* * *
1992. Barcelona, Spain. 400-meters.
Derek Redmond's track-and-field career had come down to this one race that he had been training for his entire life. After shattering the British record for the 400m, his career took a downturn, marred with serious injuries and knocking him out of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and other international competitions. But he was healthy again for his last shot at Olympic glory.
He coasted through his first few heats. And then tragedy struck again. With about half the race to go, he hears a pop and comes up limping in pain. He hobbles for a few more yards and then crumples to the turf. And his dreams of medaling are shot again.
Jim Redmond has traveled with his son to Barcelona. He sits in the stands, nervously watching his son race. Then he sees his son pull up, an all-too-familiar scene. He rushes down the stadium aisles, running towards his injured son. Security guards chase after him, trying to stop him. But Jim won't be stopped.
The medical stretcher arrives. Derek brushes them aside, determined to finish the race. He gets up and begins to limp on one leg towards the finish line. He was going to finish.
Jim runs on to the track and grabs Derek. "I'm here, son," he says to Derek. "We'll finish together." In front of tens of thousands of live spectators and millions more around the world, father and son walked the rest of the hundred-some meters to the finish line.
"I'm the proudest father alive," Jim tells the media afterwards. "I'm prouder of him than I would have been if he had won the gold medal. It took a lot of guts for him to do what he did."
* * *
I can't say I have or have had the most perfect relationship with my dad. I still carry deep-rooted emotional, psychological, and even physical scars from my youth. And there was a time I hated him and thought I would be better off without him. I couldn't understand how God was good.
But God is in the business of restoration and redeeming mankind. I am living proof. Today, I thank my God everyday for my father. God has healed a lot of the wounds. He has turned my dad's life around. And through the evolving relationship with my earthly father, I see a glimpse of the Heavenly Father's love for His sons and daughters.
A father's love knows no bounds.
* * *
but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
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