Friday,Saturday,Sunday

Rob and I arrived in Venice around 2:00pm on Friday. We flew over the Alps which look austere, black, cold and threatening. Good friends of Liz and Christian's, Linda and Tony, picked us up at the airport and sped us home to Liz. She is still in her pajamas with Christian's big grey sweatshirt over her and my only thought is that I want to bring Christian back to her but I can't. We did not have too much time since Christian's boss from Germany came shortly afterwards, with several official people from Germany and Joel Springer, her causualty officer. They sat and spoke with us for some time in the living room, encouraging Elizabeth with words of affirmation about his skill as a pilot, a commander and a leader on the base. They told "Christian stories" and explained the plan for the week. Army generals will come at various times to express condolences, there will be a tea on Tuesday for all the families of the causualities, there will be a service at the plane which takes his body to Dover, and there will be a memorial service here on Thursday morning. He was loved and will be missed greatly. Joel sat with us for some time and explained the process that she will now go through.

They have made this place a home and they were happy here. They started their life out here with so many plans, and hopes, and dreams for the future. And every room in this house shouts out Christian. His touch is everywhere. He has framed all the pictures, places they have been, events have been captured and stored and framed. Furniture that he bought at the first auction he attended at Kipp Blanchard's two years ago. His presence is everywhere.

Rick and Darlene arrived after and we cry again. Liz's house was filled with wonderful, caring friends that they had made over this past year. They brought pillows, blankets, beds,food, water, and various other provisions. This is a very special community here that Christian and Elizabeth were involved in.

I hear from Ethan and he has gone after work to New Jersey. Ryan drives up after work too. The Pierces love on the boys, reassure and comfort and pray for them. Thank you Lord for providing a family when we could not be there.

Psalm 16:8,9 " I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore,my heart is glad and my glory rejoices, my flesh rests in hope".

Saturday, Joel comes around 1:30pm and we continue to go over things. The Skoglunds and my boys arrive and we are all together. We talk, we read the newspaper stories, we share heartaches, we gather around the table and sing the doxology. We set up beds around the house and passed out towels. Jon and Ethan passed out together on the couch along with Elizabeth's two dogs.

Sunday we are all up, although some of us have been up at 2:00am the past two nights for several hours, and off to church we go. The service is focused on God's grace in the midst of tragedy. Another lady in church lost her husband too. We are escorted upstairs after the service to meet with a three star general. He was so gracious, caring and concerned. He and his wife spent a lot of time with the families. Joel came to the house shortly after we arrived home to go over more details. We asked to go over to see Christian's office, Rob and our boys and Erik and Lars had not seen it, and that was approved. We all are driven by the military over to the base. And I was blown away. His whole office is Elizabeth and the Lord. That was his life, Elizabeth and the Lord, and it was there for everyone to see. There are pictures from the wedding on every wall and on his desk. He has Ecclesiastes 3:11-13, 22 framed on his wall. Verse 13 says that "every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is a gift of God." And that was Christian, he worked at something he loved and considered it a gift of God. Proverbs 9:9 was on a sticky note on his computer. "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will yet be wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning". I wept as I saw that his life was so dedicated to my daughter and the Lord. There was nothing more that I could have asked for. This was Christian when he did not know that anyone would be in his office, this was the real person, this was who he was. Dedicated to his Lord and his wife. Thank you so much Lord for him. Christian's dad suggested that we pray in the office which we did and it was so powerful. Rob and Phil will direct our families as we go through this grief together- thank you Father for two godly men who can lead their families to the light.