The Kringle has arrived!!! And the blueberry traveled well. Blueberry is now our all time favorite!
Thanks Wisconsin family
Thursday, December 20, 2007
KRINGLE
The Kringle has arrived!!! And the blueberry traveled well. Blueberry is now our all time favorite!
Thanks Wisconsin family
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
It's Christmas Time
It is Christmas time here at 42 East Main Street. When Elizabeth and I came home from Italy my lovely friends and family, Rob, Laura, Carol and Andy, had put the candles in all the windows of the house and the glow of the lights was a welcoming sight. I usually put them in right before Thanksgiving to welcome home my children who are not currently living with us. It was heartwarming to see them as we turned up the street.
We did get a large thin tree which is up and just loaded with lights, minus ornaments but looking festive and filling the house with woodsy pine smell. There is one gift under the tree. I also found the Christmas stockings, a small miracle, up in the barn attic. I was anxious about going to look for them because I thought perhaps I would not find them, and stockings are our favorite thing on Christmas morning, and I was also not too interested in spending much time outside when it was 0 degrees.
Perhaps the best indication that Christmas is here at 42 is the Christmas smells. Laura started baking Christmas cookies!! She made two batches of Spritz, Jon's favorite, and one batch of Vanilla Christmas cookies, a Williamson favorite and Christmas necessity. Yesterday she made gingerbread men. We're on our way to having lovely Christmas treats.
And yes, it is snowing again. We got another 12 inches over the weekend and it is currently snowing heavily. The birdbath outside the back door is completely covered in snow and because it has disappeared the dogs are constantly running into it. It will certainly be a white Christmas here in the North Country. Greg, Jon and Laura are all going sleding shortly. We'll post pictures later.
We did get a large thin tree which is up and just loaded with lights, minus ornaments but looking festive and filling the house with woodsy pine smell. There is one gift under the tree. I also found the Christmas stockings, a small miracle, up in the barn attic. I was anxious about going to look for them because I thought perhaps I would not find them, and stockings are our favorite thing on Christmas morning, and I was also not too interested in spending much time outside when it was 0 degrees.
Perhaps the best indication that Christmas is here at 42 is the Christmas smells. Laura started baking Christmas cookies!! She made two batches of Spritz, Jon's favorite, and one batch of Vanilla Christmas cookies, a Williamson favorite and Christmas necessity. Yesterday she made gingerbread men. We're on our way to having lovely Christmas treats.
And yes, it is snowing again. We got another 12 inches over the weekend and it is currently snowing heavily. The birdbath outside the back door is completely covered in snow and because it has disappeared the dogs are constantly running into it. It will certainly be a white Christmas here in the North Country. Greg, Jon and Laura are all going sleding shortly. We'll post pictures later.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
42 East Main Street
We are all back at 42 East Main Street. It is Christmas time and we have put up a few decorations. The crew finally found a tree and set it up in the usual place. I put about 700 lights on it yesterday but we've decided to leave the ornaments off this year. This Christmas is different, harder, sadder, but we are "home", except for one, and we will find help and comfort with each other and the Lord.
Like Elizabeth, I will not write much about last Tuesday and Wednesday. Not yet. The one part of the interment which was so gripping was the fly over by the four Blackhawks. We were just seated and the four flew over the grave site. And we cried because we remembered he was a pilot who could operate that huge machine over deserts, river beds and mountains. The Secretary of the Army was there and he shook hands with the five of us and we received his condolences. Elizabeth had a private meeting with General Casey, the Chief of Staff of the Army, on Monday evening in his office. Christian had flown him around a few months ago while he was in Europe. He was kind. They spoke about many things, he seemed humble.
A private tour of the White House was arranged for Phil, Kay, Rob and myself, conducted by Lieutenant Commander Cindy Cambell, the director of adminstration. It was beautiful, a special treat for all of us. We even got to go to places that others vistors were not allowed. One of those places was the flower room where they prepare all the floral arrangements and centerpieces. We spoke at length with the florists there and even got some "tips" about arrangements and containers. We did see the Bush's private Christmas card for this year. They used a scripture from Zachariah 9:16,17, "And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty." I thought that was really wonderful that the President of our country would use that beautiful scripture in his personal Christmas card.
