Thursday Things #107
A whole lot of words about hope + an outlier. Because what we have here is a new favorite TV character. (Donna forever.)
Every other Thursday, I share a handful of good things I'm loving, reading, watching, listening to or just discovered. AKA the random good stuff we’d talk about over coffee or text if we had one another’s phone number. I'm glad you're here!
What we ended up with here, in TT #107, is an unintentionally themed round-up with one very obvious outlier. For all of ten seconds I considered saving the last one for another time—let’s just run with the hope-full words on a Thursday night because couldn’t we all use some right about now?—but I’m typing this from Starbucks, picturing you across the table from me, and I know we’d chat about all of it . . . the lighter and the heavier and the somewhere in the middle . . . the random little things, something encouraging we’ve come across, and I’m sure we’d offer a word of encouragement to each other before heading home.
And so here we have it: a lot of words about hope + an outlier of a TV show because this is Thursday Things.
The random good stuff.
As always, I’m so glad you’re here. (And wish you were here here, sipping coffee or tea and sharing a favorite thing or two of your own. Leave one in the comments and let’s pretend?)
Hope, in the here and now.
All is not well, but all is not lost.
That right there.
From Katherine Wolf:
P.s. She has a new book coming soon and I’m so looking forward to reading it. You may know her story from Hope Heals or Suffer Strong?1
It’s just underground.
How many times have I watched this video clip (swipe to the second slide) from Taylor Leonhardt? Who can know at this point.
Here’s the full video of New Every Morning, from The Porter’s Gate:
You could try just for a start
Put the judge back on the shelf
All that love and kindness in your heart -
Have a little for yourself
You think hope is lost but it’s just underground
The flame might be an ember but the fire won’t go out
All the evidence is pointing to the truth
That daily resurrection is still happening to you
This quote (prayer).
I shared it on Instagram tonight but it’s easily worth double-posting because yes and amen.
Simple & powerful & beautiful . . . this prayer from Kate Bowler’s new book (I shared my review in Thursday Things #106, if you’re interested.) has stayed with me:
“I did not invent Hope, Lord. You gave it to me. Now teach me what to hope for.”
“In my longing, He is loving.”
It’s just that with every post, I find myself thinking “My gosh, she can write.”
So I guess here’s mention #483197 of me saying hey, you’re following Melissa on Instagram right?
May the God of hope . . .
Well, while we’re at it with the round-up that ended up being a whole lot of hope-y things, I’ll link this, from me to you earlier this week. (Note: the second half is shown to those who keep the lights on here with paid support, but the letter is visible to everyone. Your responses the past two days have been so thoughtful. Thank you truly for writing to say how it was right on time, to share how you’re fighting for hope in the flames, or to those who brought a smile when you shared that this just so happens to be your word and/or verse of the year. Of course it is.)
A reflection on this past year (for sure cried writing this one) and two prints + two lock screens for your 2024:
What Held True in the Flames (January Downloads)
My eyes are stinging and I haven’t even started typing. I’ve never had a “verse of the year” but I posted about Romans 15:13 in January of 2022, thought of it every single week, and even put it on my Christmas card to close the year. And so it became the first one, and then decided to hold onto its one and only place until a new one arrived in late 2023—but we’ll get to that.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him—in every delight and disappointment, every pounding wave and moment of wonder, every waiting room and answered prayer, in both daylight and darkness—so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even still, we’ll sing.
This showed up in the “recommended for you” sidebar in YouTube. Since I’m mostly there listening to songs that I end up sharing here, and since the song name fits so nicely with the name of my book, the odds were high that it would be a solid recommendation.
That it was, and of course now I’m unsurprisingly passing it on to you:
Even if all seems lost, I’ll praise you
Even if hope feels gone, still I’ll sing
You never change Your ways
So why should I be afraid?
Even if all seems lost, I’ll praise
You are holy, holy, holy in the highest
You are worthy, worthy, worthy to be praised
And if heaven joins as one in hallelujah
Then even in the battle I will praise
Suits.
Hello, outlier.
It’s quick, it’s smart, and perhaps most importantly, it has Donna (played by Sarah Rafferty)—who has easily claimed a spot in my top 10 favorite television characters of all time list. (Maybe top 5. I haven’t finished the series yet so time will tell.)
There’s a decent amount of language (in between approximately five hundred movie quotes). There are illegal happenings. But there’s also loyalty and friendship and so many quick looks that if you glance away, you’ll miss a funny face or an ah-ha moment. And there’s Donna, who steals every scene she’s in.
Okay, time to wrap work up for the day, close the computer, heat up leftovers and start the next episode (because of course).
Share a good thing of your own below?
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Hi! I just finished reading “Set the stars alight” by Amanda Dykes and wanted to thank you for the original book recommendation of hers because not only was the first one good, but I loved this one!!
I so look forward to these treasures. Thank you for sharing them!