My Father’s Eyes

By Darla Capello

My Father’s Eyes is the testimony of God’s grace and working throughout the life of the author. It is the story of how God has faithfully and patiently guided her through some of the hardest trials of her life and the way an extraordinary God has worked in an ordinary life.
Names have been changed to protect the privacy of certain individuals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665571371

Darla Capello

Although born in rural Oklahoma, Darla was raised in the bayous of Louisiana by her educator mother and boat captain step-father along with her four other half and step siblings. She earned a diploma in Accounting from Ascension Vocational Technical School and is a 1992 graduate of Nicholls State University with a BS in Education. She taught middle school mathematics for six years where she also served as head of the math department. She has spent the last few decades working in accounting and is also a Louisiana Notary Public. Darla was raised and has attended primarily Baptist churches in addition to being taught spiritual and Biblical truths by her mother and grandmother. Besides her personal relationship and experience with the Lord, she has witnessed God’s working in the lives of friends and family.

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2022 Darla Capello. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/22/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7138-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7137-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022917421

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English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV) The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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For my children,

the best blessings that God has ever bestowed on me.

I am so thankful that He made us a family.

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1 This Tapestry

Chapter 2 Christian Heritage

Chapter 3 A Single Red Rose

Chapter 4 Mama’s Mermaid

Chapter 5 Asperger’s Syndrome

Chapter 6 Forgiveness

Chapter 7 Adoption

Chapter 8 God’s Timing

Chapter 9 Angels Unaware

Chapter 10 Laughter

Chapter 11 I Hope You Dance

Chapter 12 Precious Mess

Chapter 13 Jehovah Rapha

Chapter 14 Secrets

Chapter 15 My Father’s Eyes

Chapter 16 Cancer and COVID

Afterword

PREFACE

There is nothing like a good testimony. I enjoy reading how God has transformed a person’s life through His saving grace, like the way God turned David Berkowitz from a serial killer into a Son of Hope, or the supernatural way that God protected Corrie ten Boom while in the Nazi concentration camp Ravensbruck.

My unique testimony is a tribute to a loving Heavenly Father who has been continuously working in my life, even when I didn’t realize it. It is the story of a great God who did not turn His back on me when I was trying to turn my back on Him. It is the story of how God has faithfully and patiently guided me through some of the darkest and deepest emotional, physical, and spiritual battles. I have tried to relate in this book the way an extraordinary God can work in an ordinary life.

I have been through many mountains and valleys, and even deeper valleys still. I have run a gauntlet of emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual journeys that all culminate in the same conclusion: God is always faithful. In order to understand the magnitude of God’s working and provision, you need to know the events that shaped my life. Make no mistake, I do not wish things had happened differently. God used the people and events in my life to form the person I am today. I have found that dwelling on I wish and the what-ifs serves no productive purpose.

It is said that truth is stranger than fiction. It certainly seems to be so in my case. People who have heard my story, or even just parts of my story, have encouraged me to write about God’s presence and working throughout my life. So I have recorded what I believe are the most notable experiences.

I have learned four absolute truths about God.

1) He always answers prayers. No and wait are as legitimate answers as yes.

2) His will is inevitably in our best interest.

3) Nothing is impossible for God.

4) His timing is perfect.

So the following stories are the good, the bad, the ugly, and the delightful that God has lead me to share. It is my prayer that God will use this book to touch and inspire each person who reads it with something special just for them, and that through my