It's hard to be back here without him, especially at Christmas time. The blizzard and extemely low temperatures have made it more difficult and we seem to vent our anger and frustration on those temporal things. Elizabeth and Christian had hoped and dreamed about so many things. Dreams and plans that turned to ashes with the accident. However, it is evident that it becomes our enemies business to keep us in the valley of grief, gloom and anguish so he can keep our spirits imprisoned. But we choose not to make any agreements with the assaults, thoughts and suggestions of our enemy. I am using the portion of Zachariah's prophecy about his son John as a prayer for all here, "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace".
"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." Micah 7:8
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Christian's Memorial
On November 4, 1976, a nurse approached my husband in the OR waiting room with a new born wrapped in a pink blanket and said, Dr. Nordberg, "here is your little princess." And 31 years later on November 4, 2007, her prince walked into a crowded restaurant and gave her the best birthday present that year, himself. She was prepared to spend this birthday without him, he was on a mission far away, and could not get home. Her friends decided to take her out to eat but he, liking surprises as he did, rented a car and drove many hours to surprise her at the restaurant and spend the day with her. It was a wonderful benediction to their 16 months of marriage.
When our son, Jon, went to Wheaton he joined the hockey team as an exta curricular activity, along with a big 6 foot 4 guy from Wisconsin. They developed a fast friendship and the rest of the Nordberg clan met him at several parents weekends and at various hockey games. They graduated and went their seperate ways but stayed in contact. Before Christian's first tour to Korea, he visited Jon in Texas where Jon was then living with his sister, Elizabeth and brother, Christian. Although Elizabeth and he had met before a relationship was started on the way to his first tour of duty. The following summer Jon tells me that Christian Skoglund will join our family reunion at our camp for 5 days before going home to Wisconsin. He showed up straight from Korea, and despite minimal sleep was one of the first ones up in the morning to get started with this thing that we call camp. We were all there, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins siblings and friends. My Dad was a WW2 B 17 pilot and Christian spoke with him for a long time about their similar passion, flying. Dad had health issues but Christian treated him with respect and honor and I think it was the first conversation my Dad had really been interested in for a long time. I was so appreciative and blessed by that interaction. Unexectedly, I had to take my folks to the airport during the reunion and while I was gone Christian, the new guy, organized the whole crew of young people, and they totally cleaned the camp,the refrigerator was emptied and cleaned, rugs went out and floors swept, and bathroom sanitized. And I thought wow, he must have a great mother. He was thinkng about what would please his mom and doing it for me. And I was hooked. He then proceed to take over the cooking of the bacon, the making of breakfasts, the bon fires and scattagories, canasta and scrabble games and he became the sole driver of all of our water craft. He was one of us immediately. The aunts liked him, the cousins thought him handsome and strong, Greg, our honorary brother, idolized him, the grandparents thought he had great character, the brothers thought they inherited another sibling and Rob and I prayed, is this the one Lord? Is this the one for our beloved daughter?
Their relationship developed mostly through long distance phone calls over the next year, at least one a day. He sent her international calling cards, "call whenever you want". And they developed great communication skills. They spoke about their families, their friends, their Christian commitments, their churches and ministries, their interests, hobbies, their travels, their occupations, their plans and future, their hopes and dreams. Letters began to arrive with Christian's handiwork inside, oragami animals. And soon she had a menagarie. Creative and unique gifts came. Photo albums made from old army uniforms, a purse which was originally a gas mask carrier, Mashi, a little white Korean cartoon bear, which she still sleeps with. She went to Korea for three weeks. Could she do this military thing? Then he was stationed in Alabama for 6 months and I think he must have spent his whole pay check on airline tickets each weekend to South Carolina, for time at the beach, New Years in New York and Boston for the marathon. Where ever Liz was on the weekend, he was there. And then a deployment to Kuwait.
