A Prayer for My Children

Dear Lord,

Watch over my children. Draw close to them so they can feel you in their lives. Not just now, but when they’re old and gray too.

Thank you for their presence in my life. Help me to be present in theirs. Not just when they need a drink or a meal, but when they find a true joy and surprise in life. Let me be there to experience the newness that sneaks up on them every day.

Give my children just enough loss to make them appreciate what remains. Crack their hearts - but only if you have to, and please do it gently. And barely enough just to make your point.

Give them a sense of gratitude. Help me teach that to them. Let their days start with an invitation to you, asking you to walk alongside them. And then let their hearts overflow with gratitude for your companionship.

Teach my kids what being a good friend means. Open their hearts to your example. And speaking of examples? When I mess up, can you erase that from their memories?

And, please, Dear God, let them outlive me. I’m so afraid of losing them. Bless me (even more than you already have) with the reward of seeing their children.

Show them how to dance, Lord. Sometimes with wild abandon, other times with ache and sorrow. Let me help you teach them that the tempo can change, but the dance partner is always waiting for them.

Thank you for lending them to us and for using them as a conduit for your lessons to reach my soul. I know you speak to me through them, as you do through every aspect of my life.

I am blessed, because you have made me so.

Amen!