"We are having an adventure!"

That is what I kept saying this morning as we road in a rather broken down taxi we found at a car repair place (mechanic's shop might make it sound more glamorous that it is)...maybe I should start at the beginning...

I had an appointment with the eye doctor this morning to check out my left eye - I was having some vision problems and decided it would be a good idea to take care of it...

Before we even left the car port, Denise knew something was up with the clutch...we limped into the Total station several blocks from home only to find out that the mechanic was not there yet and we were told he would be there in 5 minutes - 5 'Kenyan' minutes later (20 American minutes) we decided we'd better switch to plan B and find a taxi. After walking two blocks and crossing the street we were quoted 1,200 shillings(!) to ride in a broken down cab that was also showing signs of a clutch problem...oh well, we knew we had to get me to the doctor so we (swallow) decided to pay the money (about $20 US) ...that's when it hit me that I was feeling rather disgruntled - and I remembered the story about Paul and Silas singing praises to the Lord while sitting chained up in a filthy dungeon. As I began to pray my praises to God, I remembered a mantra my daughter and I used to say when we hit an unexpected 'interruption' to our plans - "We're having an adventure!" Speaking those words aloud lifted my spirits and suddenly the day began to look brighter.

We arrived in plenty of time for my appointment - and I am thrilled to say that my eye is fine (thank you to those of you who prayed for a 'clean report')...the best part - the exam cost 3,000 shillings - about $50 US...hmmm - in my book a doctor's visit is much more valuable than a taxi ride...oh well. Denise and I do have a theory...there was NO PAPERWORK to complete prior to my visit - perhaps all the money we pay for doctor's visits in the states pays administrative costs?????

Next we took a coffee break at a lovely hotel across from the Nairobi hospital (which is where the doctor has his practice). We were quoted 1,500 shillings for the cab ride back to the Total station - Holy Cow! - the transportation cost was almost as much as the doctor visit - what is wrong with this picture!?

We discovered, to our delight, that the clutch problem was no more that a very slow leak - it took less than 15 minutes for the mechanic to assess, diagnose and solve the problem - Praise The Lord!

After a short (well in Kenyan terms short - 1 hour) break at the house where we picked up our water bottles to refill at the Nakumatt and grabbed a bite to eat, we headed out to meet missionary friends Don and Laura Dickerson. I have grown to love them and often suggest that we set up time to visit with them...so this visit was at my prompting and lasted all afternoon - to my delight!

I must say what started out as a potentially crummy day, soon transformed into a wonderful blessing, ending with sweet fellowship in the Lord. Even the crazy (and I mean CRAZY) drivers out yesterday - worse than usual with people pulling right out in front of us left and right! - I must say that we spent a delightful day recognizing that "God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!"