Thursday Things #129
In the midst of All The Noise: a small, quiet round-up of good words + a borrowed prayer.
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!
Well, it seems like every last one of us is saying we’re tired, that there’s So Much going on, that we’re trying, really trying, but we can’t keep up with the to-dos, the news, the needs in our local communities . . .
On and on the list could go of things, of updates, of celebrations and heartbreaks, of confusion and “what now?”, of delight and of difficult things we barely have words for.
And so, in the midst of All The Noise coming from every direction, this week I wanted to simply offer a small, quiet round-up of good words. There are no items here, no new fun finds, just words from others (3 to encourage, 2 to hopefully bring a smile or a laugh) + a borrowed prayer + a song to play in the background tonight, tomorrow, this weekend.
If there’s a post of good words that crossed your feed recently, I’d love for you to link it in the comments! We could always use more of those.
Ps Every email I send your way has a comment section, like ye olden days of blogging. You’ll find it, along with buttons to like or to share, at the top and again at the bottom of each email. The like/share are a small, free way to support my writing (that quick click really does make a difference) . . . but it’s the comment section that feels like stepping back in time to blogging while also digitally sitting across the table from one another in the here and now (if only we had iced coffees in front of us).
Good words.
From Holley Gerth — “You are fire and tenderness, fierceness and tenacity…”
From Hannah Brencher — “You can paint the trees yourself.” (This is an excerpt from her Monday email.)
From Melissa Zaldivar — “Singleness is not a season.”
And for a little bit of levity . . .
When I say that I cackled at the truth of this:
No pressure at all, but if you’d like to share I’d like to hear: Does your slide in the post below feel super accurate, too? LOL
If the news is too much right now.
There’s something about knowing others might be offering these same words, too, that they’ve been handed down and passed along, that brings a comfort and a calm in the midst of the muchness. I hope it brings the same to you. 💛
“Give us discernment
in the face of troubling news reports.
Give us discernment
to know when to pray, when to speak out,
when to act, and when to simply
shut off our screens and our devices,
and to sit quietly in your presence,
casting the burdens of this world
upon the strong shoulders of the one
who alone is able to bear them up.
Amen.”
If I knew then what I know now.
This one is brand new to me, and I’ll tell you that one line in particular had me catching my breath as we sang it at church, a truth that’s true but one I’m also still very much wrestling through.
All the same, in the toss and turn and tick tock of time, I can point to other lines and say yes, here, that. Through the night. Near in the fire (that’s literally how my book begins).
So maybe this will comfort . . . or maybe this will invite you to a wrestling match, but, well, this story about wrestling in Scripture has been a massive comfort to me over the last decade+ and so maybe, somehow, it’s both.
Next week I’ll send a new piece your way, a somewhat embarrassing story I’ve been sitting on for, umm, years. And wouldn’t you know it, since I sat down to write it, the not-often-referenced verse that ties in has shown up in multiple books I’m currently reading + was mentioned on a podcast episode last week. I do love a good theme. :) See you back here soon!
As a longtime single gal, I so loved Melissa's post!!! It's in own path that I'm walking out with the Lord, whatever may come. It has its own areas of sanctification and I can be blessed here, now.