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Thank You God for Such an
Amazing Brother! Never
in my life have I ever felt such sorrow. I don't understand this
world or why things happen the way they do but I know God has
a plan for everyone and I take comfort in that. I don't know
why my brother was taken from us so soon but I thank God for
every moment that I got to spend with him here on this earth.
My big brother was only about a year older than me and he pretty
much taught me everything I know. As a child I followed him everywhere
learning to do things the way he did them. I have looked up to
him my entire life. He was my role model and my best friend.
He was always there for me whether it was helping me with my
homework or teaching me some new skill that he had already mastered.
He was the most influential person in my life and I will always
carry that with me in my heart. He was my big brother. I love
him so much and I will miss him so much but I thank you God for
the time you gave me with him and I look forward to embracing
him once again. --Daniel Krugjohn, dkrugjohn@gmail.com
I am one of Michael's aunts,
and I loved him so very dearly. He had a special place in the
hearts of my four daughters and I. He had come to live with us
during a critical time in his life, and we had the great pleasure
of being there when God in his great mercy set Michael on the
path of life. We have stayed in touch with him since then - sending
him care packages if we felt it had been a bit too long since
his last communicatiion. He was very predicable - if we sent
a care package ( he loved Holly's cinnamon rolls!), then he would
call : )
I know how very important you were in Michael's life, and I just
want to thank you. He mentioned you every time that I spoke to
him. I know that you would have liked to be at the memorial service.
It was a wonderful service and was very helpful to all of us
- especially to his mother, brothers and sister. Thank you, too,
for the part that you played in the memorial. The Lord bless
you!! Sincerely, Linda Livingston , (with thanks also
from Katie, Hannah, Holly and Kristen), <khamwaset@juno.com>
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Lambert Dolphin, lambert@ldolphin.org: In April of 2002
a young high school student named Paul Haverstock in Minnesota
wrote me in response to an article on my web site, http://ldolphin.org/.
Paul and I soon became close friends. In fact, Paul subsequently
visited me in California on two occasions. When he visited in
December 2005 Paul asked me if he could bring along his friend
Michael Krugjohn from KU. Naturally I agreed--and we subsequently
all had a fantastic time! My roommate Chris Gonzales ("Gonzo")
and I both felt an immediate rapport with this unique and gifted
young man--so we convinced Michael to come back again soon. In
fact he did just that, visiting us five more times. His last
visit was Spring break this year. Many of the photos posted here
are from those fantastic fun times we all had together.
Michael was immediately at home
with everyone he met out here in the West. He has more than a
dozen solid friends here who miss him dearly. In the course of
his visits Michael told us just about everything there was to
know about himself--he was very direct and transparent with us.
He was full of fun--and a rare kind of unconventional Christian
who did not like to be boxed in by traditional church values.
On a few occasions when I was a stern grandfather in giving him
strong advice he never became angry, but, like a puppy dog, always
quickly wanted to talk more about what I had said. He was light
years from being a hypocrite about his faith. Michael's commitment
to Jesus Christ was very real and genuine--and he had a very
deep empathy for others. But many who knew him did not see that
Michael's opinion of himself deep down inside did not match the
real world and the great love and respect that all his friends
had for him. At times he could be very morbidly depressed.
To me Michael Krugjohn was a
son and a best friend and a soul-brother all in one. Ours was
by no means a one-sided friendship. In fact, he had planned to
spend the summer here with us in Santa Clara and eventually look
for a job in Silicon Valley (for which he was very well qualified).
We were all excited about his imminent return and had a red carpet
treatment in store for his return this very week.
When I heard the sad news of
Michael's death on Monday I immediately thought of a statement
by C.S. Lewis that it is never too late to pray for an event
that has already taken place in earth time. God, in eternity
looks at things differently. Lewis said,
"When we are praying about
the result, say, of a battle or a medical consultation, the thought
will often cross our minds that, if we only knew it, the event
is already decided one way or the other. I believe this to be
no good reason for ceasing our prayers. The event certainly has
been decided. In a sense, it was decided before all the worlds.
But one of the things taken into account in deciding it, and
therefore one of the things that really causes it to happen,
may be this very prayer that we are now offering. Thus, shocking
as it may sound, I conclude that we can at noon become part causes
of an event occurring at ten o'clock. There is no question whether
an event has happened because of your prayer. When the event
you prayed for occurs, your prayer has always contributed to
it. When the opposite event occurs, your prayer has never been
ignored; it has been considered and refused for your ultimate
good and the good of the whole universe."
We can all pray today and have
God--outside of time--use our prayers in powerful ways on Michael's
behalf. I can't wait to see Michael again, and that is my certain
hope--because of my own personal relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ, which dates back to 1962. I hope any of you reading this
who do not as yet know Jesus will realize that you are greatly
loved by God and that the arms of Jesus are open to you no matter
what your troubles may be. If you do know the Lord Jesus and
loved Michael, be assured that he is indeed with the Lord Jesus
now, whole and complete and set free from the personal demons
that haunted him. One of my all-time favorite passages in the
Bible is the following,
"For if we are beside ourselves,
it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For
the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if
One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those
who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who
died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard
no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ
according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things
are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ,
and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing
their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of
reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf,
be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin
for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
(2 Corinthians 5:13-21)
See you soon Michael!
I saw Michael on a weekly basis
on campus. Though our interchanges were brief and only in passing,
he was undeniably one of the most friendly people I knew.
