Four

It is a Sunday afternoon in summer.  The first summer without Hans.  Manfred and Noah are three hundred miles away on a job in Anchorage.   Olivia, Josef and I are back home after church and have eaten our spaghetti, with ice cream for dessert.   Olivia leaves for work and Josef hops on his bike.   I …

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fireworks Just For Me

Light Show

Hans was a flashlight fanatic.  This, of course, led to a rechargeable battery habit.  He did not want to get caught on a highway emergency call without a good light.  Car repairs and other work at home often had to be done in the dark as well. So, not unexpectedly, this past Christmas Hans gave …

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Tenacious

Several years ago, high winds snapped a large spruce tree about half way up its trunk, sending the upper part of the tree crashing down onto the roof of our house as we slept. Damage was minimal, the roof was repaired, and the tree was cut up and hauled away for firewood. But the stump, …

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Old Yeller Truck

The other day I went to the yellow pickup to see if Hans left anything in there.  Sure enough, there was his Forestry Department issued clothing from when he worked last summer helping out for few days on the wildfire south of Nenana.  It was all folded up neat as a pin and piled on …

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Fall colors in an aspen forest, interior Alaska

Racket

This summer, our first without Hans, has been like no other.  In addition to Hans being gone, the rest of the family have been away from home for much of the summer work season. And it is very quiet. One of the first things that struck me after Hans went to be with Jesus, was …

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Trainwreck

“How are you doing?” Why does this question make me uncomfortable, almost panicky? It seems like a simple question to which I ought to be able to give a simple answer. But, in truth, it is a very complicated question. There is no short answer. No easy multiple choice answer other than “all of the …

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Colorful sunset and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The Facts

In This Post: Heavy sorrow is a normal response to the death of a loved oneGrieving is hard, healthy, exhausting work that can become counterproductive if indulged in too deeply for too long.Yes, it gets better.Together in the Lord Heavy sorrow is a normal response to the death of a loved one In the early …

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Joysorrow

“At first, I was shaken, but looking up, I recovered my strength…” -George Whitefield My son has died. Forward. That is the direction I need to be moving. Forward is where our son is. Forward is where I will see my Savior face to face. Moving forward is not the same as moving on. Moving …

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