An evening at the Paralympics...

... and what a fab evening it was! It was great to be back at the Olympic Park - back amongst those incredibly friendly gamesmakers, roaring cheers and that happy-go-lucky atmosphere. In many ways, the athletic ability of the paralympic athletes was even more astounding than the olympians...

Olympian athletes train their bodies unbelievably hard to be able to achieve the unthinkable... they are constantly pushing the boundaries of possibility and stretching their bodies and exceeding the world's expectations of their abilities. What struck me about the paralympians, was that they are not only exceeding the world's expectations of their sporting abilities, but challenging the world's expectations of their disabilities. We saw blind people run like lightning, we watched Cerebral Palsy sufferers with power and strength in their legs that seems unfathomable. We watched wheelchair racers with such muscles in their arms, that they could power forward much faster than I could dream of running...

These athletes have overcome so many hurdles to be there... they have overcome their own physical limitations, societies prejudices and every other challenge that the Olympians also no doubt face... it felt such an honour to be there, to watch them in their moment of glory... and it was, of course, just pure excitement when Mickey Bushell raced his wheelchair into a Gold medal... the crowds just erupted. I have never heard a roar so loud (a small picture of heaven, perhaps?!) as 80,000 people celebrated a British victory and then thousands of voices rose to sing the national anthem. A very patriotic moment...

And yes... Great British patriotism was out in full force!

Dave and I, of course, were also out in our national colours, and had a fab evening celebrating God's gift of sport and physical ability, and seeing how he has made all people in his image as they display characteristics like perseverance, dedication, courage and strength. It was a truly great evening... full of gold medals and world records and personal bests. Well done Paralympians - you are truly inspirational people, and we are proud of you.