It should have been a simple thing. Take the rutiera #184 to Posta Vecchi, pick up my car from the mechanic, and then go home again. Simple, straightforward - just like we expect most of life to be.
Getting on the rutiera was not a problem - it wasn't even crowded so I had a seat for the whole ride! There were a couple moms with little children got on consecutively and I was cheered once again by the Moldovan willingness to help moms with kids. Children are almost always given a place to sit on the mini-bus, even if it is in a stranger's lap while the mother remains standing. And so when one mom got on the bus with her delightful 3or 4 year old, a woman closer to the front than I automatically picked up the child - who was totally accepting - and held her in her lap.
Anyway, as we got closer to where I knew I would have to get off, suddenly there was a big delay at an intersection, so the driver turned on to a different street.
As we drove past the intersection I realized that he was avoiding a funeral procession. You may remember that in Moldova funeral processions are generally on foot following the coffin being carried or driven by someone. At every corner the procession stops for some Scripture or prayers or (if it's Baptist!) even preaching. Not something you want to be behind if you're in a hurry. So the driver avoided the whole thing but I wasn't sure he would end up wehre I was wanting to go. But - fortunately he did and I wasn't lost somewhere in a strange part of the city.
So, I get my car - the fuel pump has been replaced but the electric problem (that I didn't have before!) will be dealt with next week. Hmmm... I drive away, hoping I can remember the best route home but when I get to the traffic circle, I panic and take the easy way out by going right, rather than trying to get into the flow of traffic and go the other direction. fortunately this also brings me to a place where I can find my way home, so I'm ok. My cell phone rings while I am figuring out my location and I make arrangements to take two of our new recruits to church with me in the morning. Then I come to an intersection where I need to turn left. There are traffic lights but it is on the brow of a hill and I cannot tell whether I am at a regular intersection or T intersection. There are two cars in front of me also turning left and I pull into the intersection behind them just as I realize it is a regular intersection and the light is about to change. I'm too far ahead to go back so I risk just tagging after them for the left turn. And then AHA! - this is why the police hang out just beyond intersections!! I get flagged over. Third time since I bought the car. I know I shouldn't have run that intersection and he tells me so. I explain all my rationalization - first time in this intersection, didn't know it wasn't a T, different than in Canada - he looks at all my documents and says he will write me a 'proces verbal' (ticket). He asks for another document - hasn't started writing anything yet, and I explain again that this is the first time I was ever at this intersection. He asks what I'm doing in Moldova and I tell him I work with the churches here and I am a volunteer. He asks me if I understand what a proces verbal is - I look uncertain and he seems to be asking me if he should write it. I tell him I don't want him to and then he gets interrupted by some other guy. I start to put away my documents and by the time he finishes with the other guy, he just comes back and waves me on. Whew! I have learned that Moldovan police really don't seem to like writing tickets and they are not used to women arguing with them over whether they deserve one. So maybe I just throw them so off-kilter they figure they should steer clear of this one! Who knows?
So, I head home, remembering that I have to stop at the post office and then will have to stop to fill my gas tank as the indicator isn't working and if tank is full I will have no worries. Come to a major intersection near my home and I am 3 cars back waiting to turn left when an accident occurs - CRASH! - right in front of the line-up. Nobody appears to be seriously hurt although the cars are pretty bashed up. I'm actually surprised there aren't way more accidents than I have seen since I've been here. Anyway, the line of traffic behind is impatient and the guy in front of me starts around the accident scene (meanwhile cars going the other direcion have driven right through the area!) and I follow suit. Just as I drive away, the police arrive. People in Moldova prefer not to have the police involved when there is an accident as they will take the driver's license away automatically. If police not involved, often driver at fault will just pay some money to the other guy to settle things. also insurance really doesn't cover much of anything in these cases.
I stop for gas, and head home, also remembering to bring the stuff I had bought and left in the car previously, and to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home. It was only going to be a short stint, but what an adventure it was!
Sometimes we think life, or even a day of our life, will be easy and straightforward. But there are always other things to deal with than what we expect: future plans, boundaries that need to be observed, people's unexpected behaviour, obstacles in the path. In Moldova, people do a lot of 'making it up as you go along' and so planning ahead doesn't even always work. For every moment you have to realize that this is the moment I have. This is where God has placed me right now and in this situation I am in His care and am shining His light in the world around me. This week in particular there have been a lot of stresses, but this is normal life. We walk through each day, knowing whose we are, and praising God that His strength is clearly seen in our weakness. He will get us where we're going in His time and according to His plan, not ours.
I gave thanks once more for the blessing of being here as a missionary and as part of an international team.
