Thursday, July 16, 2015

Stray Thoughts and Minor Obsessions

That title makes this post sound more interesting than it will be, so fair warning. I've been keeping a list on my phone of what I suppose you'd call stray thoughts, and this seems like a good place to put them. Some of those stray thoughts might be considered borderline obsessions of mine at the moment, and oftentimes my blog is where I go to figure that out.

In no particular order...

Iced coffee. Definitely an obsession. I refrigerate whatever is left in the morning pot and drink it over ice later in the day. Like right now. I'm having an iced coffee. When you spend the summer moving it's the little things that keep you sane.

The Royals. Almost an obsession. As in I adore them and read the websites and look at all the pretty pictures every time one's posted. Kate's hair, Kate's clothes, George's soft blue cardi and mischievous grin, baby Charlotte and her fabulous pram, the English countryside...they're all happy distractions from so much turmoil going on in the world.

Earthquakes. Trying not to make it an obsession. Mostly succeeding although hubs and I may have ordered an earthquake kit for our daughter and son in law yesterday. We're not crazy or paranoid but we do have a little too much time on our hands right now, and this is where your thought train travels while in limbo.

Who read the super scary article in The New Yorker called The Really Big One? The tag line under the title is 'An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when.' Huh? Why is this the first I'm hearing about plates colliding somewhere besides California? The article goes into great detail about the likelihood of a major earthquake striking the Pacific Northwest.

The same Pacific Northwest where my daughter1 and son in law live.

When my daughter first told me she and her now hubs would be moving to Washington after they married I was sad about the distance, but a little bit happy she was leaving D.C. In D.C. she rode the metro every day and worked a block from the White House, and I remember thinking how much safer she'd be under the soaring evergreens of Washington State than in our nation's capital.

Safety is an illusion. I suppose deep down we know this, but some weeks it's made more real to us than others, and this has been one of those weeks. I've heard so many sad things in the past few days, and that combined with everything splashed across our headlines and TV screens can make me want to hide away somewhere with all my people.

Which brings me to another obsession. This song by King and Country. Oh my word I am obsessed. I play it loud and sing along only slightly off key. I let the lyrics and the melody wash over me as I remember I'm not carrying the weight of the world on my own two shoulders.

None of us are. So many people I talk to feel a general sense of uneasiness these days. The world is shifting in ways that are sometimes confusing and hard to understand. Despair feels close enough to touch.

But then so is hope.

We don't have to carry the burdens of this world alone.  We can set them on the shoulders of the One who knows our every need and weakness. He set the world in motion and nothing is too big or too hard or too heavy for Him. Sometimes it's good to write that down and say it out loud.

Sometimes it's good to sing it at the top of your lungs and a little off key.

11 comments:

  1. I needed to be reminded of that today - thank you for sharing the song.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful song, worthy of shouting! Praise God and thankful that we can turn it over to Him. Well said, Joyce.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I love that song, I hear it on The Message quite often. Oh, didn't know about the earthquake and the possibility of shaking the PNW. Not good! You and Hubby buying an earthquake kit reminds me of my Hubby asking our daughter if the house they are buying in Oklahoma has a storm shelter. He told them if it didn't have one that he would buy them one. But, it already had one, so we're sure glad. Think I'll go listen to that song again. Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've head about that predicted earthquake. Scientists have been trying to predict earthquakes for a very long time. None have come even close yet. I wouldn't obsess too much about that one. It may not happen for a couple hundred years or more. Though, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Iced coffee and the Royals are an excellent distraction from all of it. And that song is a great, belt it out, sing along song :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank God for His relentless mercy. "Safety is an illusion!" I think about that often. Good thoughts today and thank you for sharing the song. It seems there is no end to the deeds of darkness, but I know we have an anchor of hope.
    Haven't they been predicting devastating earthquakes there for years? For myself, my thoughts go toward my nephews who live on military bases and their safety.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just emailed my daughter that a mama doesn't stop worrying about/being concerned for her kiddos just because they've grown up and are out on their own. I would no doubt send my daughter an earthquake kit if she lived in the PNW, too. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, yeah! Love that song!
    We are feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders right now, aren't we? This morning in Mass, Father said that laws should not be our god; they should lead us to Him. I'd say, for some of us at least, we're doing a lot more praying due to recent events!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I never have heard that song before, but the words are awesome and so very true! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. "do have a little too much time on our hands right now" - that does not always lead to thinking about earthquakes. I have had more "time on my hands" (as if you could magically hold it) for a few years. It lead to more blogging. Being prepared is good but being obsessed about things you have no control of - probably not so good.
    We have had earthquakes in Illinois. Long long ago a big one shifted the Mississippi. The universe is full of dangers. The ones that bother me the most are the man made type. I enjoyed this thoughtful post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Our daughter is obsessed with Iced Coffee at Starbucks. Really wish she would make it at home and save some money. The Royals, I'm definitely obsessed!!!! Earthquakes, because there are no warnings, are easy to obsess about. I've wanted to hide away with my children ever since they were little and not because we have lived in CA for the last 27 years. The world is a scary place and the stories continue to get worse as time moves forward.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've started drinking iced coffee this summer. It IS delicious. While the song was playing on my computer my granddaughter was singing along. Made me so happy!! I can tell you for sure that we moms never stop worrying about our kids!!

    ReplyDelete