There was a recent story in the news that will tug on the heart strings of everyone with a pulse and bring tears to your eyes. The story illustrates the love that a man had for his family and the extent to which he would go to provide for them even if it cost him his very life.
James Kim, an editor for C-Net News, a technology website, went on vacation with his wife and infant daughter in the hills of Oregon in the midst of a bad winter. On the way back from vacation, the Kim family made a wrong turn and ended up getting lost. This wrong turn would end up being a fatal mistake. With the roads covered with snow and getting worse by the hour, they ended being stuck in the snow with no where to go. As they sat freezing in the car, they could turn the car on for brief moments to heat up the car before eventually burning all of their gas. Days went by and the family remained stranded with no hope of being rescued. Desperate time calls for desperate measures so James Kim set out on a journey that he hoped would save his family even if it was at the ultimate cost. With his wife and young daughter in the car, James decided to embark on a journey to get help. His family was freezing, starving, and desperately in need of help and it was up to him to provide. He walked and walked and walked ... for miles and miles and miles ... surrounded by bears, hoping to reach a nearby town to bring much needed refuge for his family. Unfortunately, with the weather conditions as they were, James ended up walking in a big 10 mile circle and ultimately never making it to that town. With the freezing weather conditions, the fatigue from walking 10 miles, the many days without food or water, James eventually succumbed to these conditions. James Kim set out on a journey to save his family and ultimately made the ultimate sacrifice.
James' efforts, however, were not done in vain and there is a lesson in his sacrifice for us all. As James embarked on his journey, plowing through the snow in the Oregon hills, walking in a huge circle, he left a trail, he left a path, he left an imprint in the snow that would ultimately lead rescuers to the point where his wife and young child were stranded. The trail blazed by this loving husband and father, provided a path that lead rescuers to his stranded family. His family was found safe and alive. James, however, was found days later face-down in a creek, his body having succumbed to the adverse conditions.
The love that James Kim had for his family lead him on a desperate journey to provide for them. This journey left a trail that ultimately lead to their survival. The lesson in the life and ultimate sacrifice of James Kim is this. As we live our lives, we must live them in such a way that we blaze a trail. We must strive to go where no man has gone before. We must strive to do what no man was ever done before. We must set forth a path that is worthy of being followed. In the case of James Kim, the trail that he blazed saved his family at a high cost. That is the ultimate sacrifice for a loving husband and father.
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