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Bella
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| Posted: June 16 2008 at 12:51pm | IP Logged
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Hi Mamaa's,
I've received this through a few different sources, and thought I would pass it on. It is making it's way around the www, so isn't private.
This is about one of the little guys killed in the Iowa tornado...a story from his coach. Sam would have turned 14 today.
May God be with his family, and all of the victims of this tragedy.
Hi Homeschool Coaches & Friends,
By now most of you have heard about the four boys scouts that were killed by the tornado this week. I have had the privilege of coaching one of the victims for the last two years. The young man was Sam Thomsen, age 13.
I have been coaching home school kids for 10 years, and I realized a very important thing yesterday. Instead of thinking that I am doing these kids a favor by coaching them, I now realize that it is an honor to do so.
Unbeknownst to me, Sam wanted to be a minister. Below is a sermon that he had written. Please read it and keep in mind that Sam was 13.
Here am I
By Sam Thomsen
Do you ever like giving bad news? I sure don't. Sure, you probably love
giving good news, like "We just got married" or "I just got a pay raise and
a new house." Do you ever like telling someone bad news? Think about it! It
takes a lot of guts to tell someone really bad news. It's not like telling
your mother that the toilet overflowed. I mean REALLY bad news like, "A
tornado hit your house and everything's gone." Samuel did that.
If you will turn with me to 1 Sam chapter 3, verse 10-18:
"The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel!
Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' And
the Lord said to Samuel: 'See, I am about to do something in Israel that
will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will
carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family from beginning
to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the
sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to
restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's
house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.' Samuel lay down
until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was
afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, 'Samuel, my
son.' Samuel answered, 'Here I am.' 'What was it he said to you?' Eli asked.
'Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if
you hide from me anything he told you.' So Samuel told him everything,
hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, 'He is the Lord; let him do what is
good in his eyes.' "
That took guts to tell a priest that, especially a priest who turned a blind
eye to what his sons were doing. Luckily for Samuel, Eli said, "He is the
Lord, let him do what he wants."
This message is not about the guts that Samuel had, but the way he said,
"Here am I" throughout his long life.
Samuel said "Here am I" in really tough situations. When Israel asked for a
king while Samuel was the prophet. How do you think he felt? Being the
prophet was LIKE being the king. Israel rejected Samuel and God. God said,
"Let them have a king." It only says Samuel was displeased. If I was Samuel,
I would be mad and would try and punish them for rejecting me.
If you will turn with me to 1 Samuel 15: 13-23, you will hear of another
hard trial of his life: "When Samuel reached him, Saul said, 'The Lord bless
you! I have carried out the Lord's instructions.' But Samuel said, 'What
then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle
that I hear?...Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not
become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over
Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy
those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped
them out. Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder
and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?' 'But I did obey the Lord,' Saul said.
'I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the
Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and
cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to
sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.' But Samuel replied: 'Does
the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the
voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better
than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and
arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of
the Lord, he has rejected you as king.'
Samuel basically said to the king, "You sinned and you're rejected as king."
Saul could have had Samuel killed, but Samuel did it anyway and said "Here
am I, Lord, use me."
Samuel did what the Lord commanded, even when he could be killed. That's
what we need to do everyday. Listen for God's voice and do what he commands.
The youth group went on a thing, Urban Plunge, where we went to our downtown
poor community. We went to an apartment complex where we prayed and talked
to the people there. They were all very poor and most, if not all of them,
didn't go to church. The things we saw there was eye-opening and
heartrenching.
We met with an organization called Angels on Wheels. They go to poor
neighborhoods where crime and drugs are practically everywhere, and talk and
pray with the people on the streets. THEY do that every Friday night. I
don't know about you, but if I did that not just once but every Friday, I
would have a lot better attitude towards everything. In a way that's how you
can say, " Here I am, Lord, USE ME."
Even in most difficult times, let's try to be like Samuel and say "Here am I
Lord, use me." God only uses people when they want to be used. If you just
come to church, stand up, sit down, listen to the sermon, and you don't do
any thing else throughout the week, God's not going to use you. It's people
with faith that he's going to use, that pray and listen for what God's
trying to tell them. God loves you and he showed that on the cross. But you
can show that love back by doing his will. You can listen for God and say,
"Here am I, send me." You may think that he's not going to hear your
prayers; well, let me tell you, if you think that, you're sadly mistaken.
Maybe you think that he won't talk to you. It might take time, but he will.
It could be a service opportunity, a job, giving money to the poor, or
standing up for what is right.
But when the time comes, say, "Here am I, Lord, use me."
I could write about what a neat kid Sam was, but that would seem trite. But what I will tell you is that I have learned from evaluating Sams life (from what I have observed, and learned about it).
From now on, I am going to be passionate about whatever I do, as that is how he approached everything. He was passionate about basketball, piano, singing and scouts. He didnt just participate, he went for the gold. He might not have been the most athletic kid on the court, but no one worked harder than Sam.
I would encourage each of you, no matter what your function is, to realize that we are privileged to work with these young people. I now realize that it was an honor to have coached Sam.
Please pray that God will continue to use Sam for His Glory, and that He will comfort Sam parents and two sisters.
Sandy Glenn
Omaha Roadrunners
If you would like to learn more about Sam, just google Sam Thomsen.
__________________
Peace and Blessings,
Bella
Wife and Mom to my sweeties!
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Maryan
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| Posted: June 16 2008 at 1:18pm | IP Logged
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Wow.
__________________
Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
A Lee in the Woudes
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Philothea
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| Posted: June 16 2008 at 4:46pm | IP Logged
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Must read-*very* uplifting, very moving.
