Adaptability

We are amazing creatures, don’t you think? Our creator has given us an ability to adapt to our environment - both physically and mentally. 

For example, here in Texas we are in the middle of a heat wave where highs are in the upper 90’s and the lows barely make it down into the 70’s. Two or three years ago I would have felt the need to never go outside and hibernate in the coldest part of the house I could find. Now I still going for a lunchtime walk in the mid-day heat and we celebrate the heat by making a trip to the local waterpark.

On the contrary of that, when I was in Minnesota for a week of outreach recently, I never wore one pair of shorts and often found myself in long sleeves. The lows were in the mid 50’s and the highs were around 70. We adapt. 

This was abundantly clear to me on that same outreach week in Minnesota and Erica, Nicole and Jonah went to Wisconsin. 

On their recent trip to Wisconsin, Nicole and Jonah were plucked from the daily routine that Erica has established in our home and dropped right into a new environment, with new norms, new rules, new sleeping arrangements and new play opportunities. Both Nicole and Jonah did amazing.

Even though Nicole has been on some 20 plane rides in her lifetime already she adapted brilliantly on our most recent trip to Wisconsin. She was content in and through the airport. On the airplane she entertained herself the whole trip with just a few questions and just a few opportunities to redirect her. Over the course of the past three years, Nicole has learned to adapt to her environment when she travels and she is a champion. 

Jonah has been a good sleeper pretty much his whole life. Part of this is because of the routines that Erica has set up around bedtime - he knows what’s coming and what his role is in the process. Pulling him from his comfortable routine and his familiar environment could have been a major disruption to his rest and sleeping. After a little bit of time adjusting to his new surroundings, he quickly adapted and was able to settle into his new routine of going to sleep. Not only that, as soon as he got home, he was able to seamlessly adjust back into his “home” routine. 

Erica and I spent several weeks preparing for the week of ministry where I would be gone and she would be at her parents. The foundation of our preparation was prayer - we prayed earnestly for the things we knew would be challenges such as our travel and the sleep for the kids. God answers our prayers. The creator of the universe and creator of us allowed everyone to adapt in the way we were created to and adjust to some new environments with grace. 

Now we have witnessed first-hand the power of prayer and the brilliance of adaptability it gives us confidence when we approach new challenges. We know that when we pray into things the way we did for our trip, that God honors those prayers. Our confidence coming into a challenge is much grater because we know we have the power and the tools to affect change. Additionally, we know how our circumstances chan change because we were created to be adaptable.

So, what happens in a couple of years when Nicole goes off to kindergarten? We pray and then in confidence, trust that she will adapt. How about the next long road trip? We trust God with the details and know that Jonah will adapt to being in a carseat for a long time. 

Let’s thank God that we are adaptable creatures. He created us to adapt to pretty much anything; climate, traveling, sleeping and a whole bunch of other things that we probably don’t even realize…because we adapted.