The book has yet to close on a family struggling to come to terms with the loss of its little girl.
Clare Shelswell's family celebrated the five-year-old's short-but-inspiring life Wednesday at Abbotsford's Mountain Park Community Church in a funeral service that included uplifting music, poetry and worship, all designed with an eye on the future of the tight-knit religious community.
"We believe there are many more chapters to be written yet in the story of our lives," said a statement issued by the Shelswell family and read by pastor Terry Kaethler. "Although we may see through a glass darkly right now, we believe God will work beauty out of this tragedy. We look to see the chapters of healing emerge from our broken lives."
Remembered as a confident child, Shelswell died less than two weeks ago while at a vacation home near Seattle.
The girl's stepfather, James Wilson, 29, allegedly confessed to slashing her throat. He remains in custody at a Washington State prison on a murder charge.
The shocking scenario brought tears to the eyes of Shelswell's Sunday school teacher Allison Smith.
"She was such a caring little girl who never thought of herself," she said before the service. "It was a really hard thing to have to come to grips with this with 23 other kids."
At the service, Clare's composed nine-year-old sister Suzy stood before a white casket and the 600 parishioners in attendance to conclude in a poem, "Now I know she stands above surrounded by angels and her mother's love."