Prayer to seniors 2022

Remarks and prayer at the Senior Awards Assembly 2022.
Transcript of my opening remarks:
Seniors!
I know you’ve heard adults on campus calling you “the kids,” but it’s more than just referring to your youth. It’s that you’re our kids. That’s really the way we feel about you. Almost every day for four years we’re with you and watch you grow from little middle schoolers to young adults…and then you’re gone. And it’s bittersweet, it really is. So this prayer is titled, “A Prayer to Say When Your Child Grows Up and Moves Out.” So it’s really how your parents are feeling. But it’s also how a lot of us are feeling as well.
[A Prayer to Say When Your Child Grows Up and Moves Out]
I’ve known for some time that this day was coming; now it is here. How did time pass me by so quickly? I wish I would have made better use of each day that my daughter was home with me. I wish I could take back all the times I was too busy to be with her.
I know that the goal of a parent is to raise a child to become independent. But I’m not ready. I’m not ready to let her go. I will miss her so much.
Help me, God. Heal my loneliness. Help me send her off with a full heart. Help me work through my pain. Help me find new fulfillment in my life.
Bless her, God. Bless the choices she makes. Bless the path she takes. Bless her labors. Bless her heart with love, her actions with kindness, and her words with wisdom.
Watch over her, God, always. Amen