{"id":115,"date":"2014-05-21T12:47:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T12:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2014\/05\/21\/write-vision-wednesday-memorial-day\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T12:24:06","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T19:24:06","slug":"write-vision-wednesday-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/write-vision-wednesday-memorial-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Write the Vision Wednesday ~ Memorial Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n My dad was in the
\narmy, a veteran of the Korean conflict. He remained part of the National Guard
\nand served his country for forty years, from the fifties until the early
\nnineties, and then he received retirement papers the same week he received
\norders to report for duty in Operation Desert Storm. He was a little disappointed
\nwhen he didn\u2019t have to deploy.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nGuard duty took one
\nweekend a month, and I would always know that weekend was approaching because
\nhe\u2019d take out the shoe polish \u2013the paste in a can\u2014and his black lace-up
\ncombat boots and start working on them. I always loved to watch the process. He
\nshined the shoes with great care. And…I always wanted to help, so maybe it was
\nnatural that as I grew older, the task of boot duty fell to me.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWednesdays before
\nguard duty, he\u2019d bring me his boots, black paste polish, and stiff bristled brush.
\nMonth after month, year after year, those boots came back dull and dirty.
\nSometimes they needed more cleaning than others.<\/div>\n
\nEach month they
\nhad to pass inspection\u2014my dad\u2019s inspection, and when they didn\u2019t, my dad gave
\nme \u201cthe look.\u201d I knew my job hadn\u2019t been up to par, and he was going to have to
\nfix my shoddy work. With a dejected spirit, I\u2019d surrender the polish, brush,
\nand boots into his capable hands. He would buff and brush until he could see
\nhis reflection. My dad held me to a high standard and never wavered. Sometimes
\nI\u2019d insist those boots just couldn\u2019t hold a shine anymore, but he\u2019d always prove
\nme wrong. <\/div>\n
\nNow the years have
\npassed, and there are no more boots to shine. How I miss them. <\/div>\n
\nAs I look back I
\nrealize my dad wasn\u2019t just teaching me how to polish combat boots, he was
\nteaching me about life. Although at times we get dirty and dull, there is never
\na time when we can\u2019t be polished. Sometimes it takes a bit of work and extra
\neffort, but like those combat boots, no matter how dull, we can still hold a
\nshine. And sometimes we just have to surrender ourselves to the Hands of our
\nHeavenly Father who buffs and polishes until our lives reflect His image.<\/div>\n
\nI still miss the
\nclean scent of leather and the feel of the brush in my hand, and the knowledge
\nthat I had done a decent job in the eyes of my father. My dad wasn\u2019t a man who
\nspoke a lot, he instructed by deeds and actions. With a simple task my father
\ntaught me a great deal not only about shining boots, but also about Christian
\nlife.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBut He knoweth the way that I take: when He
\nhath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 My dad was in the army, a veteran of the Korean conflict. He remained part of the National Guard and served his country for forty years, from the fifties until the early nineties, and then he received retirement papers the same week he received orders to report for duty in Operation Desert Storm. He was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[83,84],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-memorial-day","tag-memories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}