{"id":8747,"date":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.familylife.com\/flministries\/?p=8747"},"modified":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","slug":"forgiveness-is-a-gift-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/parenting\/foundations\/character-development\/forgiveness-is-a-gift-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgiveness Is a Gift of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gymnastics is a sport of elegant grace, intense focus, and physical endurance. Watching young gymnasts tumbling and catapulting through the air is like watching birds in flight. That\u2019s what Kim Anthony thought when she first saw the summer Olympics as an 8-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim was born in the poor section of Richmond, Virginia. Her parents had a rocky relationship, but they loved their baby. The army took them to Germany for two years where Kim\u2019s father and other black soldiers suffered racial abuse. To cope with the taunting, he and his friends began abusing drugs and alcohol. Even after returning home to the United States, he continued this lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In kindness, God provides touches of comfort and hope for those who cry out to Him. For Kim, that hope often came through her grandmother, Justine, who loved Jesus. While Kim\u2019s father drifted in and out of her life and her mother worked multiple jobs to provide for the family, Grandma Justine provided a measure of peace and stability to Kim\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then dawned the summer that changed Kim\u2019s life. Watching the Olympics on television, she was captured by the sport of gymnastics. The control, the freedom, and the power of the athletes spoke to her. She longed for what she saw, young women with total control. Lonely from her daddy\u2019s absence, Kim felt gymnastics would make him proud of her and maybe he would love her more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim began practicing what she\u2019d seen on television. By jumping off the steps of her house, learning to balance and twirl on top of a concrete block wall, and practicing cartwheels, flips, and aerials (a cartwheel using no hands), Kim taught herself gymnastics. She was fearless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Saturday morning two years later, Kim and her mom rode the city bus to a training gym where Kim could finally receive real lessons. The coaches were astounded at what this child had taught herself, all without the safety of mats and spotters (people who help gymnasts avoid injury while practicing). Kim was delighted when the coaches offered her an invitation to join a competitive gymnastics team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim started intense training, and her mother took on an even heavier workload in order to pay for the lessons and competitions. In her heart Kim hoped to win her daddy back to their family. Sometimes when he came home, Kim felt nervous, but she also eagerly wanted him to stay. Then, after a few days he\u2019d abruptly disappear, leaving her feeling abandoned and confused again. And her hard-working, patient mother never said a negative word about him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim achieved success. She won state, regional, and international meets, and eventually\u2014at age 16\u2014competed for a place on the U.S. Olympic team. When the time came for choosing a college, she was offered a scholarship to join the UCLA women\u2019s gymnastics team. While attending UCLA, a friend talked to her about a relationship with Jesus Christ. It was Jesus, Kim realized, not success in gymnastics, who could give her peace. She gratefully welcomed Jesus into her heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

College brought more medals as Kim became the first African-American UCLA gymnast to become a four-time national champion. She traveled around the world with Athletes in Action competing and speaking. But the most important competition for Kim during those years was the one for her heart. Who would control her heart and life? Whose will would she follow? Kim was learning that she must ultimately please Christ, and He wanted her to love her father and forgive him, even though he had hurt her greatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, Kim, now married and the mother of two boys, traveled back to Virginia to meet with her father. She told him how she felt as a little girl and how badly she missed his presence. Through tears she spoke of her love for him, and then said she forgave him for his poor choices. Because of Jesus her new purpose in life included following His teachings in the Bible. Kim understood that forgiveness was a choice. Forgiving was a gift of love that changed Kim and gave her a new relationship with her father.<\/p>\n\n\n

Questions about forgiveness<\/h2>\n\n\n

Fathers and mothers are imperfect people; they make mistakes that sometimes hurt their children. Forgiveness is the healing medicine for all families.<\/p>\n\n\n