BLESS OUR REUNION AS I RETURN HOME

Bless Our Reunion As I Return Home God, I am excited and anxious about returning home.  Please help my family and me maintain realistic expectations during the reunification process.  As our family reunites, help us to lovingly and patiently work through the natural adjustments that will take place.  Do not let me feel threatened by the fact that things may have changed since I’ve been away.  Instead, allow me to support the good things and help correct what unhealthy for the family.  Let me wisely reinsert myself into the family so that I am not a disruptive or destructive presence.  Help me to reestablish myself as a positive and active part of my family’s life.  Lord, allow me to quickly recognize any harmful or alarming changes within me caused by my deployment.  Give me the wisdom and desire to talk to someone so that I don’t try to deal with the mental stress alone.  Let me display godly wisdom and patients when reassuming family business so that I am not overwhelmed with taking on too much too soon.  Help me to be patient and forgiving when I deal with family and friends who cannot comprehend what I experienced during my deployment.  Give my spouse and me wisdom when it comes to managing the resources that You provided us so that we wisely celebrate our reunification without spending all the money that we have saved up. Help my spouse and me take our time when it comes to intimate relations so that we truly enjoy each other’s touch again.  If courtship is required, then show me how to do it with love and romance.  Let us speak openly and honestly with each other.  Let us actively listen to what the other is saying.  Season our speech with salt so that we speak calmly and softly when disagreements arise.  Remind me not to react defensively or with anger to what I hear, but help me to respond with love and respect to what my spouse is feeling and saying.  Due to our long separation, make us sensitive to the fact that we may need breathing room from time to time. God, prepare my children for my return by helping them deal with the emotions that they are feeling.  Let me not be offended if my children pull away from me as if I am a stranger, as they too need time to adjust.  Remind me to continually reassure my kids that I love and care for them deeply.  Help me give them all the love and attention they require.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.  Amen