Marie’s Father Speaks: “We do not want anger in our hearts”

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God the Creator, Inspiration, Jesus

Marie’s sister graciously gave permission to use this photo.

Yesterday an interview with Marie’s father, Pastor Antoine Schluchter, was posted online in the periodical La Liberté.   This incredible story was written by journalist Maud Tornare.  Here it is, translated to the best of my ability:

Marie’s Father:  “We do not want anger in our hearts”

It is after a long and heavy wait, full of hope and anguish, that Marie’s parents must now face the incomprehensible:  the death of their daughter, killed by an insane murderer shortly after her 19^th birthday.

“Although we have seen our daughter, we still cannot believe it.  We haven’t yet processed the irrevocable fact of her death,” confided Antoine Schluchter.  At the other end of the line, the voice of Marie’s father is fragile, broken by long silences that speak for themselves of the immense suffering her parents are enduring.

Their daughter Marie had been living since September with a friend of her father’s in Payerne where she was apprenticed in the restaurant of a golf club.  Born in Madagascar, the young woman went home regularly to visit her adoptive parents.

After living in France for many years, the family returned here five years ago.  Before the kidnapping, the couple had never heard of Claude duBois, the man with whom Marie had recently formed a relationship and who coldly murdered her and abandoned her body in the forest.

“We’re haunted by the fear she must have gone through,” said her father.  “But at the same time, my wife and I are borne up by a hope that is stronger than everything else.”

Pastor at Villars-sur-Ollon, Antoine Schluchter affirms that he finds the strength to overcome this trial through his faith in God.  “I often doubt myself, but never the love of Christ.  This tragedy has not weakened our confidence in God, but has strengthened it,” he explains, weighing each of his words carefully.

Marie’s parents want to express thanks for the incredible support they have received from their neighbors and also from complete strangers.  The tragedy has created an international solidarity that extends well beyond Switzerland.

“This support and this caring expressed by many are so important to us.  I learned that the members of a mosque in a Moroccan village prayed all night for our daughter.  This is something incredibly deep.  We have received support from the United States where our other daughter lives, and there have been so many gestures of friendship from people here, too,” the pastor recounted with great emotion.

Not the least sign of rebellion or anger appears in the words of Pastor Schluchter—not even toward the system of justice that allowed the murderer of his daughter, a man with a serious criminal past, to commit once again an irreparable wrong.

“I have only one wish:  that a tragedy like this one we are living through would bring about a realization, better follow-up and handling of cases like this.  What happened to my daughter is something incomprehensible, but we do not want to fill our hearts with anger nor be at the forefront of a battle that we do not care to fight.”

Marie’s sister shared this precious photo of Marie and her nephew.

What can one say after reading such a story?  Just this:

“To God be the glory” and “Dear God, please bless this dear family.”

 

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For Marie: Make Every Hour Count

Tags

God the Creator, Jesus, Love

I’m posting this from my other blog.  It has nothing to do with Narnia, and I thank God that it has nothing to do with my grandchildren, but it is every parent’s worst nightmare.  My heart is so full today that I cannot keep quiet.

http://zephyrhillfarm.blogspot.com/2013/05/for-marie-make-every-hour-count.html

Yesterday we got word that a distant family connection in Switzerland, our son-in-law’s sister-in-law, had been abducted by a convicted rapist-murderer.  He was released last year from a 20-year prison term after only 12 years and was out on house arrest.  Now 19-year old Marie was missing, and authorities feared the worst after he was apprehended and no trace of her could be found.

The news flashed around the world on Facebook, and people all around the world were praying for Marie, her pastor father and mother in Switzerland, and her sister’s family in America.  Marie’s family released a statement saying that they trusted in God and continued to speak of Marie in the present, but that if the worst happened, their hope endures beyond death.

This morning we received the tragic news that Marie’s body had been found.  Her family still does not know all the details, but they know that her fear and suffering are over and that Marie is at peace safe in God’s arms.  They are standing firm in their faith in God and are grateful for the prayers of so many around the world.

We knew Marie’s family when we lived in France, when she was a little girl.  We have not seen her since, but our hearts are full of grief for her and her family, understanding just a glimpse of the nightmare that is theirs.  This tragedy is something that we usually see on TV or read about happening to a total stranger in the newspaper.  But this time it has touched our world and rocked us and made us weep and made us think.

It has made me think about what is truly important in life.  If I knew that someone I loved had only a few hours left on earth before they met a tragic and terrifying end, what might I do differently?  I hope that I would be able to comfort myself that at least my loved one knew I loved them, that I had taken the time to tell them so, that the last time we said goodbye I had looked in their eyes and said “I love you” and hugged them goodbye.

By God’s grace, most of us will never experience anything so horrendous in our lives or the lives of our loved ones.  But I hope that Marie’s legacy will be that people all around the world make sure that everyone they love knows it right now!  Let’s tell them while we can.  Make every hour count for love.

In closing these thoughts I would like to share this beautiful poem that came into my daughter Jenny’s mind as she and Jean-Marc ran side-by-side on a warm sunny day.

