Jesse Luyk

For the last couple of years, I’ve had the privilege of writing to you all during the month of November: a month filled with giving thanks for all that God has blessed us with and a season of reminding ourselves to practice gratitude each day. In 2021, I extended an invitation to each of you to join me in my family’s daily practice we like to call “Three Gratitudes.”

One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes from Jeremiah 29. The Jews are in exile in Babylon, no doubt desperate to know when God plans to send them back home to Jerusalem. But the word they get from God through the prophet Jeremiah is not the one they expect:

This summer, my family and I traveled through Yellowstone National Park and hiked at Grand Tetons National Park. It was a magnificent experience, and one that left me inspired by the majestic nature of God!

For many of us, August signals the final few weeks of summer vacation for students—a new school year is around the corner. I hope each of you has taken some time this summer to relax, try something new, live into a different rhythm, and allow God to refresh your mind, body, and spirit for another year of helping build life-changing relationships!