Living in a country that goes through monsoon season each year means that I am bound to have a great number of rain related stories. I have been pondering rainbows of late, how after each storm the promise sign is declared across the sky and what joy and colour it brings. However yesterdays storm didn’t end with sunshine for me. Nope it led to a rather interesting morning.
I was driving my moto to work. I’ve only recently started driving again and I try to stick with the quieter streets and only venture out when completely necessary. The backstreet that I usually take, that cuts out a messy corner of traffic, still bared the remains of yesterday’s rain storm over it. Well that’s normal, it’s a fact of life that you need to drive through water here. Just need to keep your exhaust going and all is well – right?
So I started into the watery pool. It was ok at the beginning but then it started to get deeper. I pressed on. Then it got deeper and water was lapping my feet as I drove. I had the choice to either turn back or press on regardless. I figured I was more than half way and I had come this far I may as well press on. Unfortunately the water got deeper and even though I made desperate pleas, prayed and believed that God could get me through even this, my engine suddenly choked out and I was left knee deep in water having to push my bike to dry ground. Cars drove past me sending out waves through the water that reached up to my hips. It was quite frightening, but alas it all comes part and parcel with living here.
My first thought was to try and get a tuk tuk who could take my moto and I to school and I could get it fixed later, but as I neared the peak hour traffic and the chaos of the next street I had to travel on I knew that any efforts to do this would be all in vain.
So I was forced to walk my bike down a busy street as cars, buses, trucks and other motorists drove dangerously close, as they continued on their merry way. A passing fellow moto driver told me there was a repair shop a little further down the road and onwards I went. Of course this mechanic just happened to be on the opposite side. This apprehensive motorist was not enthusiastic about crossing a supposedly two-laned road covered in about four lanes of traffic on each side. I stood for a moment, which seemed like an eternity, calculating how I could get across. Suddenly I saw a small gap with a car cruising slowly towards it. I held out my hand and stepped forward, praying the driver would be considerate and give me the space to cross. I did this again on the other side of the road as someone stepped forward from the repair stand to assist me in getting all the way across.
Quickly a chair was pulled out for my and I dried myself in the sunshine while pieces of my bike were unscrewed and water was removed from each pipe, tube and compartment. It was at least an hour of watching my bike being treated for its water intake. Honestly I sat there rather angry at myself for not turning back and rather frustrated with God for letting this happen. There I was left me my thoughts and I had a heart to heart with God as I sat there waiting along the roadside. Thankfully I had a kind and persistent mechanic that did a thorough service of my moto.
I arrived at school about 45 minutes late. My TA was leading the class in their morning question, giving them an opportunity to debrief the affects of the storm had on them from over the weekend. The kids were keen to hear my story, so I shared it with animated glory. As I reached the end of it I confessed to my class how angry and frustrated I was feeling and asked them to share with me some ways they saw God looking after me through this whole experience. A warm-hearted way to end a rather irritating morning with praise. Seriously I would prefer a light hearted rainbow with a pot of gold at the end of each storm, but maybe there are other treasures to be discovered that are of far greater value.
