{"id":650,"date":"2018-03-23T22:20:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T22:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/?p=650"},"modified":"2018-03-23T22:29:15","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T22:29:15","slug":"twice-blessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/23\/twice-blessed\/","title":{"rendered":"Twice blessed…"},"content":{"rendered":"

My dad looked at me with a gleam in his eye.\u00a0 A gleam that told me I was important, that I was loved.<\/p>\n

At the viewing before his funeral many people approached me, offering their love and condolences.\u00a0 I felt grateful for the support, but I also felt numb and lost.<\/p>\n

Until, with a tap on my shoulder, I turned to meet that same love filled gleam in the eye of another.<\/p>\n

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!<\/p>\n

Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A flood of peace washed over me as I fell into the embrace of a man who–though he had only been a part of my life for a short time–looked at me the same way my father had.\u00a0 He made me feel important, he made me feel loved and he made me feel safe.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I felt the spirit whisper, “Behold thy Father” and I knew–with the sweetest comfort–I wasn’t alone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My father-in-law’s death, sixteen years later, was sudden and surreal.\u00a0 He–like my dad–left way too soon.<\/p>\n

As I lay in his bed that night after he died, his spirit washed over me, engulfing me–with the sweetest comfort–in the warmth of his love.<\/p>\n

I miss him.\u00a0 Especially on days like today, his 75th birthday.\u00a0 I imagine what it would be like to have him here.\u00a0 To bake him a cake.\u00a0 To sing a song.\u00a0 And to hear his laughter.<\/p>\n

I want my kids to have their grandpa, both of their grandpas, and I want my dads.<\/p>\n

But though they are gone, I still feel them sometimes.\u00a0 With that familiar tap on my shoulder and spirit embrace.\u00a0 And I know they’re looking after me–the love filled gleam still shining in their eyes–reminding me I’m not alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My dad looked at me with a gleam in his eye.\u00a0 A gleam that told me I was important, that I was loved. At the viewing before his funeral many people approached me, offering their love and condolences.\u00a0 I felt grateful for the support, but I also felt numb and lost. Until, with a tap … Continue reading “Twice blessed…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":655,"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650\/revisions\/655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsforthisday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}