Journaling is a subject that does not make me cringe, however it has done so in the past, depending upon how well I have been doing in that area. I have had many ways of journaling; keeping scrapbooks, journals, writing letters that I save, baby books, blogging and many informal ways of having my thoughts be available for my posterity. I am trying to hit on the medium that is most effective for me at this given time. Our lesson was food for thought. And I am giving it some thought.
Speaking about patriarchal blessings brings me joy. So much can be interpreted from them and they can have different meanings at different times in our lives and so I find them truly amazing and gifts from God that over the course of a lifetime, we can gain rich understanding into our own lives and we can truly see our value to our Heavenly Father, that we are sons and daughters of God!
I loved the story one sister shared when she received her blessing at the tender age of 13. She was into singing, dancing, and drama and was sure that she was going to be famous in some way. She was modeling and thought she wanted a modeling career or maybe a stage career. She just knew that she would be different from the starlets in Hollywood because she would not fall vicitim to the trappings of showbiz and she would show them how a righteous Latter-day Saint woman could carry off a famous career and still maintain her morals and values in life.
At 13, she decided to receive her blessing and chose a patriarch in the area. This was a man she had never met nor did he even know her family. He had no way of knowing what her life was like and the things that interested her. Yet, a phrase in her blessing told her she was not meant for fame and fortune in this life and had a much more important role as a wife and mother. She could not believe he knew those desires about her. He did not even know her. But she had faith.
She gave up those hopes and dreams, only because she began to recognize that her Heavenly Father had a better plan for her. She went to college and got a degree in accounting. She said that anyone who knew her at that time would have laughed at the thought because it was so uncharacteristic of her and so practical. She was an artist and thought she might major in theater or art. But she found she loved accounting and got that degree and was certified.
Then she married. And she married wrong. And this man could not support her or their new baby. But because she had this accounting degree, she was able to support this family financially. Additional circumstances eventually led to her leaving this man. While single, she needed to support herself and her daughter and was able to do that comfortably with her accounting degree.
I do know that our Heavenly Father knows us best. She was so very wise to heed that counsel and know that her blessing was very much real and intended specifically for her. And she was blessed.
I have seen great blessings come from my own patriarchal blessing and am grateful for them. I have been blessed through Tim's as well because often his blessing and mine refer to our family. So we get to double up on some of these wonderful promises. One that has stayed with me has been the promise that none of my children will be lost in this life. I used to find that a great comfort when they were smaller, that they would be physically safe and that they would not be abducted. Now I find even greater comfort as I interpret it differently and hope and pray they won't be lost from a spiritual viewpoint.
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