Families on a Sunday

When I am traveling alone I find myself observing children and their families in public places. (I'm not a stalker, honest!) Today I saw the following:

--A father and his toddler were leaving the grocery store. The boy walked with confidence out the door at which time Dad bent his knees while holding the groceries in his right arm and picked up his son in his left arm. I watched as the toddler snuggled into Dad's neck and heard quiet words of love exchanged between them.

--As I returned from the ice machine the elevator opened, a couple walked out, and the door stood open. A 2-year-old girl struggled to get the overnight bag, which was nearly as large as she, out of the elevator. Mom and Dad waited patiently. As the girl wheeled the bag down the hall toward the family's hotel room, I heard her announce, "All the doors are closed, Mom!" Mom smiled through her fatigue.

--A Mom smiled at her baby in the shopping cart. The baby smiled back moving her whole body in joy.

And then I spoke with my wife on the phone this afternoon. She told me of one of the toddlers at church who upon walking out the church door with his mother, turned back toward my wife, the pastor, and shouted: "Bye Mom!" The boy's mother just smiled.

What a good day for children and families today has been.