#Blessed

Great men of God blessing my son at his Blessing Ceremony

We have a tradition in our family that my husband and I started about 8 years ago. I wanted to create something that was unique to us which we could passed down to the next generations. About that time, I came across a book titled "The Blessing" by Drs. John Trent and Gary Smalley. Trent and Smalley explain irreplaceable importance of a father's blessing in a child's life, the power of spoken words, and the active prayer and parenting through blessing. It was a breath of fresh air and a complete paradigm shift. I was inspired to formally and ceremonially bless our children into their adulthood by clarifying their unique identity and purpose as children of God. We would invite a small group of family and friends, get all dressed-up, share a meal for the special occasion. During the ceremony, my husband and I would bless the celebrated child with spoken words and present a well thought-out and unique gift. Then, each guest is invited to speak blessing into the child's life. It always turns out to be more beautiful than anticipated.

Since our very first ceremony for our first child, we had planned to take our son's Blessing Ceremony to Korea. We thought it would be special and appropriate to have his ceremony there, visit the place where he was born and possibly meet his birthmother. We booked our tickets and started to plan our trip. I was so excited to finally realize what we had been dreaming of for a long time. But, a couple of weeks later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Obviously we had to cancel the trip in order for me to go through long list of tests and start treatment. We were all very disappointed but especially my son, who had been growing keen interest in Korea and whereabouts of his birthmother. My heart broke for him and promised that we will have his ceremony soon. Truthfully, I could not imagine how I was going to be able to make it happen while I was going through treatment. But God is good! His plans are ALWAYS perfect.

My son Caleb is our third child and first son. He enjoys hearing us remind him that he is our FIRST son and what a special position it is. He came home when he was only 9 months old. What a handsome baby boy he was. He was also a very anxious and scared child. For the first few weeks of being home, he cried all day and stayed up all night. Many nights, we stayed up together and watched the sun rise. Nevertheless, we were so in love with our new son and everything he did amazed us. It also didn't take me too long to figure out his delays with speech and cognition. We prayed and agonized over his developmental delays. Many tears were shed and prayers prayed for wisdom and direction to help him. This year, we transferred Caleb to a middle school which specializes in working with students with LD.  He has been making a wonderful progress academically and becoming more confident. I really believe his middle school experience can be a game changer for him.

I was excited to attend Baby Box event in Atlanta, GA at the end of October, which was right after end of my chemo treatment. At first I had no idea Pastor Lee JongRak (Baby Box) and Steve Morrison (MPAK) would also be there. What a great timing! So, we brought our son's Blessing ceremony to Atlanta! It was amazingly meaningful that Steve Morrison who inspired us to adopt our son and Pastor Lee who has devoted his life to care for children in crisis, would be at my son's Blessing dinner. Now, how many 13 year old boys get to have such awesome guest list? Amazing men of God blessed my son and they laid their hands on him and prayed a powerful prayer.  Earlier this year, we were stricken by a family crisis that brought us much heartache but God showed us His grace through surprising turn of events. We didn't get to go to Korea but Pastor Lee came to us from Korea and personally blessed Caleb to be bold and courageous. It was a clear sign for our son to see that God has chosen him, placed us together, and He has great plans for him. The theme of the night for Caleb was for him to be extraordinary. I really felt the Holy Spirit moving and speaking through each person.

I hope our children and their children and the generations after will continue this unique and wonderful tradition. I hope and pray that as our family tree grows, the generations will continue to have a family legacy of faith and blessing to hold onto. God bless my children and their children and their children's children.

Things I have learned so far (I think...)

1. I am on this earth today to show what God's love looks like
2. Be a good listener, even when I speak
3. Chemo stinks
4. Love your husband well (give him that affirmation!)
5. Suffering-endurance-character-hope
6. Fill that God-shaped void in someone's heart today
7. I'm molting but I will be renewed like an eagle because God has compassion for me.
8. I'm not an inspiration. I'm doing my best to survive. Thank you.
9. Hope against Hope, I choose to hope anyway!
10. Blessed for generations