blessing

it's a tradition in our home to give blessings on birthdays.

the first blessing was on noah's first birthday, when after digging into his cake, his daddy and i {who by the way was very pregnant} blessed him before all our guests.  there the tradition began, and EVERY birthday since then you will find us concluding the celebrations with our blessings. 

our blessings usually include our delight for the individual; their character, growth in Christ, and recognizing obstacles they hurdled that year. it also includes speaking words of hope over their future.

words of affirmation {especially when spoken before others about you} nourish a life with truth. {i grew up malnutritioned in this area. my family will not :-) }.

words of hope spoken over a future sustained and directed many of our old testament leaders;  abraham, jacob {israel}, esther, david {to name just a few}.  the lack/withdrawal of a blessing destroyed individuals {for example esau, and the nation of edom}.  as parents michael and i expect that the powerful words of hope and future we speak over our childrens' lives will sustain and lead them into God's will for them.

*************************************************************

yesterday, after emiie's 12 birthday dinner was polished off, seated at the table together, noah {who typically seems the least interested in participating in any of our traditions} asked, "are we going to do the blessings?" michael responded, "why don't you go first."  {giving blessings has grown from michael and i giving them to the children to all 5 of us giving them to each other}.  honestly neither of us expected noah to be ready.  getting him to talk usually involves some "pulling of teeth,"
but to our surprise noah said, "okay."  
looked at emilie, and began...


"emilie, you are the sweetest, kindest, most loving person i know.

you are outgoing and friendly. you walk up to people, befriend them, and talk with them. 
everybody likes you.  everybody wants to be friends with you.

you are so pretty, so beautiful. when i say you are beautiful it's not just on the outside, it's on the inside too. that beauty on the inside shines out of you and makes you even more beautiful."

 
he said a lot more.

i was in joyful tears, overwhelmed by my 13yr old son, and "scarce could take it in!" 

i was overwhelmed not only by the content of his words, but by the power and authority that noah spoke with. his words were intended to speak truth and hope into and over his sister {who at 12 is wrestling with self-doubt and insecurity}. noah's purpose was to BLESS his sister, who he adores. {yes, he adores his sister}.  and he did!!!

 noah & emilie- 2000

*************************************************************

to learn more about giving a blessing, read "the gift of the blessing" by john trent & gary smalley.
i read it in 1996 {before i was married or had children}. it helped me understand my own need for blessing, and how necessary it was to give the gift of the blessing to my {future} family.

here is a link to an insightful post about giving the gift of the blessing.  

 

 *************************************************************

one more thing- i think it's important that you know we are a normal family.  we have good moments  and bad moments.  like all kids, mine argue, fight for their own way, and boss each other.  i blow up.  we learn grace and begin again numerous times though out each day.  

however, i am very intentional here in blogville to make sure that the words i speak about my children express high value of them. they read many of my posts. i know my words here {as well as in our day to day lives} have the power to uplift or hurt them, and i want all these word to bless them.

i wanted to lift any blog-fog and assure you my family is just as normal as yours {assuming your family IS normal}.