How To Use Your Patriarchal Blessing

One of my favorite pictures.  I took this in London, an old church all that was left was the rose window. 

I have been thinking a lot about my role as a mother, a teacher, a friend, a sister, a  daughter. Who am I? What is my purpose on this earth and am I living to my potential? Am I doing my best? My children are with their Father this morning. I used to hate being alone on Sundays, they seemed so long and drawn out. I have learned though that being alone is a gift if used properly. I woke up and read the scriptures. I then pulled out my patriarchal blessing. It is typed on fancy paper, it was hand typed when I received it in 1994. The edges are soft and it is creased in the middle, the crease is tearing on one side because of so much use. It is well loved, read and cherished. This morning a few key points stood out to me,pertaining to the questions I had listed above. I know what I am supposed to focus on at this time in my life and that makes me happy. I also felt like I should share this little write up I had done a few years ago for a class, here it is with some added thoughts.

What a Patriarchal Blessing is NOT:

• It is not a fortune teller, it is not to be read like a horoscope telling us what our life will be like, who we will marry, etc. 
• It is sacred and should not be read aloud to others, or in church.
• Just because your blessing doesn't say that you serve a mission, get an MBA, marry in the temple, have children does not mean that those things are not going to happen. 

What a Patriarchal Blessing is:

• It gives the lineage of the recipient (according to the ten tribes of Israel and the Abrahamic Covenant) 
• It is like a window to who we are authentically. Just like the window above it gives us a view of what kind of divine qualities we developed before this life and what to do while we are on this Earth to continue to develop those qualities.
• A blessing is like a road map.It gives us divine direction for our lives, however, this direction and the blessings therein depend on our righteousness. Just like a map if we take a wrong turn we may find our selves in a strange place and lost! If we follow the council given through our patriarchal blessing we can stay on course and avoid getting lost. 
• A blessing gives: instruction, our divine characteristics,and our mission.
• A blessing is ETERNAL, that means that some of the things on it may not happen in this life, they may happen in the eternities. 

Everyone who is a member of the church is entitled to get a patriarchal blessing. EVERYONE. Do not think that you are not: good enough, righteous enough, young enough, old enough. I promise you, you are important to Heavenly Father and he wants to help you in your life. I have found the sweetness in using and applying my blessing and it has been a wonderful experience for me.It will be for you too. 

When I wrote this I was dealing personally with some feelings of inadequacy and failure, it is amazing to me how much I have learned and how many of these lies I do not believe anymore. These are called negative cognition's. Here is a list of Negative Cognition's or LIES we tell ourselves:

Negative (Lies)

I don’t deserve love 

I am a bad person 

I am terrible 

I am worthless (inadequate) 

I am shameful 

I am not lovable 

I am not good enough 

I deserve only bad things

I cannot be trusted 

I cannot trust my judgment 

I cannot succeed 

I am not in control 

I am powerless 

I am weak 

I cannot protect myself 

I am stupid 

I am insignificant (unimportant) 

I am a disappointment 

I deserve to die 

I deserve to be miserable

I cannot get what I want 

I am a failure 

I have to be perfect 

I am permanently damaged 

I am ugly  

I should have done something 

I did something wrong 

I am in danger 

I cannot stand it 

I cannot trust anyone 

I cannot let it out 

I do not deserve 

HOW TO APPLY OUR PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS TO OUR LIVES

• Look at the negative Cognition's do any of these sound familiar?

What does your patriarchal blessing say about the specific negative thoughts you are telling yourself? Is it the exact opposite?

* Read your blessing and write out key points in your journal, ponder whom you are.

INSTRUCTION: Are some of the topics instruction, like read your scriptures, keep the word of wisdom, attend sacrament meeting and so forth….ask yourself, WHY IS THIS INSTRUCTION IMPORTANT FOR MY SPIRIT? WHY DO I specifically need to do these things? Will it add an increased amount of feeling the spirit? Give you the guidance you need in your daily life. Will it give you the strength you need to fight off the enemy?

CHARACTERISTICS: What are the characteristics of what you were like as a perfect spirit before you came to this earth? This is WHO our blessing is describing..WHO WE WERE in the spirit world and WHAT we need to become while on earth.

MISSION: What is your job to do?

Ask yourself as you read your blessing, WHY did I need to hear this?? And WHY is this important for ME??

* As you do these things I testify to you that you will be able to apply your blessing to your life and gain a greater understanding of who you really are, how much the Lord loves you AND who and what we need to do to become perfected.

 You are an amazing person! Our Heavenly Father loves you so much!