ROBERTSDALE, Alabama -- Before making his presentation at the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce’s Ninth Annual Prayer Breakfast on Thursday at the Baldwin County Coliseum in Robertsdale, Mark Tidwell asked everyone in the audience to turn to their neighbor and tell them something that they are grateful for.

“I hope it didn’t take long for you to come up with something,” he said. “For me, I am grateful to be vertical.”

A resident of Kennesaw, Ga., Tidwell spent 19 years as a full-time high school coach and teacher.

Then in March of 2009, he received news that would change his life forever.

“I woke up in a hospital bed with the news that I had colon cancer,” he said. “That was a Monday. The doctor said, ‘What are you doing on Friday.’ I said, ‘Well, I did have plans, but what do I need to be doing.’”

At that point, his cancer was at stage 1 and surgery was scheduled to remove the malignancy.

“I went on with my life thinking that would be the end of it,” he said.

Three months later, following a routine checkup, he was told that the cancer had metastasized to the liver and another surgery was performed in August. Another surgery followed in January of 2010 to repair torn tissue in the abdomen, then in March, more tumors were discovered on the liver.

From there Mark and his wife Lee went to the Mayo Clinic, where he began chemotherapy for two months, with a second liver surgery scheduled for July 6, 2010, their 25th wedding anniversary.

“I would not recommend that as a way to spend your anniversary,” he said, “but the upside was that we were together 24/7 for the next seven days because she never left my side.

More chemo followed and just before Thanksgiving, in late November of 2010, scans showed no traces of cancer.

“It was looking like we had beaten it,” he said. “In fact I was being called a walking miracle.”

Tidwell went more than a year with no trace of cancer detected, but that would change at the beginning of 2012 when more cancer was found in the original colon area and surgery was slated for Feb. 8.

In April, spots were found on the lung and a chest lymph node and in July they traveled to MD Anderson in Houston, where spots on the liver and pelvic area were detected.

“We were told that the cancer is now in stage 4,” he said, “that if we treated it aggressively with the strongest chemo available, I had an 8 to 10 percent chance of extending my life three to five years.”

And what if they did nothing? The prognosis was bleak, two to four months.

But still, Tidwell has defied the odds. Over the last nine months, they have treated the cancer with alternative methods, a strict nutrition regimen and supplements to boost the immune system.

“There are two constants that have helped tremendously,” he said. “I have surrounded myself with scripture and with good Christian friends and family.”

Over the last six years, Tidwell’s life has changed. He has spent the past six years as a community coach. He currently works with Fellowship of Christian Athletes as an area director in metro Atlanta.

In the summer of 2011 while attending a coach’s camp, Tidwell said, he came across a t-shirt with a football player delivering a vicious hit on the field with the slogan “Ooh, that’s gonna leave a mark!” and he had an epiphany.

“We see that all the time and most of the time it has a negative connotation,” he said. “The thought hit me, why can’t it have a positive message as well.”

Tidwell has since wrote a book titled “Leave A Mark,” and at Thursday’s prayer breakfast,  presented three words of encouragement, “impact,” “influence,” and “intentional.”

He presented two examples of those three words to Thursday’s audience.

First was Henrietta Mears, a Sunday School teacher at a small church who had a big impact with her influence.

“You may not have heard of her, but chances are you have heard of Billy Graham,” he said. “Graham has been quoted as saying that aside from his wife, she is probably had the biggest influence on his life. You don’t have to be at the top to be an influence. You can influence one life who can influence thousands of others. You can make an impact and not even know it.”

The other person is Rajan Bennett. In 2010, Bennett, a high school running back, was one of the top high school running backs in the nation from the state of Georgia who had a full scholarship to play football at Vanderbilt University.

Tidwell talked about a retreat where they took six black and six white student athletes from the six local high schools and had games and fellowship and teaching about the Gospels.

“It was very intentional,” he said. And it made an impact on Bennett.

“As good an athlete as he was, he was also an excellent student and an excellent person,” Tidwell said.

But Bennett’s life would be cut short by tragedy, shot and killed in his home by his mother’s ex-boyfriend, who would then turn the gun on himself.

“I’m not going to stand here and try to explain what happened or say that I know why God chose to take this young man’s life,” Tidwell said. “But the fact is that he had an impact. He had an impact on the 3,000 people who showed up at his funeral.”

At the end, Tidwell removed his dress shirt to reveal a t-shirt underneath. On the front, it says, “I am terminal.” On the back, it says, “We all are … what’s your game plan.”

“My challenge now to you, me, and everyone is to be intentional,” he said, “as we seek to influence and impact those placed around us and reaching far beyond. I am terminal … we all are … what are we going to do with the time we have left? It’s our decision.”

The theme of this year's event was "Hope Endureth All Things."

Riviera Utilities was the presenting sponsor for the event.

Diamond sponsors were Terry Thompson Chevrolet, Baldwin EMC and Pen Air Federal Credit Union. Gold sponsors were Bryant Bank and Power Productions.

Silver sponsors were the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office and Bay Wood Products.

Bronze sponsors were Stastka Insurance and Central Christian School.