Random Friday Thoughts

Happy Friday, dear readers!  My "Spring Break" week is officially over now, but we're certainly not returning to normal on Monday.

My Write-The-Word verse for today made me happy... verses about God's protection are always super calming to me:

So I've been in a pretty good mood through most of March, but late last night I had to sort through some sudden waves of anxiety and sadness.  This is all such new territory, which means there are so many things we just don't know:  How long will this pseudo-quarantine will last?  How long should I stay in Tulsa and avoid my family for their own safety?  Is visiting friends in their homes still okay, and if not, how long can I handle this level of isolation?  Will some of my family or close friends end up getting sick?  Will Sarah be okay since Oklahoma nurses and doctors don't have the proper masks and protective gear to deal with this?  Will they get Dad in for his surgery as scheduled, or will it be postponed along with a million other non-emergency procedures?  How much damage will all of this do to our nation's economy?  Will this wipe out Virginia's Cafe and Lori's tea room and other small businesses and restaurants I've grown to care about?  Will my fall cruise end up being cancelled, along with this spring's D.C. trip (which they did officially cancel today)?  How will the airlines handle that?  Will Triston get to go to D.C. at some point or participate in the sixth grade graduation?  How will the kids deal with suddenly switching to homeschool and being unable to hang out with their friends for the remainder of the school year?  Will work stay open or end up closing? (They closed the Tulsa County Courthouse for a full month, which is unprecedented and pretty surprising!)  

I am happy Spring is here and Summer is coming.  And I'm very grateful to be in a position where I have real job security, youth and health are on my side, and I don't mind being homebound for a while.  But even then, my concerns for the health and financial well-being of others is causing some stress (which is always a good time to turn to God in prayer!)  The unknown "ending" or "return to normal" date is also especially difficult -- there is no predictable pattern for dealing with this situation, so we're all navigating new waters at the same time.  Those responding with extreme fear, greed, selfishness, and superiority are only adding to the stress and the mess.  We all have our own ways of dealing with (or avoiding) things, and I'm especially thankful for the lighthearted memes and all the acts of kindness and generosity I've been seeing!  I hope people continue to pull together in spirit... while staying apart for now. lol  Anyway, I saw this on FB in the midst of feeling a bit emotional last night, and it was well-timed!

A few other posts I appreciate right now -- this one is from Mike Rowe:

Reading the first few lines below made me laugh and think, uhhh, no pressure! lol  I do like that last sentence, though, and I've been pondering that a bit the past few days... it's definitely a time to recenter and reassess things, and a good time for God-given desires and creative energy to flow!

OMG, so many emotions with that show! lol  It highlights the daily tough decisions and sacrifices parents make on behalf of their children, and it gets me every time.

In ironic news, I felt super-inspired by the Joy of Movement book to go walk outside more often and to participate in the "collective joy" of the free yoga, boot camp, and Zumba classes at SALT and Guthrie Green this season!  And indeed I went to one Holy Yoga class and had one lovely walk at the Gathering Place last weekend... right before they shut down all river parks and group classes for the foreseeable future. lol  So I'm super-thankful for Peloton rides and neighborhood walks at the moment, but when all this stuff reopens, I am SO IN!!!  

(Pic = me in the sensory garden, or me waving goodbye to the park. lol)

*Side note:  I've been going for neighborhood walks while listening to Annie Downs' podcast - she's been doing a daily half-hour podcast while she's seriously quarantined, and I always enjoy listening to those!

Not sure if I posted this pic already, but this is Dad at a Saturday breakfast with the men's lifegroup he leads (along with Sean's family).  Sean is suffering with ALS, and as a sort of adult Make-A-Wish thing, he had gotten backstage passes to meet MercyMe at their concert in OKC, which has now been postponed to September.  I feel really sad for him, and I hope and pray he is still able to go this fall!

My last meme for today - this one made me laugh out loud, as that's one of my fav quotes from Anchorman, and feels so true right now!

Okay.  I'll end with this Donald Miller quote I've been thinking about lately:

“Humans naturally seek comfort and stability. Without an inciting incident that disrupts their comfort, they won’t enter into a story... The character has to jump into the story, into the discomfort and the fear, otherwise the story will never happen.  Here's the truth about telling stories with your life: It's going to sound like a great idea, and you're going to get excited  about it, and then when it comes time to do the work, you're not going to want to do it. It's like that with writing books, and it's like that with life. People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen. But joy costs pain.”

~Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Let's live a great story, friends! ❤