The Blessing

Have you ever received "The Blessing"? Likely most of us have not, in fact most of us are probably not all that familiar with what "The Blessing" is. I was not until preparing to preach a sermon I shared just this past Sunday with my congregation. What most of us would refer to as "The Blessing" would be the approval or better yet the affirmation we get from our parents or someone in authority over us or someone we look up to. There is more said about the blessing in the Old Testament than there is in the new but we do see Jesus blessing young children. John Trent and Gary Smalley wrote a book about the blessing, I have not read it but I am sure I will.
What I shared with my congregation is that there are five parts to the blessing we give to our children. There is the Meaningful Touch, The Spoken Word, The Affirmation of Value, The Spiritual Vision and The Prosperous Vision. We actually ended our worship service this past week with a blessing ceremony where I walked the congregation through each of these steps. It was the first time for me that I ever really looked at one of my children in the eye and expressed to them my pride in who they had become and my affirmation of the values I see in them. It was a very moving experience and one that I know I need to continue to practice not just once in a lifetime. I am not sure why in the instances of the blessing in the Old Testament we see the blessing usually given by the father at the end of father's life. It seems to me that the blessing is far to important and valuable to wait until we are almost dead to give. All of us no matter how young or old we are seek and need this blessing from our parents. I believe that the result of not receiving this blessing leads to negative consequences in our lives.
You may to be able to receive the blessing from your parents for a number of different reasons, but if you have children of your own you can draw that line in the sand and start a new practice in your family. I very much encourage you to do so. It will greatly empower your family and strengthen your relationship with your children.
God Bless!