A Prayer for Moving With Young Children
God who is unchanging through our changes,
Be our companion through this transition of moving to a new house.
More stressful than we planned, more exciting than we realize, this move is pure chaos – but precisely what you use to bring forth new life.
Sit with us as we say goodbye to our home: as we take down pictures from walls thick with memories and look wistfully on apple trees we planted that we’ll never see bear fruit.
Help us remember that you are the source of all blessings: those that fit in boxes and those that are too big to pack.
Thank you for the friends and family who gathered round our table, the babies who filled the bedrooms, the nights of laughter that echoed through the halls.
When the packing and unpacking, the moving and the hauling become too much, help us to slow down and savor a moment of goodness in the midst of hard work.
Forgive us our short tempers and cross words. Teach us to ask for help when we need it.
And let us not forget a sense of humor as we try to accomplish anything with crawling baby and curious toddler underfoot.
Bless the young couple who will next make this house their own. May they enjoy its gifts and embrace its quirks. May they grow in love for each other within its walls. May our nostalgia at leaving be surpassed by their joy at arriving. (And please, may they not dig up all those lovely bulbs in the yard!)
Guide us as we begin to create a new home for our family. As we paint the walls, dig up the garden, and unpack endless boxes, help us to celebrate the possibilities in front of us.
Open our eyes to take the long view, worrying less about how we will get it all done and imagining more the memories we will create in a new space.
God, time and time again you have led your people – from homeland to far-off shores, from known to unknown, from darkness to light. Let me trust that you lead us still, that you open the way before us.
In peace and hope and promise, I pray –
A frazzled moving mama
Beautiful! I remember when we moved to our current house 10 years ago this summer and Kateri, our youngest, was 15 months. It was chaos, but we got through with our families’ considerable help and support. I remember thanking God because both of our parents had moved a lot and had all these wonderful tricks, tips and advice. And they could pack a moving truck like nobody’s business! Godspeed to you, frazzled moving mama (and family), as you move. Oh! I almost forgot! When we drove past our old house the first time and saw that they dug up all of our raspberry bushes I just cursed myself for not taking some! Just sayin’…
Anita, you give me hope! And yes, family has been the greatest help in this move – from packing to painting to hauling furniture to sending moral support from afar, I am so grateful for all our family that has helped us through this huge transition! (And your note about the raspberry bushes is making me eyes some perennials in our yard…hmmm!)
You will be in my prayers! The move to our present home nine years ago was so stressful, and I was surprised at how long I felt unsettled, how frequently I couldn’t find things. Yet it was renewing too. Take good care of yourself.
Thank you, Peg. It helps to know that others are challenged by these kinds of changes – even when the transitions are good ones.