A Prayer for the First Year After a Loss

Father, I am stumbling through a year of firsts, and each one ambushes me. The first birthday without them, the first spring, the first time I reach for the phone and remember. Every milestone is a fresh wound.

People assumed I would be moving on by now, but grief does not keep a calendar. Some days I function; other days the loss knocks me flat as if it happened this morning.

I bring this unpredictable year to You, all its sudden waves and quiet aches. I do not know what tomorrow will trigger, but You already know, and You go before me into each hard day.

Walk me through these twelve months gently. Hold me on the anniversaries I dread. Surprise me with moments of unexpected peace. Teach me how to carry this loss without being crushed by it.

You promised that Your mercies are new every single morning, that Your faithfulness meets me fresh at each dawn. Let that be true through every day of this long, raw year.

I give You this whole season of firsts, the heavy ones and the holy ones. Steady me, one new morning at a time. Amen.