I haven’t
missed the responsibility of driving while on the World Race. My SoCal readers probably know why, it’s
called the 405. Being stuck in traffic during
my hour commute 16 miles one way to work was not hard to give up when I
committed to this crazy 11 month trip.
World Race we’ve taken many modes of public transportation. Most lack the convenience and comfort of your
own vehicle making me appreciate the luxury and freedom of my car back home. I may not drive a BMW or a Lexus, but at home
I have the freedom to go wherever I want, alone or with friends, listening to
music or riding in silence, putting the windows down or using the A/C. Oh how I took these minor details for granted.
Until
Swaziland, it had been 8 months since I’d driven a car. On our day off a group of 10 girls were given
the chance to take an extra vehicle at the orphanage into town. I’ve been excited by the thought of driving
since the first day we got here and were told that the beat up truck was
available for our use. But of course
when the time finally came to take an actual trip with me as the driver, I
started to have second thoughts.
The road
from El Shaddai to town is not an easy one.
The first half is windy and hilly eroding dirt roads, which would be fun
for off-roading but not for a ride with 5 girls in the bed of the non-4 wheel
drive truck. Did I mention the truck is
a manual and in Swaziland they drive on the left hand side of the road, with
the driver on the right side of the car!?!
Would my faint recollection of driving a stick apply to shifting with
your left hand instead of your right!?!
What if we stall on one of the many steep hills like our bus driver did
our first trip to El Shaddai, but without any boys to help push start us. Then after the treacherous dirt roads, I’d
have to worry about obeying opposite side of the road traffic laws. And to top it all off we’d be navigating town
on the busiest day of the week, Saturday.
to go for it! On our way there, sitting shotgun was teammate and trusty navigator,
who we’ll call Truth. Truth was definitely
needed because I’ve failed to also mention we were not certain of directions
into town. Once we started out I was a
little tense and thought the radio might help but Truth felt waiting to turn it
on until we were on pavement would be best.
Most of the ride there was pretty silent with the exception of lots of
praise and admiration from Truth and other passengers for the good job I was
doing thus far. Then we approached the
city center and proceeded to exit at the wrong exit. I was certain I could navigate us into town
but ended up getting lost. Truth felt it
would be best to turn around. On the way
back to the freeway, I sensed familiar surroundings and decide to detour once
again. But we were lost once again. So back to the freeway it was, just as Truth
had originally advised. The next exit
came and we took it. Yet again, not
where we were supposed to get off but this time I was more confident I knew how
to get where we needed to go. Nervous
about the possibility of failing, I pushed ahead. I did not want to disappoint Truth or anyone
else in the car and humorously pleaded for everyone to trust me. Impatiently wanting to prove I did in fact
know where I was going, I ran a stop sign and immediately sensed an
overwhelming sentiment of disapproval and doubt from my navigator Truth and my
passengers. Finally we cleared the top
of a hill to find the city down below – PHEW!!! WE MADE IT!!
We spent a
couple hours in the city shopping for souvenirs, using internet, grabbing lunch
and for me personally, relaxing from the tense ride. For the ride home I needed some comic relief
and wanted to enjoy this rare opportunity for adventure (not many people get a
chance to drive on the WR). So I asked my best and most comfortable buddy on
the race, Grace, to sit shotgun.
Needless to say the way home was a blast, even with multiple detours and
illegal traffic maneuvers (i.e. we entered a freeway going the wrong way down
an exit ramp we mistakenly took). I arrived home elated knowing the adventure
would be one of my favorite memories on the race.
Reflecting
on the experience, I realized God wanted to teach me the need in life for both
TRUTH and GRACE. Truth is structure that gives us direction and guidance. Without
Truth’s help we wouldn’t have made it to town or back to El Shaddai for that
matter since she was still helping us navigate, from the bed of the truck, on
the way home. Grace is unconditional
love and acceptance, which is what I felt on the drive home. I felt as if I could do no wrong in Grace’s
eyes. No matter how bad I messed up she
would still love me. I am a lot like Truth but I could learn a lot from Grace
because I may know where I’m were going in life but I always want to enjoy the
journey.
Here’s a
short recap of some of the work we did this month in Swaziland, including my
driving adventure!!! ENJOY!!
