Adaptation

(Written September 25, 2014)
Our ability to adapt is amazing.  Really, it's amazing.  Life inevitably changes and sometimes those changes are so drastic that, in the moment, we can't imagine ever getting used to them.  I've been thinking about that concept a lot lately.  The first major change I remember experiencing was my mission.  Oh boy, words can.not. describe the intense anxiety and unsurety a new foreign missionary feels.  To go to another country is one thing.  To go to another country with the weight of a mission is another.  I couldn't handle the food.  I couldn't understand a thing people said.  I had never felt such humidity.  For so many reasons, I doubted whether I would adapt to Korea.  But by some miracle I did.  So much so that it was even MORE difficult to adapt back to America after my mission.  But again, I did.  It just took time.  

When Tyson started working at Nabors last year, it was a difficult schedule to get used to.  He went from working 40 hours a week to 70+ hours a week.  I found every way and reason to get out of the house for as long as possible every day so we could keep our minds off of him being gone.  Especially in the evenings when husbands and daddies are usually home from work.  It took a few weeks but we got used to it.  So much so that if Tyson ever got off work early it threw our entire schedule off.  Then, Tyson was recently assigned a new work schedule.  7am to 7pm, 7 days a week.  No.days.off.  98 hours a week.  We have pretty much been husbandless/daddyless for almost 6 weeks with no end in sight.  I can feel the sympathy of friends and family around us.  Truthfully, its not easy and it's not at all enjoyable, but we've adapted.  I wasn't sure we could, but we did.  Just like every other difficult change in our lives.  When life gives you lemons, whether you squeeze them nicely or stomp them to pieces, you'll make lemonade.  You'll adapt whether you think you will or not.  It just takes time.