Christ-is-Lord: Daddy made it through!

So, the EFMB course that Chris was at, is pretty much the hardest badge to get in the army. They are tested on numerous different skills, including day & night land navigation, a written test covering the different skills required to correctly care for a wounded soldier, a litter obstacle course (where they simulate carrying wounded soldiers through different obstacles they may find in battle), the ability to demonstrate survival techniques in a nuclear, biological and chemical environments, competency on field radio and radio techniques to prepare and transmit a Medevac request, evacuation of sick and wounded using correct carries, and finally after a week of competing these grueling tasks, they must complete a 12 mile road march with a 40 lb ruck sack on their back, and complete it in 3 hours. Those that don't complete it in time, fail, regardless if they pass everything else. If they fail any event they are done with the program and have to try again the next time it is offered. Only about 15-20% of those who go out for it, actually qualify and receive the badge.

We all decided to go down to San Antonio, just in case he passed, so we could be there for his graduation. It turns out we had to be on the road to get to the graduation site before we even found out if he crossed the finish line in time. As we were driving he called, and said he had made it through. He was the only one of the five guys who had been with him through all the steps that made it in time, and he made it with only 3 minutes to spare. We found out later, that approximately 3/4 of the 20 people that made it came in within the last 5 minutes.
Anyway, we come up to the theater where they were graduating and there were a bunch of soldiers standing around. We saw Ron, who had come down to march with Chris to give him encouragement to keep taking the next step, and he pointed out where Chris was. I was trying to figure out how on earth we were going to find him, when all of a sudden I hear John shriek, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!" At first I thought he was just calling the soldiers daddy, but then I saw a guy covered in sweat and grime coming running towards us!! And again, John squealed, "Daddy!" Of course he got the first hug!! It was precious! I was so thankful, b/c all week John had been almost angry with Chris for being gone. He absolutely refused to talk to him on the phone and would pitch a fit if we even tried. He didn't want to point out pictures of him. I was afraid it would carry over to when we saw him, but it didn't!!!
We arrived right as they were lining up to file in so we made our ways to our seats. John was soooooo excited. He was giddy. It was too cute!