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Steven Normington Obituary
age 45. Loved ones and friends are heartbroken by his sudden death on April 11th, 2009. He was preceeded in death by his loving parents George and Agnes Normington who were there to welcome him into his heavenly home. Fond memories will live on through his survivors, which include his brothers Peter Normington (Nashville,Tn), Phil (Kathryn) Normington (San Jose, Ca.), Paul (Karen) Normington (Hartland, Wi.), John (Cindy) Normington (Delavan, Wi.), Mark Normington (St. Petersburg, Fl.), Tim (Sharon) Normington (Saukville, Wi.) His Sisters Mary Roney (Winnetka, Il.), Ruth (Ted) Nelson (Woodbridge, Va.) and Sarah (Brad) Strom (Jackson, Mn.). Also many nieces and nephews. His family and friends will miss him tremendously, and he will be remembered in our hearts forever. Funeral services will be private. He will be laid to rest next to his mother Agnes in Iron River, Wisconsin. Please sign his guest book at Legacy.com
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Memories and Condolences
for Steven Normington
Lisa Jimenez
June 8, 2010
Dear Steve: There is a book my children love and request called "Love You Forever," about a Mother who sneaks into her son's room to hold him while he is sleeping, beginning when he is an infant, and continuing even after he is a grown-man, and while she rocks him she sings him a little love song. The words go "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." I want to sing to you too, but the words go like this ... "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my sweetheart you'll be." Steve, thank you for everything. Only Jesus knows how much I have to thank you for. I look forward to seeing you again in Heaven and believe that you will be waiting for me when I get Home. And for all of us who remain behind, until we meet again: "To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! (Jude 1:24-25)
With love, and peace, lmnj
Lisa Jimenez
June 7, 2010
Dearest Steve: I have been seeing this picture of you on your Guest Book, smiling as you sit next to Mom, for the last year, and I just love it. I would be so happy if someone in the family would send me a copy of this picture. I am still working on completing the scanning and making of discs with the rest of the pictures I have, and will send them when they are finished. You look so handsome in this picture on the Guest Book, and I wish I could see the entire thing. Also, dear Tim, if you took any pictures when you were here in March of 2009, please send them to me. Thank you very much. With love to all of you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
June 5, 2010
Dearest Steve: I have been so busy with my children that I have not had the opportunity to write to you in several days. Pastor Paul gave the most amazing sermon on Memorial Day, and the topic ministered so deeply to all of us who have had a loved one pass away. His sermon was about what death is, and he said that after more than sixty years as a pastor he has learned a lot about the passing away process, as well as Heaven. Here is what he said (I have wanted to share this with all of your family and friends as well as it helped me so very much!): Pastor Paul said that death is like a sleep (1 Cor. 15:51), that it is an Exodus (Luke 9:31 & 2 Peter 1:14-15), that it is like taking down a tent (2 Cor. 5:1), that it is like going home (2 Cor. 5:6-8), and that it is a departure (Philippians 1:22-24). He also said that he has been with countless people as they have passed away, and that for believers there appears to be a moment prior to death where they are allowed to see Heaven, and they can see their loved ones, and the Lord, waiting for them, and then they are very willing to continue on. I love Pastor Paul, and I believe what he told us. :) I read these verses from 1 Cor. 15:42-44 over and over again because they bring such comfort when I think of you: "So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body." I read this over and over. Steve, a few weeks ago Pastor Paul also spoke to us of the contrast between Peter and John - how Peter was unfaithful to the Lord when he denied him, but how John stayed to the end, and how he was at the foot of the cross with the women (the only man who didn't run away). You were a John, faithful to the end. I, sadly, have always been more like Peter, prone to falter, to run away, and with a foot-shaped mouth. I love you for being like the Apostle John :). I also had to laugh, even in the midst of crying during this particular sermon because it hit home so deeply, when Pastor Paul reminded us that John always referred to himself as "the one whom Jesus loved." You were always so secure in the fact that you were loved (I am thinking of Mom right now saying "Give Steve the tenderloin because he has little teeth!"). You knew that you were precious, and you saw everybody else the same way, and you radiated warmth and joy, and people just wanted to be with you. You were indeed like the Apostle John. I try to remember daily that there was hope for Peter, and God-willing there is hope for me too. :) One final thing I wanted to share. My oldest son (age 7) was asking for more stories from your family, and I told him the story of your Mother's sister, Betty, who used to pray for her family up in the hay mow in the barn at Iron River. If memory serves, Betty went home to the Lord at age 19. Your Mother told me many times how Betty used to pray, with tears, for her entire family, and especially for her little sister, Agnes (your Mom). She prayed for salvation and blessing for her loved ones. I told Roger that Betty prayed these prayers back in the early 1930's, and that they are still bearing fruit today! Just look at your family, and mine ... how God has answered Betty's prayers. I love you, Steve, and I can't wait to see you again! lmnj
Lisa Jimenez
June 2, 2010
Sweet Steve: My mind and heart are so full of you these days! I have a lot to tell you, and will write tomorrow (God-willing) to share all that is in my heart. Something strange has been happening lately ... the tiniest details of our life together just keep popping up and I can see them in technicolor detail. Many days I actually don't know what day it is (!), because of being at home with my kids so much, and I am not up on current events, or very sharp when it comes to anything anymore, and yet the Lord is bringing to mind our lives in amazing detail. I keep asking Him to reveal WHY, so I can learn whatever I need to from these remembrances. I just need to tell you again how dear you were, and are, and always will be. Love you always, lmnj
Lisa Jimenez
May 24, 2010
Dearest Steve: My family in MN is planning a time this July to travel to Iron River to honor you. My Mom and I will travel from Arizona and join Uncle Bill & Aunt Shari, Aunt Linda, Molly, Libby, and Molly's new baby, Flora Marie. The family just feels so strongly that we need to come together and pay our respects. I don't come from a close family like yours, as you know, but how beautiful it is that you, only you, could bring such a disparate group of people together, and that they would be of one heart and mind. You were deeply loved, and will always be missed. Aunt Linda rented a cabin in Duluth, and Uncle Bill will drive up in his RV. I will contact your dear brother, Paul, closer to the date of departure to find out specifics as to where we will gather in Iron River. Steve, I just read Heidi's entry and it made me smile. She was such an important and treasured friend in your life. I remember the pictures and stories of the times you shared, and how you also spoke of how kind her sister was to you. I hope that my children can attend a Christian camp back home like Camp Chetek where they can make lifelong friends. Thank you, Heidi, for being so good to Steve. He had a deep love for you that lasted his entire life. I remember the orange Volvo too, as Steve was still driving it at Bethel :). I remember a funny incident in the orange Volvo - Steve, you and I were on one of our first dates, and you let me in the passenger side, and then went around the front to get in, and kind of "disappeared" for a second (you slipped on the ice, but didn't fall and somehow got your footing again). I heard you say "Oh, crud!" as you started to go down, and I thought that was so cute, and a good sign that you avoided bad language and just said "crud" instead :). Your words were always sweet. I received a devotional email from your friend and college roommate, Peter, today. It encouraged me so much. There are still many times when the grief is overwhelming, and the Lord led him to send exactly the right words from God's Word to get me back on track. Thank you, Jesus, for dear Peter. He still sounds exactly the same as he did back in college and has hardly aged. I wish I could say the same! Well, dear one, I will say good night now. I just remembered something, and it brought tears ... how your Mom would call our answering machine just to say hi, or to tell us good night, and that she would just talk until it ran out of tape. How we both loved it when she did that!! Love you, Lisa
Heidi Hesoun
May 21, 2010
Dear Steve,
I don't know quite how to put into words the impact that you had on my early teens and twenties. What a wonderful friend you were. I remember meeting you at Camp Chetek when you were 13. You had such a big contagious smile. What fun times! Then when I was in college and your mom would invite me to lunch on Sundays. Tim and I would do the dishes while you somehow always got out of it. :o) Your family always treated me like I belonged - and my parents thought the world of you.
I remember when you were in the accident and how you struggled and persevered through so many obstacles. Seeing you learn how to walk again and talk again - you were amazing. Riding around with you in your orange Volvo was always an adventure. Whenever I see a Volvo I think of you - actually, a lot of things remind me of you. Do you know how much you're missed?
