Adapt

It’s been a bit tough for me lately in getting used to new situations in my life, and it’s starting to feel a bit annoying as I’ve gotten older, especially since my heart attack and back surgery have made my health a bit more fragile. 

• I’m finding it a bit scary to take more pills each day, and each day I face the mirror, and what do I see?  Change. Plus, Becky seems to be watching over me more closely now, which means more rules to follow. I’m adapting.
• I wasn’t a great ball player, but I’ve been involved in sports for years, even rode motorcycles back in the day, jogged for thirty years on concrete and asphalt…but no more. I’m trying to adapt.
• We moved from Kentucky to North Carolina, and the change from Kentucky’s dark navy blue to North Carolina’s wimpy pale blue is hard to swallow. I’m trying to adjust. My only option is Duke blue, which is similar to Kentucky blue. But when I tell my friends in Kentucky, they don’t seem too happy about it either. I’m not sure I’m ready to embrace pale, wimpy colors for the Big Blue. I’ll just have to live with it. 
• Today, instead of living on a farm in our hometown, we’ve moved closer to Ginny and Adam, and I’m starting to realize that, even though they’re our children, they’re adults and we need them more than they need us. I’m adapting. 
• We live in a retirement community, where we can get most anything we need. While Bec and I are doing many things together, the opportunities for me to show my male strength and wisdom (ha!) have decreased because we can just call for help. Even simple tasks like changing light bulbs or fixing the toilet can be done better by the professionals here than by my own attempts. But I’m adapting, not going ot Lowe’s or Home Depot five times a day for one project. 
• As someone who’s always been eager to learn and keep up with the times, I’ve noticed my mind struggles to keep pace with the rapid changes. Back in the late ‘60s at university, we were just starting to talk about small computers, but now they’re everywhere and constantly evolving. It’s a bit overwhelming! But I’m learning to adjust. It’s great to have IT folks here to lend a hand, so I don’t have to search for someone to mentor me with my computer. 
• The culture we grew up in has changed, and the values we hold can be tough, and I refuse to adapt from what is good, right, and faithful. I hope I don’t completely change, but I’ll always strive to live as Christ would have me, as imperfect as I am, or as imperfect as my attempts to be like Him. I’m praying for wisdom and, if needed, the courage to stick to my Christian principles and virtues.  
• I miss Bec’s culinary skills because we could, but do not eat out for every meal. But she makes the most of her small kitchen in our apartment and continues to delight my taste buds with many meals. However, I might add, with no added salt and a limited amount of sugar.  I’m adapting. 
• Leaving our farmhouse for a less than 1,200-square-foot apartment has been an adjustment, but I’m learning to adapt. I have to admit, Google Photos on my phone doesn’t help when memory photos pop up and remind me of what I’ve missed. But I’m adapting, and I won’t lose the memories God has given me.

Adapting is not easy, and we all have to deal with it in our lives. But blessings come from God that I never expected: new friends, new areas of service and ministry, and our physical needs are being met better here than in any place in our almost 55 years of marriage. Finally, God has given us the gift of realizing that I’m not 30, 50, or even 70 anymore, but I am what I am, and God is using me to this day.  I’m adapting to that.

But one caveat: the gift of memory is always a blessing in that it reminds me of how blessed I am and have been in my life, and the blessing of adapting has taken me to new heights of learning, growing, and even surviving.  

Grace and Peace, 

Quentin

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