A Patriarchal Blessing is a strange thing. I received mine when I was about 22. I know the patriarch gets to know you a bit before giving you the blessing. Either way, he sure seemed to know a lot about me. At least what I could tell from what I know about my character. I can say he hit the nail on the head more than once.
There were some awesome things in there that I have seen manifest over and over again in my life. Things related to my mission, school, education, work, marriage, and family. They all seem to fit. The admonitions and council were all spot on. It was almost as though the guy knew who I really was. Now, I say that in jest because if you really believe in this you know that blessing comes from God. The Patriarch is just the mouthpiece of the Lord. If he is in tune and you are in tune you will receive a special witness and understanding of who you are and how your Heavenly Father sees you.
I bring this up because there are a few things in my patriarchal blessing that have perplexed me. As I was studying this last week I made a, more or less, life decision. After making the decision I heard word for word a line from my patriarchal blessing come out of my mouth. It wasn’t a forethought nor an afterthought. I wasn’t anything I had even considered. It just came out of my mouth as part of my decision. There was nothing that I did to conjure up that expression.
I have hoped time and time again, that I would occasionally receive witnesses from the Lord that I was on the right path in life. That did it for me. I have had this continual sense of profound amazement since that day. It has been 38 years since I received my blessing and it all of a sudden felt as relevant today as when I received it.