Love,
Heidi
Lisa Jimenez
May 19, 2010
Dearest Steve: Yesterday was your 47th birthday, and you celebrated in Heaven with your Mom, Dad, many relatives and friends, and countless saints. I thought of you continually, and held your family up in prayer before the Lord, asking for a special measure of His grace and peace. I wanted to write to you, but two of my kids were sick, so we spent a lot of time in the bathroom, and the rest of the time was spent cleaning up unmentionable messes :). Little kids get some yucky bugs, and then they just pass them around until everybody has them. Oh well, this too shall pass. Pastor Paul preached again on Acts, and the adventures of the Apostle Paul, and emphasized again to us that we are indestructible in this life until God's purpose for us is finished on the earth. I believe that God accomplished great things through you, and that like the poem "The Weaver" says, we won't fully realize the extent of your influence until we all get to Heaven and are able to view the finished product. The thing I keep coming back to in my heart, whenever it touches on you, is your sweetness and joy, as well as your bravery. Pastor Paul, in his sermon this last week, wanted us to get a picture of what it was really like to experience a storm at sea that lasted for days, like the Apostle Paul experienced when he got shipwrecked on Malta. Pastor Paul rode a troop ship over the Pacific in WWII, and his description of the conditions they endured, and the storms that shook the ship, will stay with me forever. At one point, during the night, he actually thought that the ship had turned over, as everything and everybody was turned completely upside down. That is a good description for how this past year has felt for me. But the point of me sharing this story about the storm, is that you endured many storms in life, and the overwhelming impression I carry of you during these times is grace under pressure. You were, like your Dad, a hero. Your dear Dad fought his way across Europe in WWII, starting at Normandy when they parachuted ahead of the guys who hit the beach, and ending up four and a half years later opening the camps with Eisenhower's Honor Guard. Your Dad received both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, and I believe that you have received the crown of rightousness promised to believers by our Lord Jesus. I also believe that when you entered His arms for the first time, He told you "Well done!" How I love you. I went to the pharmacy the other day to get medicine for Ryan, and the pharmacist asked me why I always look so happy...and I told her "Jesus!" I wanted to tell her the entire story of how you and Mom planted the love of Christ in my heart, and how it grew (slowly!!! but surely), and that now it carries me no matter what. What would I do, what would I be, if I had not had you in my life for so many years?? I don't even want to think about it. Finally, I read in my devotions that "The Best is Yet to Come," and this was the verse this truth was based upon (from 1 Corinthians 2:9): "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." I thank God that you are now enjoying these things and that someday we will all be together forever. With love eternal, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
May 12, 2010
Dearest Steve: Today I planted petunias with my children in the backyard. We made a container garden, using whatever we could find, including old toys (whatever would hold dirt and flowers). I remember how you used to stop at roadside stands in California and bring home flowers for me. My favorites are daisies. They remind me of you because they are sturdy, sunny, they grow anywhere, and they always appear to be smiling. Oh dear Steve, how often my thoughts turn to you. Only Jesus knows how often. I go through life with my mind so full of pictures and memories that sometimes I feel as though I am going to burst. I wonder if I will eventually remember only my oldest memories, the way that many elderly people I know do. If that happens, I will remember mostly you, as I blotted out most of my childhood memories in favor of the ones we made together. Sometimes I will be engaged in the most mundane task, or driving on an errand, and see something that brings back a flood of memories, and the air just goes out of me. More and more often, when that happens, I can steady myself by immediately turning to Jesus for help. I ask Him to make the memories clear, yet remove the sting of knowing that they are now long past, and He is so faithful. I like to read the hymns in the hymnal given to us on our wedding day by Phoebe Johnson, your Mother's dear friend. I especially like to sing and read the words to "Trust and Obey," as well as "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." Love you, miss you, lmnj
Lisa Jimenez
April 21, 2010
Dearest Steve: The most amazing thing happened this morning and I wanted to share it with you and your family. I was sitting outside drinking coffee this morning while my children played on the swing-set, and the morning was so exquisitely beautiful that I cried because it made me think of you. My 7-year-old son, Roger, said "Mommy, you know that he's not really dead, it's just his earth suit that died. He's alive in Heaven, Mom, because dying is just like falling asleep and then you wake up in Heaven." And at that very moment, a hawk appeared over our yard, and it was soaring effortlessly, without moving a wing, and it wheeled in the sky over our house for quite some time, just riding the warm air currents. We live in a busy part of the city, ensconced safely behind six foot concrete walls, and we do not see hawks here. We see morning doves and chickadees, but not hawks. I believe that God sent this hawk to demonstrate the utter freedom you have been experiencing in Heaven ever since you went Home. Like the hawk, you are finally soaring the way that you always wanted to, and deserved to. When I realized the meaning of the message the Lord was sending, I thanked Him, and the hawk immediately turned and flew away out of sight. It was an awesome, humbling, and glorious moment. The God of the Universe cares so deeply for us!! He took the time to send this special message, as He knows that the grief is still very fresh at times, especially when I am confronted with great beauty, like the beauty of this glorious morning. How I love our Jesus...! My son's words, and his love and devotion for his Mom, reminded me of a story you told me about how you felt about your Mom as a child. People often mistook her for your grandmother (the same thing happens to me with my kids), as she had you late in life. You said that you would adamantly tell the offending party "She's not my grandma! She's my Mother, and she's my best friend!!" :) I love that story, and I can just picture you speaking your mind about what mattered most to you. Another story that brings tears to my eyes is how you used your first earnings from your job (I think you were in eighth grade) to buy Mom an orange nylon wallet, which she was still carrying long after we were married. My oldest son tells me that even after he gets married, I will still be his first love, and my youngest son tells me that I will go to work with him every morning "to make the coffee." :) Oh Steve, I really miss you. For all these years, every time I would see something neat, I would immediately think how I wanted to share it with you. And when something amazing happened, like when my kids were born, or when Ryan was healed of cancer, I wanted to tell you. I almost called you to come to the hospital when Ryan was admitted with a terminal cancer diagnosis and I was alone with him for days and nights on end in the pediatric oncology unit. I just wanted to hug you and see your sweet face. It was always you that I wanted to see. It is comforting to think of you being free of every burden, and in the presence of Jesus, and your Mom and Dad. I am sure that Mr. Konnor was there to hug you when you arrived...how he loved you. You were deeply loved by so many in this life, and we will all continue to love you into the next one. Goodnight sweetie. lmnj
Lisa Jimenez
April 16, 2010
Dearest Steve: I thought about you all day on the 12th, and prayed for your family. That night I lay awake for hours listening to my son breathing (his asthma is bad right now), and thinking about you. My thoughts finally wore me out and I asked Jesus to please give peace, and He graciously reminded me that you are in His arms, and that you are completely whole and happy, and free from the cares of this world. And I received His peace and finally slept. The 12th was also my daughter's fourth birthday, but my family decided to postpone the celebration until next week as none of us felt like celebrating on that day. My Mom has taken your loss very hard, and has aged a lot over the past year. She cries on the phone when we speak of you. Our family was never the same without you :). I have met with Pastor Paul to work through the grief, and at our last visit I asked him to tell me what he knows for sure about Heaven. He has been studying God's Word and preaching for over sixty years and his mind is still as sharp as a tack. He told me that in Heaven everyone is young again, and that all losses are restored (he is looking forward to his wife's healing from Alzheimer's once she goes Home to Heaven). He also said that people are recognizable in Heaven, that they are not floating around like ghosts or something, but instead are more fully themselves than they were when they were here. He also said that they do have some awareness of what is happening here (in Hebrews it says that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses). He read to me from the Bible, and we prayed together, and we wept too. He lost a son, who was his partner in the church and an excellent preacher. His son died unexpectedly while playing raquetball. He visits his wife twice a day at the nursing home. At night he goes to get her ready for bed. They have been married since they were eighteen, and he told me with tears that the years between eighteen and eighty-one went by like a few blinks of the eyes. He is so faithful, like you were. The smallest things make me think of you, like the fact that it is strawberry season and I have been buying cartons full of strawberries for my children. You loved your Mom's strawberry jam :). She used to pick them in Wisconsin, and then boil them with sugar and make jam. You also loved her "1-2-3" (as you used to call it) Swedish pancake recipe with strawberry jam on top. I would sure love to have that recipe to make it for my kids. They eat Filipino food all the time, but I want them to taste something from our heritage (Swedish). The older I get the more I realize what a good pair we were. If only I had been a whole person and been able to be the kind of wife you deserved. Still, in spite of many challenges, we did have a lot of fun and we made some incredible memories. Thank you, Jesus, for the wonderful, wonderful memories of dear Steve. I love you, sweetheart. Be blessed and hug your Mom for me. I sang Keith Green's Easter Song for you the other day, and my kids loved it. They are a good audience :). With love, Lisa
Paul Normington
April 12, 2010
Dear Steve, there will be many things that will remain a mystery in my life.
"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption." 1Cor.15:42
In due time each one of us will understand. Love, Paul
Lisa Jimenez
April 11, 2010
Dearest Steve: One year ago today you entered Heaven. There are really no words adequate to describe this past year. The only words which come to mind, and I have searched and prayed for the right words, are intense grief combined with undeserved blessing. For the first few months the grief was so terrific that it would hit in waves and literally knock me to the ground. I remember that my husband, who is a vet of the first Gulf War and a very stoic guy, would look at me now and then with fear in his eyes and say something like "Just don't crack up and do something stupid." From a guy who says maybe fifteen words a week, that's a lot for him to say, and I got the message. He was scared. He told me about four months into it to just do whatever I had to do to survive it. I slept with one of your old socks, and he didn't care, and if I missplaced it and was worried, he would find it and put in on my pillow - anything to get through the grief. About six months into it I asked Jesus in desperation to give me His thoughts about you, rather than my own, because my own thoughts were flawed, and limited, and I needed His perspective, and God graciously began to transform my thoughts about where you are and how you got there. A few months ago my boys observed one day, "Mommy, your happy is coming back!", and they were right. God is so good, and so kind to us, and so very ready to heal our wounds when we get tired of mucking around and trying to fix things ourselves. So, dear one, I wanted to tell you that I love you, and that I always will, and that yes, my happy is indeed coming back (which I believe would please you). Yesterday at naptime my 7-year-old son, Roger, asked me what day it was. I told him that it was the day before you went Home to Heaven, so Mommy's heart was feeling sore. He prayed the following prayer, and I memorized it for your family. He said: "Dearest Lord Jesus, please be with the Normington family, and heal their broken hearts, and help their happiness to come back, and give them strength. In Your Name I pray, Amen." He prayed that prayer while lying in bed with his stuffed Rhino (his best friend since he was 4-months-old). I know that our loving and gracious God heard every word. After that we all experienced the peace that surpasses all understanding and we slept for two hours. Today the boys had sore throats and sniffles, and Ryan was recently diagnosed with asthma so he had to be close to his nebulizer (breathing machine), so I went to church alone. My Mom watched the kids as she knew that today of all days I would not want to miss church. As I drove to church and listened to K-LOVE radio, I heard a song by Matthew West entitled "Save a Place for Me." It was beautiful and I wish that I could play it for the entire world in your honor. My husband had to work today so he could not attend church. I wore both wedding rings, in honor of both of you. Inappropriate? Maybe...but I have discovered that it is possible to love more than one person in this life, and God has given me two husbands (neither of which I deserved), so I wore both rings. Life is complicated, and messy sometimes, and always surprising. I have learned some unexpected things - like there is no love like your first love, and yet you can experience love again the second time around, even though it will be different, and sometimes more difficult. Steve - my youngest son just woke up from nap needing another breathing treatment, so I need to say goodbye for now. I love you, now and for always, and I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
April 7, 2010
Dearest Steve: On Easter morning I recalled our first Easter spent here in AZ. We were living in Scottsdale and we opened all the windows of our apartment and played Keith Green's Easter Song (He is Risen!) until the walls shook. We danced for joy in the living room. The only person I have ever danced for joy with, besides my children, is you :). I recall vividly the way that you danced because it was that way with everything you did - you danced with abandon and I used to laugh sometimes when we danced because you needed considerable room around you! I also wanted to thank Sarah and the rest of the family for their love and sweet words of support. Some of the memories I have of Steve are long and detailed, and others are just snippets of conversation that somehow (by the Grace of God) stayed with me all of these years. One such remembrance is the time he told me that Sarah was his first crush when he was just a little guy. That's so sweet because one of my sons recently declared that he intends to marry his sister Gracie when they grow up! We explained that God has a special little girl out there somewhere for him :). Another memory I wanted to share is for Jenny, Stacy, and Torrie. When I was first dating Steve at Bethel, he had decorated his dorm room with artwork the girls made for him which Cindy mailed to Bethel, including photos of the girls when they were little toddlers. His whole bulletin board was full of their masterpieces. Steve also told me that he loved the time that Cindy wrote to him on toilet paper (!) because she had run out of paper. He saved that letter for a long time. Now that I am a mom, I can imagine writing on toilet paper because my kids go through regular paper at an alarming rate. We have a place in the living room where we keep all of the family photos, some of them going back one hundred years. Among these framed photos is an 8x10 of Steve and Mom taken on our wedding day (it is also on the discs I sent to Ruth last summer). They are holding hands, and smiling with joy, and I look at it each day as I pass. Sometimes I smile, a lot of the time I cry, but I keep going because I believe that they can see me, and I want to make them proud. One last thing to share for today...since you went to Heaven, Steve, I have aged a great deal (my hair is all growing in gray - thank you, Jesus, for Clairol!), and my children ask me "Mommy, why are your eyes so wrinkly!" I have discovered that it is possible not only to get laugh lines, but to get crying lines as well. So, all that being said, I have run out of energy to homeschool my kids, and the Lord knows this, but we could not afford to send them to a Christian school and were hesitant to send them to a public one. I asked the Lord to make a way for them to attend the Christian academy affiliated with our church, and last week the principal called and said that someone in our church had felt led to give scholarship money early, and that the church leadership had decided to give it to our boys. When I telephoned my Mom to tell her, the first thing she said was "I bet Steve is dancing in Heaven over that one!" And I believe that you were :). Love you, Lisa
April 5, 2010
Dear Steve, I think of you every day. Thank you Lisa for sharing the comforting words of love and faith. Thank you for all the stories you shared that helped put my heart at ease.
