Gracious God, we all long for that happy ever after.
We have ideas about how life should be,
dreams of what could be, and, hopes for what will be.
As children, we learned to crawl and then to walk,
but understood we might fall down and
would need to pick ourselves back up.
As we grow older, picking ourselves up and
dusting ourselves off becomes harder.
Through our lives,
we have learned that it is our relationships that define us.
that strengthen us, that stretch us, and shape us,
our relationship with you and our relationship with others.
It is our relationships that will help us pick ourselves up when we fall.
And it is our relationships, sometimes, that cause us to fall.
Thank you, Teacher God, for the people you have brought into our lives,
friends we have know for years and others who are around only for days or months,
people who taught us love and people who brought conflict to our lives.
We were to know each of them and they were to know us.
Your son taught us the power of relationships,
bringing people together to fulfill your plan.
You are the one constant in our lives. We know that you are with us always.
Be with those among us who need to be comforted and to feel your healing touch,
we name __ in particular and ask that you be with them
Forgiving God, we have all faced the disappointments of life.
We have disappointed others and we have been disappointed.
Our dreams about what could be sometimes fall short.
We have learned the couple on the top of the wedding cake
does not always live happily ever after.
As your church, we come together to support each other, to learn from each other,
and to celebrate the love you have shared with us.
As you have shown forgiveness and understanding to us,
we are to share that love with those around us.
Help us to open our hearts to those around us.
Remind us to focus on developing our relationship with each other,
and our relationship with you, Gracious God.
Remind us to partner with one another, to strengthen the bonds between us.
We have ideas about how life should be,
dreams of what could be, and, hopes for what will be.
Remind us that our reality is up to us.
Together we are your church, and as spouses work together and create a partnership in marriage,
so must we work together to make this world your world here on earth.
As your children, we lift our voices together, using the words that your Son taught us,
“Our Father…”
Uniquely Cherished 