It is a more difficult year than usual to document our gratitude, and yet, with the arrival of November (and Thanksgiving!), and the tumult we face before the year is quite finished, I believe it is all the more necessary to do so.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
~1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV)
It is hard to give thanks when I am worried, when the worries seem to pile up unabated around me. But, I know that when I give thanks I am able to look toward the good and focus on hope rather than doubt. It helps me to document gratitude within a book to which I can refer on especially dark days.
The photos above are only the beginning of what I have prepared for November. They show a little book I made, with the help of a kit from Illustrated Faith. (I believe you can still buy some pieces for it here.) There is a prompt for each day, under which I have written the verse. On the back I will make it more personal, writing in it like a journal pointing to specific events from this year which have been especially lovely. Like having coffee with my parents several times a week. Walking with my husband through the fall colors at the Arboretum. Getting a text from my son that says he is fine.
Will you document gratitude this year? Will you join in me in looking for the beauty amidst the trial? Let us find the good and give thanks for it.
I agree with you 100%!
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M, I love the little book you made. I didn’t buy the kit for this month, just some bits and bobs. I need to finish another devotional before I begin this one. Definitely trying to focus on the good that has happened this year. Take care! xx
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I love your gratitude book! And I agree that even though this year has been difficult and fraught with all kinds of worries, we need to look for the good, for the positive, for those things that we are thankful for. If we look, they will be there. Take care!
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This is lovely. By coincidence, I recently bought some index cards too and have been using calligraphy pens to etch down things for gratitude. This post set off all kinds of ideas in my head. Thanks for sharing the links too!
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