Linda's Brother Mike:
My name is Mike Stoecklein. I am Linda’s oldest brother. On behalf of all of my family, I want to thank you all for coming here this evening. It means a lot to us.
Our mom died in 1982, and after our Dad passed away in 1986, I started what has become known as the “family letter”. I sent a letter to Mark. He added a letter and sent his and mine on to Dave, who sent it on to Dale and so on. When it comes back to me, I take my old letter out, add a new one and on it goes. Mike, Mark, David, Dale, Linda, Mary, Paul, Ted. Repeat over and over again. That letter has been going around and around unbroken for about 20 years. The purpose of the family letter was to help us stay connected, and it has worked.
It really is exciting to get the family letter when it comes around. We include photos, videos and even recipes. It’s always good to hear from everyone.
The family letter came around to me last Friday. And I set about to write my letter and keep the process going. Then came Saturday and the world stopped. We will get it going again and we’ll keep it going. John, we intend to include you in the rotation. Mike, Mark, David, Dale, John, Mary, Paul, Ted. Around we will go.
Although I enjoy reading letters from all of my brothers and sisters, I must admit that I especially enjoyed reading Linda’s. Let me share some of my favorite excerpts:
January, 2000 – “School is fine. I go back and forth thinking that I should apply to a public school. That way, at least I would get paid to put up with the crappy complaining. I guess you get that in any job. I’m sick of people treating me like they own me. Working with the kids is fine; it’s the adults I can’t stand. So I’m fine.”
May, 2002 – “Yay! The family letter is here!!! Yay! The Brady Bunch movie is on!!! Yay! I only have nine days of school left!”
July, 2002 – “Dental update: Went to the dentist to today. Had some fillings done. My chest provided a nice, flat surface on which to place dental instruments when not in use.”
August, 2002 – “Car update: John hit 2 coyotes the other night. His car is in the shop…again. I still say that his guardian angel is going to beat the crap out of him when he gets to heaven…”That’s for the deer! That’s for wading through the flooded basement! That’s for hanging out over the edge of the roof!”
July, 2003 – “Did you know that padded push-up bras for those of us who really need them cost $9.89 while the same kind of bra for sizes 36B on up only cost $2.49? This pisses me off! (Just got back from Wal-mart. Now I’m depressed.)”
February 2004 – “If corporal punishment was legal, only have of my class would still be alive. That’s all I have to say about that.”
Also in February, 2004, in a “personal note” to Paul – “I make John do all the talking when it comes to home repair and dealing with people and stuff, too. (The only problem is he makes friends with everyone, and then I’m stuck with them for life.)
July, 2004 – “Home improvement is coming along. Got a b-b-gun to shoot the squirrels that are ruining our roof and attic and everything in it. Problem is I can’t see. I’ve never been able to aim worth crap anyway.”
December, 2004, another “personal” to Paul – “I hate contractors too. We do all of our projects ourselves…and it shows”
June, 2005 – “We’re going to < xml="true" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" prefix="st1" namespace="">
July, 2006 – “We had a great time at Mike & Peg’s. Thanks Mike and Peg. Mike fixed the potato gun after some of you left. We almost took out a boat and a couple of water skiers. But we didn’t get caught.”
April, 2008 – (in the letter I jut got in the mail) “I wish the family reunion was this summer instead of next because I miss all of you guys…and your little dog, too!!! It will be here soon enough, though…probably two more round-robin letters and I’ll get to see everyone.”
Let me close with my absolute favorite. I think you’ll see why. It comes from September, 2007 –
“Here’s a success story. About a million years ago when I was teaching in
I shared a draft of this with a colleague at work. His name is Alan. He is a part of our
We love you Linda. And we’ll miss you.
Linda's Brother Mark:
The following is a paraphrase of the eulogy given at Linda’s funeral on June 4, 2008
Text
2 Corinthians
4:1-12
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
4:16-18
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
5: 1-9
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. “
So much has been said about Linda and how she lived. Thanks Mike for sharing all of those great letters from Linda. It feels good to laugh. My mind is flooded with memories and we will all miss her so very much. But on the other hand, we can rejoice tonight in the reality of the fact that Linda is with the Lord. And that, after all, was the plan from before time began anyway; that she should be brought to eternal glory; that she might praise the Lord Jesus Christ forever.
While we mourn her loss deeply, I have to admit that I would not want her back if it would mean taking her away, even for a moment, from the joy she has now found. So I would like to take just a few moments to expand a little on the scripture that Jody read earlier tonight.
The Apostle Paul brings up over and over the fact that we live our daily lives on the edge of death. He knew that every day could be the last day that he would live. He lived with the imminent reality of death constantly in his life. And he refers to it repeatedly in 2nd Corinthians. But he sums up his perspective by saying: "Therefore ... we do not lose heart." If there's anything that should cause you to become ultimately discouraged or to lose heart, it would be to face death every day; to realize that even though you may have been healthy, that this could be your last day; even though you had great plans and you felt like there were things to do and there was some measure of necessity for you being around, That you could, at any moment….die.
Most people in the world today can’t say that they do not lose heart in the time of death. Most people, when they lose someone as close to them as Linda has been to us, lose themselves. They lose their heart. They are shaken by death. They find themselves in despair. They question “why” and often it takes a lot of time to gain back the heart that fails them in the time of death.
