A Christian man experiences how the Lord gave, took away, and gave again.

“In a single day, Job lost his entire world. It sounds a little bit too familiar, doesn’t it?”

Jonathan Learman, then pastor at St. Peter, Theresa, Wis., spoke those words in his sermon at the funeral for Casey Lynn Schwartz; her one-year-old son, Octavius; and her unborn son.

For Casey Schwartz, the husband and father, Job’s situation really was all too familiar.

The Lord gave

Casey Lynn Pipping and Casey Schwartz both grew up in WELS families. Each attended Winnebago Lutheran Academy in Fond du Lac, Wis., although at different times.

Casey became friends with Casey Lynn through her brother. They had occasional contact with each other over the years but then reconnected at the wedding of one of Casey Lynn’s cousins. That started a romance that led to their own wedding in June 2019.

Two years later, the Lord gave them a son. As big Disney fans, they chose their son’s name from a character in Cinderella—Octavius, known to Cinderella as Gus.

Soon, Gus accompanied Casey Lynn on weekdays to the Little Red Schoolhouse in Colgate, Wis., where she served as the director.

The couple received another blessing when Casey Lynn became pregnant again. Their son, due in December 2022, would be named Earl.

Life was good.

The Lord has taken away

Early on June 22, 2022, Casey noticed that he had a missed phone call and a voicemail message. The number was unfamiliar. Something about it felt wrong. “I had a weird feeling like this isn’t just a normal customer calling me,” says Casey, who at the time was working for his father’s HVAC company.

Casey listened to the message. It was from the owner of the daycare where Casey Lynn worked. She was concerned that Casey Lynn had not yet arrived at work. “I’m on the fire department in Theresa,” Casey recalls. “So I had just that sixth-sense feeling like something’s not right here.”

Casey telephoned the owner of the daycare, who volunteered to trace Casey Lynn’s usual 45-minute route from the daycare back to the Schwartzes’ home. At the same time, Casey and his stepfather set out to trace the route in the opposite direction.

While both were searching, Casey heard the report of a car accident earlier that morning. He and his stepfather contacted area hospitals to see if any accident victims had been admitted. None had.

Eventually, a Washington County sheriff’s deputy called Casey and asked to meet with him.

“I know what that means,” Casey told the deputy. “You got to tell me what’s going on here. Are any of them okay?”

“Unfortunately, not,” the deputy responded.

A driver, distracted by texting, ran into the back of Casey Lynn’s car, pushing it into oncoming traffic, where another car impacted it. Casey Lynn, Gus, and Earl did not survive the crash.

How could life be good?

May the name of the Lord be praised

That June morning, Casey Schwartz woke up as a family man. By the end of the morning, like Job, his family was gone—in an instant.

Like Job, he had questions. “Everything I was taught starts spinning through my head. Should we have gone to church more? What’s the purpose of me being here? Even to this day, it’s like ‘why?’ ” Casey acknowledges.

Also like Job, he has responded in faith. “Faith was the only thing I had,” says Casey. “I believe the devil wants to use situations like mine to tempt or negatively affect God’s people and his church. It’s important for people like me to see the blessings God gives us from situations like mine and resist that temptation.”

Casey explains further, “Most people would go, ‘You’re crazy. There are no blessings that come from something like this.’ But maybe the guy that hit her or maybe some people involved with the accident have a stronger faith.”

Casey sees other blessings too. He looks back on conversations he had with people after the accident and how those conversations revolved around God. “Maybe that was one of those blessings that God produced from a situation like mine,” he says.

Casey continues, “It doesn’t matter what struggle you’re going through; they are all meant to draw you closer to God and bring you back to his Word.”

That is where Casey went after the accident. “I started reading the Meditations book from church every morning, trying to get more ways to put God into my life to try and heal myself,” he says. “I actually even started reading the Bible cover to cover. I’d read two pages a day. I think that took me two and a half, three years, before I finished.”

Learman, now pastor at Morning Star, Jackson, Wis., observes, “Casey hasn’t allowed grief to rule his life. He’s channeled that grief into activism for a greater cause and has let his faith shine through all of it.”

Casey has been working with state legislators to create stricter, minimum sentencing guidelines for texting and driving. In Wisconsin, that illegal activity is currently categorized as negligent driving.

Casey’s activism is not motivated by vindictiveness toward the driver who caused the accident; it is concern for others. When he considers the sentence the driver received, compared to other forms of impaired driving, Casey asks, “Did you really teach the community a lesson about texting and driving?”

Casey also has made television commercials for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s “Buckle Up Phone Down” campaign.

“Casey has been an incredible example of faith,” Learman notes.

Casey is quick to put observations like that in perspective. “When they said you’re being so strong and stuff like that, I’d say it’s not me; God’s helping me,” he says. “I can’t possibly do this on my own.”

For others who identify with Job’s losses, Casey offers this encouragement: “The one thing you cannot let go of is faith, God, your church—the belief that he came, lived, and died for our sins. And you know where that person is that you lost. You will be fine. You will get through it. Keep going to church.”

Job chapter 42 describes how the Lord blessed Job after his devastating losses. That scenario also sounds a little familiar to Casey. In October 2023, Casey married Alyssa Schaller, whose husband had died of cancer. Alyssa brought her children, Hadlee and Finley, into her marriage with Casey. A daughter, Lynora, was born to Casey and Alyssa in 2025. And on July 8, 2026, a son, Pryce, was born. The family are members at Peace, Hartford, Wis.

Life is good.

Author: James Pope
Volume 113, Number 09
Issue: September 2026