With a return to campus, our schedules and lives are once again going through changes. That can be exhausting. How do we overcome these time of weariness? Kahu Kaunaloa shares how in today’s devotional.
E maʻule auaneʻi ka poʻē uʻi, a e māloʻeloʻe hoʻi, e kūlanalana loa nō nā kānaka hou: Akā, ʻo ka poʻe hilinaʻi aku iā Iehova, e ulu hou nō ko lākou ikaika; e piʻi ʻeheu aku nō lākou i luna, e like me nā ʻaito; e holo nō lākou ʻaʻole hoʻi e māloʻeloʻe, e hele mua nō lākou, ʻāʻole hoʻi e maʻule.- Isaia 40:30-31
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.- Isaiah 40:30-31
How is it that I was exhausted on a Tuesday morning? I slept early the night before, then I woke up early the next morning, I stretched, had breakfast and by lunch, I felt like an inflatable mattress with a slow leak. Then, it hit me, oh yeah, the routine that I have known for the past 5 years here at Kamehameha Schools has changed drastically. Instead of saying aloha to nā haumāna, nā kumu before Piko, then conversing with students at lunch, going to practices at Paiʻea football field and coming home to prepare for the next day at school. My daily schedule, as well as everyone else’s, has changed radically that adapting to the ever-changing and fluid condition that we are all currently experiencing is causing major fatigue. Why is change so hard?
Dr. James Prochaska, a renowned psychologist theorized that behavioral change is never linear. Instead, we human beings tend to vacillate as we adapt to a new routine. Thus, we often go back and forth as we try to progress through transformation. We are inclined to recycle old habits until we finally adapt to new behavior. Thus, we are working harder each day to modify our daily habits to better fit our current conditions of this COVID pandemic. Nowadays, we take our temperatures before we leave the house so we can check that question off our wellness survey. We also wear a mask when we get out of the care. We carry extra masks in our vehicles, in our bags, and you have probably found one in your back pocket. What about social distancing? I will go on record that at first, it was not an easy behavior for me to change, especially since I’m a hugger! But, we do it because it promotes safety and health for everyone. Guess what? Whenever we get a viable and safe vaccine, we will have to re-adapt. I am looking forward to it!
Today’s teaching reveals that God’s way of restoration from exhaustion comes down to waiting upon the Lord for our renewal. Waiting is like resting, and resting is not something we do well here at Kamehameha. Our charge is to fulfill the vision and mission of our precious princess, and we do it with commitment, aloha, and a lot of hours. Yet, waiting, like resting, is a beneficial character trait. During the first signs of a storm, the eagle identifies the highest point to wait for the winds to pick up. Then, when the eagle senses the time is right, it opens its wings and glides effortlessly above the storm. It doesn’t evade the storm, but it rises above it. When we patiently wait upon the Lord, our faithful God renews our strength, re-energizes our souls, and sends us winds of restoration that lift us up and out of exhaustion.
Read more daily devotional messages from Nā Kahu o Kamehameha on the Our Faith page daily devotional calendar - https://www.ksbe.edu/our_faith/
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