A Prayer for a Family That Is Moving

Lord, our life is in boxes, and our hearts are somewhere between two addresses.

Be gentle with us in the goodbyes — the neighbors we waved to for years, the church pew that knew us, the friends the kids don't want to leave. Thank You for every one of them. Help us end well here before we begin there.

Watch over the move itself: the truck and the traffic, the fragile things and the heavy things, and the tempers that fray by mid-afternoon. Keep us safe, and keep us kind to each other.

Then go ahead of us to the new place, Father — You are already there. Prepare friendships we haven't met yet, a school where the kids can find their feet, a church that will feel like family, and a street where our names get known.

Help the strange new rooms turn familiar quickly. And remind us, in the unsettled weeks ahead, that home was never really the building. It's the people in it — and the God who moves with us.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

When to Pray This

Pray this in the packing days before a move, in the car or plane on moving day, or during the first unsettled week in the new place. It's also a kind prayer to send to friends who are the ones moving away.

A Verse to Hold On To

"The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." — Psalm 121:8 (KJV)