Sarah Strom
April 4, 2010
Dear Steve, You are on my mind. I cry , Yet when I think of Jesus rising from the grave and giving us the promise of eternal life I picture you in Heaven with Him. I still cry and my heart breaks but I have to smile and know that you are alive with Him. How precious you were. You are missed.
Lisa, I appreciate all the words that you share about Steve. Your stories are true. How you are able to remember them and put them down is good. Yes, our Mom was an amazing Godly lady who truely loved and walked with Jesus. Oh, how she love Steven. They were close. Steve, Mom and our Dad are together in the presence of our Lord.
Lisa, I Thank God for how He is working in your life and family. How wonderful that your boys were baptized. You have a very beautiful family! You are a wonderful mom. Keep loving them and giving them all the hugs. I give you a hug on this day. Love you, Sarah
Lisa Jimenez
April 2, 2010
Dear Steve: I just read Torrie's entry and smiled and then cried. How loved you were, and are, and always will be. I haven't seen you in so long and yet a day hasn't gone by when I haven't missed you. I can't wait to see you in Heaven some day. Much love to you and your entire family. Lisa
April 1, 2010
Thinking of you today Uncle Steve. Love and miss you
~torrie
March 29, 2010
Dearest Steve: In two weeks both of my little boys will be baptized by Pastor Paul, our nearly 81-year-old pastor, at the Baptist church we faithfully attend. The boys requested to be baptized, and we are so pleased with their decision. I wanted to tell you about it, because the very fact that we belong to a Baptist church has everything to do with you. I did not grow up in that tradition, but as my relationship with the Lord grew, I decided to follow your Mother's example and raise my children in the same tradition. The kids absolutely love church, and can't wait for Sundays to come. How surprised (and pleased!!) I believe you must be when you peek in at us from Heaven and see that we are walking the same path that you did when you were young. This is just one more example of how powerfully you impacted my life. I pray daily that my children will be blessed with your joy, your sweet spirit, your love of life, and your capacity for fun and adventure. Just thinking about you makes me smile :). Pastor Paul said something during his sermon this past Sunday and the truth of it landed on me so strongly - he said that each one of us is just a heartbeat away from eternity. I couldn't help thinking how you have stepped behind the curtain and are now living a perfect existence in eternity. All losses have been restored - hallelujah!! You are finally completely free to be entirely yourself.
Lisa Jimenez
March 24, 2010
Dearest Steve: Today during lunch my children were asking for stories..."Tell me the story of when Steven's Mom met the angel (when she was in the hospital about a month before you were conceived and the angel, who appeared to be a physician, told her that she didn't need the surgery and that everything would be fine), and "Mommy, tell me the story about Steve's Mother and the baby's foot!" (they mean the healing of Mary's club-foot when she was a newborn), and their very favorite, the story of how your Mom drove a car full of her kids home after most of the engine parts had fallen out onto the road. My kids beg for these stories, your family's stories, because I have no good stories to share of my own, so I have always told them yours. I tell them about my pets, and the cold weather growing up in Minnesota, and safe topics like that, but I can't tell them any stories of miracles, or victory, or lives blessed by walking in faith because my family history doesn't have any examples of those things the way that yours does. So, I tell them your stories, including all of the funny things you told me during our married years, and Steve, you were (and still are, I am sure), very, very funny :). You and your amazing sense of humor...how I miss laughing with you. You could make me laugh in nearly any circumstance. Thank you for the joy you planted in my heart, because Jesus did use you mightily to heal and bless me, and now my family. I love telling your stories, because the children just eat them up, and they get so excited when they hear what God can and will do in our lives when we release all to Him. Today little Roger told me yet again that he wants to be a pastor when he grows up. There has never been a pastor of any kind in my family tree, and if God wills it and it actually happens some day that my son grows up to serve the Lord full-time, then you will have had a lot to do with it :). Love you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
March 19, 2010
Dear Steve: Last night I stayed up late watching Keith Green videos on U-Tube. I saw his 1982 video, recorded just before he went Home, singing "When I Hear the Praises Start," and felt such a strong connection with you, and Jesus graciously gave me the peace that surpasses all understanding. I have been wanting to write to you ever since to let you know that I did finally learn what you told me early on - that if I really wanted things to change for the better, I had to stop complaining and start praising. You told me that when you first came home from the hospital in the winter of '82 (so cold and snowy that even the county plows got stuck trying to plow Pond Road), you were deeply upset by all the losses in your physical function after the brain injury, and that for as long as you stayed mad, nothing much got better. But you told me that you listened to Keith Green constantly, and that you made a very conscious decision one day to be grateful that you were still alive, and for each thing that you could still do, and from that moment on (!), your improvement was dramatic. You told me that when you visited the neuro-ICU, and walked in on your own power, the nurses just cried. I can just imagine it. You told me that in addition to being grateful for what you still had, you were grateful for so many little things, like Mom's warm back to sleep next to during that first freezing winter! Oh Steve, I do get it, and I am passing it on to the next generation, to the three little ones I have been blessed to have so much influence over, my children. And this lesson is bearing fruit on a daily basis, in my life, in the lives of my kids, and in Roger's life too. The other day my best friend got released from the hospital after two weeks and major surgery, and when she called, he answered, and I overheard him say "Praise God!" He is taking everything to God in prayer now, something he knew nothing about until last May when he was led to Jesus by Pastor Paul, on the day we found out you had gone to Heaven. Steve, I remember how you and your Mom loved the poem "The Weaver," the one that begins "My life is just a weaving, between my Lord and I..." I want you to know that I took up your end of the thread, and I am asking Jesus daily to weave it into the tapestry of our lives. Someday we will all be together again, and will be able to see the exquisitely beautiful creation God has made. Love you always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
March 15, 2010
Dearest Steve: Today I am taking my kids to a birthday party for one of their little friends. Last night as I was cooking I was remembering your 32nd birthday party in Minneapolis :). I gave you a surprise party at the Old Chicago Pizza in downtown Minneapolis - I told you to meet me there for happy hour after work and you didn't suspect a thing and were completely surprised. It was a great time and so many people showed up to share the evening:). I have pictures of that night and will put one in the photo gallery later (I need help as I am computer-challenged!). The best part about that night was your smile - huge and radiating joy! Your smile was (and still is, as I believe that you have retained all of your best qualities in Heaven) one of your most delightful qualities - it could light up a room, and I will never forget the way that it made me feel when you smiled at me. So many routine things in my life, like the birthday party my children will be attending this afternoon, bring back lovely memories of you. It would be entirely true to say that many of my best memories include you. I just love you so much and always will. Thanks for being my soul-mate. The Bible refers to the "companion of one's youth," and that is who you were and always will be to me. Love always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
March 9, 2010
Dearest Steve: Yesterday I visited my best friend in the hospital and met her nurse, who reminded me so much of your Mom that I wanted to hug her and spend all day there. This dear lady is from Wisconsin, has a sweet Scandinavian face, and loves Jesus so much that she radiated His love as she was caring for Lena. It was such a comfort to Lena as she knows that she may not survive the surgery. This dear nurse, who was so much like your precious Mom, held Lena's hands and prayed with her (your Mom always held my hands when she was speaking to me or praying with me). Lena's Mom, who is not a believer, was in the room and was moved by Mary's demeanor. I told her that I was blessed to know a lady just like Mary (your Mom), and to be married to her son for twelve years, and that what she was seeing was the very real presence of Jesus shining out of Mary's heart. Both you and your Mom had such sweet spirits, and loved others and the Lord Jesus, and I am grateful for the times we shared. I miss you, and have missed you, for so long. Save me a place up front :). Love you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
March 1, 2010
Dearest Steve: The weather has been cold and rainy here in AZ, and my kids have been watching the movie "Cars" nonstop. Each time they do, I think of you and how much you would have loved that movie. You loved to go fast, you loved adventures, and you were a fan of great music. James Taylor sings the sweetest song in the movie, and it always makes me cry because the words are so poignant. You were a fan of JT's music and to this day when I hear his voice I think of you. I have been thinking about how many adventures we had driving all over the West Coast, and the Midwest. The only real adventures I have ever had in my life were with you - I stopped traveling about ten years ago. When we lived in California we drove everywhere, all up and down the coast, and saw gorgeous sights (redwood forests, tidepools and rock formations on the coast, whales migrating, snow in Carmel (!!), mountains, Tahoe, and the wine country. Once we drove all the way to British Columbia from California :). In Washington State we drove everywhere and saw rainforests, islands in Puget Sound, the snow-covered Cascades, and the "dry side" of Washington (East of the Cascade Range). There were times on the weekends when we just got in the car for a day trip, and ended up going so far that we had to stop at a motel for the night because it was too far to go home. So many incredible adventures, and we shared them all. We also traveled in the Midwest and would go north to Duluth to see the fall leaves, or to Wisconsin for the day, or to the lakes to swim and ski. I have only been home once in the last ten years, because there were just too many memories and I missed you so much. I plan to go home this summer and travel north to Duluth and Iron River. I have no place here to lay flowers, and I want to give flowers to you and Mom in Iron River. I know that you and Mom are really in Heaven, but it helps to actually have a place to go and pay my respects in person. Thank you for all of the wonderful times we shared. It was so much fun and there was no better person in the whole wide world to share those times with :). Thank you, Jesus, for the sweet memories of Steve and for all of the fun You allowed us to share. Love always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
February 22, 2010
Dearest Steve: My brother Mike and I attended the Joyce Meyer conference in Phoenix this weekend. We sat in the section up front reserved for people with disabilities so he could see the interpeter. As the program began and I heard the music and saw the beautiful media presentation start, I thought how much you would have loved the entire thing, and started to cry. Sometimes when I cry for you, it's like opening a floodgate, and I can't stop, so I was worried, and my brother, knowing my thoughts, looked over and said "Lisa, don't cry - he has the best seat in the house!" The truth of those words fell on me, peace returned, and I imagined what it must be like for you in Heaven to worship God in person! One other thing I wanted to share with you - the sweet fellowship of the people with disabilities who sat all around us. In contrast to the able-bodied people, who spent a lot of time looking straight ahead or checking their electronic devices, the people we sat with warmly greeted one another, hugged, had long animated conversations in sign language, and seemed so filled with joy that I was thrilled to be with them and realized that we were in "the section" to be in. Perhaps disabilities make people more real, because they can't hide behind the facade of not needing help like we able-bodied people often do. I was so privileged to be with you and to witness your sweet, brave response to repeated trials brought on by your disability. You are my hero :). Love you forever, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
