Good News


            I’ve been enjoying a new app on my phone called “Good News Network.” The news is exhausting. I try to stay a little bit on top of what’s going on locally, nationally, and globally. Not much of it sounds good; at least, not the way they write the news these days. I read about this Good News Network in a magazine that I read and immediately put it on my phone. The app gives a daily article of good news. You can look up good news articles from around the nation and the globe, too. An article from May 15, for example, talked about a dental hygienist student who almost had to drop out of school because of her color blindness. The focus of the story was on her classmates who acted in love to set up a GoFundMe page that raised money for special color corrective glasses. Now the girl can both stay in school and follow her dream (https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/colorblindness-almost-cost-student-career-until-classmates-helped/).
            It helps to find things that inspire us and give us good news. It doesn’t make bad news go away and it doesn’t take the place of reading your go-to news source, but it does add a bit of sunshine to your day. It reminds me that there are awesome people in the world who are doing amazing things, and I’m glad there are people who keep track of those stories.
            Ann Frank once said, “Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!” I like the idea that all of us have a piece of good news inside of us. I wonder what it would look like if we all made it a point to share our piece of good news every day. Maybe you write it in a journal. Maybe you post it on social media. Maybe you share it with your family during a mealtime or as part of your bedtime prayers.
            The Bible has lots of good news. “Fear not,” the angel said to some shepherds, “for I bring you good news of great joy.” Part of Jesus’ mission was to bring good news to people. He sends his disciples out with the same good news. “So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere” (Luke 9:6). Maybe some of those healings were straight up get-up-and-walk kind of healings. But maybe some of the healing was spiritual. Good news has healing properties. “Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones” the writer of Proverbs tells us (Proverbs 15:30). What kind of healing could you bring with your good news?
            The Good News Network has good talks (videos), places to submit your own good news, daily quotes, and other places to interact. I don’t usually endorse things with my online column, but I do endorse this. I lift it up to you because I find the good news that I read here inspiring. It inspires me to follow Ann Frank and find the piece of good news inside me that I can share.
            I hope you find something that inspires you. I hope you have something (and someone) in your life that can help you find sunshine even after the longest string of rainy days. If you have some good news, please share it here in the comment section. Maybe others reading this blog today will be encouraged by you!

Find out more about Good New Network here!

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