A Prayer for Families

With summertime winding down and a three-day weekend ahead, I think with gratitude of my wife, my sons, my mom, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, their spouses and my first great-nephew. What a blessing they all are. Here's a prayer I wrote years ago to help all of us express the gratitude we feel for our families—and for the Father of us all.

Our Father God,
parent of all children, father to all parents,
Be with us, and in particular with our families.
You know our needs
for health, happiness, wholeness,
for shelter, safety, solace,
for the overworked and unemployed among us.
Mend the rifts between us,
restore the lost ones to us.
And let nothing come between us and You,
Creator of our universal family
of humankind.