February 15, 2010
Dearest Steve: I have been wanting to write to you for weeks, but things have been a bit hectic around here. The old adage, "When it rains, it pours..." is often true. Both cars needed work, all three kids caught bugs at the same time, and then just when they were getting better, they all caught it again, etc. My husband and I were talking about all of this and I shared with him what your response to problems always was during our married years - you laughed :) - you didn't fret, or freak out, or get mad, you just laughed your sweet little laugh, like oh well, what are you gonna do? I loved that about you. So after I shared that with Roger, he said that he thinks that should be our family's new way of dealing with stress, Steve's way, to just laugh. And once again, it hit me so powerfully that your legacy of blessing just goes on and on bearing fruit in other lives. Speaking of Roger Sr. (my oldest son is also named Roger), I find that he is my best adult listener when it comes to needing to talk about you. He has genuine respect for you as he knows the effect that you had on my life, and he also knows that your Mother is my role model, and he encourages me as we both came to this marriage with little we could salvage from our growing up years that we wanted to give to our children. We grew up on unbelieving homes and both experienced a lot of sad circumstances, so hearing about how joyful you always were, and how you set such a positive example, really blesses him, and he likes hearing about it. One final thing I wanted to share...after the recent earthquake in Haiti I told Roger about how you and I went through the big Bay Area quake in 1988 (magnitude 7.3) and how on that particular day I was still at work in San Jose, but you were at home in Morgan Hill getting ready to take a motorcycle ride to Santa Cruz, but you felt strongly led to stay home even though you had take off work early to go (it turns out that the epicenter of the quake was Santa Cruz, so that was the Lord speaking to your heart). Well, when the quake hit at my work, I thought that the building was going to come down, and they evacuated us, and I began driving south toward home, scared to death and crying the whole way that I just wanted to go back to Minnesota because I had had enough of California...and WHO should I see driving toward me, wearing his Bolle sunglasses, and smiling his big Steve smile, but you... and we both pulled over, and hugged, and you told me that you were coming to get me because you knew I would be scared. THAT is love. I just wish, how I wish, that at twenty-four years old I had realized what a treasure I had. When I told Roger that story, he said "You need to write that in his journal." So, there it is, with Roger's blessing, and much love from me, and hugs and kisses from my kids (Ryan asked last week if there is ice cream in Heaven...you will have to let me know when I get there). Love you, dear one. Hug Mom for me. lmnj
Lisa Jimenez
January 13, 2010
Dearest Steve: I was thinking about one of the greatest gifts you gave me, which was to enjoy the moment rather than waiting for ideal circumstances to finally be happy. You modeled that approach to life for the twelve years we were married, as did your Mother, and even though it baffled me at the time, the seeds went deep and finally grew, and now I "get it." You and your Mother helped me to "grow up in all things into Him who is the head - even Christ" (Eph. 4:15). Thank you so very much :)! Now I let go and let Jesus drive, and trust Him for everything like a little child, as your Mom did, and even this grief over the past, lost opportunities which will never return, broken hearts, and all the rest, is somehow bearing fruit on a daily basis. You were, as Oswald Chambers would say, broken bread and poured out wine for others your whole life. Thank you, thank you. How I love you. lmnj
Lisa Jimenez
January 6, 2010
Dearest Steve: I was thinking about how young you were called home, and then the Lord brought to remembrance how so many other incredibly special people were called home by the Lord at an early age too ... like Keith Green, Rich Mullins, Oswald Chambers, and C.S. Lewis, just to name a few. I was reading C.S. Lewis again ("The Business of Heaven") and he said that at the time he wrote that book, most of his favorite people were already in Heaven. As I get older, I am finding that this is becoming true for me too. There was one other thing I wanted to share with you that happened the other evening. I was getting my three-year-old daughter ready for sleep and she was lying in her little toddler princess bed and blowing kisses to everybody she loves, and at the end she blew kisses "to Jesus, and to Steven." I read these entries to you out loud as your Mother gave me a book by Hannah Hurnard called "God's Transmitters," and it says that our thoughts travel through space and time and that our Lord definitely taught that our thoughts are as powerful as any action (which is why He placed so much emphasis on the thought life...). So, I read these entries out loud to you as I believe that they reach you and I want you to know how much you are loved and cherished, and always will be. Thank you for being YOU. Love, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
December 30, 2009
Dear Steve: Do you remember our first Christmas tree? It was a ficas plant that we bought at the Kmart for our first apartment in California. It was very large, with a braided trunk, and we were thrilled to have gotten it for $7.77 (such a weird price that I still remember it twenty-two years later). We decorated it and took a photo of ourselves on Christmas morning wearing our robes, and Phil teased us for being a little bit "racy" :). You gave me a beautiful tri-gold bracelet which I still wear today. That little apartment in Morgan Hill, CA, holds so many memories. I hope that whomever lives there today can feel the joy we left there from our newlywed days so many years ago. Much love, always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
December 24, 2009
Dearest Steve: I am wondering how Christmas is celebrated in Heaven and what you are doing at this moment ... perhaps listening to the same heavenly choir that serenaded the shepherds, or singing praises before God's throne ... how I wish for just a peek!! Someday we will all celebrate together, and until then, I will praise God for the gift of the years spent with you here on earth. Merry Christmas, dear Steven. Much love, always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
December 23, 2009
Dearest Steve: This evening my middle son, Ryan, told me that when he grows up he is going to have three children, and he plans to name them Ryan, Steven, and Sarah. I just smiled with delight as he has no idea that you and your sister Sarah were such close companions (as were Tim and Ruth). He just told me that he loves those names and so that's his plan :). He also plans to have a farm and sing in a Christian rock band. He just turned six, but has had big plans for years already. I remember when you used to tell me that you had lots of plans too, when you were growing up. Someday soon, when I can write without interruption from my kids, I want to share more of what I remember about what you told me, as well as what I observed and learned from you during our married years. You did have big plans, and while life took you down a different road than the one you had planned, I believe that God had His hand on you continually and that your life example gave Him great pleasure as well as blessed many people, including me. Well, I just wanted to share about Ryan's choice of names as it gave me such joy and I hope that it will make you and your family smile as well...and who knows, maybe I will in fact be blessed with grandchildren by the names of Steven and Sarah, and wouldn't that be an incredible blessing?! Love you, miss you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
December 22, 2009
Dearest Steve:
This morning during devotions I read the following verse from 2 Timothy 4:7 ... "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." It struck me, gripped me actually, that for me these words describe you and your life journey exactly. In our twelve years of marriage, I never saw you give up, never heard you complain, and was continually amazed at your strong spirit in spite of an unending series of obstacles. I believe that you were blessed with an extremely strong spirit, and despite testing, you persevered to the end. I am proud of you, and grateful for the example you set for the rest of us. Your influence continues to be felt in my life, and the life of my family, to such a great extent that words fail me. One of my sons reminds me so much of you that it is, to say the least, suprising (and sometimes even eerie). I believe that being married to you actually helped to prepare me to be Ryan's mother, as many of your challenges, as well as your natural response to them, has been the same. Thank you, Jesus, for the influence of Steve and Mother Normington which prepared me for raising these children!!
Today it is cold in Arizona, and I am wearing your old long underwear shirt that you used to wear for skiing. It is wrinkled, and shrunken, and still smells like you. My family understands, and nobody minds, since they know that these things give me comfort and help me to keep going. It is absolutely incredible how much these pieces of the past mean...I can SEE you wearing this old shirt, including one time when you had a cold and were lying all bundled up on the couch with many layers on in order to keep warm :). Oh Steve, the memories just keep coming... I have accepted that they will overwhelm me at times, and then I just let them come, and pray for strength to keep it together and not fall apart in front of my kids. For the most part, I am doing better, but privately I still cry a lot, like the other night as I did some late night Christmas shopping and cried as I drove.
I had a wonderful dream about you recently ... we were sitting at a coffee shop together, not talking, just sitting, and you were smiling at me, and we were enveloped in peace - perfect peace - the kind that only falls from above - and it was wonderful. I recall that dream again and again, and remember the peace I felt as you smiled and we sat in perfect companionship. It was beautiful.
I miss you, and love you, and am praying for everyone who loved you as I do. Always near you in my heart, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
December 7, 2009
Dearest Steve: I have been wanting to write to you for some time, but my kids always seem to need something, and even as I write this, there have been twenty-five interruptions. You are continually in my thoughts, as is your family. I wonder what you are doing and wish that I could just have a peek at your new HOME. How I miss you!! The missing never abated, even though so much time passed since we last saw one another, but now it has intensified. I suppose this is a normal part of the grieving process, but it grips me so hard that sometimes I can't take a full breath or see past the pain. At other times, especially when I am reading Scripture, I can sense the Lord reminding me that you are finally home and that all the struggling is over, and at those times I experience the "peace that surpasses all understanding." That is the peace that I pray for everyone who loved you, and there were so many of us. I have been reading C.S. Lewis's book "The Business of Heaven," in order to learn more about where you are now, and he says that these physical bodies we have here on earth are merely shadows of what we will be when we are truly home in Heaven. He also says that we will laugh with amazed recognition when we see the faces of our friends :). That made me think of you and Clay. I pray for him continually as well, for healing and peace and joy in spite of losing his best friend in this life. I have a tiny cut-out of your smiling face on my refrigerator, just like your Mom used to have at her house (I will never forget the way she would tape up tiny pictures of your face all over her kitchen so she could see your smiling face wherever she looked - how she LOVED you!!). I look at your face each day, and sometimes I smile, and sometimes I cry, but either way I give everything to the Lord, and ask Him to heal me and allow me to go on, so that I can make you proud and be a blessing to everyone I meet just like you were. Love you, always and forever, Lisa
November 13, 2009
Steve,
I again want to Thank You for your honesty in our business dealings. Also Tad and I enjoyed when you came into the jewelry store as you were always happy and smiling. I have read about people meeting Jesus but I am sure when you meet Jesus face to face in Heaven there are no words that can describe the Love he has for you.
