Letter to Sam Dickson Aug 18, 2011
Dear Sam,
We miss you. When you had been gone for only a moment, you were missed like you’d been gone for a month or a year.
Oh, so young and yet, so mature in many important ways.
We miss you, Sam. Your easy smile when you saw others enjoying themselves, a twinkle in your eye when something surprised you, the flush of humility that came so easily to your cheek when someone complemented you.
Quick to listen and slow to speak… but you were paying attention and thinking about what was being discussed.
Sam, you were a student. Not every person who sits in a classroom is a student. Just like not everything that is in a garage is a car. You listened and thought things over. Sometimes you would want to talk about things days or even weeks later. You hadn’t forgotten. Oh, and if something needed done, I never had to ask you twice. Thanks, Sam.
We miss you, Sam. How you loved being around other kids. Sharing in the enjoyment of the presence of friends. You weren’t pushy, but you weren’t going to be easily led astray, either. Your love for sports and your desire to succeed in athletic activities were quite evident.
We miss you Sam. We’re not so Ok, but you are. In fact, at this very moment you are the best that you have ever been.
The Lord had to smile when He greeted you. I know He stood you before the Father and the angels to brag about you. (Luke 9:26) I know that- because faith in Christ is something that you embraced unashamedly. The Lord is proud of you for it. And, Sam, so are we.
At the end of every school year, about the very last thing we did in the middle school was to gather the eighth grade class together and have a special prayer.
The essence of that prayer was always that someday in heaven, we would have a grand reunion around a banqueting table in the presence of the Lord… and around that table there would be a chair for everyone in that class… and that not one of those chairs would be empty.
This place is filled with family and friends of Sam. I pray that same prayer here. That we would have a really grand reunion around a banqueting table in the presence of the Lord and around that table there would be a chair for everyone here… and that… not one of those chairs will be empty.
Sam is in his chair first. We serve a great God. I pray and I know after what Sam has experienced even in this short time in heaven, that this is also his request to the Lord. “More chairs, Lord.”
Your names are on those chairs.
Sam’s next request, “Lord, fill…every… chair.”
We miss you Sam. But, Lord willing, we will see you again. We’ll join you at that table and you will be able to smile and be with your family and friends again forever.
'Those who trust in Christ never say goodbye for the last time.'
So Sam. We miss you. But we’ll see you… soon.
This is a love letter from your family, your friends and fellow students.
Until then…
All Our Love.
Posted in Sermons by David E. Howell on (edited on by David E. Howell)