What a joyous thing it is to go home, God.
Note: Our family prayed through a version of this liturgy with the two foster children the last night the seven of us were together. (Read more about our last week with the foster kids here.) Somehow, I didn’t cry! Please feel free to share if you know of other foster / kinship families who are in a similar season with the children who have been in their care.
Father God, we thank you for [Name(s)].
These children are precious to you, and you love them so much.
You love all of your children so much
that you make homes for them.
You love them even more than the birds,
the sparrows, and you make homes for them, too,
nests where their young can feel safe and warm next to you.
God, you made us to want to be at home with you,
and our hearts are sick until
we make our home and find our rest in you.
In your wisdom, Lord, you thought it best
to make a household out of the people gathered together
in this room right now—people who were once strangers,
who were once not part of the same home.
You made a home for those in need of a home;
you called those with a home to open their doors,
and you were with us every single day.
We can thank you for this even as we acknowledge
the many hardships and sorrows that made it necessary
for us to come together as a household.
Many things happen in this world that ought not to happen.
And it breaks your heart when children
have to leave their home, their parents,
and go to another home,
even if it’s just for a short time.
These things leave us feeling scared and alone
and all sorts of other big feelings that we often
cannot find the courage to name.
But nothing is ever out of your control,
and nothing happens without your knowing.
May this give us comfort.
May we find comfort in your Son,
Jesus, who knows what it’s like to leave home.
He came to earth as God With Us.
He made our home his home, even as he suffered
and wept and felt the loss of his own Father.
Yes, and:
Jesus also knows resurrection.
He knows what it’s like to return home.
He knows how to bring an end to everything sad.
So we give thanks to you, Father,
that you know our ways
and that you will not leave us as orphans.
We ask that Jesus would be with us now
as [Name(s)] get ready to return to their home.
May your Spirit be at work in their family,
replacing anger with love, hurt with healing, fear with safety.
We ask for the grace to end well our time together with [Name(s)].
This, too, is a kind of loss, yet more change
when all we want is the grace of stability.
Still, we give you thanks for all that you gave us—
the fun and laughter we shared,
the tears we cried,
and the way you moved us from strangers
to a kind of family.
What a joyous thing it is to go home, God.
What a joyous thing it is to be in your forever home.
[Silence is kept. If you wish, you may join hands in a circle.]
[The foster / kinship / host parents and/or kids go first to bless the children.]
It has been such a gift to have you in our home.
We are sad to say goodbye, and we are happy
that you are saying hello to your home and family.
May the Lord bless you on your journey.
May the Lord bless your parents and family.
May he bring you into a place of plenty.
Remember that Jesus is always with you.
Remember that he has good things to give you.
Remember that God made you wonderful
because he is wonderful.
[The children respond with the following.]
You showed us kindness when we needed it.
We are thankful. We are excited. We are hopeful.
God is good!
[The leader resumes as everyone continues to hold hands.]
Our lives are in your hands, Father,
and there is no safer place for us to be.
Now, may all our days, which are begun and continued
and ended in you, be filled with love and hope,
and may we, by your mercy, find all our happiness
and all our longings for home in you.
Amen.
