October 2004 By T

Our son had been in the residential treatment program for one whole year. We had attended many seminars to learn about ourselves and the choices in our lives. What a blessing those seminars were! Our family had had time to heal from the chaos of our previous home life. Laughter had returned. We added a new baby to our family. Our home had a spirit and a peace about it that we didn't think possible.

We wanted to share all of this with our son and were invited to visit him in his program. Here are some photos from that first visit as a family.

We surprised him in his group.

First hug.

 Meeting his new little brother.

 Getting to know each other.

 Do we have to say goodbye?

 We had to leave. He needed to finish what he started.

Lesson: "The family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children." We are a family and we know our importance to God. We also know each of us has an eternal destiny. That path looks different for every person and every family. We also know we are here to "gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize [our] destiny as an heir of eternal life." The time in the program was a happy time because we were free from the stress and chaos of having rebellion in our home. And we were all learning so much. Many years have passed since these pictures were taken. Yet, we know we are a family and we matter to God.