Thanksgiving: Remembering God's Faithfulness Through Every Season
Published November 24, 2026
Thanksgiving invites me to pause, look back, and remember: God has been faithful in every season. Not only in the seasons of visible growth and celebration, but also through the uncertain days when the next step was not yet clear. As I reflect on this year, I feel grateful for the people, prayers, and acts of service through which God continues to bring hope into the lives of others.
And if you are reading this, you have your own list. An answered prayer you almost forgot to notice. Your family gathered safely around a table. Food in the pantry. Breath in your lungs. A friend who called at exactly the right time. The daily miracles of God’s grace are so constant that we can walk right past them without a word of thanks, and Thanksgiving is the yearly reminder to stop, notice, and say thank You.
This year, one story of God’s faithfulness has been especially close to my heart, and I want to share it with you. It has been woven through the twelve-day Hope’s House Kenya campaign, which ran from November 12 through November 23. Letters and pictures shared from 17 children helped bring their lives and hopes closer to our hearts. The campaign concluded on the ministry’s twelfth anniversary. A meaningful moment to look back with thanksgiving and forward with renewed purpose.
A story of faithfulness in Kitale
Hope’s House Kenya serves children and families in Kitale, Kenya, through a ministry that includes Hope and Light Academy and Salvation and Redemption Gospel Ministries. What began with a vision to care for children has grown into a home, a school, and a church community. Each part of that story reflects patient work, faithful service, and the care of people who chose to respond when they saw a need.
When I consider this journey, I am reminded that meaningful change often grows step by step. A place to learn, a safe home, a caring adult, a meal, a prayer: each can become part of a larger story of hope. The work is not measured only by buildings or milestones. It is also seen in children being cared for, encouraged, taught, and given room to imagine a future.
The campaign’s twelve days offered an opportunity to hear, remember, and give thanks. Every letter and picture was a reminder that these are children with their own personalities, dreams, and precious stories, not simply a cause or a statistic. Their lives matter, and the ministry’s commitment to serving them deserves our prayers and thoughtful support.
Our nugget of pure gold
“Enter His gates with a song of thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, bless and praise His name.”
Psalm 100:4, Amplified Bible (AMP)
This verse meets me in a simple place: gratitude is more than a holiday feeling. It is a way of turning my heart toward God, remembering His goodness, and honoring Him in the middle of ordinary life. I can give thanks while celebrating a blessing, and I can give thanks while still praying for the next need to be met.
Gratitude also turns toward the people God has placed in our lives, and that is where I want to share a family tradition with you. When my children were young, we made a container shaped like a turkey and placed it in the middle of the dining room table. When everyone gave thanks and sat down to eat, I surprised each person with a card I had hidden inside the turkey. Every card was written specifically for the person sitting there, telling them exactly what I was thankful for about having them in my life, along with a Scripture of praise to God.
By the time each one finished reading, there were tears, hugs around the table, and people telling one another what they were thankful for too. Years later, I found piles of those notes under my children’s pillows, where they had been reading them to themselves at night, and on my mother-in-law’s nightstand. Sometimes we forget to tell the people closest to us how much we are thankful for them. But that simple act of letting them know becomes a new thing they can thank God for, and one they carry for years. Perhaps this is the year your table gets its own turkey container, and your family gets words they will keep.
Gratitude that becomes service
Thanksgiving can open our eyes to the people around us. When I remember the care God has shown me, I want to be more attentive to someone else’s need. I want my gratitude to become compassion, my prayer to become faithful support, and my faith to move me toward service.
Hope and Light Academy is part of this work, offering children a place to learn and grow. Hope’s House Kenya’s ministry also includes daily care and the support of its church community, Salvation and Redemption Gospel Ministries. These are connected expressions of service: nurturing children, making education possible, and sharing the love of Christ in the community.
If this story has touched your heart, you can continue learning about the ministry through Hope’s House Kenya. Those who would like to support the campaign can visit the GoFundMe fundraiser. Please consider sharing the link, praying for the children and caregivers, or offering support as you are able. Every response offered with care can help carry hope forward.
Remembering through every season
I know gratitude does not mean pretending every season is easy. Some seasons ask us to wait, to keep praying, and to trust God when the way forward is not yet visible. But even there, I can remember the ways He has carried people through hardship, strengthened those who serve, and made room for hope to grow.
That is why this anniversary feels like a coming-full-circle moment. The twelve-day campaign has ended, but the story of faithfulness continues. This milestone invites us to remember what has been built through years of care and to pray for what lies ahead. As Thanksgiving approaches on November 26, I am grateful for everyone who has shared a letter, a picture, a prayer, encouragement, or practical help.
Dear reader, I invite you to make space for gratitude this week. Thank God for every answered prayer you can remember, for your family’s safety, for the food on your table, and for the daily miracles of grace we so easily take for granted. Then think of one person who has served you, one difficult season you have come through, and one way you might encourage someone else, in words they can keep. Welcome the Holy Spirit to lead your studies and your daily walk, to transform you by the renewing of your mind, and to awaken your spirit to God’s calling. Let thanksgiving take root in your heart and bear fruit in how you serve.
If you would like to keep growing in Scripture and Christian learning, explore the college’s free courses at your own pace. May every lesson deepen your faith and help prepare you to serve with compassion.
Share a moment of gratitude
Take part in our Thanksgiving social challenge: share one thing you are thankful for, and encourage someone else with a word of hope. Follow In His Hands International Bible College:
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I give thanks for the children, caregivers, teachers, church family, and supporters whose service makes this work possible. I am grateful for God’s sustaining grace and for every heart moved to pray, encourage, and serve. May the hope planted in Kitale continue to grow, and may each of us carry a spirit of thanksgiving into the season ahead.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your faithfulness through every season, for every answered prayer, for keeping our families safe, for the food on our tables, and for the daily miracles of Your grace we so easily overlook. Bless the children and caregivers at Hope’s House Kenya, Hope and Light Academy, and Salvation and Redemption Gospel Ministries. Strengthen those who serve, provide for the needs before them, and guide each person who is moved to pray or help. Bless our own families too: gather us in peace, hold us in Your care, and let our homes overflow with thanksgiving. And bless every person You have placed in our lives: those who have poured into us with prayers, wisdom, and love, and those You are calling us to pour into, that we may give as freely as we have received. Lead us by Your Holy Spirit, renew our minds, awaken our spirits, and make our gratitude visible through love and service. May Your hope continue to grow in Kitale, in our homes, and in every heart reading these words. We give You thanks and praise, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The featured Scripture quotation in this post is from the Amplified Bible (AMP).