Sometime during that period everyone knew this prince had found his princess and we were happy . Elizabeth and Christian planned a wedding for over 15 months, a long time even by the most conservative of wedding planning books. The whole wedding week was like a fairy tale. We all had so much fun. Many of you were present and we enjoyed meeting Christian's family and friends. During the rehearsal brunch, Phil asked for people to share and many of Christian's friends and family share snippets of his life. Joy, fun, adventure, embracing life and people were prominent. And I thought there is something redemptive about joy and happiness and being a people person. People are drawn to it and all different sorts of people were drawn to Christian. And I remember thinking and saying "I wonder what God could do with a helicopter pilot and a nurse". On July 2, 2007, their first anniversary, Elizabeth wrote on her blog one sentence. "I love being married!" Christian was a wonderful husband, lover and friend.
When something like this helicopter crash happens we all are rocked, staggered and tramatized, the very core of our being is assaulted. And we know that it is not right. We all know that verse in John that says, the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy and yet we are surprised, shocked and angered when it happens to us personally. We don't want it to happen to us. And we have never believed it could happen to us. No, but, somehow we get a fresh awareness that we are at war here in this earth, we have an enemy and we are in his sights. It's been this way since Adam subjegated himself to our Father's supreme enemy. But we also have a supreme commander who has a victory plan for this battle and it works. Our weapons are not carnal He tells us, but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds and every high thing that would exalt itself against the most High. He has given us a plan of attack and a perscription and health care plan for the wounded. He is aware of our heart and the issues of our hearts, he knows our pain. He has given us the knowledge of the beginning from the end. He has given us a Comforter, one to heal our hearts and show us the way. He has given to those of us who remain a hope and purpose for our life, even though Christian has gone before us, too soon.
Our experience with the military these past few weeks,and how they honor their fallen brothers, was amazing and awe inspiring. They are a band of brothers, a family of sorts,united by singleness of purpose. The ceremonies and comaradrie was wonderful to witness, but it would and could never take away the pain that Elizabeth is experiencing with the lose of her husband. However, Elizabeth reminded us at the Ramp ceremony that Christian had deep faith, not only in his Savior but also in us who remain. He would want us to lift our heads, she said, and go forward in faith and victory. He would want us to remember that we are not a people without hope and he would want us to be victorious and take on this battle, even though he is not here to help us. And he would want us to stand on the verse from Nahum, "The Lord is good. a refuge in the time of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."
When our son, Jon, went to Wheaton he joined the hockey team as an exta curricular activity, along with a big 6 foot 4 guy from Wisconsin. They developed a fast friendship and the rest of the Nordberg clan met him at several parents weekends and at various hockey games. They graduated and went their seperate ways but stayed in contact. Before Christian's first tour to Korea, he visited Jon in Texas where Jon was then living with his sister, Elizabeth and brother, Christian. Although Elizabeth and he had met before a relationship was started on the way to his first tour of duty. The following summer Jon tells me that Christian Skoglund will join our family reunion at our camp for 5 days before going home to Wisconsin. He showed up straight from Korea, and despite minimal sleep was one of the first ones up in the morning to get started with this thing that we call camp. We were all there, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins siblings and friends. My Dad was a WW2 B 17 pilot and Christian spoke with him for a long time about their similar passion, flying. Dad had health issues but Christian treated him with respect and honor and I think it was the first conversation my Dad had really been interested in for a long time. I was so appreciative and blessed by that interaction. Unexectedly, I had to take my folks to the airport during the reunion and while I was gone Christian, the new guy, organized the whole crew of young people, and they totally cleaned the camp,the refrigerator was emptied and cleaned, rugs went out and floors swept, and bathroom sanitized. And I thought wow, he must have a great mother. He was thinkng about what would please his mom and doing it for me. And I was hooked. He then proceed to take over the cooking of the bacon, the making of breakfasts, the bon fires and scattagories, canasta and scrabble games and he became the sole driver of all of our water craft. He was one of us immediately. The aunts liked him, the cousins thought him handsome and strong, Greg, our honorary brother, idolized him, the grandparents thought he had great character, the brothers thought they inherited another sibling and Rob and I prayed, is this the one Lord? Is this the one for our beloved daughter?
