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A Prayer for When Their Friends Don't Understand.

Loving Father,

My child is going through something

none of their friends understand,

and they are feeling alone.

I know this kind of loneliness

is part of being human.

Sometimes it’s for simple reasons

like an interest no one we know shares.

Other times it’s more complex:

a disease or diagnosis, a family struggle,

a mental health challenge, a loss.

Regardless of today’s reason,

my child is hurting,

so I hurt too.

I want to yell at the world to be kinder.

I want to correct each misguided comment

and protect their heart from the

pain of being misunderstood.

Yet I know the only thing I can control

is the way I show up for them in this ache,

so I ask for the energy and insight

to support them well.

May our home be a soft landing place

for their body and spirit to rest and recharge—

to be held and seen and loved unconditionally.

Father, you understand them

better than they understand themselves,

so I ask for your nearness

to be revealed in their lonely moments,

comforting them with the knowledge

that they are beloved.

Help us all remember that the reason

we long to be known in the first place

is because we are made for relationship—

made to reach for you, our Creator.

So I pray that this experience leads my child

to your loving arms, to your eternal belonging,

your unflinching embrace.

Amen.

written by:
Alli R. Dahlgren

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