by Temple Bailey
The young mother set her foot on the path of life. “Is this the long way?”
she asked.
And the 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 she 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 them in the clear
streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, “Nothing
will ever be lovelier than this.”
Then the night came, and the storm, 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, “Mother, we are not
afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come.”
And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed
and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the
children,” A little patience and we will be there.”
So, the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said, “Mother,
we would not have done it without you.”
And the mother, when she lay down at night 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 have given them strength...READ MORE
