For Future Generations and Being a Great Man of God!

I wanted to put this in our blog for posterity sake. It was so well done and brought tears to my eyes that I thought it would be appropriate for our future generations. Joseph is an amazing father and rarely gets to say anything on our blog so here is his opportunity. Thank you so much, Joseph, for being such a wonderful father and husband and being worthy to hold the priesthood! Our boys have a truly excellent example in you!


"Every year I was growing up my Father would give me a blessing the day before the school year began. A moment of peace in the chaos, every year my foundation would have at least this cornerstone.
This year it was my turn to be the Father. This year my oldest son Braden is going to school for the first time ever...the beginning of a long career. I am excited for him and I will miss him. Until now we (the family) have been the largest influence in his life. We have been his classmates, his teachers, his counselors, and...at times...his students. Now that he graduates from our custom tutelage into the halls of public education I worry that he will be shaped yet I am also counting on it. The question is, how will he be shaped...how will he shape? The answer is to be found for us in time.
Yet there is one who already knows this...all answers. Seeking his guidance and his blessing I renewed the tradition of my Fathers.
The preparation for the blessing itself was powerful. I stepped out of the race, the rush, taking a moment to look back, to remember who he is....who we are....and then a moment to glance to the future....to what he could be...what choices, opportunites, challenges lay before this young man....this, my son...the feelings flowed and filled me. To be at that moment...to be able...to have the privilege of standing in place of my Father...the power of that moment was palpable.
I laid my hands upon his head...I spoke, yet the words were not mine. The voice was, yet it was tinged with a depth of love and understanding beyond me. Words of joy, of confidence, of promise came through me, yet they were not just words but feelings......and strength. As I stood there, a mouthpiece for my son's true Father, I felt His overwhelming love for both of us. The blessing finished we embraced...my arms holding the son whose Father had entrusted to my keeping...yet His arms around us both.....
This moment will live in my memory forever.
After Braden's blessing I was surprised to hear my 3yr old Landon say "My turn Daddy?" At first we were unsure but soon felt that it was right. Landon sat in the chair, still and reverent, as I again placed my hands to receive the blessing. The moment that I began so did the tears....not tears of sorrow but tears of love overflowed. The witness was born to my mind that he too was a precious son of God...unique and special in his Father's eyes. The blessing itself was different...directed for his specific needs and mission. Again, I felt the power flow through me...fill me and then pass on to my son. When it was finished we too embraced...and in the might of his arms I felt not the child of three but a man timeless and destined. "I love you Landon" I said. "I Love you too Daddy" said he.
With my vision still blurred I placed these angels in their beds. Hugs and kisses over I now write of the experience to you my friends. My vision is still somewhat blurred yet I would speak clearly of something that is so sacred to me that I cannot help but share it. This is real. Beyond time, beyond place, beyond the material world we think we live in....this is eternal and perfect...THIS IS REAL. As I placed my hands on my sons, I could not help but feel hands being placed on me...that in blessing I was blessed."

By Joseph Garfield - 8/10/08