceremony and not in Jesus.

If you’re not abandoned or religious in ABQ, then you’re left to be raised in some vague spiritual system.  Children are raised with a mix of various religious, spiritual, and demonic rituals.  This leaves the child finding their righteousness in anything and everything…other than Jesus.

I want Mason’s dedication to be a counter-cultural witness to the saving grace of Jesus alone.  We are dedicated to Jesus alone, and we dedicate Mason to Jesus alone.  By the grace of God, we are raising him to trust in Jesus and not religion or spirituality.

3. It’s Familial

Shannon and I want to build a legacy.  We want the name Qualls to decrease and the name of Jesus to always increase. When I hear the name Graham, Wesley, Spurgeon, and Edwards, I think of Jesus.  I want the name of Qualls to be synonymous with Jesus.  The sad thing is that it only takes one generation for this to stop.  Therefore, it is my hope that some day I will get to be at the baby dedications of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  But it must start with me.  So this Sunday I am pumped that we get to dedicate Mason Lee David Qualls to Jesus. Come join us if you are in town.

Most people without kids don’t realize the stress and time that is envolved with raising children.  I don’t know how many times I’ve talked to a single person and wanted to smack them when they say, “I’m so busy!  I just don’t have time to __________.”  Normally their excuse is that they are working a part-time job and taking the bare minimum of credit hours at school.  Then for some reason they feel they have the right to look down on their married friends who only have a job and a kid to raise.

The reality that this article presents is that raising children (especially a stay at home mom) is probably one of the hardest “jobs” out there.  It is a strenuous joy that you can never truly understand until you get to undertake it yourself.

So here is my challenge.  Instead of living in your bubble, step back and evaluate how you could serve and sacrifice for your friends who have kids.  When the next great movie comes out, watch your friends kids so they can see it instead of seeing it yourself (it’s called sacrifice).  Show up randomly and do some household work (cleaning, dishes, dusting, laundry, etc.).  Take their kids out and let them have a quiet night at home.  Hang out with mom and give her some adult conversation during the day.

I can tell you from experience, these are some of the greatest blessing you can give to parents.

I’ve only been a dad for about a year-and-a-half, but I must say one of my favorite things to do is to pray for Asa before he goes to bed every night.  If you don’t pray for/with your kids every, I would highly recommend it. I thought I would take a moment and share with you what I pray for Asa every night before we put him in his crib.

Father,

I thank you so much for Asa and the blessing that he is in our lives.
I pray the you help him to fall asleep quickly and to sleep the whole night through so he can get the rest that he needs.
I pray that you keep him safe through the night and send your angels to protect him and keep him safe.
I pray against Satan, his demons, their works and effects, and in the name of Jesus I demand that any demons that are in the house or in this room leave immediately and go to  pit for which they destined for all eternity.  I pray this by power and authority of Jesus Christ.
I ask Father that you would send your Holy Spirit to enforce this.  I pray that you would fill our house and hearts with your Holy Spirit.  I ask that your Holy Spirit would work in Asa’s heart; regenerating it and drawing him to You.  Make him a child of yours.
I pray the same thing for his future wife, and that the two of them would stay pure til the day they are married.  I pray that they would become parents and grandparents and great-grandparents who raise their children to be lovers of Jesus.
I pray the same thing for me and Shannon.  Fill us with your Holy Spirit and give us wisdom and strength to raise Asa to be a lover of Jesus.
We pray this all in the name of Your Son Jesus.
Amen

Shannon and I have developed this prayer over the past year-and-a-half.  The words aren’t always the same, but the general concepts are.  We’re constantly adding and changing it.

Do you pray for your kids every night?  Do you have a regular prayer, or do you play it by ear?

This video is of Asa’s struggle with Cali’s dog door. See who wins the battle this time.

[youtube video]

Asa discovered that he isn’t quite small enough to fit through Cali’s dog door. He hasn’t really gone near it since this happened.

Here is video from Asa’s First Birthday Party.  It was a lot of work, but we had a great time.  I’m going to bed now.

I can’t believe that it was only a year ago that we got in a car wreck, went in and out of labor for 30 hours, found out Asa was breach, and had an emergency C-section.  Now our little bundle of joy isn’t so little anymore.  He was born 6 lbs 11oz and now weighs over 22 lbs, and you can ask anyone that has held him that he is pure muscle.  The only thing squishy about the boy is his poop.

He can crawl. He can pull himself up.  He can walk while holding on to things. He will eat ANYTHING you put in front of him.  He smiles anytime you point a camera at him.  He can do sit ups. He babbles all day long.  He is always smiling (even when he cries…it’s weird).  He is a sharp dresser.  He speaks three languages.  He paints and I’m pretty sure he knows how to do long division.

He is a blessing from God and Shannon and I thank Jesus every day for the gift that we have gotten in Asa.  Happy Birthday Asa!

Here are some posts from the past that I would recommend checking out if you want to be nostalgic. 

• Video from Asa’s Birthday 
• Air Bag + Face = Pain
• Asa in the Morning
• Asa in His Bumbo for the First Time
• Asa is Crawling!!!!

Also feel free to leave a comment below to share your birthday wishes for the boy.

He isn’t crawling yet either.  He’s getting really close though.  He’s army crawling everywhere. It’s a little slow…but it works.

Asa is fast on his way to crawling.  I caught a little video of him army crawling the other day.  Just so you know, there is a littel surprise at the end.

