On February 4, 2012 we buried my father’s cremains. This was my personal tribute/memorial to my father on the day of his memorial service and interment.

    “We are here to celebrate the life of my dad, James Joseph Blaser, and not so much mourn his death. As we have gone through pictures, we have relived memories and had conversations about our family and the things that happened in our lives. My father said more than once that he would not live to see his children graduate high school and yet God has blessed us with 30 years more. He also said that when he died to be happy and dancing at his grave.

    When he was younger he was active in sports and in our lives. He coached us in baseball and helped us whenever he could in whatever we needed. After he was disabled he slowed down a little, but he kept us laughing, he was a practical joker. He loved his grandkids, they would go in and sit with him in his chair and just spend time with him.

Most of his time was spent in front of the T.V. If we wanted to spend time with him we would have to go into his world, watch what he wanted and accept him changing the channel every 2 minutes. He enjoyed watching movies, especially old westerns.

    My dad was an avid sports fan. He would tell you what teams he liked, Detroit Redwings, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Phoenix Suns, Ohio State, and the Arizona Wildcats. And for NASCAR he liked Richard Petty

He liked his handheld poker games and some matchup games, Bejeweled and Bugs Opera. He played Bugs Opera so much that it burned its image into the screen of the television.

My dad was disabled for 45 years of his life and in that time we saw him deteriorate little by little every day. December 23rd, 2011 he went into the hospital and it did not look like he would make it through the night. We fed him and helped him drink. It is a joy to feed a baby, and I asked him if he remembered feeding us and he said no, it was my mom’s job. For my mom, myself and my daughter Tiasia, to feed him was a humbling experience for us. At one point when we thought it was the end, he wanted coffee. My mom told me to get him coffee and I did. The nurse argued and said that if he drank coffee he might die, to which I responded, he is already dying, get him some coffee! He was a simple man and we got him simple coffee and for that he was thankful.

    The last 3 weeks of his life he was changed. T.V. was not so important. I was reading Exodus and started reading it to him. Then I changed it to the Gospel of John. Before he passed, we made it through the first 7 chapters. There was a verse that he asked me to read again, and it was John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This verse brought him peace. When we got to John 3:3 it says, Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He told my mom that he was sorry for things that he had done and if he could do it over again, he would do it differently. We could actually see the letters in red come to life. My dad told me that it was a big step accepting Jesus- believing, trusting, clinging to and relying on him.

The night before he passed we were reading John chapter 5, and at verse 42, Jesus is talking to the Jews and told them. “But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.” I told my dad that over these past few weeks that I have seen the love of God in him and he said that so had he. The physical food brought him some strength, the spiritual food brought him great peace. Not only peace with God but a peace of God.

    My dad-James Joseph Blaser was a brother, a husband, a dad, a grandpa, a neighbor, and friendly to all that he met. And I will always remember him as my friend.” 

It has been 13 years since we buried his cremains and I really do miss my Dad. The interesting thing I find is that my dad has affected more people for the kingdom after his death than in his life. I am thankful for the legacy that God gave my dad. It may have been short, but he is still gaining fruit. Thank you all for your encouragement and support. In Christ Love, douglas.

To any who are interested, please feel free to reach out to me with prayer requests, questions, encouragement, or for information on how to come alongside me in financial support of the ministry activities that God has entrusted to me at pastord.blog@gmail.com