A Prayer for my Daughter, as She Starts College…

Dear God,

First, Lord, thanks for letting us get this far. 

Thanks for keeping her safe—through the years of croup, and riding her bike to the park alone, and driving alone on rainy Houston highways. Truly. I was terrified. I should have known You were in control. 

And thanks for college, God. Thanks for helping me trust You—even through the years of Cs and fights about missing homework. You knew all along she would make it and would be better off for the lessons she learned the hard way.

Even with this history of You taking perfect care of my girl, I’m still worried, Lord. Please keep her close to You. Help her find a church that makes her want to drag herself out of her warm dorm on Sunday mornings. Give her friends that believe in You, love her for her quirks, and show up when she feels aimless and scooped-out. 

Shelter her from the evil parts of independence. We’ve warned her, but she needs Your protection here, Lord. Let her be curious—but not about drugs, or heavy drinking, or what it feels like to drive over 100 mph, or boys that like control too much.

About the boys. So many prayers here, dear God. You answer every one of them perfectly, so here’s what I’m asking: make her secure in herself because she’s Your child and let her not need the approval or ‘likes’ or admiring glances of any boy ever. 

Also, let her fall in love one day far in the future, with a man who will be a true partner. Please, God, until then, let her date in the fun way of romantic comedies and not the dramatic way of terrifying heartbreak. Can You keep her from the narcissists and the boys who make her feel stupid and unworthy?

May she learn humility—but could she learn it from bad haircuts and not from a mean boss?

Please, also help her to know grace. Let her be confident, yet compassionate. Let her be determined, yet humble. Let her trust her gut, but also depend on You, dear God.

May the dark times make her more compassionate and not bitter. Never let her faith become lukewarm, God. 

Please, Lord, let our fierce love for her not smother her. Let our family be the clan she comes back to over and over. Let our lessons about thank-you notes, and brushing your teeth, and praying, and gratitude, and showing up be the wisdom she took from her childhood. 

Mostly, God, fill her with the Holy Spirit and give her faith that lets her see You in everything, faith that outlasts even the hardest seasons of doubt. (Since I’m asking, no hard seasons of doubt, please.)

With every breath, may she know Your strength and the love of her Savior.

Thanks for everything, God. You’re everything. She’s Your child and always has been.

Now, please, Lord, be with me, and our family, as we figure out what life looks like without Catie here every day.

Amen & let it be so.