Adapt - Able

I was recently praying for our upcoming trip to Kenya and suddenly it hit me what I needed to be praying for.
"I need to be adaptable Lord."
Okay, I'm pretty sure most of you know this but I am the exact opposite of adaptable when it comes to my comfort zones and when it comes to leaving my home for extended periods of time. I am the WORST traveler you will ever meet. I don't pack well, I don't travel well, I don't "do" traveling well. Even for a one night trip I stress and I fret and I always over pack. I am so settled and comfortable in my ways.

So I know part of this whole deal is that comfort zone and God breaking me out of it. Looking back on the last couple of years I can see some small steps he has taken me through in preparation for this large step. My most recent trip to NYC is a perfect example. I was looking at it as a test of sorts for Kenya. Okay, yes I know there are no Broadway shows in Kenya, no Duane Reade's on the corners (Colorado's Walgreens), no pretzel vendors, no corner diners. Those things weren't my tests. Things like packing for a week, airports and airplanes, taxis, restrooms, how I ready myself for the day. Those things were definitely my test. And guess what I discovered? I am an even worst traveler than I thought!! But it did give me insight into a few things like hygiene products and traveling clothes and it gave me a chance to see how I will really respond to being on an airplane for 3, 10, 5 hours at a time. It gave me insight as to what kind of things I should take with me to keep me focused on the task at hand.

Back to the present - it hit me like a ton of bricks - that word adapt. Adaptable - THAT'S what I need to become. Websters Dictionary says that adaptable is the need to "make fit (as for a specific or new use or situation) often by modification." So there. I need God to adapt me. I can't. Only he can do that. (Thank goodness.)

I began to look at everything around me in relation to Kenya with a new set of eyes. Things that were fuzzy and out of focus before suddenly became clearer. Let me give you the most recent example.

We have a beautiful couple at our church. The husband is an international photo-journalist and has traveled 40 countries with various relief and mission organizations. His body resides in Colorado but his heart lives in Africa. This man, Dave, is passionate about Africa - the people, the culture, you name it he loves it. So this precious couple invited our team over for dinner this past Thursday night. Dave cooked an authentic African meal and gave us a 15 minute slide show of some shots of Africa - Kenya and other other regions around the continent. The menu - Goat Stew and bottled water - then in a last minute decision we offered Coke and Sunkist as well (Fanta is a highly popular drink in Kenya but we don't sell it in Colorado so Sunkist had to do). I was okay with the idea of goat - I inquired of some people and the word I got was bland and chewy and I decided I could definitely do that. But there's more than just goat in the stew, there's also collard greens. Do-able. Then I found out we have to eat it with our hands. How in the world do you eat stew with your hands? The people cook up what I think looks like mush - sticky mush. It is white and it serves as the "spoon." Dave demonstrated how to eat it. For dessert we had fruit and homemade authentic Chai tea (the most popular drink in the area of Kenya we will be in). Don't think Starbucks when you think of Chai - it is vastly different. How'd I do? I fared well, I was proud of myself. The goat was a lot like beef and the stew had flavor - not so bland. I followed Dave's instructions and at the end of the meal my hands were not that messy, it went well! But here's where the modification enters in. I am so American. I am American in my looks (could I BE any whiter?) and I am American in my tastes. My tastes need to adapt while I am in Kenya. I'm okay with this now that I have experienced it. I have a month to really settle that deep in me. It's one example of many of the modification that needs to happen - most of it I realize won't happen until I hit African soil and as I process through that I'm okay. As long as I know that I can go forward into it.

"Lord make me adaptable."