Good and gracious God,

Thank you.

Thank you for my friend.

Thank you for the opportunity to be together on this day, to pray, to laugh, to cry, to know that you are with us.

We are tired, though we can’t imagine why.

We are broken, though we don’t understand how.

We are in need, though we can’t always articulate of what.

God, we are here. We are listening. Speak to us through each other.

Where we must confess, allow us the strength to do so and the grace to hear each other’s confession.

Where we must ask forgiveness, allow us to do so with honesty.

If we must rebuke or counsel, let us do so in wisdom and with mercy.

When we listen to each other, let us do so with your ears, with your wisdom, with your love.

God, we come before you this day knowing and experiencing your love. We are grateful for connection. We are grateful for relationship. We are grateful for the place that you hold in our lives. May you always be the center of this friendship, the tie that binds us together, the one that holds us in your arms.

Thank you.