The Power of Prayer

Last night before everyone (my brother and sister-in-law, nephew, sister and brother-in-law, parents, me) headed to home and bed, my mom asked if my brother and brother-in-law could give Dad a blessing before his heart surgery tomorrow. They did so and it was a sweet and powerful moment for me. How special that my baby brother has grown up into a man who can give a priesthood blessing... and even more special somehow that it was for my father.

While we were in the moment of the blessing, my mother also got one for comfort, my sister for help with her problems in her pregnancy, and my brother-in-law for calm and comfort as her is about to become a father. It was very special.

I am a huge believer in the power of a priesthood blessing. I think not many people know, but when Preston was born his newborn screening tests came back positive for cystic fibrosis. They re-ran that test and then ran another type of test and both of them came back positive again. I was devastated. I didn't know what we would do, how we would handle it, what this would mean for our family. I knew that because these were screening tests there was still a possibility that he did not have cystic fibrosis, but I was looking on the negative side and was convinced that he would be diagnosed with the disease.

On the morning that we were to take Preston for the final definitive test that would tell us whether or not he had cystic fibrosis, Aaron and my father-in-law gave him a blessing. The moment that the blessing began, I was filled with a calm feeling that everything was going to be okay. I KNEW that Preston was fine and the test would show us that there were no problems. I don't remember the words of the blessing, but I remember that feeling and my certainty that everything was okay. After weeks of stress and worry, the cloud was completely lifted. The test went smoothly and Preston received a clean bill of health.

Thanks to that experience, I have a strong faith in the power of prayer and priesthood blessings and I will always be grateful that I learned that. As my family deals with everything going on right now, it's wonderful to have the assurance we gained last night from those blessings that everything will be alright.