Their relationship developed mostly through long distance phone calls over the next year, at least one a day. He sent her international calling cards, "call whenever you want". And they developed great communication skills. They spoke about their families, their friends, their Christian commitments, their churches and ministries, their interests, hobbies, their travels, their occupations, their plans and future, their hopes and dreams. Letters began to arrive with Christian's handiwork inside, oragami animals. And soon she had a menagarie. Creative and unique gifts came. Photo albums made from old army uniforms, a purse which was originally a gas mask carrier, Mashi, a little white Korean cartoon bear, which she still sleeps with. She went to Korea for three weeks. Could she do this military thing? Then he was stationed in Alabama for 6 months and I think he must have spent his whole pay check on airline tickets each weekend to South Carolina, for time at the beach, New Years in New York and Boston for the marathon. Where ever Liz was on the weekend, he was there. And then a deployment to Kuwait.
Sometime during that period everyone knew this prince had found his princess and we were happy . Elizabeth and Christian planned a wedding for over 15 months, a long time even by the most conservative of wedding planning books. The whole wedding week was like a fairy tale. We all had so much fun. Many of you were present and we enjoyed meeting Christian's family and friends. During the rehearsal brunch, Phil asked for people to share and many of Christian's friends and family share snippets of his life. Joy, fun, adventure, embracing life and people were prominent. And I thought there is something redemptive about joy and happiness and being a people person. People are drawn to it and all different sorts of people were drawn to Christian. And I remember thinking and saying "I wonder what God could do with a helicopter pilot and a nurse". On July 2, 2007, their first anniversary, Elizabeth wrote on her blog one sentence. "I love being married!" Christian was a wonderful husband, lover and friend.
When something like this helicopter crash happens we all are rocked, staggered and tramatized, the very core of our being is assaulted. And we know that it is not right. We all know that verse in John that says, the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy and yet we are surprised, shocked and angered when it happens to us personally. We don't want it to happen to us. And we have never believed it could happen to us. No, but, somehow we get a fresh awareness that we are at war here in this earth, we have an enemy and we are in his sights. It's been this way since Adam subjegated himself to our Father's supreme enemy. But we also have a supreme commander who has a victory plan for this battle and it works. Our weapons are not carnal He tells us, but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds and every high thing that would exalt itself against the most High. He has given us a plan of attack and a perscription and health care plan for the wounded. He is aware of our heart and the issues of our hearts, he knows our pain. He has given us the knowledge of the beginning from the end. He has given us a Comforter, one to heal our hearts and show us the way. He has given to those of us who remain a hope and purpose for our life, even though Christian has gone before us, too soon.
Our experience with the military these past few weeks,and how they honor their fallen brothers, was amazing and awe inspiring. They are a band of brothers, a family of sorts,united by singleness of purpose. The ceremonies and comaradrie was wonderful to witness, but it would and could never take away the pain that Elizabeth is experiencing with the lose of her husband. However, Elizabeth reminded us at the Ramp ceremony that Christian had deep faith, not only in his Savior but also in us who remain. He would want us to lift our heads, she said, and go forward in faith and victory. He would want us to remember that we are not a people without hope and he would want us to be victorious and take on this battle, even though he is not here to help us. And he would want us to stand on the verse from Nahum, "The Lord is good. a refuge in the time of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Home
We arrived in NYC on Saturday afternoon. The city, as always, was beautifully decorated for Christmas. One of our annual Nordberg family traditions has been to go down to the city and enjoy the magnificient store window decorations, hotels, Rockefeller Center, the parks, streets and the churches. NYC does December over the top.
The sparkle of the city just didn't seem right this year. Everyone is bussling around, selecting gifts, putting up decorations, having parties. And Elizabeth is planning yet another memorial service, funeral and burial. And we are sad and grieving all over.
