Please

Dear LORD,

Thank You for today. Thank you for my birthday supper with my family — Yay! — including my sister, Beki, and my niece, Sofya. What a special treat for me! This week, LORD, I am 47 years old. Help me to be mindful of you today and every day this new year and then every year throughout my life.

Please be with us, LORD, as we place our trust in You. Please be with Howland, Beki, Peter, and Sofya as they face this hard time. Please help Peter to be a person he can be: sweet, gentle, kind, smart, and help him to let go of his hurts and help him not to hurt others. Please be with my parents, now divorced after 30 years of separation. Please heal their hearts. Please love them, LORD, and keep them in Your care, as they kept me in theirs.

Please be with me, LORD, Please be with me at work and help me to be productive and helpful there. Please be with me at home, LORD, to be a good husband and father, a solid rock of strength and stability upon which my wife and daughters may rest assured and safe.

Please, LORD, help us to know, to love, and to serve You.

I ask all these things in the Name of Jesus, the Christ.

Amen