Glory Awaits!
NOVEMBER 2025 NEWSLETTER
Hello Reader,
Thanksgiving is nearly here! I’ve got two digital downloads for you; one contains Scripture memory cards for three of my favorite thanksgiving passages. The other is from last year: 4 Great Reasons to Be Thankful Prayer Guide. But first, something that’s been on my mind a lot lately: how thankfulness requires humility. I pray you nurture thanksgiving this month, for doing so will ease your mind, bring peace, and draw you closer to your heavenly Father.
Blessings,
Jean E. Jones
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Cultivate Thankfulness with Humility
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” (1 Peter 5:6, ESV)
While reading He Leadeth Me by Walter J. Ciszek, I was struck by the relationship between thanksgiving and humility. Ciszek writes, “Humility is nothing more or less than knowing our place before God.” He is right. Humility recognizes that God is Lord, and we live for him. Therefore, we can give thanks for everything that comes into our lives, for it comes by God’s will. He either commanded or permitted it for some good, so we can “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Ciszek continues:
That’s what humility means—learning to accept disappointments and even defeat as God-sent, learning to persevere and carry on with peace of heart and confidence in God, secure in the knowledge that something worthwhile is being accomplished precisely because God’s will is at work in our life and we are doing our best to accept and follow it.
Without humility, we imagine ourselves entitled to what we lack. Self-pity slithers in, bringing with it a selfishness that tells us to look only to our own needs rather than to others’. It may even deceive us into thinking we have nothing to be thankful for.
But humility does away with entitlements and self-pity. It reestablishes that we are servants of the Most High God who loves us so much he sent his Son to die for our sins. Ciszek reminds us, “God made us to love, reverence, and serve him in this life and so to be happy with him in the next.” Let's show our reverent love by giving thanks.
Thanksgiving-Related links
Here are resources to help you and your loved ones celebrate Thanksgiving.
Terrific Reads
I read two World War II books recently that made it onto my recommended reading list. The biography I wholeheartedly recommend, the novel with mild reservations. (Don’t forget: You can find links to all my 2025 newsletter recommendations here.)
WWII Biography (Christian)
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He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith
Walter J. Ciszek, S.J., with Daniel L. Flaherty, S.J.
This is the uplifting story of a man’s spiritual journey through deeply dark times and how he learned to lean totally on God. From the back cover: “Captured by a Russian army during World War II and convicted of being a ‘Vatican spy,’ Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek spent some twenty-three agonizing years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia.” Ciszek’s story is an encouraging look at how to put God first even in suffering. It reminded me of how much I have to be thankful for. A favorite quote: “Even in prison, a man can choose to do good or evil, to fight for survival or to despair, to serve God and others or to turn inward and selfish.” Another favorite: “Then it is, perhaps, that he must allow our whole world to be turned upside down in order to remind us it is not our permanent abode or final destiny, to bring us to our senses and restore our sense of values, to turn our thoughts once more to him.”
Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3WbWgy2.
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WWII Historical Fiction
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The Book of Lost Names
Kristen Harmel
During World War II, a young woman with a gift for forgery helps hundreds of Jewish children escape Nazis. She creates a coded book linking the children’s true identities with their new identities. This story was interesting for what it teaches about history and its reminder of how evil humans can be. However, the theology the characters espouse leaves much to be desired: good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. And both Jewish and Christian characters reject the Bible’s teaching on sex outside of marriage (there’s a PG-13 scene). Still, I enjoyed learning about how forgeries were made and how rebels secreted children out of France during the Nazi occupation.
Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3VLRPtw
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What's New
Book News
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How Does God Use Suffering for Our Good?
This releases January 13, 2026! I’ve started creating downloadable Victory Over Suffering Bundles to go with it. These should be available in December. So far, I’ve added a list of seven truths, encouraging verses memory cards, and a Truth Journal.
Preorder here (affiliate link).
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Unscripted Faith Interview
We're doing radio and podcast interviews. Angela Madden, host of Unscripted Faith on the CornerStone Television Network, interviewed Clay and me on how God uses suffering for our good. I share about not being able to have children, and Clay shares some of his cancer journey. Together we talk about having victory in times of suffering. It aired Thursday. You can watch the replay here.
Personal News
Clay is scheduled for open heart surgery on November 19. Some heartstrings that operate his mitral valve have broken. Thankfully, such surgery no longer means cracking the ribs open. The surgeon will spread two ribs and use robotics to repair the heartstrings. He'll also perform a maze ablation (to stop a-fib) and sew closed the left atrial appendage (to lessen stroke risk). He specializes in heart valves and was formerly the head of cardiac surgery at Cedars-Sinai. He says Clay will be in the hospital about five nights. I plan to stay at a hotel a short walk away. Please pray for the surgery to be successful and for a speedy recovery.
Your Thoughts
One thing I’m particularly thankful for this month: Three years ago when Clay was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, we thought he might have just months to live. But he’s still here with me, and I’m thankful for the extra time here in this life. Still, I’m even more thankful that we’ll be together forever in the afterlife!
Next Question
What’s something you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving? Click REPLY and let me know.
