Blessing Before the big day

I wanted to share about a special experience that I had a week ago with my family, but it requires some explanation for those that aren't familiar.  I need to explain the Priesthood, as I believe it to be and who has it and what you can do with it.  Although I am familiar and comfortable with the topic, I was struggling with the words to explain it... so I went to the source.  Here is the link to the following paragraph definition:

The priesthood is the eternal power and authority of God. Through the priesthood God created and governs the heavens and the earth. Through this power He redeems and exalts His children, bringing to pass “the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Many men in my church hold the Priesthood.  In fact, there are varying degrees of it and you can be ordained as young as 12.  My husband is a Priesthood holder and with that comes the ability to perform certain ordinances in the church.  This past Spring, he was able to baptize our daughter.  He can bless and pass the sacrament.  He can also put his hands on someone's head (with their permission, of course!) and give blessings of comfort, guidance, or healing.   This is what I asked him to do for me before my upcoming surgery.  I couldn't imagine going to into my surgery without getting a blessing first and was grateful to be able to ask my husband to do that for me.  

But the experience doesn't end there...  I actually asked him to do it months ago, when I first found out I needed surgery, but I asked him to wait until it got closer to the date.  This past week, we were on vacation with my entire family, minus 1 nephew who is currently serving a mission.  That means there was a small group of 32 of us in 1 house.  Last Sunday, I asked my dad and brothers and brother-in-laws to assist my husband in giving me that blessing prior to my surgery.

We called everyone together and I had the opportunity to explain a little about my cancer, bare my testimony to the children about how I knew I would be taken care of and that all would be well, and then my dad anointed me consecrated oil and then my husband, my dad, my 2 brothers, and my 2 brother-in-laws surrounded me and put their hands on my head as my husband gave me a blessing.  It was truly a beautiful moment for me.  

The word that I remember most from that blessing is courage.  I am not even sure why it stands out so much to me.  He blessed me that I would heal quickly and other things that you would expect to hear in a blessing of healing, but the word courage echoes in my mind the most.  I hope that I will have the courage I need to face the upcoming days.