Skip to main content

Another Name and Blessing

Dear Carl,

Almost two weeks ago, you received your name and a blessing. You were wearing the family gown, which has now been worn by your father, your brother, and you. Many who love you were in attendance and many more had sent their best wishes. Your father, grandfathers, and great-grandfather circled around you and used the power they received from your Heavenly Father to bless you. You began the journey of life with God's choice gifts for you laid out at your feet.

You were blessed with a strong and healthy body. That body truly is a gift from God and it is holy. With your body, you can enjoy God's creations and realize the righteous desires of your spirit. It is marvelous to be healthy and capable; protect that gift by obeying the Word of Wisdom and using caution in your physical activities.

Your father said, "We bless you with the powers of the mind, that you will have an incisive and keen intellect." You were admonished to use that power by solving spiritual and temporal conundrums. There are problems in our fallen world that require the deligent application of sharp minds to solve. You can be one of those problem-solvers.

You were promised that those gifts of intelligence, and especially the use of logic, would always lead you to the gospel and help you understand God's plan. I was reminded of Nephi's lament: "O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God." You do not have to fall into this trap. You have been blessed to see through the traps Satan has laid for the learned.

You were blessed with comfort and reminded that the Savior will always be near you. That knowledge can bring perspective to the most trying times of your life.

You were given protection from danger. Remind me that later on when I worry and try to protect you too much.

I was glad to hear you blessed to marry and find joy in your family. I know of nothing that has brought me greater joy than my temple marriage. So of all the blessings I desire for my children, it is my greatest desire that they will find worthy companions to marry in God's holy temples. It always seemed strange to me that people would bless their babies with an eventual spouse. That is, until I found your father and knew that there could be no greater blessing. I want that gift of love and joy to be present in your life.

You were blessed with opportunities to serve in your Father's kingdom. When the call to serve comes, you were blessed to be able and ready. You will have to realize part of that blessing yourself by keeping spiritually prepared to answer the Master's call.

The blessings you received that day were given by your Heavenly Parents. Your father and I wanted to give you a gift, too, and that gift is your name. The name we chose for you is Carl Anders Duede. Carl Duede is a family hero and we have given his name to you. We hope you will honor his courage, curiosity, and determination with your own. We hope his example will help you lead a rewarding life.

Love,
Your Mom

Comments

Natalie said…
Can I just say I absolutely love this blog? It is the sweetest idea and plan on copying you when my time comes ; p Hope all is well!

Popular posts from this blog

What Works for Us: Room Time

I've decided to do a new series of posts on how I make parenting work for us. Every parent does it differently--which is great!--but I have a hard time keeping my discoveries to myself. The things I do may not work for anyone else but I want to record them and remember them. Hopefully, it will also help me vent my soap-box-y-ness so that I'm not always imposing my ideas on other people. That will be what "What-Works-for-Us Posts" are about. One of the things that we have always done, but has made a HUGE difference in the move from one to two children, is Room Time . When Soren was 6 months old, I started having him play alone (in a safe place) every day for a few minutes. At first it was only five minutes in the port-a-crib but we quickly worked up to fifteen, then thirty. At that time, I used those precious minutes to do housework or relax on the couch. When I was pregnant with Carl, Soren would play alone for about an hour in his room and I would usually tak

Surrounded by Love

One of my greatest worries about having four children was that I would not be able to welcome and love my new baby as well as I had the others.  Now that he is here, I feel that he is perhaps the most welcomed and best loved of all my sons.  More on that in a moment. I struggled to bond with Leif in utero, in part because pregnancy was old hat to me and in part because life was busy with too many other things.  The new miracle  growing inside of me was the most normal thing about my life.  There were a few good moments that helped me prepare mentally: doing guided meditations during Christmas vacation, my blessingway on January 6th, and a really good conversation I had with Scott about my hopes and worries.  But mostly, my mind was elsewhere. And then there was the birth.  I should have known that it would be a totally unique experience and that it would prepare me for this totally unique child. Needless to say, I'm crazy about the little guy. Scott has also really taken

ABCs

A couple of months ago I was trying to encourage Soren to draw. For 15 or 20 minutes every afternoon, we would sit at the coffee table with paper and pencil. I would draw stick figures and doodles; Soren would watch, his own paper untouched. After a couple of days repeating my usual pictures over and over, I ran out of ideas and started writing the letters of his name. One day I wrote and drew pictures of all the things I could think of that began with S: Soren, snake, superman, spider, stars, etc. The next day we focused on the letter O. It gave me ideas for drawing, which kept Soren entertained even if it wasn't fulfilling its original purpose. A couple more weeks went by and I didn't put any effort into reinforcing the letters. So I was very surprised when, one day while reading a naptime story, he pointed to the page and said very distinctly, "ess". He was, in fact, pointing to an S. And he was very excited about it. So, instead of reading the book, we sp