Nathan's Post - Blessings

So as I was getting ready for bed this evening, I remembered that I hadn't written down anything about Katelynn's baby blessing that happened a few weeks ago. As the young man who held the microphone didn't have the strongest arm, most people, including my wife, didn't hear the blessing. So this is as much for her benefit as it is for those who weren't there, or are to young to remember it. I'll have to review my journal to see if I have written down anything for Will and Emma (I know I did for Laurel and the twins). Emma's blessing was the most memorable, because she was screaming the entire blessing. She screamed from the time I carried her up to the front to when she was taken out by Tracey afterwards. It wasn't because she was hungry either. During the blessing, as she was screaming in my face, I thought, well since she isn't happy I'll bless her that she'll have a "Cheerful disposition". I heard quite a few people chuckle when I said that, but the funny thing is, as I said it I felt that it would be a true characteristic of Emma. I think any of you that know Emma would say she is one of the cheeriest children around.

Giving blessings in general has always been a difficult thing for me to do. I always am concerned about whether what I am saying is what the Lord would want me to say. I thought about what I was going to say in Katelynn's blessing for a couple of weeks, prayed about it, and talked to Tracey about what she thought would be important in the blessing. I also thought a lot about Katelynn and tried to envision what her life had in store for her, and what things our Father in heaven would want me to bless her with. I've found that as I have blessed each of my children, that the blessings have actually become much shorter with each child. Perhaps, that's because I feel that there are very few things that really matter, and that the child has a life of decisions ahead of them, that they will make, but that course they choose for their life will be primarily driven by the few things that really matter.

In Katelynn's blessing I recall the following:
- She was blessed that she would be able to recognize the Spirit, and through that gain a strong testimony of Jesus Christ, and of the restored gospel.
- She was blessed that she would be able to develop a strong relationship with her Father in Heaven and with Jesus Christ.
- She was blessed that she would have a kind disposition, and that she would love others and be willing to serve them.
- She was blessed that she would be cheerful through the trials in her life.

The last one is the one that concerns me the most, as it is also the one that I felt the strongest about as I was blessing her. One of my fears is that my children will have to endure hardship and pain. To this day when I look at my immediate family (My wife, 6 children, parents, 4 brothers, 4 sister-in laws, 1 brother in-law, mother in-law and 15 nephews and nieces) I am amazed at how blessed we have been. There hasn't been a significant illness or tragedy in any of the families, and at times I wonder when it will happen. I realize that Lord has power to preserve and bless us, but I also know that "who the Lord loves he chastens". It wold be foolish to expect that my life and the life of those I love would be without hardships. I suppose the blessing that I would ask of my Father in Heaven is that when the trials do come, that, as I have blessed my daughter, that he would bless me and my family that we can endure it cheerfully and with glad hearts, recognizing the blessings that God has given us.