Ask any of my friends and they will tell you how much I despised Roundabouts (traffic circles). But Rwanda has changed my mind.
When I moved from California to Washington, I quickly learned how to drive in these weird 4-way circles. I despised them. I was always scared that some person would pull into the circle without looking and hit me. They also made navigating more complicated.
Think about it.
You get into the circle and how do you direct someone? What do you say? Turn right? All of the turns have now become right turns creating mass confusion. And then you get stuck in the circle because your GPS just keeps saying turn right and eventually you’ve spent the past few minutes driving in circles.
So I hated roundabouts. They confused me and scared me and they were everywhere.
Guess what? In Rwanda they are also popular. The difference is in Rwanda we ride motorcycles to get around. Here they are called Moto Taxis. You hop on the back of a bike, yes Mom and Dad they provide helmets, and they take you where you want to go quickly, breezing through traffic and making no stops along the way.
I had never ridden a motorcycle until Rwanda and now I do it just about every other day!
When we ride Moto Taxis to get into town we have to go through about 3 roundabouts. This has become my favorite part of the ride.
I love Roundabouts.
When we hit a roundabout we don’t have to stop like at a four-way stop. We just breeze right by and as the bike starts to lean into the turn it tips slightly to the left as it hugs the curve. In this moment my grip on the driver and the bike gets a little bit tighter and I catch my breath. It’s a moment where you know the bike is unsteady and a gust of wind could take you down or leaning a little too far could skin your leg but in the same graceful movement the bike stands back up straight and you blast on to your destination. When the bike stands back up you breathe in again with adrenaline coursing through your body because you just tempted fate.
So why now, why do I love the thrill of the roundabout?
Because I’ve done it differently, I’ve seen it from a different point of view. I changed my mode of transportation and I embraced the fear.
When we hate vegetables, but an awesome chef cooks them with the right seasoning and cooks them well, they become our favorite part of dinner.
When we are scared of the night, but someone shows us the beauty of the night sky without the pollution of city lights, the night becomes our favorite part of the day.
Sometimes when we face trials in life, we hate the problems and the tribulations. But then Jesus asks us to hop onto His motorcycle and He says ‘Hold on tight to me and everything will be okay,’ and we see that when we hold onto Him, He’s got it under control.
When we hit the roundabouts solo in our car and we are filled with fear, the turning seems pointless and obnoxious, we feel hatred towards the roundabouts, the trials. We feel angry that we seem to just be spinning in circles with no sign of an exit, we are lost because navigating is hard on our own.
When we ride on Jesus’ Moto, it doesn’t mean we won’t face the hard times, it doesn’t mean the road is going to be straight and perfect. Riding on Jesus’ Moto means that when we hit the roundabout we have someone who knows what is coming next. He knows our ultimate destination. He knows which exit we need to take. With Him as our driver there is no need to fear because no gust of wind could take us out, no matter how much we lean into the curve. Our bike will stand back up, there is peace in knowing that Jesus will protect us through anything and His will will be done in our lives.
Rwanda has been teaching me to embrace my fears and lean into Jesus for support and strength.
I’ve hopped on Jesus’ Moto and I’m not getting off.
