Daniel Lake wrote a letter and read it at the dedication of two infants in his church as, he said, "an attempt to bring creativity to a service that easily could slip into prosaic ritual." He gave copies to each set of parents to be given to the children as a "time capsule" for when they make a profession of faith. Here in abbreviated form, the letter offers one way to begin the process of assimilating the children of believers.

"I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so shipwrecked their faith" (1 Tim. 1:18-19).

Dear Jennifer and Justin,

We are here with you today, as if on a mountaintop, looking far across a broad sea to another mountaintop. The peaks and all the space between represent your lives. We are happy to be here with you on this special, forward-looking day.

Nobody sought your opinion in this matter of being presented to the Lord. ...