By Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer 

If the title of this article shocked you, I apologize, but Lent is very early this year (it’s a Valentine’s Day/Ash Wednesday year again), and we want to make sure you have free resources to help ground your Lenten journey in gratitude. This year our theme for Lenten materials is “40 Days of Grateful Presence” and a call to giving thanks for the many things in our lives we take for granted. Our hope is that during the 40 days of Lent we can all use gratitude to help us be more present in our daily lives. In order to do this, we’ve got the following materials for individuals and congregations:

• Daily text message prompts to notice and give thanks for something in your life that you might take for granted.
• Printable calendar with the same prompts as the daily text message that you can print out and hang on your fridge to mark the days until Easter.
• Lenten materials for families – this year we have a special “40 days” coloring sheet from Kristen Wheeler to help kids mark off each day until Easter, and a weekly prayer (similar to what many of us use during Advent) that individuals or families can say along their Lenten journey.
• Zoom book group – this Lent we’ll be reading “Thanks a Thousand” by AJ Jacobs. It’s the story of what happened when he tried to thank everyone who contributed to his daily cup of coffee.

You can sign up for text messages and book club or download any of our Lenten resources at www.unitedthankoffering.com/lent. We look forward to being a part of your Lenten journey in 2024.