VAYECHI AND HE LIVED

 Blessings and Cursings

In this week's Torah Portion, Jacob speaks both blessings and curses over his sons before his death. Some of what is spoken is shocking, stirring up ponderings such as the relationship between Jacob and his sons. Was there an undercurrent of seething anger and resentment? Did he suspect they may have had a role in Joseph's demise?  Then we read the famous words of Joseph...

I was shocked the day my earthly father slapped my tender teenage face, drawing both blood and bitterness. His powerful, angry voice sank into my young, impressionable soul. "You are just like my mother". The words he spoke over me that day were a prophetic curse.

 I, indeed, became just like his mother. An angry alcoholic, involved with one abusive man after another, never finding true love.  

My mother's many years of tearful prayers were heard by my Heavenly Father. He rescued me from that curse. On my earthly father's deathbed, Heavenly Father poured forth His Ruach through me; sweet words of blessing poured forth over my father as he went the way of his father's before him.

 Fathers have a crucial role in the lives of their young, impressionable children. The words spoken can establish a healthy self-image, or cruel, hasty words can devastate a little heart, planting a seed of self-doubt and self-hatred. These bad seeds can be the bedrock of various addictions to either illegal or legal substances. (Please consider other methods of silencing those curse words. Addiction comes in many various forms.)

The good news is this~

Perhaps some of you have shared my experience of hearing the Aaronic Blessing. Rico Cortes has a recording on YouTube. I  listened to this blessing every morning for weeks.  Sobbing, I rewound the recorded blessing repeatedly; the Ruach ministered to that little girl within me who never received her father's blessing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN8K96twMQo

I also attended a week-long Be in Health seminar in Thomaston, Georgia. There was a significant deliverance/healing activity attendees were led through, you guessed it! A Father's Blessing. The leader stated that one of the most significant wounds in a child's core is not receiving their father's blessing. During the healing activity, men volunteered as our fathers' stand-ins. Oh, the weeping and howling from the deepest parts of the women, releasing the deep pain pent up in the souls of these precious daughters. The lack of their daddy's love created a father wound. 

Core wounds. Soul wounds...

      The men responded just as deeply emotionally..not a dry eye with the brothers.

The very wounding the enemy has caused through a father's lack of loving care has held so many hostages for generations!

Hostage to bitterness, resentment, anguish, low self-esteem, self-hatred, shame, and blame numbed in a thousand different ways. 

Prisons are filled with men and women who yearn to hear "I love you" from their fathers.  Juvenile detention centers are filled with youth who also yearn for love and acceptance.  Both youth and adult, acting out the pain of empty hearts and wounded souls... core wounds. Some behind physical bars, some behind emotional bars. 

I have had the privilege of serving in jails and prisons...I have had the honor of hearing sorrowful stories of abuses of all sorts and the human drive to survive, forcing way too many to step into the parent role to protect younger siblings and provide for their needs neglected by absent parents.

The Adverse Childhood Experiences show us through solid research that core wounding has a lifelong impact, leading to all sorts of addictions and dysfunctional coping mechanisms. Even ill-health is connected to early childhood neglect. 

The Creator designed each of us to be loved and accepted and to belong somewhere safe, surrounded by people who love and appreciate us. The foundation is our families; our fathers and mothers are the primary providers for these needs to be met. When these needs are unmet, we seek ways to meet those needs. 

 The good news is that it can be healed! (Please see the resources below. If you are interested in learning more, reach out to me, and I will help you in any way I can.)

This week, I want to share a poem that depicts the impact of a "father wound."  I hope it blesses you. 

My Father’s Daughter

My father

A child in a grown man's body
selfish, self-absorbed, fearful, hypervigilant
arrested development rendering him immature
stuck in another time, another era
that of a child, rejected, abandoned by 
his own parents...alone, in a house of death
as he calls it...
built by his grandpa's own hands...
a place I called home...
till I fled as a teen...pregnant
fearful, self absorbed, 
filled with the same stuff...
that of arrested development...
stunted maturity...

addicted, afflicted by the same haunting
sins...of our fathers handed down...
alcoholism, shame, rage, pain...
addicted to food, to anything
to numb, to hide, to die...
a slow death 

Yes, you are your father's daughter...
I hear Father say...
but...I want you to be 
My daughter...
filled with My characteristics
Let Me give you a new heart
with a right Spirit
Let Me empty you of all the dross
and fill you with My love

Exodus 34:6
Berean Study Bible
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Sins-Of-The-Fathers

JPS Tanakh 1917
The LORD is full of compassion and gracious, Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

Nehemiah 9:17
They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Here are some resources that may help you on your journey to the heart of our Father. Shalom til next time!

PS  I would love to hear from you!

amoderndaysamaritanwoman@gmail..com

https://woundstoscars.com/

https://surehopecounseling.com/the-father-wound-understanding-problems-in-the-child-father-relationship/

Jack Frost Experiencing The Father's Love Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFByVMXxWMg&t=35s

Jack Frost Experiencing The Father's Love Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txdxv3Syw-c