Mark

Even in the shadow of death I will praise You,

And even in the valley, I will say:

Holy, my God, You are worthy of all my praise.

~All My Praise, Selah

Today, I am thankful for Mark Richards - so thankful for his life and friendship and all the great memories we got to share with him!

We met Mark in our early elementary days at CHA and grew up carpooling with him... he was an only child who was very shy and quiet in his early childhood, but that changed drastically in junior high! He was very much the life of the party, always entertaining and funny, the glue of the friend group. He had random nicknames for everyone he met, and there are so many funny memories with him throughout high school. (He was Rachael's classmate, and one of the main reasons I preferred hanging out with her class to mine. lol) I'll do a post with memories and quotables later, but for today, I'm grateful for his life and legacy, and praying for his family and close friends.  (He died and moved on to Heaven October 16th after battling lung cancer for a couple years.)

Justin, Mark, Jason, and Jay... four of our very favorite guys at CHA!!

Mark and Jason, his best friend from elementary school till the day he died!

Some of our scrapbooked memories:

Me, Mark, and Rach once decided to build the world's largest snowman - we were determined and psyched to set a new record... we built one massive snowball then gave up! lol 

Improvising when they couldn't find a knife :)

Golf was his favorite sport, and he and Jason were great golfers!

An elementary pic of Jason, Jay, and Mark! So cute!! :)

Mark and Jay. He had so many solid, lasting friendships!

Christmas fun! :)

Sooo many CatchPhrase game nights! lol He was crazy competitive and hilarious!!

I'm sad that his young son, Cooper, will not get to grow up knowing and learning from and laughing with his dad. I'm sad for his friends and his wife and especially his mom. And I am praying for God to guard their hearts and comfort and strengthen them.

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

~What a Friend We Have in Jesus