"Lent to the Lord"

Our new baby boy is named after the prophet Samuel. In 1 Samuel 1, a barren woman named Hannah prayed to the Lord for a son. She vowed: "I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life" (v. 11). "The Lord remembered her" (v. 19), and "in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked him of the LORD'" (v. 20). Hannah devoted Samuel for life to the Lord's service, and he served in the house of the Lord from the time he was weaned--just a small boy! She declared, "For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated [lent] him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated [lent] to the Lord" (vv. 27-28).

We are doing our best to prepare our son Samuel for a lifetime of service to the Lord, remembering that he belongs to Him and we are merely his stewards. Would you please pray for baby Samuel: that he would hear the Lord's calling at an early age and grow into the man God wants him to be? You could give us no greater gift!