Again Thank You for being the Light in this world.
Doran Kraus
Lisa Jimenez
November 7, 2009
Dearest Steve: I was thinking of you on Halloween as I dressed my children and made preparations for their Halloween party. I remember how we dressed up for our first Halloween together as a married couple as quotation marks. We wore matching gold sweatshirts and jeans with black quotation marks painted on them (they originally belonged to Phil and Kathryn), and we attended a Halloween party with the Newlywed Class from church, where we stood on either side of someone and "quoted them." I have a picture of us wearing those costumes which I am trying to find so I can add it to the photo gallery. We had a great time that night oh so long ago. I also wanted to share another story about you that I was remembering recently as I wrote the previous entry about how much my brother is being blessed by the gift of your brown leather shoes. This story also involves shoes, and shows once again what a heart you always had for others. We were living in California at the time, and you were driving on the I5 freeway south to where we lived in Morgan Hill. You saw a man walking alongside the road with no shoes on, and you stopped the car and took off your New Balance tennis shoes, and tried to give them to him. You told me that you followed him for some distance alongside the freeway, trying to convince him to take the shoes, but he would not. You asked me to pray for him and his feet. You were always thinking of others, and occasionally even tried to bring people home to our apartment whom you met and felt sorry for. I was fearful and always said no, but you were so ready to help. Once you called me at work to say that you had a gentleman in the car with you, and would it be okay if you brought him home with you? I told you to take him to the church as I was afraid...how I wish that I had a heart like yours! One other story I want to share today...the time we were riding your motorcycle through the woods in California and a lady came running up behind us crying for help. We stopped and discovered that she had been taking her daily walk and was accosted by a young man who had escaped from a nearby detention facility. She rebuked him in Jesus Name, and ran toward us when she heard the motorcycle coming down the road. If we had not passed by at that very moment and stopped to help, who knows what would have happened. You took off your coat and gave it to her as she had fallen in the water as she was running, and we waited with her, and you kept your arm around her shoulders until the police arrived. She was a believer and we comforted one another as only believers can :). Thank you for being who you were, and who you still are. I will always love you and cherish all of the many experiences we shared together. You blessed my life! With love, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
October 30, 2009
Dearest Steve: My Mom called to tell me the most beautiful story about how much my brother is enjoying a gift he received that belonged to you. Mike went to pick her up from the airport, and he proudly showed her his feet, which were wearing your brown leather shoes. I found the shoes at your house and brought them home as a gift for Michael as he loved you dearly. Mike is a special person who, like you, has faced so many challenges (deafness, cancer, and brain damage). He owns few material things - namely an old car and an old dog - and he lives in a small apartment in Phoenix. He works hard and is on his feet all day, and could not afford nice shoes like the ones he is wearing from you. When my Mother asked him how he felt in the shoes, he said "Wonderful!" I just cried when she told me. Steven, Steven how you continue to bless us... Today I had to drive somewhere I did not want to go, as it took me over territory that is just too ripe with memories...and as I passed by a particular place and was overcome once again, KLOVE radio began playing the song "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin. He sang: "I will rise, when He calls my name, no more sorrow, no more pain. I will rise, on eagle's wings, fall on my knees, before my God, and rise...I will rise!" And Steve, I knew for CERTAIN that our Lord in His tremendous mercy reached out to me at that very moment with the truth of those words, and I was so grateful, and so very comforted. Thank you, Jesus, for your continual mercy and blessing in the midst of this grief over Steve. Thank you for reminding me, dear Lord, that we will all see Steve again, and that in the meantime, all is well. With love, always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
October 22, 2009
Dearest Steve: I was reading your NKJV Daily Devotional Bible and these verses from Thessalonians were such a comfort to my heart that I wanted to share them with others... The Apostle Paul wrote: "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Oh how these words lift me! Thank you, Jesus, for Steve, and for the future hope described in Your Word. With love, Lisa
Lisa Normington-Jimenez
October 13, 2009
Dearest Steve: It has been six months and two days since you entered Heaven. I wonder how many of the saints you have met so far - it is an awesome thought. I am quite sure that you have spent considerable time singing our Lord's praises with Keith Green. I have been faithfully reading your NKJV Daily Devotional Bible. One of the verses I return to again and again in the Psalms is "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 116:15) I love that word, "precious," especially in this context, where God Himself tells us how He feels about us as we pass from death to eternal life. I know, too, that He cares deeply for those of us who are left behind, as I have felt His presence sustaining me these past six months. I made a decision recently, with Ruth's blessing, about taking back my former name in honor of you and your contribution to my life. Somehow, by the grace of God, I slowly became one of your Mother's children - I only wish that it had happened in time for us. Still, it happened, and if there is anything in my life worth celebrating, it is due to the influence of you and your Mother. So, as I begin my 45th year, I will once again be a Normington, as it is who I am in my heart. I needed to reclaim the past and to connect it to the present. If you can see me here from where you are, I promise to carry your legacy on into the future and to be a blessing whenever and wherever the Lord leads. I love you. Give my love to your Mother. Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
October 8, 2009
Dearest Steve: As I took out the fall decorations and talked over Halloween costumes with my children, the pain of missing you rolled over me in waves, and I spoke to Jesus, and He comforted my heart once again. Even though it has been so long since I have seen you face-to-face, you were continually in my heart, and I prayed for you and thought about you daily. As I was making fall plans and decorating outside, Jesus brought to mind a beautiful October memory we shared. It was well into October in Minnesota that year, and yet we were having a spell of Indian Summer in which the temperature rose into the mid 80's. The leaves were in full color, and we drove to Hudson, Wisconsin, just across the St. Croix River from Minnesota. There is a beautiful park there with a beach, and we ended up swimming in the gorgeous fall weather, with the leaves and the golden sun on the water, and I will never forget it. God indeed blessed the two of us with so many special moments. How grateful I am to Him for his kindness, and for the memories I can pull out like treasures saved carefully in the recesses of my heart. I have loved you for more than half of my life, and I will always love you. I pray that Jesus allows you to know this, and that I won't have to wait until I get to Heaven to tell you. Thank you for everything. With love, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
October 3, 2009
Dearest Steve: Twenty-two years ago today we were married at Christ Lutheran Church, in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, on a magnificently perfect fall day. Our wedding was beautiful and I cherish the memory of it. Christ Lutheran is one of the oldest churches in Minnesota and is so picturesque that it has been used in several movies, including "Grumpy Old Men." October 3rd, 1987 was such a spectacular fall day that several members of our family got caught in "leaf traffic" (traffic from the city coming to the country to view the fall leaves) on the way to the wedding. I remember Tim telling me that you took the longest shower in history before the wedding and that he wondered if you were ever going to come out :). We were married by the Reverend Tom Correll, who was also a professor at Bethel, and prior to that was a missionary in the arctic with Wycliff Bible Translators. Tom actually prayed at the end of the service in Inuktitut (Eskimo), which I am sure was the first and last time that particular language has been spoken at Christ Lutheran! You were unbelievably handsome, and I felt like the most blessed girl on earth to be marrying you. After the wedding, Peter Knight drove us to the Brown-Ryan at Riverplace in Minneapolis for the reception. The Brown-Ryan is a historic building, which was moved to Riverplace, and sits on the waterfront on a cobblestone street where they give horse-drawn carriage rides (I put a picture of us taking a carriage ride in the photo gallery - your Mother took the photo). Inside the Brown-Ryan they had the fireplace burning and had decorated everything with a fall theme. The buffet was also planned around a fall menu and included Minnesota wild rice hot dish (you can't have a buffet in Minnesota without a casserole or a hot dish!). We had a harpist who played while we ate and mingled and the entire event was lovely. As we were moving to California the very next weekend, we spent a lot of time that afternoon visiting with friends and family because we knew that we would not see many of them for a long time to come. It all went by so quickly, but the memories are still sharp, and I can remember certain details very vividly. I hope that you had as much fun and felt as blessed as I did that day. Thank you for the many memories and for being a wonderful husband. "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you..." Philippians 1:3 With love, always, Lisa Normington-Jimenez
Wedding Day Carriage Ride
October 3, 2009
Lisa Jimenez
September 28, 2009
Dearest Steve: Today I was able to share an example from your life which really encouraged my youngest son, Ryan, who has had various health problems and struggles daily with stuttering. So often, when he wants to say something important, he just can't get the words out, so he stops and starts many times until he is finally able to express his thoughts. When this happens, I remember so poignantly how the same thing would happen to you, and how, like Ryan, you valiantly kept at it until you were heard. I shared with Ryan that you also had to deal with stuttering, and how you didn't let it get you down, and how much people liked and respected you for your bravery and happy spirit in spite of your challenges. People truly did love to be around you, and that is why your departure for Heaven left such a huge whole in all of our lives until we are reunited. Ryan was encouraged to hear that you shared his struggle with stuttering, and he said that he believed that you could hear us talking about it in Heaven, :) I agreed, and said that yes, you just might have heard us and been very pleased. Thank you so much for the great life lessons you taught me, which I have been able to share with others. Recently my husband, Roger, said of you (and he is a man of very few words, so when he does speak, I pay close attention), "Steve had such integrity." I got choked up when he said that, and thanked him for his very accurate observation. With love, always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
September 27, 2009
Dearest Steve: This morning on the way to church we passed a corn field that had just been plowed, and the kids thought it was cool and pointed it out, and it made me remember the story you told me about "Opalogganing" at Pond Road, which you told me was one of your favorite wintertime activities. You told me that Phil (I think it was Phil...) had an old car called an Opal, and that somebody (I think you or maybe Mark) got the idea to hook up a rope behind it and then go skiing in the cornfield behind the Opal while someone else drove :). You told me that you just loved doing that, and even though I never saw you, I can totally picture you flying along behind the car on your skis. My boys thought that this was just about the coolest idea ever, and have been running around the house all day talking about Opals and Opalogganing. My oldest is convinced that you invented an entirely new sport, and someday he wants to try it. I miss your sense of humor and zest for life so much. It's comforting to remember all of the great stories you shared with me, and then to share them with my family, especially my children, who are so precious and love to hear about adventures, especially if they involve lots of action, like you were known for. I loved your joyful spirit ... thinking about you always makes me smile :). Thank you, Jesus, that we will all be together in Your Kingdom some day! Love always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
September 18, 2009
