Lord, my parent is getting older.
The phone calls have changed. The visits feel different. The roles we used to play are quietly swapping places.
Be with them in the doctor's appointments, the medication schedules, the small humiliations of a body that does less than it used to.
Soften my impatience. Slow me down when I am moving at my speed instead of theirs. Help me listen to the same story for the eighth time without making them feel old for telling it.
Honor them through me. The kind that costs me something. The kind that shows up when it is inconvenient. The kind they cannot quite ask for.
Time with them is short in a way it was not last year. Make me present for it. Make me grateful for it while it is still here to be grateful for.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.