the end of the day

The weather was finally nice enough yesterday for me to walk to the school to pick up my children (and by nice I mean, it was at last cool enough to walk for an extended period outside without unpleasant words running through my head). Our elementary school is situated such that most of the children walk to school. The closer I got to the school, the more parents I noticed stepping out of their doors to join the pick up throng. I entered the front gate of our school and began making my way through the school grounds to meet up with my children. I closely watched the many children around me reuniting with their eager parents. Everywhere I turned were children with shining faces eagerly telling their parents with equaling shining faces about their day. Fathers were bent down looking into daughters eyes, mothers were giving and receiving enthusiastic hugs from their sons. There was a whir of chatter as families were once again together, with the occasional wiping away of tears from children that had had a rough day. For a moment I forgot about the seemingly endless list of tasks awaiting me at home. For a moment I was reminded of what really is most precious.

"We owe everything to the Lord. We are so blessed to be involved in a faith based work, a work in which we can create families, support families, defend families, teach families, and prepare them for the blessings of eternal life—and love them, love them, love them."
Sister Julie B. Beck