By Audrey Bivins 
Each year in early summer, my church holds a baby dedication service. Young parents line the front of the church, holding babies and toddlers, each child dressed up for the occasion. Some of the parents wear wide grins, proud to show off their young family members. Other parents look slightly embarrassed to be in the spotlight, but still happy to have this special day to celebrate their child.
Each year, this service makes me teary, and it isn’t because of the cute children and their parents who are pledging to teach them about the Lord. I love looking at the adorable pictures of these children on the projection screen, but that isn’t what tugs at my heart. What touches my heart profoundly is when the congregation stands and reads from the screen, promising to help these young parents teach their children about the Lord. The congregation promises to love and nurture these children and parents, and to be their Christian family. As a mom, that is one of the greatest gifts my church family could give me.
Research shows that somewhere around middle school, my influence over my children will begin to lessen. While that breaks my heart, I also know it is part of maturing and developing into an adult. When the day comes that my daughter begins to look beyond our family for influence and guidance, I want her to be surrounded by people who love her and will point her in the right direction. When my sons need help deciding what they believe, I want them to be able to name multiple people whom they know can help them find their way. With YouTube and social media influencers dominating the internet, I hope my children will be able to discern between popular media influencers and the real-life influencers who surround them.
As I look around our church, there are dozens of caring adults who have influenced my children as they learn about who God is and what it means to live a life that honors Him. These people—the real influencers—have prayed over my babies as they rocked them in the nursery and have repeated Bible truths as they gave them snacks in the preschool class. Some of them have invited my children to their homes for Sunday School parties, played crazy games during Vacation Bible School, or wrangled the chaos on Wednesday nights. These friends have clapped for them during Christmas programs and Easter plays.
I need a team of adults who will help mold my children. While my husband and I remain the authority over our children, I want adults around who will help direct them when they are out of our eyesight. I want friends who remind my kids to be kind, help redirect them if needed, and who are willing to lovingly correct them when necessary. I want my kids to know there are other adults who believe in them and who will hold them to a high standard too. My children need people who care enough about them to point them to Jesus, and who will wave a warning light if they start to head off course.
In addition to grandparents and aunts and uncles, church is where I have found my village to surround both me and my children. I can’t emphasize enough what it means to have others supporting and encouraging my husband and me as we seek to point our children to Christ. I thank God for the beautiful Body of Christ, my Christian family, who have made sure that we don’t have to do this difficult job of raising children alone. This job is too big to do on our own.
by Tracy Gerhardt-Cooper 
by Rachel Kosar 
by Lauren Eberspacher 