Dearest Steve: My oldest son turned seven this week. He is a beautiful, gifted child, like you were. His birthday set me on another long course of thinking about YOU as a child, and what a special boy you were. I have had many long conversations with Ruth, which have been helpful in moving me toward healing, and she has filled in many blanks, as well as reinforced what I already knew about your growing up years. You were born with every gift - incredibly handsome, athletic, ambitious, and so very funny. And even though the accident in '82 diminished some of your gifts, I believe that many of them remained with you throughout your life (anything lost has since been restored, praise Jesus!!). I remember you telling me that you always wanted to be a businessman, and from the time you were little, you pursued that dream. You told me that you set up a "business" in your basement, using an old wooden pallet, a makeshift desk, and little stacks of paper which you alternately pretended were money or orders for products from your company. Then, when you got older (I believe you were about twelve), you did actually start a business selling LCD watches, which were new on the market at that time. Ruth confirmed that you typed up letters on your own letterhead and corresponded with real companies, who then sent you product samples in the mail. Your whole family was amused when these companies sent you products, having no idea that you were just a junior high kid with big dreams :). I remember also that you told me how you wrote up a family newsletter, and then sold it for twenty-five cents (I think...) per copy. You also invented various gadgets for the house, like the time you made an intercom system between floors. And all of this creativity was enjoyed by your Mom, who never discouraged you. Your sense of humor was legendary, and you got a kick out of everything (I remember you telling me that you thought it was hysterical that Little Wonder the Cat would poop in Sarah's shoes inside the closet). You loved to tell jokes, and could always make everybody laugh (including me, in nearly every circumstance). God also blessed you with great physical gifts - yes, you were so very handsome (there were girls at Bethel who stopped speaking to me when we got engaged because they were so jealous!), but you were also blessed with athletic ability. When you were in high school you became a ski instructor and your picture was published in the paper (I saw the clipping). You could do cross-country, downhill, and waterskiing with ease. You also worked as a ski technician, learning how to mount ski boots on ski's and fit people with the proper equipment. You also knew a great deal about bicycles, and could fix nearly anything (which came in very handy during our married days, when you saved us so much money by fixing our car whenever it broke). During our college days, I remember talking with a girl from Bethel who knew you before the accident. She said that everything appeared to be easy for you, which has been confirmed by Ruth. I remember you telling me that the math you were doing for pre-engineering was so easy that you used to do it while sitting in the hot tub at "Paul's Place" near Bethel :). Only old Bethel people would even remember that Paul's Place existed. Yes, you did indeed have every gift. More on Bethel...I remember that when we started dating you had girls who would wash your clothes for you at the dorm so you wouldn't have to! Yikes :)!! I bet they were hoping to date you. Speaking of dating, to this day I have no idea why you chose me. We had three different classes together at Bethel, and you always sat in back with the popular people, and I remember that you were always smiling. I was reserved, and sat in front, and took lots of notes. One time I remember that you teased me for taking so many notes. You would try to talk to me after class, and I would wonder why you would take time to talk to me when you had so many friends. You kept talking to me, until I finally laughed and said that yes, I would go out with you to carve pumpkins. You were irresistable. During our married years, when we were involved with the Newlywed and Young Married's classes at church, it was always you who was confidant and sociable, and you were the reason why other couples wanted to hang out with us. I remember one time in Seattle when you came home from the workout center at our apartment complex and told me that you had met and made friends with a couple from Bethel whom you met in the hot tub. They ended up being good friends. You made friends everywhere we went. These are just a few of my thoughts and remembrances over the past few days, as we have been celebrating my son's birthday. I remember how your Mother had a special love for her sons (which was a good thing, as God gave her seven of them!), and now that I have two little boys, I completely understand how she felt. Praise God for boys, and praise Him for YOU :). Love you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
September 13, 2009
Dearest Steve: This was the devotional passage in your NKJV Daily Devotional Bible this morning and it gave me such comfort:
"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has also given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confidant, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confidant, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him."
II Corinthians 5:1-8
Thank you, Jesus, for Your words and Your promises!
With love, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
September 12, 2009
Dear Steve: I think about you throughout the day, and when I see something beautiful, like yesterday as I drove to the store and saw a bird frolicking in the water on the side of the road with the sunshine making the water glitter. Then, very suddently, I realized that the sights you have seen since you have entered Heaven have been beautiful beyond description compared to the beauty we witness here only periodically, and that cheered my heart. I believe that, given the opportunity, you would never choose to return here now that you have enjoyed the heavenly city that God has prepared for us. There are still so many difficult days, but more and more often the Lord brings to mind the fact that my grieving is really selfish, as you are completely happy, whole, and complete in a way that none of us will experience until we join you there. When Jesus brings this to mind, I feel peace. I had devotions at your desk this morning, and praised the Lord as I read II Corinthians and spent some time with Oswald Chambers. Just sitting there is such a blessing and I am grateful beyond words to your family for sharing it with me. Love you, miss you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
September 5, 2009
Dearest Steve: I was in contact with your friend from our Seattle days, Doran Kraus, to share with him the news of your leaving us for Heaven, and he sent me a beautiful book called "Embraced by the Light." I finished it yesterday, and it describes in vivid detail what the author saw when she visited and then returned from Heaven (she died after surgery and was later revived). She reports that immediately upon arriving in Heaven she was greeted by our Savior, who held out His arms to her and embraced her. It was so comforting to picture you in the arms of Jesus, with your family there to welcome you HOME. How I miss you. Doran and his brother Tad were wonderful friends, as well as business associates, during our years in Seattle. Doran wrote that they "always knew that you were a true child of God," and that you will be waiting when we all arrive in Heaven. I am running the race, and looking forward to the finish line :). Much love always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
August 31, 2009
Dear Steve: This morning during devotions I was reading Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest," and a portion of it could have been written just for you. The verse he was commenting on was John 15:11 ("That my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."), and Chambers wrote: "Be rightly related to God, find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a center for Jesus Christ to pour living water through...The life that is rightly related to God is as natural as breathing wherever it goes. The lives that have been of most blessing to you are those who were unconcious of it." How true, and how descriptive of your approach to life. When we were married, I was not walking with Jesus (oh yes, I was saved, but I had no idea what the "life hid with God" was about). For the life of me I could not figure out your happy-go-lucky, carefree, joyful approach to life. You had more than happiness, you had joy, and since I had never seen that in action, I didn't know what it was. But something amazing happened - your joy, the trusting, childlike joy that you had in your walk here on earth, was "catchy" and I eventually caught on. Unfortunately, my learning process was too slow for us, and the seeds you planted by your example only bloomed within the last five years. How can I ever thank you for being such a blessing to me? I thank our God every time I think of you. Much love always, Lisa
Sharon Gribble
August 28, 2009
Steve,
I have been following Lisa's heart-felt and uplifting guest book entries. They help make me feel close to you. Bob Marley's, "Be Happy" song is one of my favorites, too. I have that as my cell phone ring back tone so people can listen to it while waiting for me to answer. Now I will think of you when I hear it.
Be well and enjoy your peace.
Lisa Jimenez
August 27, 2009
Dearest Steve: Yesterday I overheard my youngest son singing "Don't Worry" by Bob Marley (he learned it on the preschool channel). He was singing it with such passion, and it reminded me of you, because you loved that song too. When we were young and first married, and riding your motorcycle every weekend and having so many adventures, that song "Don't Worry" could have been your theme song. You were SO full of life and you did nothing half-way. Hearing Ryan sing that song not only reminded me of you, but of your similarities. He has also faced so many challenges in his young life (a terminal diagnosis, surgeries, procedures, a stutter, and physical tics) but he never lets it get him down. When he wakes in the morning, he often declares "This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" That boy brings me so much joy. I believe that one of the reasons why you brought such joy to your Mother was because you both shared such a love of life, as well as the certainty that we will enjoy eternity with Jesus, and so you were kindred spirits. I know for certain that you are now rejoicing in Heaven and that we will all be together some day. What a reunion that will be! Love you, miss you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
August 18, 2009
Dearest Steve: Today my oldest son and I were lying on the grass in the backyard looking at the sky, and I wondered out loud if you could see us right then, and he said "Mom, I'm sure he can see us...let's wave!!" So we smiled and waved, and it was the sweetest moment, and I DO believe that our loving Heavenly Father just might have allowed you to see us sending you our best greeting. How you are missed! Much love, in Jesus, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
August 12, 2009
Dearest Steve: I am thinking about you today. I keep seeing your smile, and hearing your voice. The other day the kids "helped" me go through your things. I cried when I held your leather coat - it still smells like you. Thank you, again, for being YOU and for blessing my life. I get up each day and say "This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" You taught me to cherish each day and to live like there is no tomorrow. Love you, miss you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
August 7, 2009
This is a letter written in honor of Steve, by my Mother, Suzanne Coyne, who was Steve's mother-in-law for the twelve years that we were married. It was written on the day of his memorial service (Saturday, July 25th, 2009). She asked me to write it in his guest book as Steve was a beloved part of our family whose memory will be always be cherished:
"I can only imagine how difficult today must be for the Normington family, who are gathered together, in Wisconsin, for a private remembrance service for their little brother."
"Steven bestowed so much love on all of them, in spite of his many life challenges. He was a unique and loving human being, who saw the good in all things, all persons, and his power of forgiveness was unwavering."
"It was a privilege to have him as part of my life for more than a decade. He was a mentor to me and my son, Michael - never judging, but offering unconditional love. Thank you, Lisa and Roger, for sharing Steven's memory and life lessons with my grandchildren."
"Today, I am celebrating Steven's life journey with Keith Green's music (Steven introduced me to Keith's music). I am affirming that Steven is free of his limitations and that he is dancing, hugging, and greeting everything and everyone around him! Be free my friend. I am so grateful that you have found peace - you are so deserving."
"You taught me to NOT let go of the child in me and to be trusting of my fellowman. Thank you!"
Suzanne Coyne
Lisa Jimenez
August 1, 2009
Dearest Steve:
I had a long conversation with your dear friend, Peter Knight, the other evening, and we exchanged remembrances and laughed over funny stories we recalled from your college days when he was your R.A. at Bethel. You and your roommates were a memorable bunch :)! I remember that our first date took place at your off-campus apartment where you invited me to carve pumpkins with your roommates. I didn't know until later that you guys "borrowed" all of the pumpkins from the yards of folks living around the dorm. It was a fun evening and I remember it well. Peter and I agreed that your energy and unquenchable spirit were a joy and a blessing to everyone you came into contact with. He reminded me that God's Word, in Hebrews, tells us that we are surrounded by a "cloud of witnesses," and that you are not unaware of what is going on here, which is precisely the feeling I have been having for some time now. What an awesome truth to contemplate - that our loved ones in the Kingdom are near us and cheering us on to the finish line, and looking forward to the day when we are all reunited in Heaven. Thank you, Jesus!!
