"I'm just a girl..."

Introducing your new favourite weekly email... THE RAPID 5.

WHAT ON EARTH IS THE RAPID 5?

Cass writes: When doing the CliftonStrength assessment (has anyone else done this???) I discovered that my top strengths are “input,” “ideation,” and “includer.”

If you know what that means, you’re doing well, and if not, what I’ve just told you feels to me, a bit reminiscent of that famous “I’m just a girl” speech from “Notting Hill.” It’s the scene where Julia Roberts bears her soul to Hugh Grant.

Only my version goes a little more like this;

I’m just an ideas girl who collects random stuff (on overflowing boards like Trello, Pinterest, on the Notes app on my phone, on A3 paper, and all sorts of other places that I have trouble finding later). And I want the people I love and those who belong in my “crash,” to be inspired and encouraged by all the things I collect.

This is “The Rapid 5” - Welcome! It’s something we started doing a long time ago with our team locally in Australia and globally and with our creative pastors. It was a way of sharing ideas and thoughts, things we were working on, inspiration and learnings, something to laugh at, and things to up-skill us, with things like new songs, articles, and links to podcasts and books. It was one of my weekly highlights, and I hope this will fast become yours too.

Rich writes: While Cass has her strengths and love to collect things… my strengths are entirely different. For those of you who know us, I am sure this does not surprise you in the slightest.

I’m a “learner.” I find myself interested in the most random things. I can’t help but dive in and explore. Once satisfied with what I’ve learned, I tend to move on to the next thing. Cass tells me this explains many of the items we have around our home. The large-scale printer (for the art-print business that I never got off the ground), the master’s degree (framed but not on the wall), the multitude of books, the half-marathon medals, and the plethora of musical instruments, to name just a few of the things I’ve obsessed about over the years.

I like to share my learnings. I want to help others see the world through a lens they wouldn’t normally use. I believe “The Rapid 5” will become one of those lenses.

There’s inspiration everywhere, and God can use all sorts of creative things we sometimes minimize to bring His kingdom purpose about. Perhaps God can use a link to a video, a book, or a podcast that has helped us in our spiritual life, creativity, or both!

So this is the beginning of “The Rapid 5” - a combination of Cass’s collections and Rich’s learnings. Things to challenge and inspire you. Things to love and laugh at. Things to support you and share with others.

As time goes on, we hope you’ll contribute too by emailing us with your links to things you’ve seen, created, or discovered. We’d love to share your ideas, photos, painting, written posts, ministries, creative businesses you run, or the things that are currently inspiring you. To simplify this, we’ve set up an email address (rapid5@thehopefulrhino.com) and look forward to seeing what you’re into. Together we will inspire each other!

Feel free to share this email and these ideas far and wide, and together, let’s become the type of people who are open-handed and seek to help each other improve.

Enjoy!

LOVE // 1 & 2 SAMUEL BY EUGENE PETTERSEN

“The biblical way is to tell a story and invite us to “live into this - this is what it looks like to be human in the God made, and God-ruled world, this is what is involved in becoming and maturing as a human being….”

We’ve been reading the one-year Bible this year and find ourselves in 1 and 2 Samuel this week. Eugene Petterson is masterful. His writing is effortlessly beautiful, and he brings the characters and stories of Samuel to life. We run headfirst into Eli, Samuel, and David and find ourselves in temples, battlefields, wilderness, and cities. There’s so much here for the storytellers, worshipers, and creatives. We highly recommend it!

LISTEN // MORE THAN ABLE

A few of our favorite people released a new song recently that we think you will love and want to introduce in your church.

This one has anchored us through the last season. Our friend Ben Fielding wrote it with Chandler Moore and the Elevation Worship team. (We got our hands on a little sneaky pre-release demo, and it’s been on repeat).

Multitracks have the song available too, which is cool, and Elevation Worship has a bunch of great resources for people wanting to play the song.

LOOK // WELCOME TO WREXHAM

We found this show super fun. It’s a simple concept but well-produced. It’s pretty much a documentary. And there’s something sweet about a story of an underdog. Oh, and there are also a couple of Americans who know nothing about "real” football 😜 but learn to love the people as much as the game. (Side note: The downside of this show is there tends to be some swearing, so if that offends, please don’t watch. 😳 )

LAUGH // A SUPER INSPIRING WAVE POOL

Not sure about you, but this wave pool in Italy makes us want to take up surfing. How hard can it be right? Apart from that, it makes us realize that perhaps we think too small. After all, who wakes up one day and decides to design, then build a wave pool that floats on the ocean? Check it out here.

LEARN // REDMAN & RIDDLE PODCAST

This podcast is worth checking out. Here’s what they say about it;

The Redman and Riddle podcast is a series of conversations between long-time friends, UK worship leader Matt Redman and US worship leader Jeremy Riddle. Starting as coffee-shop chats, Redman and Riddle decided to carry on these discussions in a recorded environment. Each episode takes on a 'this' versus 'that' format – such as 'Encounter vs. Entertainment' and 'Holiness vs. Helpfulness'’. Expect some serious and challenging conversations as they wrestle with what it means to worship the God who is “Holy, Holy, Holy” in a world of “me, me, me.”

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THIS WEEK IN THE HOPEFUL RHINO JOURNALS

We launched the creative community this week, and since then, the members-only chat has been a buzz with creatives from all over the world introducing themselves. If you’re keen to contribute to the community, we’d love to have you. It’s early days, but already the conversations are rich with depth and inspiration.

Grace and Peace,

Cass & Rich