By Isabelle Watkins, UTO staff 

Not sure where to begin this Lenten season? Try deepening your faith through the spiritual practice of gratitude.

Starting on Ash Wednesday, but you can join anytime, we’re inviting you to 40 Days of Gratitude. The UTO Lenten Gratitude Challenge will be offered digitally—in the form of text messages or you can print out a calendar copy to use at home. If you sign up for our challenge with your mobile number, you will receive one text message every morning for the entirety of Lent. Each text will be a different prompt, encouraging you to notice and be grateful for something in your daily life. This year’s theme is “Noticing and Giving Thanks for the Small Things in our Daily Life.” Since we almost always have our phones on us, why not use it as a tool to practice gratitude?

Sign up for text messages, or download the Lenten calendar version here: https://unitedthankoffering.com/lent/

And after Lent is over, we promise not to spam you with texts! By entering your phone number, you will only be registered for our 2023 Lenten Challenge and will not receive any additional mobile correspondence.

For families, we are once again offering our countdown-to-Easter paper chains and UTO bunny boxes to hold all the notes of gratitude that your family creates each day of Lent. This is a great way to help children focus on gratitude during Lent and start the tradition of a Lenten discipline. For faith formation leaders, there is also a lesson plan that you can use to introduce the Lenten materials, create them in class together, and send them home with a letter to families.