Thank you, Michael, for your consistent smiles and hellos. And
thank you for always addressing me by name. Someone
once said: "everyone needs kindness because everyone is
fighting their own great battle". You must have understood
this more deeply than most and more deeply than we knew.
You are loved and missed, brother.
Until one day, Rachel <dlarson@twinvalley.net>
Justin Hoskins, psalms2eight@yahoo.com: Michael, you
meant the world to me. the times we spent playing basketball
where i taught you how to shoot a layup, or the times we spent
talking on the phone encouraging each other to walk with God,
or the trip to passion 06, or the trip to hang in cali where
you go your "keep santa cruz weird" shirt, or the times
we'd go to navs together, the trips we took to main event (and
the times you tried to convince me to come), and when i came
to man maker just so we could hang out, those were the times
i lived for, memories that will live with me forever.
i guess you'll never know how
much i loved you, how special you were to me, or at least you
didn't comprehend. since i don't have any brothers you were it
for me. i had planned for you to be a groomsman at my wedding(if
i ever get married) and for us to stay friends until we go home
to Jesus...i guess the second one already happened. when you
got your corvette i was going to ride shotgun with you, and i
looked forward to coming to cali to visit you annually.
i wish you could see the legacy
that you left - the lives that you impacted. i wish you knew
how much you have shaped my love for Jesus, how you have shown
me the love of Jesus, how you have taught me to love like Jesus.
i think you were better at it than practically anybody i have
known.
as you get to hang with Jesus,
you finally get your greatest desire. i remember talking with
you about how cool it would be to finally be with Jesus...well,
you're finally there. how i wish i was with you. if you get a
minute let me know what it's like.
this morning i was taught by
a biology professor that "life finds a way". even when
it is thought to be destroyed or non-existent, it still finds
a way. as i reflect on you i realize that your life will live
on. even though your body is no longer here, your life will affect
me as long as i live. it will affect those i love and minister
to. your life will find a way to survive on earth and the remnant
of your life will survive eternity. i thank you for everything
that you did for me. because of you, i now know how to love like
Jesus. because of you, i know how to give like Jesus. because
of you, my life will not be the same.
i love you bro! see you soon.
6/4/07
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Elizabeth Collison <collison@ku.edu>"
"I never really knew Michael well, but I was in KU Navigators
with him and recognized his face whenever I saw him. I was blessed,
however, when I randomly saw him in the Fraser computer lab as
he was working on a final project for a class. I was down there
visiting someone else, but happened to get into a conversation
with Michael about Psychology (my major) and what it was about.
It wasn't a typical small-talk conversation though, as we began
to delve into some life issues of depression and anxiety and
bipolar disorders, etc. and how these all point to how much we
need God and how even psychology points back to our need for
Christ. We also talked about how subjective psychology is sometimes,
but that too often objectivity through the scientific method
is honestly no better than our own concepts of ourselves or our
spiritual knowledge. Only now am I realizing how truly blessed
I was to be able to share these ideas with Michael and to learn
from his thoughts as well. Michael was a very nice guy and I
really enjoyed his demeanor and friendliness and openness as
we talked. I especially appreciated (and even consciously realized
this at the time) that he cared and was gracious enough to share
those precious moments of time with me, even though he had a
project due so soon. I hope to be with him again someday and
pray that others on this Earth are able to avoid Satan's temptations
and trickery that unfortunately too many of us fall victim to.
What a struggle life is, but may we always know the joy of God
and his love for every one of us. This life struggle brings the
verse Philippians 1:21 to mind; "For to me, to live is Christ,
and to die is gain." God bless you, Michael."
Elaina Scott & Jack Knaus, misplacedtexan01@yahoo.com: To the
friends and family of Michael, you are all in our prayers. Our
hearts go out to you all, especially to Karen. We love you. If
you need anything call us.
Elaine Stedman, stede@charter.net, widow of Ray C.
Stedman, http://raystedman.org. "...this is so heartbreaking!
All the unanswered questions...it brings back the equally heartbreaking
suicide of that beautiful Halcomb lad. He had just stopped by
the river house and talked about contemplating leaving his job
to do some kind of "worthwhile" serving. I have come
to think of mental illness as a physical breakdown of the same
devastating nature as cancer. It seems to detach from reality
so severely as to allow for this kind of irrational action.
But of course - what do we really
know about such mysteries. We can only say, "God knows."
Praying for you all--may God
heal the wounds and devastation the enemy has brought about.
5/22/07
Lawrence Hoppis, <innervoyages@hotmail.com>: Dearest
Brothers in Christ, I came across this in The Infinite Way Letters,
and thought of the group during this difficult news.
"As human beings we cannot avoid the past, present or future.
"
There is a way however we can arise above the human way, the
human mind, the human will, the human soul, into the Divine
Please consider doing the following meditation before getting
out of bed in the morning and again throughout your day.
"Here where I am, God is. Here, in the beginning of this
new day, God takes over. Here God becomes the directing influence
of my day. I dedicate this day to the work of the Father. In
this day I hold within myself no condemnation, no criticism,
no judgment, no faultfinding, but insofar as it lies within my
power love, forgiveness, understanding, and co-operation.
I dedicated this day to maintaining the integrity of my own being,
and I promise myself that insofar as I am given Grace, I will
not violate my own integrity, my own higher sense of right."
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Michael and
Paul Haverstock
Michael
with Zachary Hutcheson
Kyle Devena and Michael
