Liam's Baby Blessing

Today Jacob blessed Liam and it was the sweetest blessing. As always Jacob spends a lot of time pondering and praying about what he should say. Then after he is all prepared he gets worried Liam is going to cry and he won't be able to focus on Liam's blessing. Well he worried for nothing. Just like Eli did Liam slept through the whole thing and Jacob gave him a beautiful blessing. Here is Liam's blessing...

Our Dear Heavenly Father. By the power of the Melquesideck priesthood which we hold and in the Name of Jesus Christ, we present this baby to give it a name and a blessing, and the name which he will be known by on the records of the church and throughout his life is William Bryant Ash.

William your mother and father love you very much and we want you to know how excited we are to have you in our lives and be a part of our family. William your Heavenly Father loves you very much too and we bless you with a strong knowledge that you will always know throughout your life how much the Savior and your Heavenly Father love you. And we bless you to always know how much your mother and father love you. How much your siblings and grandparents, aunts and uncles love you and that you will always have a sure knowledge that no matter what trials or tribulations or whatever you are going through in your life, you can always turn to Heavenly Father with questions or doubts or for strength. And that you will always know that you can turn to your family for love and support, for strength and for guidance. That when you are tempted to make mistakes you will think of your mother and of the Savior and those that have been good examples to you and think what would they do, and that their examples will be a source of strength for you, in avoiding the pit falls of life and keeping yourself clean and pure. We bless you with love for the Savior. That you will learn to understand the atonement and the great sacrifice He made for us, and you will strive to emulate His example. We bless you with the ability to learn how the Holy Ghost communicates with you in your life, so that you may be guided by the Holy Ghost in making decisions, and we bless you to always seek the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We bless you with love for your family members especially your parents and siblings. We bless you with a strong love and respect for your older brother Elijah and as he strives to keep the commandments that you will see and follow that good example and that you will realize the importance of setting a good example for your younger siblings and for your older sibling and parents alike, that you will realize that no matter your age or situation, you can stand up for what you believe in and be a good example even for those who are older than you. William we bless you that at a young age, you will know why you are here on this Earth and what your purpose in life is.

We bless you with a desire to always be learning and developing your mind and that you will have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to anxiously be engaged in a good cause, to use your time wisely and be productive. Above all, we bless you with charity, that you will be aware of those around you that may be struggling whether it be spiritually or temporally and that you will have a desire and be willing and able to do all that you can to build them up serve them and lift their burdens. We bless you with a kind heart and a listening heart, that you will stand up for what you believe and know to be true. We bless you with wisdom in selecting good and righteous friends throughout your life and that you will realize the importance in selecting good friends who have righteous desires and have righteous goals, so that you will be able to help one another live the gospel principles. We bless you with virtue and that you will be able to control your appetites and passions to always keep yourself worthy throughout your life to serve the Lord and enter into His temple.

We bless you that as a young man, you will serve an honorable and full time mission. We bless you at an early age that you will realize the importance of sharing this gospel and that when the time comes to serve a mission that you will be excited to proclaim the gospel and that you will work long and hard in proclaiming the gospel. We bless you to be an obedient missionary and to help other missionaries who may be struggling, so that your example will inspire and strengthen other missionaries in their personal trials. We bless you that as you work hard in the mission field and serve the Lord, that you will have a strong love for the gospel and your mission.

We bless you to be wise in selecting an eternal companion that you will be able to be married and sealed in the temple with her. We bless you to be mindful of this sweet companion that the Lord will trust you with and that you will to be a good husband to her and build her up and always put her on a pedestal. We bless you to be a good father. That you will remember what kind of an example you must be to your wife and children, listen to them and as the patriarch of your family, lead and counsel your family in righteousness and that you will be blessed with wisdom to counsel righteously. We bless you that as you serve the Lord throughout your life in church callings, that you will fulfill your church callings and magnify your priesthood responsibilities and that you will have a strong desire to always serve. We bless you that you will be guided in selecting a profession and career that will provide well for your family and give them the necessary tools to be successful in this life and that you will always strive to be honest in your dealings with your fellow men, William, always be learning and striving to better yourself every day, and help others to better themselves every day. All these things we bless you with in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Those who participated...
Jacob Ash
Cecil Ash
Fred Ash
Brad Jarvies
Jeff Kartchner
Jerel Gilmore

Those in attendance...
Jeff & Vickie Kartchner, Debbie Johnson, Jerel, Stephanie, Aly & Ethan Gilmore, Cecil & Linda Ash, Katie Ash, Fred Ash, Brad Jarvies, Sharisa &Merrick Hutchins, Rex & Gunner Phelps, Sarah Clarkson, Tressa Ash, Whitney & Rose Pope, Tammy & Amber Veater

Things I want to remember..

• How much thought a love Jacob put into the blessing.
• The sweet spirit that was felt has Jacob held and blessed his son.
• How content Liam seems the entire time. He slept the entire church. Anyone that know Liam knows he grunt and doesn't sleep that well. He obviously felt loved and content.
• How proud Eli was of his baby brother. He didn't like a lot of people taking him.
• My mom and Dad came over to help us get out the door on time. They made Eli eggs (I think he at 4!) bathes Liam (he peed on my mom) and took pictures for us. They are always willing to serve. They are such great examples.
• The funny jokes the ash's always say. Liam's blessing was pretty long so of course Linda and Cecil teased Jacob a bit. Linda said the only thing Jacob forgot was his plot, and Cec said that kind has to live forever to live up to the blessing.
  
• Jacob's testimony was so sweet about his family it made me cry. He is such an amazing father and husband...We are so lucky.