I have also been doing a great deal of thinking about you as a little boy, as I spend my days taking care of two little boys who continually send me to the Lord in prayer, asking for wisdom, patience, and the kind of mothering your Mom gave to you. I remember you telling me that you cherished your blue dog (a stuffed toy), but that you couldn't say "blue dog," so you called him "Pluto" instead. I remember you telling me that you slept in an open drawer in your Mom and Dad's room, as there was no crib available at that time, and that later you moved into Phil's room when he was in high school, and that he used to encourage you to jump as high as you could in your playpen. I remember that you used to get a kick out of saying (as loudly as possible) "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord!" just to get a reaction out of your Dad, who thought it was funny that such a little kid would say such a thing. I remember that you used to tell me how your Dad would tease you and say "Hey, little kid, you don't live here, so go home now..." to which you would reply "Daddy, it's me, Steve!" You said that you and your Dad played that game a lot with one another. I remember that you said that you and Sarah always paired up and were close buddies. I remember how you told me the story of the last time they took your Dad to the hospital, and how he took your hand and said "The next time you see me, I'll be walking." My own family stories are hazy, but for some reason I can remember everything you ever told me.
Once I became a mother I began to realize that everyone was once a precious baby, and then a little child, and that my little boys will someday grow into men and leave me...but for now they are little kids (you said that "little kid" was your Dad's nickname for you) like you once were in your family, carrying around their stuffed toys, telling me the same jokes daily, and wearing me out with their never-ending energy. Thank you, dear Lord, for precious little boys like Steve and my sons who grow into wonderful men who love you. Miss you, love you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
July 27, 2009
Dearest Steve: Last Saturday I thought about you, and your family, continually. I woke up and immediately asked Jesus for peace and strength for your family, and the Lord led me to open my Bible, and upon opening it these are the verses He gave in answer: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yahweh, the Lord, is everlasting strength." Isaiah 26:3-4 Thank you, Jesus, for promising us peace and strength when we need it most. Later that day, we drove from Nevada to Utah. I saw mountains, rainstorms, canyons, clouds, and sky, and my mind was full of thoughts of you as I held your family up to the Lord in prayer. And Jesus, who is always faithful, gave me peace and the assurance that you are completely and utterly happy in His presence. With love, now and always, Lisa
Peter Knight
July 19, 2009
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be....Hymn by George mattheson.
Steve my college roommate and friend,years have come and gone, and relationships we allowed to wither..
but memories will never die...
your zest for life..your courage..your daring...your refusal to be bound...you clowning around..your need to be free...
RIP...
Lisa Jimenez
July 19, 2009
Dear Steve: Sometimes I get the distinct impression that the Lord occasionally allows you to see what we are doing here, and that you are now aware of how deeply loved and cherished you were. It is more than a feeling, it is a certain "knowing" within my spirit, that you are aware, and that you are very happy, and perfectly at peace. I did, and still do, love you my buddy. We were indeed best friends, doing everything together, growing up together, having so many adventures. Thank you, Jesus, for those years...With love, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
July 14, 2009
Dear Steve: I was remembering some funny stories you told me from your childhood yesterday as I was trying to wash black soot off my kids in the backyard (they decided to go into the fire pit and rub it all over themselves). I recall you telling me that you used to take your naps with Mom when you were little, and that you would wait until she was snoring, and then get out of bed and get into mischief. One day you decided that you were thirsty for milk, so you went into the fridge and tried to get a glass of milk for yourself from the big jug that had a spout on the front (you said that it was huge and had come from a farm). Well, you got the milk started okay, but then couldn't get it stopped, so it went all over the kitchen floor. When your Mom woke up, there you were trying to wipe up the milk. I asked you if she got mad, and you said no, but she certainly was surprised. I wish that I had that kind of patience with my own kids! Another funny story you told me was from the time when you were older and living on Pond Road, and you were playing outside and didn't feel like going inside to use the facilities, so you peed on the electric fence (!) and got quite a shock. Poor kid :). Boys are something else...one of mine has had two casts already this year and will likely have a third before the year is out at the rate he is going. One last remembrance for now...you told me that your Mother always said "Give Steve the tenderloin because he has little teeth!" Love, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
July 6, 2009
Dear Steve: This weekend the clouds were amazing in Arizona - they looked like the huge, puffy clouds we see during Midwest summers, and they were tinged with beautiful colors (pink, gold, and intense white). I kept looking up and thinking how God's Word promises us that Heaven is beyond anything we can comprehend here...that the beauty of Heaven is far greater than the most beautiful sights on earth...and it comforted me to know for certain that your eyes are feasting on those sights right now. How I miss you... A cute little story about my three-year-old, Gracie: We were driving to Grandma's on July 4th and she yells out "Mommy, me see a super-bike driver - pay for him!!" (which is her way of saying that she saw a man on a motorcycle and wanted me to PRAY for him). See, your legacy continues... Love you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
July 3, 2009
Dear Steve: Yesterday little Ryan said "Mom, I raced Steve on the Wii and he's really fast! I always pick a motorcycle because he loved motorcycles." So sweet... I am thinking about you today, as we come into the Fourth of July holiday. I wish we could go to Bone Lake and waterski all day and sit on the dock at night. I have a picture of you standing on the shore at Lake Vermillion looking out over the water, one of you standing on a big rock in front of the cabin (on Vermillion), and another of us (very sunburned!) hugging on the couch in the cabin. I also treasure a picture of you driving Mike's boat on Forest Lake...so many summer memories! Miss you, love you, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
June 28, 2009
Dear Steve: Last night your friend, Karen Sargeant, walked in your honor in Chicago in the "Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk." She made a luminaria for you from me, and the candle inside burned all night, while thousands of people who have lost loved ones walked eighteen miles and then gathered for a memorial service at sunrise. I wanted so much to participate this year, but the kids are still too little to be away. God willing, next year. I keep wondering if the Lord lets you see us here...somehow I think so. I pray that now you see how very loved you were, and what an impact you had on all of us. You left a legacy of blessing. I have been listening to our old answering machine tapes and hearing your voice is both painful and wonderful. You were always "up," and left the sweetest messages. Yesterday I found one where you said that you would do the dishes after work, and would accept no arguments :). Love you, miss you... Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
June 25, 2009
Dear Steve: I thought you would get a kick out of this. :) The kids have a Wii video game system and have all of their family members on it so they can race them on motorcycles and in various cars on cool race tracks...little Ryan told me that he wants you on his Wii system so he can choose you from his family members, pick a vehicle, and then "race you" around the track. My mom said how appropriate since you loved riding your motorcycle so much. Ryan also said recently, "I love Steven as much as I love my whole family." Ryan is a special kid and you two have a lot in common - life has been tough for Ryan, but like you, he has a sweet spirit and a beautiful outlook on life. Miss you so much...thought you would get a giggle out of the kids racing you on the Wii (you can create the characters to look just like your loved ones by choosing the hair color, eye color, and other features). I have been asking Jesus to bring to mind all of the happy memories I have of you and there are many...we sure had fun. With love, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
June 22, 2009
Steve: What are you doing right now? What's it like there? What is it like to meet the giants of the faith in person, and to see Jesus face-to-face?? What a tremendous thought, that you have seen our Lord in all His glory...! Miss you, love you... Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
June 17, 2009
Dear Steve: There are so many things to say, but the thing on my mind most these days is how much I want to thank you for being an example, and for teaching me to be "bananas for Jesus," as Keith Green would say. Before you, I never knew about the fruit of the Spirit...then you came along and you were positively full of fruit (peace, kindness, gentleness, love, self-control, faithfulness, etc.). You were a walking testament to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. I used to marvel at how you never, and I mean never, complained. You always saw the good, and your cup was always full. What a privilege to spend all those years with you. Do you know that the seeds you planted those many years ago in my life, by your consistent example, took root and grew, and that all of the good in my life today is due to the Lord using your influence (and the influence of your Mother)? Thank you, thank you. Christian author Oswald Chambers said that we are to be "broken bread and poured out wine for others," and that is indeed what you were in my life. I will be forever grateful, and will run to embrace you when I enter Heaven so I can thank you in person. Love now and forever, Lisa
Havilah Normington
June 16, 2009
Uncle Steve,
I still miss you daily!! I continue to think about you and wish I had another day with you on earth. I cannot wait for the day that I see you in Heaven. I will always love more than you know!
xoxoxo,
Havilah
Bill Coyne
June 12, 2009
Dear Steven,
Whenever I think of you, which I have been often since getting the call from Lisa,I am filled with a warm, good feeling and the memory of you, often with some difficulty, but consistently none the less, addressing me as "Uncle Bill". This was representative of your high standard of what is right and proper...of a gentleman.
I am also reminded of your consistent optimism, your cheerfulness and encouraging way with others. Rather than focusing on your struggles, you remained positive and faithful....to all of us and to God. bless you for your example, your warmth and consistent good cheer Steven. I so look forward to our being together once again. Love eternal, Uncle Bill
Gregory Boyd
June 11, 2009
Steve was a student of mine many years ago as well as a member of my church. He stands out in my mind as a profoundly sweet, sensitive, God-loving man.
I also was aware that Steve faced some formidable challenges. Several times we talked about them. One of the things Steve and I had in common was a significant speech impairment. I stuttered terribly up through high school and I know very well the unique, painful challenges it presents. IF only for a short while, Steve and I connected.
Steve is with his Creator who loves him more profoundly than any of us can possibly imagine. My prayer is that we who continue on and mourn our loss allow this same God to comfort our hearts and give us a peace that passes understanding.
Greg Boyd
Lisa Jimenez
June 11, 2009
Dear Steve: Your influence is still being felt so strongly. The kids and I pray for each motorcyclist and each trucker we see on the road, and yesterday the boys referred to you several times, and little Ryan has decided to do his artwork on your desk. The kids sing the songs you taught me that you learned in VBS all those years ago. I don't know whether the Lord allows our loved ones to see what we are doing here, but I hope so, because seeing your influence on the kids would please you so much. I remember how you used to talk so fondly about Pond Road, and Biney's Farm, and my kids are crazy about farm animals because I told them the same stories you told me, and they even tell me that they "love cows because they have such nice eyes," which came directly from you. I have also been thinking about how funny you were ... you could always make me crack up. Like the time we were driving from San Jose to Vancouver and the VW started making this terrible squealing noise in the dashboard, and you good-naturedly called it "your Lisa" (there was more than a little truth to that statement). Then, once we got to Vancouver and went to the U of BC museum, we took a walk around the grounds and found a staircase down to the beach, which turned out to be a clothing-optional beach. You weren't the least bit phased and sat down on a log and started visiting with the people next to us. You were comfortable in any situation, and always made others feel the same way. You were a pleasure to be with. This morning someone called here asking to speak with you, and I told them that you recently left for Heaven, and that we are all eagerly awaiting a reunion. Thanks for the many memories - my whole youth was tied to you - it was a good way to spend those years. With love, Lisa
sarah strom
June 10, 2009
Dear Steve, I know you are not here, yet I want to say that I still care about you. You truly have left a hole in my life. I will look up to the heavens and have God be my strengh.
