THANKFULLY THURSDAY !

    

   A young mother set her feet on the pathway of life.

"Is the way long?" she asked.

And her guide said, "Yes, and the way is hard and you will be old before you reach the end of it, but the end will be better than the beginning." But the young mother was happy and would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children and gathered flowers for them along the way and bathed with them in the clear springs. The sun shone on them and life was good and the young mother cried, "Nothing will be lovelier than this."

Then the night came and the storms and the path was dark and the children shook with fear and cold. And the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, "Oh , Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near and we know that no harm can come to us." And the mother said, "This is better than the brightness of the day, for I have taught my children courage."

And the morning came and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary too, but at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed and climbed and when they reached the top, they said, "Mother, we could not have done it without you." And when the mother lay down to sleep that night, she looked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage -- today I gave them strength."

And the next day the strange clouds came, clouds of war and hate and evil. And the children groped and stumbled, but the mother said, "Look up. Lift up your eyes to the Light." And the children looked up and saw above the clouds the Everlasting Glory and it guided them and brought them beyond the darkness. And that night the mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God."

And the days went on and the years, and mother grew old, and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong and walked with courage. And when the way was hard, they helped their mother and when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was light as a feather. And at last they came to a hill, and beyond the hill they could see a shining road and gates flung wide and the mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey and I know that the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them." And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates."

And they stood and watched her as she went on alone and the gates closed after her and they said, "We cannot see her but she is with us still. A mother like ours is more than a memory -- she is a living presence.

by Temple Bailey

       

 GOOD MORNING !  

 I'm off to work again and then will have tomorrow off !   Thank the good Lord.   I remember heaving a sigh of relief when the last child learned walk and to feed himself, then when he went off to school, then when the last of 7 - 1st communions came, and the last of 7 confirmations, then the last of high school graduations and college graduations and now I'm going to breath a ***BIG SIGH*** when the last of the weddings is done !  If you don't have a big family, you can't imagine doing everything you did for one --7 times !!!   I'm not complaining just ready to put my feet up for a rest...

     

 ***BIG SMILE***  

 Have a great day !

Keep a smile in your heart

and on your face!  

 Ma  

   

 

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