Who is Mark's Army?

"Mark is a friend to everyone he’s ever met. He is the kindest, sweetest, most pure soul. For anyone that is reading this we ask that you give Mark back the same love that he has put out into this world. He has made the world a better place for everyone who has ever met him and it is our turn to pay that love and kindness back to him."
-CaringBridge Post, January 16, 2024
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Youth Bucks baseball team wearing Mark's Army wristbands at local tournament last weekend.

In that same very first blog post that I wrote that awful night in the hospital I started by saying, "As Mark's army of supporters continues to grow..." as a way to preface why we were starting the CaringBridge page.  I used the term as a way to describe the groundswell of support we were receiving via calls, texts, Facebook messages, etc.  I did not think twice about what I wrote.  A sweet friend of ours took that simple sentence and ran with it.  She asked Jameson what Mark's favorite colors were and she had blue and orange rubber bracelets made for Mark's classmates and others who wanted to support him.  It was a kind, simple gesture to show Mark that everyone was supporting him and praying for him.  

Sweet friends decorated our front porch for fall!

Over the last 9 months Mark's Army has come to symbolize an entire community lifting up a little boy and his family during the most difficult time imaginable.  Mark's Army symbolizes love, strength, support, community, faith, family, friendship and hope.  There is no way that I can begin to list all of the kind things that people have done for Mark and our family since the start of this nightmare.  If I lived 100 lifetimes I would not be able to express our gratitude for everything you have done and continue to do.  Your love and kindness gets us out of bed some days and I cannot fathom what our lives would look like without all of your support.  I pray for other families going through something similar that do not have an Army of their own.
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Blue & Orange ribbons were displayed around the neighborhood!

Perhaps there is no greater testament to everything that Mark's Army symbolizes than the candlelight prayer vigil that was organized on Sunday night for our sweet boy.  On Sunday morning, several friends went out and covered the neighborhood with blue and orange bows.  They lined the main parkway and the trees around the park.  They put them on houses and mailboxes to symbolize the community's support for Mark and our family.
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So many blue & orange ribbons lined Pebble Creek Parkway and other streets!

Around 7:00pm on Sunday evening upwards of 200 friends, family and complete strangers gathered together at Pebble Creek Elementary's park to pray over Mark and our family.  Unlike the prayer vigil in January, Mark was not physically able to attend and Ali and I stayed home with him.  The event was live-streamed so we were able to watch it in real time and Mark listened.  As the camera panned the giant circle of supporters, we were overcome with emotion.  It was not lost on me that this is same park where Mark would laugh and play at recess with the very friends that had now come to pray over him.  The same park where Mark would sit with a friend and talk because they needed a friend.  The same park that we would go and work on our baseball swing.  And the same park where we celebrated Jameson's 12th birthday just one day before our world was changed forever.  As the sun set on that Sunday evening, Mark's Army descended on that park, lit candles and vehemently prayed for Mark's healing, our family's strength and for one another.  Mark's Army prayed as a group, they prayed individually and they sang.  It moved us to our core.  
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Prayer vigil at Pebble Creek Park filled with #MarksArmy

Who is Mark's Army?  It is everyone that has prayed a prayer or shed a tear over Mark.  It is anyone that has put on a blue and orange bracelet or a t-shirt over the last 9 months to show their support.  It is Ali and me and Jameson holding him and each other up everyday.  It is the collective effort of an entire community to lift our family up and support us in every way they can.  It is the doctors and caregivers that are trying to do whatever they can to save him.  Mark's Army is everyone who has answered our plea to give Mark back the same love that he put into this world.  You have paid that love and kindness back to him and we are eternally grateful to each and every one of you for that.  
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Praying for all Mark's friends that are walking this journey with us.