Gratitude 2025

I saw a meme a while back that I found hilarious and also a very accurate description of my life,  it said; “Being an adult is saying, ‘after this week, things will slow down,’ until you die.” Can anyone else relate? And of course the funniest thing about that is that I am a mature adult who has the privilege of dictating my own schedule, so I actually have only myself to blame for said busyness.

Yet, when I stop to consider all the reasons that I find myself so busy, each one is a blessing. I have loving friends and family who want to spend time with me, I have two wonderful bible studies that I am a part of, a great church to be involved in, meaningful work and hobbies, and so much more. Where am I going with this, it’s November, and if you’ve been around letteringhislove.com for any amount of time, you know that November is about gratitude. Why? Because gratitude is like a re-set button. This time of year has many of us feeling pretty worn out, and the busiest time of the year is still to come. Sandwiched between the frenetic pace of the fall and the frantic pace of the holidays sits November, it’s like the calm before the storm.

I need November, I need it to redirect my gaze on the things that matter the most. I also need it to gird me against the crazy consumerism of the holidays. In case you need a little more convincing, consider the definition of the word gratitude; definition 2b in Webster’s says this: “pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated”. What I find interesting about that definition is how close it comes to encapsulating the gospel. Jesus came and healed and relieved pain and discomfort in his three years of ministry on earth. And when he ascended into heaven he didn’t leave us on our own, he sent us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. But where it falls short is in the word “alleviate”. The definition of that word is: “to make something… more bearable, to partially remove or correct something undesirable.” Synonyms are “assuage”, “ease”, “help”, “mitigate”, and “soothe”. Jesus didn’t come to mitigate, ease or soothe our sinful nature, he came to eradicate it! Eradicate means, “to do away with as completely as if by pulling up by the roots.” Synonyms of eradicate are: “annihilate”, “blot out”, “erase”, “exterminate”, “obliterate”…

This, my friends, is what we are eternally grateful for! This is what deserves an entire month of our attention. This is where we set our gaze!

My prayer for each of you is that you won’t allow the busyness of the next two months to rob you of the joy of counting your blessings. God is so good, and He’s been so good to me, I bet He’s been good to you too. If you need a little help getting started, pray this

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,  his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. ’The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” Lamentations 3:21-24

You see, gratitude is not normally our default mode, we need to “call to mind” all the ways God has so richly blessed us. We need to remember our past with him, all the ways he’s been faithful. We need to intentionally put our “hope in him,” in November and every day.

This month’s verses come with prayer prompts to help you on your gratitude journey, I truly pray you are blessed beyond measure in the month to come.

Gratitude 2025 - Printable.pdf

Download PDF • 30.01MB