Evening Song

I love the end of the day. The sun has long since gone down, the lamps are lit. The walls glow in the golden lamplight. The dinner is eaten, the table cleared and scrubbed. The floors are swept, the stove and countertops wiped and washed, quietly clean. The dishwasher hums. Children are bathed and in jammies. Teeth are brushed and shiny. Snacks are packed, lunches are planned, school clothes and shoes are waiting patiently on bedroom chairs for their owners to wriggle or jump into in the morning. My little children are picking out books and ready for stories. My older ones are quietly reading or talking to their father or me. The frantic pace of the afternoon is over. There is nowhere to go, nothing urgent to do, no next task to race to. We can just enjoy our home, our family, our blessings.

Thank you God, for the children in this house, for the walls that shelter us, and for the blessings of evenings here at home.