Legacy of my good friendSam!

Last week I received a call that I had been expecting for some time. It was the phone call to let me know that my friend Sam had passed away after battling M.S. for many years. Sam was my first college roommate at Judson College. It would seem like it was just a random pick by someone at Judson to put us together, but I know better now! He has been a lifelong friend. My two other college roommates also flew down to Texas from Ohio & Iowa for his funeral last Wednesday. The four of us have been the kind of friends that could always pick up just where we left off even if we hadn't seen each other in a long time. The jokes, memories & teasing instantly resurfaced whenever we got together. Last Tuesday was a night that I'll never forget. It was Sam's memorial service. It lasted two hours and was full of worship, a slideshow & 10 people standing up and telling about Sam & their relationship with him. Each person made you laugh & cry before they were done. You also thought that the next person could never be as meaningful & fun as the last one, but it seemed like it just kept picking up steam as each person spoke. There were hundreds of people there to pay tribute to Sam. It made me (and probably a lot of others) think about what if any positive impact that I'm making on other people for the Lord's sake! I've learned many things from Sam. It was said that he never put anyone on a black list (where he'd hold a grudge or give up on someone). Most everyone also said that Sam was very competitive. Those two things came true in my first week of school at Judson. We were playing basketball and he threw the ball toward me real hard and I thought we were going to fight. We were nose to nose ready to go at it until our other roommate Bosco broke us up. I thought "oh great my roommate & I can't even get along and this isn't going to work out". Later that night there was big bonfire the freshmen week and Sam came over to me and apologized. We honestly never had a fight or argument that I can remember after that incidenet. We even played a lot basketball throughout the years and never got into it again like that first week of school. Different people said that Sam helped them follow the Lord. One young man said that Sam was his spiritual father. Sam also said things like God is good all of the time! WoW!! What a legacy!
I'm thankful to God for upclose view for a Legacy like Sam!