We dropped both our girls at college over the weekend. So. Very. Hard. One will be a freshman, the other a junior. As part of the parent orientation for families with incoming freshmen the college where they attend does a Service of Blessing & Dedication on the last night for the parents. Powerful. Needed. So comforting.
Regardless of what age or what school your child is attending, I thought it was a great Prayer of Commitment to pray over our children as they head to school this fall so I have included it below.
We are your children.
We praise you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life.
We praise you for body, soul and mind, but above all for your never-ending love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ.
We praise you for rescuing us, claiming us as your own, filling us with your Holy Spirit. You empower us to live a life worthy of our calling.
We thank you for the children you have entrusted to us.
They have been your gifts to our families, our community, and this school.
We have cherished them, nurtured them, and learned from them.
Now we commit them to you as they begin their studies.
Hold them close to yourself, sustain them with joy and strength for their work, and use their gifts for the common good.
May they hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest your Word.
May they come to know themselves – their nature, gifts and callings, for Christ and His Kingdom.
Teach them Lord, to see that the whole world is the theater of your Glory.
Teach them Lord, to shun what is evil and to cling to what is good.
Teach them Lord, whether in word or deed, to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
We humbly pray you will so guide and govern them by your Spirit that in all the cares and occupations of study and life at (name of school), they may not forget you, but always remember to walk with you; through Jesus Christ, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.
Amen.