Gracious and Hospitable Lord,
You know we’ve been struggling to figure out what to do—
It’s the first year in five
that we won’t be at my mom’s for Thanksgiving.
Her home now belongs to another;
her new home is in heaven with you.
I know many face a similar sorrow.
It will be their first holiday without their loved one.
In a season when we may feel exiled from familiar places,
draw our hearts to your ever-present
and always abundant hospitality.
You make homes for sparrows and nests for swallows (Psalm 84:3),
and you have invited us to be your sons and daughters.
Even as we limp through the Valley of Weeping,
You make it a place of springs (Psalm 84:6),
refreshing our hearts with your gentleness and joy.
When we tend to believe the lie that we are bereft,
remind us that you are our “sun and shield,”
bestowing “favor and honor”,
assuring us, “No good thing
do I withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
In the name of your Son,
who came to walk this earth with us
that we might live in heaven with you.
Amen.
Read Psalm 84.
