In February of this year, we shared with the world a project that Paul had been working on for almost two years. The project was extremely personal to him. It was inspired by a family tradition that he felt very deeply about. Paul was honestly even a bit scared to share the project, but he felt compelled to do so. The response we received absolutely blew our minds. We knew what Paul had done was special, but we were not prepared for how it would affect people. For about 24 hours after we posted the story of, "The Blessing", Paul and I walked around the house, holding our phones in our hands, and spoke no words to each other. We couldn't even begin to verbalize how the messages that came pouring in were touching us. We had hit a nerve. We had touched on something that hurt some, helped others, and affected everyone.
We thought that following the Blessing story, we'd start sharing this precious family tradition with other families. We thought this was a photography project. We thought God may use our photography to minister to hearts and lives. We thought this photography project would be the best gift anyone could ever receive. But what we've discovered in the past few months is that the Blessing may have very little to do with photography. It's so much more.
God has given us a new responsibility. The responses, the questions, and the personal stories that are coming are too important to simply respond with a "thank you", or a red heart emoji. I, Kristin Privette, consider it my new responsibility to respond, encourage and teach you how to give, and perhaps even receive, a Blessing. This blog is devoted to sharing with you how our family tradition works, the words we say, how we say them, and how we use the Blessing in our family. I will also tell you the stories of others who have also been given the Blessing and how it has affected them. I will even share stories of those who didn't receive the Blessing... and now want to know if they're capable of giving it.
Yet, while I think I have an idea of where this blog will go, truly I have no idea. I will write what I feel led to write and we'll see where it goes. I hope that you reading will send me stories, questions and responses. The world needs to know how to give the Blessing. I will do my part.