Honoring Nolan Thompson

By Samantha DePriest

Last week our Trinity family suffered a great loss. Tenth grade student Nolan Thompson went to be with the Lord on Tuesday morning, March 21st , 2023. At just 16 years old, his passing was both unexpected and tragic. We share in grief along with Nolan’s precious parents Debbie and Billy Thompson and big brother Ty, Trinity Alumni/Class of 2022.

Just hours after learning of the Nolan’s passing, our high school students and staff gathered together in our stadium. Our Head of School Dr. Anthony shared scripture and led in a time of prayer lifting up the Thompson family. All afternoon classes were cancelled and our high school Bible teachers and counselors were available for students. Over 500+ high school students sat together shoulder to shoulder motionless in the stands with eyes filled with tears and hearts broken. No one moved. Every single Trinity student remained and the evidence of the Holy Spirit was present and overwhelming. Prayer groups began to form and worship music started to play. Tears fell and hugs were shared by students and staff. It was during those sweet and somber moments when God began to comfort His children. The Bible tells us in Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Our students and staff grieved together, loved on one another, and praised God for Nolan’s salvation. God’s peace fell upon us that day as we witnessed His goodness on the darkest day.

Last Thursday March 23rd, Dr. Anthony led a special High School Chapel service to honor Nolan’s life. Nolan’s cousin Brett Rogers shared about his cousin’s life. He shared scripture from Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” and asked fellow students to reflect on how they spend their time on earth. He encouraged classmates to live for God, tell their Moms they love them, apologize for any wrongs, don’t go to bed angry, and glorify God every day in their own lives. High school principal Kimmy Jones shares, “Brett spoke such powerful words of Faith and trust in God in the midst of such pain and loss”.

Following Dr. Anthony’s message, a powerful time of surrender and prayer began. Students, teachers, and administrators joined together gathered at the altar and an impactful time of praise began when the student led worship team began to play. The Thompson family has been and continues to be on the hearts and minds of our entire school community.

To watch a recording of the service, you may click on the link below:

TCS Chapel Service Honoring Nolan Thompson

On Monday March 27th, Dr. Anthony led Nolan’s Celebration of Life at Passion City Church at Trilith. He referred to Psalm 77 in his comforting message, “This Psalm gives us permission to ask God tough questions, permission to cry and groan in our obvious pain. In Psalm 77:7-9 the Bible says ‘Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?’ Do you have questions for God today? I do. Sometimes we are told that we cannot ask God questions - like He may be intimidated or disturbed by our inquiry. But that is not scriptural. First of all, God knows what we are thinking. Secondly, it is in the middle of our openness and honesty with God that God can truly reach us and bring healing.

After these questions there is a pause in the text. Then the psalmist begins to praise God for His faithfulness in the past. I think we will experience some of that today… yes, there will be moments of lament, pain, and tears, but there will also be hope and expressions of joy as we remember a life that was well lived.”

Nolan Thompson was a kind young man whom fellow students and staff enjoyed spending time with. He described himself as “quiet, funny, and gamer” in a first day of school questionnaire. He loved Math, sour Skittles, and his favorite worship song was 10,000 Reasons. He had a strong foundation of Faith and wasn’t afraid to share it as you can read his own words in bold below.

Our high school Bible department shared an excerpt from Nolan’s journal that he wrote earlier this school year, “When God entered my life, my whole life changed. God saved me and set me free, He allows me to live a love filled life. God made me a better person. He allowed me to be cleansed of my sins. God means everything to me. He is the word and the light. God should be in everyone’s life, and he should mean a lot to you like he does to me.”

In Health class, the class was recently studying mental health and emotions, part of an assignment was to describe the last time they felt loved. Nolan’s answer: “I feel loved all the time because I know that my parents love me. I know that my friends and family love me. I think that everyone should always have the feeling of love. Everyone needs those people in their life who care for them.”

The teacher explained: “He was wise beyond his years, and so disciplined in his faith. There is no question that Nolan loved the Lord, because he was a walking, talking testimony.” The last part of that health assignment posed the question, “Sadness and anger are usually associated with negativity. Why do you think God allows us to feel these emotions?” His answer: “God allows us to feel these emotions so that we can be brought closer to him. If we only had happiness and joy we would never think of God in the way we do now.”

Dr. Anthony shared, “We are clinging to these words as we are grieving, and amazed in the way that celebrating Nolan’s life has brought our community closer together and closer to God.”

Nolan’s biology teacher shared, “He was in my 7th period and his positive demeanor and sense of humor was always on full display as that class could go either way. His respect for me and his classmates always shone through. He left his personality on everything we did in biology, especially during dissections. His huge smile radiated through the room every day.”

Nolan’s Spanish teacher shared, “I’ve been blessed to have Nolan in my Spanish classes for two years now. He’s always been somewhat quiet and reserved but I’ll never forget anytime I called on Nolan to read or to answer a question he always gave me the biggest smile and nodded his head, while not having a clue of what to say in Spanish, he always tried. Towards the middle of the semester his 9th grade year, I could see that he became more comfortable in class and seemed to always have a smile no matter what. His calm demeanor and playfulness with his classmates made our class a fun learning environment.”

Another Trinity teacher shared, “Nolan and his quiet Spirit were a bright spot of my 4th period this year.  In the Fall we rearranged seats and Nolan landed in the seat right by my desk.  He liked this spot.  He never says much but he would use this corner spot to his advantage to ask questions.  Given the opportunity to change seats in the second semester - he didn’t.  He chose to stay right where he was. He took ownership of his own learning by knowing that this was the spot he needed to be in.  This desk will now be the only empty seat in that class.”

Another Trinity teacher shared, “Nolan was in my Literature and Composition class during 9th grade. During our unit over Homer’s The Odyssey, I asked all my students to write about what makes a person a hero.

  “A hero is made by someone who works hard and puts in the effort to go the extra mile and help people and make someone’s day better. A hero is someone who even though they may not be known or gain anything from it will still do good for the community. To be a hero you do not need to have everybody’s respect. All you need to be a hero is to be nice and show kindness even if you gain nothing from it. Be nice and treat others how you want to be treated. You do not need to be perfect or have a high status in the world to be a hero. If you yourself want to be a hero you need to start doing good deeds and helping others even when there is no reward, you need to be kind and you need to be generous. If you help others then most likely you will inspire others who want to do the same, to start acting these good actions out which can then inspire others. If we all start acting nice, we could have a better world where all people are nice and always help each other out. There wouldn’t be many fights because all there would be is people being nice to each other. That is what it means to be a great hero, to inspire people, to not look down on others, and to be kind, generous, and grateful for everything and to everyone in the world.”

“Nolan lived his definition of a hero out in his life. Though he was calm and quiet, Nolan was welcoming to everyone. He was always smiling and always ready to help. He was polite, respectful, and kind. He was a blessing to my class.” 

Nolan Thompson was loved. Nolan Thompson will be remembered. And Nolan’s family will be held in our prayers especially during this difficult time ahead. Trinity means family.