Marie –

I wonder if she feels the wind on her face
Like heaven’s embrace
The Father welcoming her into His arms

I wonder if she sees the bright blue sky
Like heaven’s answer to “why”?
As she runs through eternity’s fields and farms

I wonder if she smells the blossoms
Of Paradise awesome
The Garden’s inviting charms

I wonder if she senses the warmth of the sun
Like heaven’s summons to fun
The Spirit keeping her warm

I wonder if she holds His hands
Like a daughter, she stands
As the Son removes from her all harm

I wonder if she tastes the waves and the sea
Of our tears and our glee
As she embraces true life in His arms

Jennifer Grace Lea

On the Fourth Day

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Cair Paravel Library, Dawn Treader, Design, God the Creator, Lighting, Narnia, The Lodge

“Then God said, ‘Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night.  Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years.  Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.’  And that is what happened.  God made two great lights–the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night.  He also made the stars.  God set these lights in the sky . . . and God saw that it was good.  And the evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.”  Genesis 1:14-19

If you count construction days, today was Day 44, but it was like the fourth day of creation.  It wasn’t quite as quick as God saying “Let there be light” and there was light.  It involved a whole day’s work by the crew from Helton Electrical, Chris, Nick and Jacob (and yes, his friends call themselves Team Jacob!)

Jacob got initiated into working at my house:  you never know when you’ll be on candid camera.  Chris and Nick already know!  After everything was cleaned up and they were gone, I gave Herb the Grand Tour.

First, Cair Paravel (can I call it the Library when there aren’t any shelves?)

You can see the great job Ben did yesterday covering the double LVL to make it look like a beam.  (I stained and poly’d the boards.)  It was really not a one man job, so David helped Ben hold the boards up.  He made cardboard templates to help him be sure of the tricky cuts and angles that were involved.

And thank you, Kara, for the beautiful light from your studio!  I took Chris and his crew over to her house this morning to “harvest” fixtures, but I made sure they knew that SHE was the one who offered them!  And I provided others they could put in for her so we weren’t leaving her in the dark.

 I love the reflections this light casts on the ceiling, and I can’t wait till the golden glaze in on the ceiling and walls to see how it looks then.

Next, on to The Lodge.

I had a limited amount of time to put the deck stain on these walls, so I made sure to do the one that would get the light fixture; no taping that way.

The main fixture still needs its fish basket, but it looks great.

Next, on to Mimi’s Cave.

We ran out of light bulbs, but I love the chandelier (another one from Kara).  And Kara, I really did tell them you were keeping the dangly crystals, but I guess they didn’t hear me.  Don’t worry, I’ll give them back.

And finally, Narnia!

The girls’ side with the Sun that Kara found in an antique store and the Lamp Post.

The boys’ side.

And a close-up one of the Dawn Treader berths with its ship-shape light for reading in bed and the porthole for bugging one’s sibling who’s trying to read in bed.

Chris and I were discussing his job, and he said he thinks he has the best job in construction because he gets to come back at the end and (after some hard work, of course) make everything look great with the flip of a switch.  I think their part is one of the most exciting because it’s such a sudden change.  The other stuff has happened gradually over 44 days, but suddenly after one single day, THIS IS REALLY LOOKING LIKE NARNIA!  This is what I’ve been seeing in my head for months and months!

Imaging the Creator

Tags

Colors & Paint, Decor, Design, God the Creator, Inspiration, Narnia, The Lodge

Jon and I did the second coat of the ceiling in Narnia today.  He had repainted the flat part of the ceiling with a second coat of Valspar’s “Filoli Garden Pool” (5003-10C).  We decided to use three colors on the walls.  The top color was two parts “Filoli Garden Pool” with one part of our light blue, Eddie Bauer Home “Weathered Glass” (EB8-3).  The middle wall color was one part “Filoli Garden Pool” and two parts “Weathered Glass.”  The bottom part of the wall was pure “Weathered Glass.”

We learned that adding some Fluotrol to each paint color made it easier to blend.  We also learned that it’s extremely important to mix more paint than you think you need, as we almost ran out of our top color (since it had to go all the way around the room, including above the berths.)  We managed to eke out enough by draining the last few drops of Fluotrol and even using a bit of glaze.
Here’s how the room turned out, seen at the end of the day with the sun behind a cloud.  I’m really thrilled with it.  You can still see where we blended the different colors, but it’s nothing that’s going to bother me when I look at it.

Here’s what it looks like with a flash.  Our technique was to work in strips no more than 4-6 feet wide.  Jon would cut in the edge and roll the top color.  Then I would roll the next color.  I would brush the two colors together, alternating between two different brushes with the two colors, while Jon went on to roll the next color.  So on and so forth around the room.

The girls’ side of the room.

The doorway side of the room.  Much of the left part of the wall will be covered by a large hunt cabinet (if we can get it up the stairs!)

The boys’ side of the room.

Jon Cordes, the most patient painter I know!  Watch out for him to hang his shingle as a faux painter, because this stuff is addicting!

Jon and me, glad we’re done and happy with it.  Before we started, we prayed that God would bless our efforts to mirror the beauty of His creation, and we marveled at the ease with which He created the sky compared to how hard we had to work at it!  It just makes us give God all the glory for His beautiful creation!

While we were painting sky, Ben was involved in a more earthly task.

He continued building up the log walls of The Lodge and installed the Brazilian cherry vanity top.  I thought up the idea and bought the Brazilian cherry stair steps; Ben did everything else!  He took them home last night and glued and clamped them together, and he found a strip of cherry in the shop to use as a drop in the front.

I couldn’t begin to count the number of trips Ben has made up and down the stairs today, measuring, cutting, trimming and then nailing the logs in place.  He had to cut out for plumbing and electrical outlets, and it’s beautifully done.

He still managed a smile at the end of the day.  This may have been more earthly work than sky painting, but I think it looks pretty heavenly!  I predict we’re going to have a hard time prying people out of this bathroom!  Simply brushing one’s teeth or taking a shower will feel like a woodland getaway!

I called this post “Imaging the Creator” because we humans (as opposed to Narnians or animals) have the urge to create beautiful things because we ourselves are created in God’s image, and He is the Supreme Creator.