Used with permission from Liturgies and Laments for the Sojourner: Volume 2
Father, I need You,
for today holds yet
more grief,
more loss,
more goodbyes,
and although I hope
we should meet and embrace again,
my heart is heavy with sorrow
as I think of the days ahead
without the ones I love.
Jesus, faithful Friend,
would You comfort me today
with the reminder that You understand
what it’s like to say goodbye?
For when You walked this earth,
You knew it would not be forever,
yet You cultivated deep relationships.
Knowing the goodbyes would come,
You still chose connection—
please help me to do the same.
With every final embrace,
hold us in Your hands.
With every tear shed,
pour out Your mercy.
With every last word and sentiment,
let Your Word comfort us.
With every parting wave,
let Your grace flood our souls.
Everlasting God,
in these moments of sadness,
remind me that we are part of
an eternal kingdom,
where there is no beginning
and no ending,
and though life feels fragile and temporary,
and the letting go feels impossibly hard,
we have the hope of heaven
where goodbyes don’t exist.
So as my heart is breaking
from the pain of all the “lasts,”
draw near to us—
those leaving
and those left behind—
that we might find Your grace sufficient
for our days apart,
and Your promises unfailing
for our eternity together.
May our discomfort at the losses
of this life
ever bring us to our hope
in the next,
where the scattered will be called back
from the ends of the earth
to gather around Your throne–
an eternal reunion–
where the longing of our hearts for
“together”
will finally be met in
forever.
2 Timothy 1:4
Liturgies & Laments for the Sojourner: Volume 2 by Alicia Boyce, Heather Fallis, and Tamika Rybinski
This book is a testimony to how God is both intimately involved in each of our lives, yet bigger than this globe we temporarily call home. As we travel to the farthest corners of the earth, there is nowhere we can go that God’s presence doesn’t go with us. The words on these pages are meant to be a companion on that journey— whatever the days may bring.
Written for those who have made their homes on foreign soil, Liturgies and Laments for the Sojourner: Volume Two is a collection of prayers that creates moments of worship out of the every day realities of expat life. It includes liturgies for singles, empty nesters, TCKs, schooling abroad, loss, relationships, and conflict. Unlike us, God is not bound by borders, time zones, languages, or visa stamps. We trust that He will meet you in these pages, wherever you are in the world.