Thankyou for touching so many people lives!!!! Sarah
sarah strom
June 8, 2009
Dear Steve, I miss you!!!!!
Thank you for being my brother
Lisa Jimenez
June 6, 2009
Dear Steve: I visited your friend and neighbor, Ishmael, last Friday and we had coffee and he did some Bible teaching on various topics, including heaven and Revelation. He cared so much for you. He asked me to look at some books that used to be in your house, as he reads primarily Spanish, and I immediately saw the worship hymnal we received from Phoebe Nelson as a wedding gift...our names were inside the front cover and I have been using it daily ever since. He also gave me your daily devotional Bible (NKJ) and "The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life" by Charles Stanley. What a life-changing book...! Pastor Greg Boyd called yesterday and was so sad to hear that you had left us, but also reminded me of where you are now, and the importance of focusing on this fact, as well as staying vitally connected to Jesus. I also spoke with your dear friend, Doug Driver, yesterday and he said that he just loved you so much and has been missing you for years. He said that his brother Bob, and your friend Daryl, still talk about you and tell stories and wish you could all be together. We had such good times at "Boney Lake," as Doug called it :). I can still see you waterskiing with such skill and grace. I was really proud of your waterskiing ability and loved to watch you from the back of the boat - you always had a BIG smile! Each time I have been to your house it has been incredibly painful, but has also felt very necessary. This last time, as I drove away and took that left turn at the mountains, I prayed for strength and turned on KLOVE Christian radio - once again, just at that moment, the Lord gave me a much-needed gift...Chris Rice was singing the final verse of his song, "Come to Jesus," and he sang: "And when your life is over, your heart will beat it's last, and you'll close your eyes and laugh on Glory's side, and fly to Jesus, fly to Jesus, fly to Jesus, and LIVE!" Laugh, indeed, and if I know you, you danced as well. Love always, Lisa
Lisa Jimenez
May 25, 2009
Dearest Steve: I miss you, I miss you. Your desk is in the kitchen and the boys are playing hide and seek underneath it, and I know that would just delight you. They like to ask again and again about the little cut mark on the front which you made when you were just a little guy like them. The kids refer to you as "Dear Steven," which makes me either smile or cry. You were so dear, so sweet. I will try to be strong and happy in order to honor your memory and because I know you are in heaven cheering us all on. But for now, there are still many tears. Please hug your Mother for me. Much love, Lisa
Ruth Nelson
May 24, 2009
I just needed to let you know that I am thinking about you today. I wish you had realized how much you were loved and appreciated. I miss you so much. I miss talking to you on the phone. Everytime we talked you always made me laugh. You had such a way of making me feel that what was going on in my life was more important than anything else. When I think I can't bear not having you around, I picture you up there being your joyful self. blessing everyone around you. You were such a gift to our family and I thank you for that. Can't wait to hug you again. I love you soooo much
Julia Strom
May 21, 2009
When I got onto the computer today your picture was up. I simply sat and with seeing your smile memories at grandma's house and the farm came flooding to my mind. Uncle Steve, thank you for always finding a way to lighten up the mood and make us laugh. Despite your pain you always made it a point to bring cheer to your nieces and nephews. My heart saddens that we will not see your smile again on earth, but rejoices so much more when I think of your freedom now from the pain and your ability to rejoice with the King of the Most High! Ahh I can't even begin to fathom the incrediblness of being in His presence! Until we see each other again, may we all never miss a chance to say "I love you". I love you Uncle Steve.
Pete McKee
May 20, 2009
Just yesterday I heard of Steve's promotion to heaven. My sincere condolences to Steves family and friends.
Sarah wrote "you were handsome, charming, smart and funny". As I think back; Steve had those same traits in high school as well. He was so witty and, did anyone mention funny? There was always laughter when he was around. I smiled when I read that he was still telling people "you can't farm in the mud". I remember Steve using that phrase 28 years ago. Steve was a great classmate and a friend to all. He will be missed by family, friends, and the MBA Class of '81.
Jami Nelson
May 19, 2009
Thank you Uncle Steve for being awesome! I have endless memories of your sense of humor as a child growing up! You were always so much fun! I am also forever thankful for your prayers and concern for me while I was sick, it means the world! The Normington family will never be the same. I'll miss you...
Lisa Jimenez
May 19, 2009
Dearest Steve: My mind was full of thoughts of you all yesterday on your birthday. I could not write to you as my son was very sick, but is better now. I read Oswald Chambers devotional for May 18th and it was as though it had been written for you. The verse for yesterday was Matthew 6:26,28 - "Behold the fowls of the air...Consider the lilies of the field." Then Chambers said that the people who influence us most are those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold us. I was overwhelmed by the realization that your sweetness of spirit and the absolute joy you had in all that you did (right now I am picturing you riding your motorcycle, and waterskiing, and driving with me in our old Benz through British Columbia with the sunroof open!) were exactly the way Jesus would have us live our lives - not worrying, just enjoying each moment. Thank you, thank you for the memories. I have a mental image of you doing a handstand on the beach in Santa Cruz (I also took a snapshot which I cherish), and another of you standing in a tulip field in Washington at sunset after a day of sightseeing...I like to bring those memories up on the screen of my mind because they are so typical of you. One more thought...the family knows the story of how an angel visited your Mother in the hospital a month before you were conceived, and of how he told her that she didn't need the operation and that everything would work out just as it should...and a month later God sent you. I tell this story to emphasize that you were a gift from Jesus from the start, and that God had a plan for you even before you were born. I treasure your family's stories as my own. I love you, buddy, and I know that you are enjoying an awesome birthday in Paradise.
Sharon Gribble
May 19, 2009
Happy Birthday, Steve :-)
sarah strom
May 18, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVE, What are you doing right now? Are you dancing? Singing? Or just being amazed? I love you!!! Sarah
John Kowalke
May 18, 2009
Steve, I didn't know you for long, but it was a privilege. You were always there with a kind word and a smile. It truly was a pleasure, and you will be dearly missed.
mary roney
May 18, 2009
It's your birthday today, dearest Steve. I miss you so very, very much--your sweet smile, the big warm hug you always gave and the thoughtful ways about you. I take comfort knowing you are at peace in the arms of Jesus and are with Mom and Dad. Good-by my precious brother. My love, Mary
Stacy Normington
May 17, 2009
Uncle Steve,
...It's your birthday tomorrow...still thinking of you...always have and always will. You were a great inspiration to me when I used to draw...how you loved my childhood drawings and told me to pursue my dreams. I will always cherish our time together. I love you. Always have. Always will.
Richard Clifford
May 15, 2009
Steve I am saddened to here of your passing. I had a great time working with you. Evan when I was having a bad day at work, your quick smile and a corny joke lifted my spirits. You will definitely
be missed my friend.
torrie hill
May 14, 2009
Uncle Steve, I will always remember your beautiful smile and your warm laughter. We will miss you dearly.
May 13, 2009
Dear Steve, Rest in peace my friend. I will miss our chats and your smile. Donna Siverling, Phoenix, Arizona
Larry Wehunt
May 13, 2009
Dear Steve, I hope you are in the arms of God now and peacefully resting....so sad to hear of this tragedy. You always were a positive person with a smile for everyone at many events and you will be surely missed. May God Bless you and your family.
Paul Latimer
May 13, 2009
Steve, You brought many smiles to this life. I will never forget the smiles we had together. May you be at peace. Rest ushered your friends will never forget the great times they had with you. My peace I give you..
Paul Normington
May 13, 2009
Dear Brother Steve- We wait until it's to late to say what we should be saying each and every day. We love you. Now I miss you more than I ever thought I could. You were a wonderful brother, a great friend and a man I greatly admired. You were bold and courageous in your struggle here on earth. Little could we imagine the true depth of your pain. May you now find the sweet peace and rest you so desperately longed for. One day we will be reunited. Until then I will always be thankful for the few moments we spent together.
Cathy Smith
May 13, 2009
Dear Steve - Although I didn't know you very well, or for very long, I'll always cherish the time we spent together. You always had a smile on your face and always put one on mine. I'll miss you.
Lynn Smith
May 13, 2009
Your enthusiasm was infectious and cheerful expression unending. Rest now in the Peace of our positive memory of you.
Kathye Pease
May 13, 2009
My friend Steve. I was upset to learn of your passing, and saddened that it took so long for us to know of it. Your smile and great sense of humor will be missed greatly.
sarah Strom
May 13, 2009
My dear brother Steve, You are my little broter. You were the Tom Hanks to me. You were handsome, charming, smart, and funny. I find myself telling my kids, "you can't farm in the mud". When I hear Keith Green I'll forever think of you. He sang, When I stand in Glory I'll see your face and then I'll bow and worship in that Holy Place." Thankyou oh, my Father, for giving us Steven George Normington. He had it hard. He fought hard and oh so well. Everything he did he did good and right. Steve, you are worshipping your Savior now with Mom and Dad.
My heart is sad and I cry for you. Until our arms are around each other again I'll miss you and love you. Thank you for being my brother and always loving us and everyone. Sarah
Jeremiah 29:11-14
"Bim"
May 12, 2009
"Bteve", what's going on?
what words can I say for lost of my baby brother. Life is not supposed to happen this way. You took a part of us all when you left. Thanks for my hug. what a lost.
Lisa Jimenez
May 12, 2009
Dear Sweet Steven: How I miss you, and have missed you, these many years. I have countless memories of you and will treasure them in my heart forever. Your smile and sweet spirit, and so much more...I remember how your Mother put tiny pictures of you all over her kitchen so she could see your precious face each day! You were indeed deeply loved. I am sorry, so sorry, that my healing did not come in time for us. The irretrievable past will now sleep on the bosom of Christ, and I will look forward to seeing you again in Heaven. Until then, give my love to your Mother, sing God's praises with Keith Green, and smile at our Lord like only you can smile. Love always, Lisa XOXOXOXOXOXOX
Sharon Gribble
May 11, 2009
Arizona Steve, Your positive attitude will be missed at our many parties and social events. You always had nice things to say to me and to others. Goodbye for now, until we meet again.
Jennifer Hudson
May 11, 2009
Uncle Steve, I love you and miss you very much. I know that grandma was waiting there for you with open arms. I can take comfort in knowing that you are up in Heaven and I will see you again some day.
Havilah Normington
May 10, 2009
Uncle Steve, I love you deeply and will miss you always! I wish I could have seen you one last time this spring. I have such wonderful memories with you that I will cherish forever! I look forward to seeing you again in heaven!!
Ruth Nelson
May 10, 2009
My dear brother Steven, I miss you more every day but I'm comforted to know you are in the arms of Jesus. Rest well. You have always brought our family so much joy and laughter. We were truly blessed to have you in our lives. My love for you will never fade. Ruth
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