As we carve out extra time to spend connecting with the Lord during Lent, let us start with gratitude. Ask Him to open your eyes to the many ways He has blessed you, even in hard seasons or difficult times. Ask Him to keep you mindful of His power and might, His love and care, His grace and mercy. Take a moment each day this month to write down the gifts He’s given you and why you’re so thankful.

Gracious God, in the busyness of my day, I sometimes forget to stop to thank you for all that is good in my life.

My blessings are many and my heart is filled with gratefulness for the gift of living, for the ability to love and be loved, for the opportunity to see the everyday wonders of creation, for sleep and water, for a mind that thinks and a body that feels.

I thank you, too, for those things in my life that are less than I would hope them to be. Things that seem challenging, unfair, or difficult. When my heart feels stretched and empty, and pools of tears form in my weary eyes, still I rejoice that you are as near to me as my next breath and that in the midst of turbulence, I am growing and learning.

In the silence of my soul, I thank you most of all for your unconditional and eternal love.
Amen