Blessing Your Family, Getting Started

Welcome to Day 1 of our journey through “31 Days to Bless Your Family”!

Today’s theme is Getting Started. Congratulations! The only way to get where you want to go is to take the first step, and it is much easier to keep moving once you have taken action, broken the barrier and are already in motion. It takes a decision, a resolve, to make a change, and to make a difference. And you have done that, so celebrate that first small victory. It may not always be pretty or feel comfortable, but you are not alone on this journey. We will be steadily going over a theme and some helps each of the next 31 days to help you get to that better place for your family which you have at the center of your heart’s desire.

[shareable cite=”The Blessing – Trent|Smalley”]Giving the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.[/shareable]

The Starting Line

Any worthy objective, and family is one of the top two of our entire lives, is bigger than ourselves, and requires more than ourselves. And just like I cannot expect to address everything to accomplish the “perfect” family in a blog post (or 31 posts), it would be unreasonable to expect, whatever your personal situation, that life is going to be “perfect” with just the first few efforts. You know it is going to take time, and every person’s situation is different. But it is a starting line, and you know that those efforts over time will logically make a difference – even if it doesn’t seem so or feel so at first. So let’s do this together, and I encourage you to also plug into a local community of positive and encouraging people to support you through every effort to “Bless Your Family“.

[shareable cite=”Tony Robbins”]The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. [/shareable]

My heart is in this for you and your family as I try to serve you where you are at, and I will be collectively praying for you and those who are on this journey with us to Bless Their Families. I hope that encourages you even more as you make each effort. Remember, you are not alone. I believe we can all agree that we are in a broken world, with broken (imperfect) people, doing broken things, and getting broken (less than perfect) results. Simply, life isn’t perfect. No one else but you knows where you’ve been or what you are going through or facing right now. I cannot begin to fathom the hurt that some of you might be experiencing, even though I have experienced and/or witnessed so much pain in my own lifetime. If in your personal situation there is need for immediate and/or professional counseling help please connect locally with a community like a church, and resources that can assist you directly. I’ve been in that “impossible” place before and wanted some one to talk with and help me. That’s why I’ve included a couple of links for prayer, chat and finding local churches at the end of every post.

Beginning Notes From Me to You

I will be writing generally so that these concepts might apply broadly to anyone’s beliefs and situation, but also from a husband and father’s perspective. Please also know that everything I draw from is based on Christian principles and love. The family is the central metaphor for God’s unconditional love for each of us. That’s why I will be praying that you and your family experience His “gift of unconditional love and acceptance” as you become more invested in Blessing Your Family.

This will be the longest post only because it will include a full list of our 31 themes, and a full list of resources and references which we will touch on. This full resource list will be in a link at the end of each day’s post, and any individual resource will be listed that day it is referenced. Each day will include brief comments about the theme, and then have four ‘dares and prayers’ from the main books I’ll use every day.

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Below is the road map we will be taking through these next 31 Days to Bless Your Family. There is some order and priority in how they are listed, but also some randomness. When I asked my wife and son for their feedback about me and writing this series I was a little surprised by their answers and included some topics I didn’t even think about. I am grateful for their unique input and perspectives, and for their support and encouragement. I wanted to make sure I was not being a hypocrite for writing this, and I wanted to make sure I was covering the right topics – that I understood how my family experienced and wanted to receive “Blessing” from me. I wanted to be authentic with you who reads this, and I wanted these topics to be real – not just some theory I imagined up for you.

As part of your own start to Bless Your Family I encourage you to humbly ask your family for honest feedback with the only emphasis that you are not going to defend yourself, but merely just listen and take it for understanding where you are really at with them. This will take some courage no matter where you are in your relationships with each person. You may be surprised in the quality of conversation or connection this step may help to foster. Remember, you are there to grow as a person in service and blessing of your family. So respect this time and create a safe place for them to express themselves without creating conflict. You’re just getting started, so it may be a good idea to let your family know your heart’s intention, and possibly you’re in a position right now where you need to humbly ask your family to give you a do-over, a mulligan – to give you their forgiveness, or just to allow you some space to make these changes with their best interest and blessing in mind. Let them know you are trying with all your heart, be vulnerable, transparent, and let them know you are committed to blessing them the rest of your life no matter what.

Our 31 Topics in the Series:

Getting Started (Today)
Family Leadership
Communication
Undying Love
Surrender to Oneness
Trust and Safety
Faithfulness
Integrity
Tenderness
Respect
Admiration
Gratefulness
Generosity
Partnering and Parenting
Modeling Responsibility
Finances
Prayer
Boundaries
Margin
Consistency
Edifying
Fun Memories
Good Food
Peaceful and Clean
Drama and Gossip Free
Personalities and Languages
Blending
Completing
Present and Participating
Intimacy and Sex
Sprints and Marathons

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Today’s “Dares and Prayers” shared in the video:

Love Dare – “Patient“
Love Dare For Parents – “Love Blooms“
Power of a Praying Husband, Pray for – “Her Husband“
Resolution – “We Need Men of Resolution“
31 Days of Building Your Family Values, Bible App Devotions – “Love“

31 Days of Building Family Values – Bible App Devotional Study

Final Speech from the Courageous Movie, “The Resolution for Men” book:

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Daily Resources and References

Please review this Welcome to 31 Days to Bless Your Family post repeatedly on our journey to come back to this list of resources below. Your best resource will be a local Bible teaching church to plug into with your family, and be surrounded by a thriving and supportive community.

Special Thanks to Kendrick Brothers Productions for their books The Love Dare, The Love Dare for Parents, and The Resolution for Men. You can check out their movies, books etc on their site. Their site recommends a local church finder at:

TrueLife.orgwhich also links to a prayer online, chat or text site – ChatAboutJesus.com

For prayer from KLOVE Radio staff:

Positive, Encouraging K-LOVE Radio – Submit a Prayer Request
“You can also call [the] prayer line at 800-525-5683”

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31 Days to Bless Your Family – Full List of Resources and References

For other helpful resources to dig in deeper you may enjoy the following links, or from your own search at a local book store or online search/purchase:

YouVersion® Bible.com Reading Plans – Family
- “31 Days of Building Your Family Values” by FamilyID
- this is the devotional study I chose to follow/illustrate each day
Power of a Praying Husband
Power of a Praying Wife
The Blessing
Love and Respect
The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted
The Family You’ve Always Wanted
The Sticky Faith Guide For Your Family
Graced Based Parenting
FamilyMatters.Net
Getting the Love You Want
Making Marriage Simple
Boundaries
Boundaries With Kids
Marriage – From Surviving to Thriving
Courtship After Marriage
Ziglar Family – Helping Families Win
Intentional Living Center – Family Life Communications
Financial Peace
Dave Ramsey – Tools and Resources

Here’s to your family’s “purpose-filled and on-target day”!

God Bless You and Yours!

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Bless Your Family, Day 1 – Getting Started