Today’s Good News Friday post is from Rachel H. *If you’d like to share a Good News Friday post, simply hit reply and I’ll get you on the schedule!
I think it is so deeply good that she talks about struggle and mess along with joy and goodness. That’s the truth. That’s the real thing. And I’m always happy when people share good music. I am a book finder - I will hunt down the right book and feel thrilled when I’ve found just the right one to connect with a friend. But I am not a music finder. I often message my sister (Stephanie Sweet - a super excellent musician) for recommendations and then just copy her. So this, Sarah Sparks, is a (Narnian) gift. Enjoy!
Life is full of goodness, but messy. So messy. Every year the messiness seems to get louder. The joys more seasoned with struggles.
Sometimes it is the guilt that accompanies a fun vacation that none of my North African friends would ever be able to afford. Yesterday it was the divorced young woman we tried to empower by training and employing, who still ended up getting married off, far away from her young children, simply because her parents needed the dowry money. It is the desire for a quiet advent season juxtaposed with the ever-growing to-do list. The belly-laughs my daughters prompt and the way they sanctify me by pushing all my buttons. The comforts of plenty and knowledge of inescapable poverty. Death and new life.
These days, the things that bring me the most joy, that speak the most deeply to my heart, are the arts and people and messages who acknowledge this truth. The ones who lay bare the hurt, while still proclaiming the joy.
Some Good Music:
Sarah Sparks album “Into the Lantern Waste” has soothed my soul when I just wanted to retreat to a hermitage homestead in the woods. This is literally the only music I have actually bought in years. She also has some beautiful Advent music.
See the leaves
Simple dying things
Never were so beautiful
Cause in their dying days
What a glorious change
For in death they turn to gold.
A Product that Does Good:
Woven With Hope is the project I get to be a part of here in North Africa! Every time I see the newest products my neighbors have woven, I have to smile. They have come so far, and I can’t wait to see what they do next!
A Good Podcast:
I’ve followed the Upside Down Podcast since their first episode. My own spiritual journey has been heavily impacted by the “unscripted conversations on faith and culture” these women share. I hadn’t followed their more recent seasons as closely, but I’ve gotten sucked by in by their current series on persistence. My husband and I had some good conversations when they challenged their listeners to ask, “What are you persisting towards?”
A Book About Doing Good:
Reading is my go-to escape when life just feels too messy, but it is also my encouragement to persist in the face of the struggles. This week I finished “A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity” by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Their other book, “Half the Sky,” was hugely influential for me at the inception of Woven With Hope, and this volume was equally inspirational while remaining super practical.
A Good Author:
I couldn’t NOT slip in another bookish recommendation. I read Madeline L’Engle’s famous “A Wrinkle in Time” as a girl, and, honestly, didn’t love it. However, I’ve recently discovered her non-fiction and have completely fallen in love. I read this book during Advent last year and couldn’t stop talking about it at holiday gatherings. I now want to read everything she has ever written and look forward to revisiting her children’s books with my girls in a few years.
What’s is your good news this week?
Rachel H lives her life in North Africa, moving there for the first time in 2012. She grew up in Missouri and dreams about homesteading there one day. She spends her time parenting two little girls, trying to love her neighbors well, managing Woven With Hope, and learning, learning, learning. You can follow her work @wovenwithhope on Instagram and @wovenwithhopeshop on Facebook. You can follow her personal account @rahil.herr on Instagram.