To be able to look death squarely in the face and say, "We do not lose heart," is to have ultimately conquered the greatest enemy of men. The Bible tells us in Hebrews that Satan holds men in bondage to the "fear of death" all their life long. It is the greatest fear. It is the ultimate fear. But when you come to the place where you have conquered that fear, you have conquered the ultimate enemy. So I want to look just briefly at a few reasons the apostle Paul could say that: "We do not lose heart."
1. Eternal Glory
We do not lose heart first of all because we don’t look at what is temporal. We do not look at what can be obviously seen externally because when you do that, all you see is what Paul calls the "outer man decaying." So he says, "We do not lose heart," though our outer man is decaying. And the reason we don't lose heart is because we're really looking past that. And that is the great reality of the Christian faith.
We can look right at death; we see through the spiritual façade behind it and recognize the truth; that death is not a function of the temporal, but of the eternal. And that is really why we can laugh like we laughed at these letters Mike just read…even in the midst of our tears; because death really holds no fear for the Christian, it holds no sting, when you see beyond it. It is a temporary and light affliction in light of eternal glory.
2. Eternal Body
We also do not lose heart because we look beyond the mortal body and see an eternal body. The text says we hold this treasure in a fragile, earthen vessel, but when death comes, the believer is immediately transformed into an eternal vessel without flaw. He says "We know that If the earthly tent which is our house," this body, "...is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands," that is, not in the normal human way.” What we see here today is not the end of life, but the beginning of life as we would really like to live it. And what awaits Linda, of course, at the great resurrection awaits all of us who know Christ. And that is a glorious body just like the body of Christ, the same as his resurrection body; a body free from sin, a body that can eternally live and traverse the glories of the eternal heavens and earth as they will be recreated in the future. So we see the decay of one body which goes into the ground; dust to dust, as scripture says. But at the same time, we see a glorious new body; without illness, without sorrow, without sadness, without tears, without crying, without sin, without temptation; a body suited to praise and honor God forever and ever. And that is being prepared for all those who love Christ.
3. Eternal Fellowship
We do not lose heart because there is a promise of eternal fellowship.
It says in Verse 6: "Therefore, being always of good courage, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord." And further, he says that he prefers, rather "to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." That is the perspective of a Christian.
We're not at home here. We're really absent from home here. We make a home here, but we are not at home. We have a family; we have marriage; we have friends, we have relationships and to a certain degree, we get the idea of what heavenly fellowship will be like. But we are absent from the Lord. We are absent from His presence, and from our eternal home. So this is not where our home is. We are just passing through.
And so when a believer leaves this world to go into glory, they enter into an eternal fellowship. Linda knew and we know that when we die we have the great opportunity to again be with Mom and Dad and all the others who have gone before us. When I was a little boy, I remember, we would have these big family gatherings and I didn’t always know who was who. I knew those people were relatives, but to me they were just strangers. In Heaven, you’re going to know everybody. We’ll not only recognize Linda and Mom and Dad, we’ll know Adam, and Abraham and Lazarus and Paul and millions of others. Sometimes I think about that fact and I get all focused on the reunions we’ll have in heaven, but what I’m most anxious for is the opportunity to meet Jesus face to face .The greatest fellowship of heaven isn't going to be with believers. The greatest fellowship in heaven is going to be with the Savior. That's the great hope of heaven.
4. Eternal Reward
And then there's one final thing that Paul talks about in the eternal scale. We don’t lose hope because there is the promise of eternal reward.
As I was flying here from
We have said a lot about how Linda lived and how she gave. Someone (I think it was Ted) told me that every day Linda packed an extra lunch to take to school just in case one of her students forgot theirs. Giving was just a part of who she was. The Bible says that we should store up treasure in heaven and that one of the ways we do that is to give to those who are less fortunate that we are. You know, when I die, one of the first places I want to go see is Linda’s place. I want to see what God can do with the kind of gifts Linda gave.
So we come to an occasion like this and we don't lose heart, because we see what is eternal. We see what can't be seen with the eye, but it can only be perceived through an understanding of the word of God. We see eternal glory, an eternal body, eternal purpose, eternal fellowship, eternal fulfillment and an eternal reward. And we do not lose heart. In fact, just the opposite. We rejoice and we thank God for this wonderful life, and for God bringing this life to its great coronation, because that is exactly what has happened in heaven. Because of a decision Linda made on earth, the moment she left her earthly body and opened her eyes in Heaven, she began to live….forever.
I encourage you today that as you remember Linda and as you go through the process of dealing with death, that you do not lose heart. Do not see Linda’s death as it seems, but as it truly is…her coronation in Heaven.
Linda's Friend Michael Shuttic:
Pristine and direct. Natural and true.
Exist in nature though more difficult to find.
To be fortunate enough to be touched by such,
Elicits life and builds memories of a special kind.
Destinations unknown as each journey unfolds.
Winding paths lead us to experiences anew.
If we are patient and aware with eyes open wide,
There are glorious moments to behold--but a few.
Grateful for crossing my path.
Glad to have paid attention.
-mws
June 08
Linda's Friend and Principal of Sacred Heart Catholic School: to be added