For kids and adults alike, there is nothing much better in life than having the love and support of an entire community – especially during the hardest times of life.
For those who don’t believe that statement, just ask Sadie Downs, a student-athlete from Mooreville High School (MHS) in Lee County. She can speak firsthand about the importance of community.
Diagnosed early in February with a form of stomach cancer, Sadie has not been able to participate fully in all her usual sports of volleyball, soccer, and tennis during her junior year. But her Lady Trooper teammates made sure to include her in each of those sporting events. In fact, throughout the year, Sadie and her family have witnessed a continuous outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the Trooper community.
To begin with, no matter where anyone looks in this small northeast Mississippi community, Sadie’s favorite color of periwinkle is on full display.
On any given day, pretty periwinkle t-shirts emblazoned with the words “In this family, nobody fights alone” dot the halls of MHS. Not only do the shirts declare a community’s love for one of their children, but the proceeds from the sales of those shirts go to help Sadie’s family with the cost of her cancer treatment. Along with those shirts, various community members held other fundraising sales and events for Sadie and her family.
Truthfully, periwinkle ribbons abound in the multiple school buildings of MHS, as well as homes and businesses throughout the community and beyond. It’s a growing trend that was fostered by Sadie’s volleyball teammates this season. Win or lose, the MHS Lady Troopers walked across the court after every match and carried a periwinkle ribbon to each girl on the opposing team. They explained what the ribbons represented and asked the other team to pray for their beloved Sadie.
Often, their gesture prompted immediate and unscripted times of prayer, right there on the courts of gymnasiums across the state. Those simple, handmade periwinkle ribbons and their heartfelt pleas to “Pray for Sadie” have started a movement that is very needed and appreciated by Sadie and her family.
Because, in early October, Sadie’s family revealed that the cancer in her body had worsened and spread, despite chemotherapy. They posted via Facebook, “So basically, our baby needs a miracle.”
If their precious Sadie Downs needed a miracle, then her fellow students and athletes at MHS decided to come together and seek nothing less than a miracle for her.
So, this past Wednesday night, those determined kids invited their community and all surrounding schools and communities to meet on the football field at MHS to pray in one accord for Sadie’s miracle.
Those in attendance said it was a sight to behold! People of all ages, from all across North Mississippi, many wearing some form of periwinkle clothing, gathered together because of the love they shared for Sadie Downs.
That event, in and of itself, was nothing less than a miracle in today’s fast-paced, self-absorbed world. But it’s just the first part of a much larger miracle for which these students are praying.
They intend to “Pray for Sadie” until she is healed, whole, and back in her various Lady Trooper uniforms for her senior year. They ask each of us to join them in that prayer.
That’s the power of community! And that’s a powerful lesson we could all learn from Sadie Downs and her friends.
