Prayer for my parents

Lord, I thank you for my parents. For everything they did for me, including what I never knew: the sleepless nights, the bills paid in silence, the times they gave something up so that I could have.

I ask you for their health. Sustain the body that is aging, the memory, the steps. Give them attentive doctors, medicine that works and days without pain. When they are afraid, remind them that you do not leave them.

I ask you for their peace. May they carry no guilt for what they could not give me. May they rest knowing they did what they could. May they find joy in simple things and company when the house grows quiet.

And I ask you to heal what became hard between us. You know what was said and what was not. Help me honor them even when I disagree with them, forgive what still hurts and ask forgiveness for what I caused. If there is still time, let me not waste it.

(If one of your parents has died: thank you for having had them; keep their memory in me and heal the longing.)

Bless my parents today. Amen.