I love Christmas. Not just all the decorations but the giving and loving part, the being with family, the candles in the windows, the sights and smells of pines and cookies baking. We remember that God is love and that He gave. 2 Corinthians 9:15 says, "thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." And it does seem almost unspeakable that God would reach down into our humanity to become one of us. As I read over the account in Luke and Matthew during my quiet time in the mornings now, I have a different perspective. It is a wonderful story, but I can see it was not all happiness and light for those involved. Mary was willing and obedient, but it cost her dearly. She really could not know fully what saying "be it unto me according to your word.", would actually mean in her life. I'm sure her nine months of pregnacy were troubled by misperceptions and wrong interpretations. Thank goodness the Word tells us that Joseph was a just man, not willing to make Mary a public example. He thought before acting and gave God an opportunity to explain the situation. The birth was wonderful and glorious, even though in humiliating surroundings. However, her heart must have caught in her throat when they brought Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord. Simeon gives her a little glimpse into their future, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;, yes, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also....",. there is trouble coming. And she kept these things and pondered them in her heart.
The wise men come to worship and bring gifts when Jesus is a young child, living in a home by then. And a tyrant king brings horror and grief to a small town, killing all of it's children. Mary, Joseph and Jesus barely excape. Jesus is not immuned to sadness and lose. His cousin, John, is beheaded during his ministry. A weak king, a slut of a girl and a vindictive wife cause the death of his friend and cousin, who is the same age as Jesus. It is not right.
And yet I see the love and compassion of our Father through this all. Life is a struggle but Jesus has prevailed over it all. He is victorious and He has the keys now to death and hell. And many are pouring into the kingdom. Joy, happiness, salvation, health and deliverance have been poured out among us through His sacrifice.
And I pray that Elizabeth will come again with joy and purpose and a sense of His presence. And that we all will be filled with a sense of wonder and love during this time when we are grieving and sorrowful about the loss of a husband and lover, a son, a brother, a friend and everything else he was to all.
The sparkle of the city just didn't seem right this year. Everyone is bussling around, selecting gifts, putting up decorations, having parties. And Elizabeth is planning yet another memorial service, funeral and burial. And we are sad and grieving all over.
I love Christmas. Not just all the decorations but the giving and loving part, the being with family, the candles in the windows, the sights and smells of pines and cookies baking. We remember that God is love and that He gave. 2 Corinthians 9:15 says, "thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." And it does seem almost unspeakable that God would reach down into our humanity to become one of us. As I read over the account in Luke and Matthew during my quiet time in the mornings now, I have a different perspective. It is a wonderful story, but I can see it was not all happiness and light for those involved. Mary was willing and obedient, but it cost her dearly. She really could not know fully what saying "be it unto me according to your word.", would actually mean in her life. I'm sure her nine months of pregnacy were troubled by misperceptions and wrong interpretations. Thank goodness the Word tells us that Joseph was a just man, not willing to make Mary a public example. He thought before acting and gave God an opportunity to explain the situation. The birth was wonderful and glorious, even though in humiliating surroundings. However, her heart must have caught in her throat when they brought Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord. Simeon gives her a little glimpse into their future, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;, yes, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also....",. there is trouble coming. And she kept these things and pondered them in her heart.
The wise men come to worship and bring gifts when Jesus is a young child, living in a home by then. And a tyrant king brings horror and grief to a small town, killing all of it's children. Mary, Joseph and Jesus barely excape. Jesus is not immuned to sadness and lose. His cousin, John, is beheaded during his ministry. A weak king, a slut of a girl and a vindictive wife cause the death of his friend and cousin, who is the same age as Jesus. It is not right.
And yet I see the love and compassion of our Father through this all. Life is a struggle but Jesus has prevailed over it all. He is victorious and He has the keys now to death and hell. And many are pouring into the kingdom. Joy, happiness, salvation, health and deliverance have been poured out among us through His sacrifice.
And I pray that Elizabeth will come again with joy and purpose and a sense of His presence. And that we all will be filled with a sense of wonder and love during this time when we are grieving and sorrowful about the loss of a husband and lover, a son, a brother, a friend and everything else he was to all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
