Blessing Your Family, Edifying
Welcome to Day 21 of our Journey through “31 Days to Bless Your Family”!
Today’s theme is Edifying – to build up.
When you enter into this topic today I want you to consider the theme image below of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. As you look at it soaring up from its strong base toward the sky, shining for the whole world to see, I want you to think of Edifying as your role in building up your spouse and your children. Envision that you play a significant role in their lives to give them a strong base from which to stand tall, to shine in their unique purpose and gifts in this world.
Edify your mate and your children, build them up, and you will Bless Your Family.
Your building supplies for today are : )
- a little “Help”
- building blocks, past and present
- some grace
- a whole lot of blessing!
[featured-image single_newwindow=”false”]
“The Help” – a movie blessing…
If you have seen the movie “The Help” you will be familiar with this clip below. You may know that there is a whole lot going on in the background of this movie that is wrong, but a wise and loving nanny breaks through these patterns in a young girl’s life to give her some of the blessing that little girl wasn’t getting from her family. The tender-hearted nanny reaches into the soul of this young girl and changes her destiny by edifying her – building her up. “You is smart. You is kind. You is important.”
This is just a glimmer of the reality our family environment can have, for better and for worse. Your desire to Bless Your Family is truly life altering. When you give all you have to unconditionally love and build up your mate and your children, you are significantly altering their destiny forever, including anyone they will have influence and impact with.
[youtube id=”3H50llsHm3k”]
Build From Your Past, and Into Their Future
Maybe your past was deprived of edification and any blessing. You have obviously come this far, searching intentionally to turn patterns around. I know that “hurt people, hurt people” so there may be struggles in giving away what you don’t think you have, but there is hope in every situation, and you can do this! You have more than you think you do. You can change the direction and patterns of anything from your family’s past into building your best version of self, and family, and home.
Perhaps you grew up with parents who intentionally built you up and helped you become the person you are today. You already have some building blocks and are being intentional now in how you are going to Edify, Build Up and Bless Your Family. Encourage others along your journey to grow together and make an impact in our entire culture by raising up future generations with a strong base to stand tall from, shining brightly in their uniqueness.
Most likely, the majority of us have experienced some combination in the middle of these two possibilities. In the midst of imperfection, family dysfunctions, broken homes, with modeled behaviors both healthy and harmful, we still had parents and grandparents and caregivers who did their best to love us, to edify us, and build us up. Personally, there’s a lot I might wish had been different growing up but as an adult I have taken ownership of myself and my vision for my own family’s future. I know you are doing the same for yours.
Some words that built me up as a child, words which I still reflect on all the time, were my mom telling me how much she loved me and that “I could do anything I set my mind to”, my grandpa always esteeming me, building me up with words of encouragement, and my aunt showering me with praise.
What memories might you recollect? What memories might you create for your spouse and children by edifying them, building them up?
[shareable cite=”@Eric_D_Jackson”]When you give all you have to unconditionally love and build up your mate and your children, you are significantly altering their destiny forever, including anyone they will have influence and impact with.[/shareable]
Some Grace for You and Your Family
In any case, we all need grace. No matter what our backgrounds were, or that of our spouse, we are not perfect – and we need to allow ourselves to receive some grace as we set out to make a difference in our families.
Our children aren’t perfect either if you haven’t figured this out yet (wink), no matter how enamored we are thinking our kids are the best ones ever. Our children are going to need some grace as we parent them, raise them, build them up. As you set out to be more intentional about all of this, you might find some great help in Dr. Tim Kimmel’s book at FamilyMatters.net, “Grace Based Parenting” (among others). Dr. Kimmel offers us some great insights for our families, and the topics below outline the concepts of this book. I think they can be applied for the benefit of our spouse and our children.
Fourfold Delivery System of Our 3 Inner Needs with 3 Valuable Gifts:The Delivery System
- the freedom to be different
- the freedom to be vulnerable
- the freedom to be candid
- the freedom to make mistakes
Our Three Inner Needs
- a need for security
- a need for significance
- a need for strength
Three Valuable Gifts
- the gift of love
- the gift of purpose
- the gift of hope
(from Graced Based Parenting, by Dr. Tim Kimmel)
[shareable cite=”Grace Based Parenting | Dr. Tim Kimmel”]Many young people never find their niche because they don’t have parents who are willing to help them hunt for it.[/shareable]
Build Up Your Family by Giving Your Blessing
In the book “The Blessing“, by Trent and Smalley, they outline how to give a biblical blessing to your children. Again, I think the same can also be used to impart your blessing to your spouse. The key here in understanding our building blocks is that in order to Bless Your Family you must give yourself to each of your family members. Notice how personal and personalized each of these elements are to the one being blessed. Notice that the last piece is your life-long vision and commitment to their blessing – that you are with them, committed to their future.
As you think about how to edify and build up your mate and your children, how might you actively be encouraging and engaged, supportive of their unique futures? How might you be helping them to establish their base and foundation to stand tall from? How might you be encouraging their unique gifts and purpose to shine brightly? How might you be affecting their destiny and creating a legacy through your undying love and blessing?
The Family Blessing Includes:
- Meaningful Touch
- A Spoken Message
- Attaching High Value to the One Being Blessed
- Picturing a Special Future for the One Being Blessed
- An Active Commitment to Fulfill the Blessing
(from The Blessing, by John Trent, PhD and Gary Smalley)
[shareable cite=”The Blessing, by Trent | Smalley”]The basic relational elements of the blessing provide powerful tools to communicate acceptance, protection, and affirmation that still apply to men and women today.[/shareable]
Today’s “Dares and Prayers” shared in the video:
- Love Dare – “Satisfied in God only“
- Love Dare For Parents – “is Fair“
- Power of a Praying Husband, Pray for – (Her Security) /edj
- Resolution – “to provide for your family“
- 31 Days of Building Your Family Values, Bible App Devotions – “Communication“
- The Blessing
- Graced Based Parenting
<YouTube video coming soon>
Daily Resources and References
Please review the Welcome to 31 Days to Bless Your Family post if you missed it. There are some starting resources and recommendations there. 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”
If today’s topic resonated with you please leave a question, or share something positive that is working for you in the comment section below.
Here’s to your family’s “purpose-filled and on-target day”!
God Bless You and Yours!
Pingback: Bless Your Family, Day 30 - Intimacy and Sex | EricDJackson.com