Dear Scott,

I miss you, my dear friend. Life is still NOT the same without you. The valley needs your touch, your joy, your prayers, your smile and your charisma. I wish I could be like you in this life and with you in the next life. Today, I visited your burial site. It is sooooooooo beautiful. It is up on this hill, in the midst of trees down below. Every so often, I have stopped to see you, to reflect on who you were and what you meant to me and what you meant to this city. So much has happened in such a short period of time. You would be pleased with the outreach the Church on the Way has with the Latino community. Over HALF of all the babies born in our city are now of Latino decent. It has been miraculous to see the outreach COTW is having in this area. It is the future of our city, and they are poised to be THE church who reaches this group of people.

Your family and heritage continue to grow, and your children would CAUSE you to have a constant smile upon your face. They are difference makers just like their father, and the last time I talked with your sweet wife, she had such confidence in the purposes and plan of God.

Today as I visited your burial site, I noticed that you are buried between two ladies. Florence Jorgenson to your left lived to be 85 years of age, and Mary Wilkens to your right lived to be 84. I was contemplating how your 49 years seem so brief and so unfair to me, but I must remind myself of how God’s plans are much more noble and much higher than mine. In HIM DO I TRUST — completely, fully, without hesitation.

One other thing I thought about is the fact that since your passing, there have been many more advances in the world of technology. We now have social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter and various blogs, and I was thinking this morning how I know you would be using these tools to advance the Kingdom of God, like the Apostle Paul, “becoming all things to all people, so that by all possible means I might win some.” And I hope you don’t mind me taking a moment and using all these tools to remind people of how GREAT A MAN YOU WERE.

You loved God, you loved your family, you loved being a vessel, and you loved the lost. You were full of life, full of the Spirit of God, full of energy and full of love for the Bride of Christ, the Church. I pray that we will never forget your name, your presence, your spirit, your uplifted hands, your ability to lead people to a deeper state of spirituality. You caused us to WANT the deeper things of God.

Scott, I love and miss you. Please know that we will do our best to carry on the work of the Lord. You are in that GREAT CROWD OF WITNESSES, and one day we will be united, and what a reunion that will be! On that day, we will see Jesus face to face… TOGETHER!