Speaking the Blessing

I knew I was going to write about this as soon as I heard it. It's that important. It's something I wanted to be accountable for and something I wanted my girls to know one day.

While we were in Newport this weekend, we were lounging around our hotel room on Sunday morning. Since we couldn't go to church, we flipped on the TV and found Joel Osteen. At first, we were just sort of half listening but as each minute passed, we all became aware of the fact that we were silent and listening with intent. The topic of his message that morning was "Speaking the Blessing." Joel did an excellent job of articulating the message by using stories and scripture. We all know that words carry enormous power. Words have the power of death or the power to give life.

"Every one of us has people in our life that need our blessing and approval. However, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s spoken. When you speak, “I’m proud of you. I love you. You are talented. You mean the world to me” to someone, you’re not just being kind, you are speaking the blessing over their life."

"Your words have creative power; they carry God’s supernatural power. Just like you pull back a bow and shoot an arrow, the moment you speak the blessing, God releases favor, ability, wisdom, confidence, and His goodness in extraordinary ways. One word of encouragement, one word of approval can be what helps others around you really step up to who God created them to be and help shape their destiny. As you bless others with your words, you’re not only releasing favor into their future but you’re releasing favor into your own future because when you help someone else rise higher, that’s a seed that you’re sowing and God will make sure someone is there to help you rise higher." ~ Joel Osteen

An important take-away... No matter what my background, no matter how I grew up, no matter what I'm used to... today is the day that I can start a new legacy for my family.

I often whisper in my children's ear before they go to sleep. I say things like, "You are God's gift to me, You are so beautiful, I'm so proud of you, You are so kind and smart, and You are going to change the world for God someday." It's a brief but special time in my day where I get to see contentment and confidence grow on the sweet faces of my children before they drift off to their dreams. Last night, as I went through my list of accolades for Grace, she joyfully kept asking, "And what else? And what else??" She wanted to know more about her future, about her gifts, and her potential.

What if every time we parted ways with our kids or our husband, we spoke a blessing into them? Don't we all still need that approval and favor from the ones that mean the most to us?? I happened to be seated next to a cousin of mine at the wedding we attended this weekend. To be honest, I haven't seen him since our wedding 9 years ago and even then, I hardly remember him there. We didn't grow up very close being that he's 14 years older than me.
As we sat catching up with life, he said something to me that impacted me more that I would have imagined. He said the simple words, "I am proud of you." It was heartfelt, it was unexpected, and it was so unnecessary for him to say. Yet with those 5 words, he spoke a blessing right into my heart and I don't think I'll ever forget it. If nothing else, hearing Joel's message on Sunday gave me permission and authority. Permission to look for opportunities to bless my husband and children everyday and the God-given authority to speak it into motion.

I pray that even with my very last breath on this earth, I would use my words to speak a blessing into the lives of those that mean the most to me. After all, a blessing isn't a blessing until it is spoken...