But this week Shannon and Asa went with Shannon’s mom to Denver to see some family.  I have determined that I don’t like going on business trips…but I hate having my wife and kid leave me at home alone.  Like a business trip, I have to eat alone (and now I have to make it too), watch TV alone, and sleep alone, but I have to do this at home where everything reminds me of them.

I’ve been cleaning the house today so Shannon can come home and relax, and everything reminds me of the two of them (hince the reason I’m blogging to take my mind off of it…but I’m blogging about them so it’s not working).  Making the bed, folding the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, picking up the house, all reminds me of the two of them.  So I’ve determined that I’m never letting them leave me home alone again…..yeah that’s about it.

So men…if you’re at home with your wives and kids…realize your blessing and tell your wife how much you love her and spend some time playing with your kids.  Sometimes you don’t realize how pitiful you are until you’re all alone again.

P.S. Don’t worry about me…Shannon and Asa come home tomorrow.

We took this one last week after Asa got done with a bath.  He’s slowly getting better at being on his stomach.

Just cause you're a baby doesn't mean you can't look cool.

Video from Asa’s B-day

Asa in his Bumbo.

He is a total rock star!

Asa turned three months old this last thursday.  The boy is really starting to grow fast.  He has already doubled his birth weight and is over 12 lbs.  All his clothes were starting to get tight on him.  So, we had to pull out all of his 3-6 month clothes that we had stored for just this day.

I can’t remember if we bought this Rock Star outfit for him or not, but we just had to share the picture with everyone.

He is really starting to show his personality.  He is a morning person (unfortunatly for mom and dad).  Afte we feed him in the morning he loves to smile and play.  Most morning he actually greats me with a smile as I come into his nursery.  Oh and he is sleeping through the night now.  Every now and then we’ll have to change his diaper at 4 am, but that’s about it.

Asa practicing for his graduation pictures.

He isn’t enjoying tummy time to much, but we keep working with him.  He does love his Bumbo though.  For those of you that don’t know a Bumbo is a special chair that lets pre-sitters be able to sit up.  He’ll sit in his for hours if you let him.

He is also starting to eat a lot more.  The boy puts down 6 oz easily every feeding.  Mom and Dad didn’t realize if for about a week, but he was really fussy because we hadn’t been feeding him enough (you couldn’t tell from all the baby chub he has).  But we uped his formula and the boy is happy now.

Well that is just about it for now.  We’ll try to keep this site updated as much as possible.  Hope you enjoy.

In the last chapter we read, C.J. wrote about looking for God’s works of a grace in our lives and those that are around us. He talked about how Paul was able to see good things in the church at Corinth even though they were more screwed up than a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich (my illustration not his). He talked about how only a truly humble person can see the work’s of grace in those that are messed up.

This hit really hard to home for me. I have to admit that I’m a pretty critical person. I’m not very big at looking for the grace in others lives and definitely not in my own life. I’m usually the first person to find faults and then exploit them through veil of sarcasm.

This hit home the other night after church when I was getting a few drinks with my friends at the Copper Lounge. We were all praying for my friend Carl (yes in a bar…and the waitress said it was beautiful) and Carl in turn started to pray for all of us at the table (he’s a great guy like that). He started praying about the miracle that was about to happen in my life and thanking God for the every day miracles in our lives.

It struck me at that moment that God is about to work a miracle in Shannon’s and my life. We’ve been in a little bit of denial that we are going to actually have a kid, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen (place you bet here ). This entire time of Shannon’s pregnancy and the upcoming birth I have been blind to the grace that God has been working in our lives. I have been blind to the miracle that is about happen.

God’s grace is blatantly obvious and I have been blatantly cold to what He is doing. I haven’t been aware of the way that He has sustained us during this time. How He has given us strength. How He has given us rest. How He has provided. How He has been there with us every step of the way and how He will be with us to the end. My eyes have been blind, but now I see (that’s kinda catchy…someone should write a song).

It’s funny how even though we don’t acknowledge God’s grace He still decides to work in our lives. But now that I’m able to see the miracle that is at hand, I have a new sense of excitement that has come over me. I’m waiting for a miracle and that my friends is going to be great thing to see.

Go here to enter the baby pool.

If you’ve been keeping track, Shannon only has 10 more days until Asa is due to enter this world (June 1st…make sure to put your guess in for the pool). With this on my mind I’ve been noticing a lot of fathers-to-be on twitter. These are guys that have either just had a kid or are in the pregnancy stage. It’s like there is baby boom in the twitterverse.

So on this Tech Wednesday, I thought I would compile a quick list of all the twitter dads that I know of to date. These are either links to their dedicated blogs or their twitter accounts…whichever one they have.

Erik Anderson – Any man that has more grills than children is ok in my books. Erik has a 2-year-old and another kid due in September.

Joe Day – Joe is a pastor at Mars Hill in Seattle and is about to have twin girls. I’m freaking out about having one…may God give you the strength Joe.

Dustin DeKoekkoek – Dustin’s kid isn’t due until August, but he already has his own twitter account.

Jack Moffitt – Jack’s son was born in January and has already started blogging.

CJ Mills – CJ’s wife just had their son Asher on the 16th….oh yeah…Asher was two month early and they were on vacation. You need to go to his site and read the story. Also pray for Asher and his parents as you can imagine all the things that go along with having a kid that premature.

That’s all the fathers-to-be and recent-fathers in the tech world that I know of right now. If I missed you on the list, make sure to let me know in the comments below. It’s cool to know that I’m not in this crazy process alone.