Message from Mark King

January 16, 2013

A message from Mark King
Featured performer & “Christine’s Christmas” composer

First, I want to say thank you to my support team…my wonderful family. Thank you Heidi, Laura, Allison, Michael, and my parents, George and Patsy, for all of your love and support.
I recorded “Christine’s Christmas” in November 2003, three months after the first annual Christine Wilson Memorial 5k Run. On that August day, more than 900 people had gathered to thank God for her life. The atmosphere was truly one of celebration, not sadness. It had a tremendous effect on me…that such good could be realized in the context of unspeakable tragedy.
I decided to record the album as a tribute to Christine, her life, what I learned from her about life, and to thank God for sharing her with us. The recording was an inspiration that happened with no real planning or rehearsal. It was a most unusual experience. It was me, alone in a 700 seat theater with a piano. I could feel a direction and a purpose to every note I played. It was spontaneous; it was from the heart; it was inspired.
When I first heard it, I knew it was really a message to me and to anyone who listens. The message is one of the hope and sanctity of human life. An image of heaven, and of a baby who was born in the most humble of circumstances and went on to change the world. I hope you will listen to it if you haven’t. I am so fortunate that I am able to relive that experience, and hear that message, at least one night a year.
So, tonight, I invite you to listen. To believe in the impact of a precious life. To believe in the importance of one evening. This is “Christine’s Christmas.”
– Mark King