It’s really amazing how God works. The gift of life is amazing and can change in seconds or throughout years. But when life does change in seconds it’s important to remember that God gives us the gift of life and he can take it away when He wants to.
In life God sends people that you can really admire He uses everyone in your life for a purpose. Differences can be good and Mr. Kroeker made a good difference in my life. He made a difference in lots of people life (good differences.) On earth when you lose the gift of life if you are a believer you gain a better gift. A gift that Mr. Kroeker is enjoying up in Heaven. So when we are all grieving over Mr. Kroeker and the wonderful things he has done. We know that because he lost a gift he gained a better one.

As I talked with my students that Tuesday morning, I knew they were supposed to have a test the next time they had class with Mr. Kroeker. “Remind me what you were learning about today in Bible?” I asked them. Their response jogged my memory.
I had been sitting in the back of the classroom overhearing Mr. Levi Kroeker—man of The Word, man of his word—define the word “covenant” to a group of twelve year olds who live in a world where promises are broken more than kept. “A covenant is a promise that should never, never, never be broken.” I remembered now: Genesis, Noah, the flood, the rainbow…God’s promises to us and us keeping our promises! That’s what I had heard Mr. Kroeker teach just a few hours before we would get the news that he had been taken to the hospital and was in critical condition.
I was humbled to be the one who got to communicate Mr. Kroeker’s earthly condition to a group of sixth graders who considered him to be nearly immortal. Three mornings a week, he drove ever-so-slowly into the parking lot and walked into the doors of Lincoln Christian School. He walked into our classroom, removed his Bible from his briefcase, opened it up, and said, “Let’s pray.” And then The Word would come alive!
That Tuesday afternoon we sat on our desks and talked. “OK. It’s like this. If Mr. Kroeker is a walking miracle in these halls again in a few days, that’s great! And if Mr. Kroeker is walking gold streets in heaven, that’s great! Mr. Kroeker would want us to trust the promise of God’s best plan.”
So we did! For the next two days, we asked God for His best plan. We went to the promises of Psalms for encouragement; we talked matter-of-factly that the most important way to honor Mr. Kroeker’s legacy of faith was to be confident in our own salvation through Jesus; and we grew up a little, knowing that we were the special group that God asked to walk through these circumstances.
And Friday afternoon, we got to share the moment of realization that God’s best plan had been fulfilled: Mr. Kroeker was, in fact, in the presence of his Savior Jesus, walking those streets of gold, and worshipping the God who promises heaven!
“Thank You, Mr. Kroeker!” the sixth graders had said that Tuesday morning as he zipped up his coat, grabbed his briefcase, and walked out the doors of Lincoln Christian School for the last time. Thank you, Lord, for Mr. Kroeker who spent his final conscious hours teaching us a lesson that encompassed who he really was: He was a man who stood powerfully on the promises of God, and he always, always, always kept his.

I’ll never forget sitting across from Mr. Kroeker at my first committee meeting thinking, “How in the world will I ever be able to address him by anything other than “Mr. Kroeker” and how in the world will I be able to sit at the same table of leadership with the man who has guided Lincoln Christian School for over four decades? What could I possibly have to say that would be of any interest or even value to this man?” Yet, always the great educator and gentleman, Mr. Kroeker would listen intently on those rare occasions when I did dare to venture an idea in his presence and for that (among many other things) I am very grateful.

My prayers are with Marlis and her family for even though we all know that to be present with the Lord is greater than sitting on any throne on earth, I can’t imagine loosing a family member who was so inspirational to so many. My guess is that all of these accolades are a double-edged sword. I pray that they are more so the edge that helps with your healing.

May you find God ‘s love even in this time of great loss. I sincerely thank you so much for lending your husband and father who guided and directed even the most ornery of children who, perhaps all too often, found himself sitting outside the office of one of the kindest and best paddle-equipped principals I’ll ever know.

His peace,

Cory Free

Thank you Mr. Kroeker for modeling Christ-likeness!

Bless you all for sharing your husband/father/grandfather with us. We praise God for Levi. May the Lord fill the empty spaces of your heart and lives with His peace and presence.

Hugs and Blessings,
The Fagans