--- title: The Freight Train Stopped description: "Sheri Wohlfert describes her favorite moment from the last day of school: a moment that reminded her how much we need to be told we matter." image: https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/20210616-SWohlfert-1.jpg --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/the-freight-train-stopped#) [SUNDAY BRUNCH](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/tag/sunday-brunch) # The Freight Train Stopped Jun 16, 2021 11:30:00 AM  |  by [Sheri Wohlfert](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/sheri-wohlfert) ![featured image](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/20210616-SWohlfert-1.jpg) *Sheri Wohlfert describes her favorite moment from the last day of school: a moment that reminded her how much we need to be told we matter.* > You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) The last days of school are crazy! It’s always a mix of emotions, and the anticipation of summer freedom tossed in with the teachers’ efforts to keep kids engaged and productive creates quite a sight. Since the school year has been so weird, the final days have had an added element of weirdness as well! Yesterday was the 6th graders’ last day, and amidst the frenzy I saw a simple, quiet lesson unfold. The last day was a little like a freight train leaving the station. We started by emptying and cleaning desks and lockers, and the energy built momentum like that train was headed downhill. There was laughter, chaos, and multiple attempts to see how close they could get their toes to the line. As the day went on, they continued to pick up speed and it was a mix of excitement, nervousness about leaving a place they were familiar with, and middle-school silliness. By midafternoon the volume from our classrooms was at an all-time high. And then it wasn’t! You might wonder what happened that allowed 40 noisy, excited, nervous, giggling, frenzied adolescents to fall silent … for 45 minutes. You might be wondering what stopped that freight train of emotion and movement … it was 6th Grade Send-Off. It’s one of my favorite St. Mary School traditions and it happens on the last afternoon of the 6th-grade school year. The whole school gathers to send them off, and the teachers who have been a part of their lives for the past seven years one by one share memories of their class. Each teacher offers advice to grow in discipleship and a piece of wisdom from Scripture and the saints.   ![freight train](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/20210616-SWohlfert-2.jpg?width=1080&name=20210616-SWohlfert-2.jpg)   Yesterday, more than any other year, they listened with complete focus. The noise and chaos was gone because they wanted to hear the teachers they loved and respected speak positive things about them and offer their wisdom to them. They wanted to hear what they'd done well, they wanted to know that they were valued and would be remembered. They wanted to take the good advice of people who loved them, and they wanted to laugh. It’s not a time to talk about mistakes and shortfalls, it’s a celebration of the good and the hopeful and the positive, and they really needed to soak that all in. As I watched them soaking it all in, I noticed their smiles, their tears, their looks of accomplishment as they listened to the nods of approval from people who knew them, loved them, and had seen them at their best and their not-so-best. They needed to know they would be missed and that they had left a good print.   > [Click to tweet: > We all need to have someone close to us point out our good, and we need to be offered the hope and encouragement of Scripture and saints every now and again. #catholicmom](https://ctt.ac/RaeM8) As I stood there, eyes sweating, I realized that’s really what we all need. We need to be affirmed. We need to know that we’ve left a good print and that we are valued. We all need to have someone close to us point out our good, and we need to be offered the hope and encouragement of Scripture and saints every now and again. We need to know we matter! It is the nature of the 12-year-old to test and push and sap your patience dry; it’s what they do but no matter what silly stunts they’d pulled, it all melted from my mind as I saw them standing there at send-off. It didn’t matter because when you really care about someone, realizing they are God’s child, it’s easy to focus on the good. I suppose that’s a lesson the Father wants to glue in our mind. When He gazes at us, He doesn’t see our noise, our shortfall, our “freight train” moments, he sees the good, the potential and the best efforts of the child he loves. So you see, that event for the kids … I guess maybe it wasn’t just for them. #### A Seed To Plant: Pick three people today and tell them something positive. Let them know in some way that they are loved, valued or appreciated. Blessings on your day! ![2 women talking and smiling](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/20210616%20SWohlfert%203.png?width=1080&name=20210616%20SWohlfert%203.png)   --- Copyright 2021 Sheri Wohlfert Images (from top): [Pixabay](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pixabay.com/images/id-1899545/&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw27xUCZJx4gSKb7CElv9qtx) (2010); Canva Pro ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fthe-freight-train-stopped%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fthe-freight-train-stopped%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fthe-freight-train-stopped%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=The%20Freight%20Train%20Stopped) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fthe-freight-train-stopped%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2Fthe-freight-train-stopped%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Sheri Wohlfert](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/Contriubutors/SHERI%20WOHLFERT.jpeg) ### [Sheri Wohlfert](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/sheri-wohlfert) Sheri is a Catholic wife, mom, speaker and teacher. She uses her great sense of humor and her deep faith to help others discover the joy of being a child of God. Her roots are in Kansas but her home is in Michigan. The mission of her ministry is to encourage others to look at the simple ways we can all find God doing amazing things smack dab in the middle of the laundry, ball games, farm chores and the hundred other things we manage to cram into a day. Sheri also writes at [JoyfulWords.org](http://www.joyfulwords.org). ## Related Blog Articles [ The Ninth Station Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2014/03/21/the-ninth-station) [ A Real-Life "Candid Camera" Moment - And What I Learned From It! Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2016/10/28/real-life-candid-camera-moment-learned) [ Personal Space: When Cultural Norms Don’t Play Nice with the Commandments Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/personal-space-when-cultural-norms-dont-play-nice-with-the-commandments) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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