~Sam's Service of Remembrance~

~ Sam's Service of Remembrance ~

Saturday March 22nd 2003

12.00pm

Sam's 1st Heavenly Birthday Memorial Service was held at 12.00pm on Saturday March 22nd 2003 and was conducted by Our Reverend 'Chris Newlands'... This was an informal service, with just family & friends in remembrance of our beautiful baby Son Sam, on this, his 1st Heavenly Birthday!

As we walked into the Church, we were in awe as we saw the most beautiful 'red and white Balloon Heart Sculpture', which stood at the top of the Church with Sam's Portrait in the centre... Beverley had made this for us, and this was the first time we and our family had seen it... It was beautiful...

The photograph below shows Sam's Sculpture as it stood throughout the Service. To the left of the photo you can also see the beautiful 'Candle Holder' that is holding the Easter candle that was bought for the Church from the £500 that we donated to Chris in Memory of our baby Jack in 2001. Chris made a dedication to both our 'angels' in memory of this throughout the service...

We had the honour of lighting this beautiful candle for Sam during the Hymn, 'Morning Has Broken'...

The service then commenced after family & friends were seated, with a song which is held very close in our hearts, 'One More Day', by American Group 'Diamond Rio'... (The midi of this you can hear playing now). It was at this time that everything started to really sink in... This song is so special to us all, bought into our lives by our dear friends in the USA, Cindy & Denny Hogue... Cindy has always called it, 'Sam's Song'!

~ Our Prayers ~

Below you will find some of the Prayers and hymns that we chose for Sam's Service... Chris also said a Prayer remembering all the Soldiers that were at War at this time in Iraq!

We meet in the name of Jesus Christ,
Who died and was raised to the glory of God the Father.
Grace and mercy be with you.

We have come here to worship God,
to thank him for his love,
and to remember Sam’s short life on earth;
to share our grief,
and to remember him in our prayers
with all young babies and children
who are now at peace in the arms of Jesus.
We meet in the faith that death is not the end,
and may be faced without fear, bitterness or guilt.

Let us pray:

O God, who bought us to birth,
and in whose arms we shall die,
in our grief comfort us;
embrace us with your love;
give us hope in our confusion
and grace to let go into new life,
through Jesus Christ. Amen.

God of love,
you have bound us together in life with Sam
and opened the door of heaven
through the suffering and resurrection of Jesus;
look upon all your children in your mercy,
give us courage to face our grief,
and bring us all to the fullness of the risen life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reading: Matthew 18. 1-5, 10

~For Sam~

God of love and life,
You gave Sam to us as a son, brother and friend.
Give us now the assurance
that though he has passed from our sight
he has not passed from your care.
Draw near to us all in our sadness,
Bring blessing out of grief,
And help us in our tears and pain
to know your standing alongside us
and to experience your love and healing;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~For Justine and Andrew~

Heavenly Father,
You alone can heal our broken hearts;
You alone can wipe away the tears that well up inside us;
You alone can give us the peace we need;
You alone can strengthen us to carry on.
We ask you to be near those
whose time of joy has been turned into sadness.
Assure them that with you nothing is wasted or incomplete,
And uphold them with your tender love.
Supported with your strength,
May our love for one another be deepened
by the knowledge of your love for us all.
Amen.

~For Sophie and Ben~

Lord Jesus, we ask you to be near to Sophie and Ben
and all the children in this family,
whose lives have been changed by sorrow.
Give them courage to face their loss,
and comfort them with your unchanging love. Amen.

The God of peace
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ,
that great shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is most acceptable in his sight;
and the blessing of God almighty,
The Father, the son and the Holy Spirit,
Be among you now, and remain with you always.
Amen.

We also chose two Hymns... 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' and 'Morning Has Broken'... It was during the latter Hymn that Andrew, Sophie, Ben and Myself together lit the 'Special Candle' in memory of Sam, held in the most precious 'Candle Stick Holder, bought in Loving Memory of our Jack!

In the photo below, you can see the Easter Candle, shortly after we had the honour of lighting it...

~ Ending of Sams' Service ~

Nearing the end of the Service, it was then time to hand out the special gifts to Sam's Cousins, Our Two Midwives Lisbeth & Julie and our special friend Lynda who had travelled down from Yorkshire to spend Sam's Day with us... For this special moment, we had the song, 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' by Eva Cassidy playing throughout the Church... Such a beautiful song and so poignant for this occasion...

We had chose the most pretty 'double glass' photo frames for the gifts with a copy of the Portraits of Jack and Sam placed in each one... We presented Lynda with her Portrait that we had drawn of her precious little heavenly angel Elliott... Andrew gave this to Lynda when she came to collect her gift, the pain showing in her eyes, was felt by us all...

After the service had ended, family and friends made their way back to the entrance of the Church where they then signed Sam's Book of Remembrance and took some 'Tags' that they could write their messages on before attaching to Sam's Balloons at the beach soon following...

We were then invited by our Reverend Chris to light an 'Easter Candle' before we left the Church, to make our way down to Mersea Beach for the 500 Balloon Release...

Outside the Church, as friends and family were making conversation and preparing to make the short journey down to the Beach for the Release, our Vicar Chris decided to hold our Sam's Heart Sculpture, and here he is!

The service was conducted so beautifully once again by Chris, just as he had conducted our Jack's Memorial Service too... I really couldn't believe though that there we were, exactly one year after the day of giving birth to our Sam, that we were remembering him in this very special way on his '1st Birthday'!

Our heartfelt Thanks to Chris Newlands for his most wonderful Service, his understanding, his love and his prayers... We treasure everything about our Sam's Day and will hold it forever, in our hearts and in our minds...

Thank you to our family and friends who also came on this day to share in Remembering Sam and help us to make this day a very special and precious day...