The New Ride

Hello again! God has been so good to us. I say that not because of what He gives us but because of sometimes what He doesn't give us, at least right away. I would have loved to have gotten a motorcycle early on, but circumstances kept getting in the way of that. Circumstances that I realize now were divinely appointed. These are things like having to get the visa in order to get the work permit in order to get the bike. Even once I had all of these, THEN I had to get my address confirmed/verified by the US Embassy. This all may sound simple, but it has taken me a solid month to get it all done (most of it waiting on something to get all the proper stamps and signatures... bureaucracy... ugh!). Finally, a few days ago we were able to get the motorcycle. But before I go into any specifics on the bike, I must give God honor where it is certainly due. See, I really thought we would need this thing right away. God had other plans, clearly. He told me to wait. Nuts, that is really hard, you know! But last week, in the English Bible Study, we were going over Matthew 6:25-34 talking about how God knows what we need much better than what we think we know. So God knew what I NEEDED was to be able to get around. And guess what, we did... without a motorcycle. So we used other ways like bicycle (and we both lost weight!), songtale (like a bus, except it's a truck), tuk-tuk (3 wheeled motorized taxi), and samlaw (3 wheeled bicycle with two-seater). Really, God provided all we needed. Right at the main road near our house, we could access ALL of these alternate forms of transportation. It was really a perfect spot for these. Now though, with the school year coming, it was evident that we needed a motorcycle. These other forms were either getting expensive to do everyday, or were not dependable to get us where we needed to go in time. So God provided at just the right moment. Not a moment too early or too late.

So, here's the motorcycle. It's a Honda (one of my favorite brands) Air Blade. Black and silver, sleak and stylish. All bonus kind of stuff, you know. The best parts are some of the safety features, such as no-startup-if-the-kickstand's-down, locking handlebars (when parked), and the best, combination brakes (meaning that the brakes hit on both front and back wheels simultaneously, as opposed to handbrakes for the front and footbrakes for the rear). The engine is 110 cc 4-stroke, which means it has enough power to get me around quite comfortably, and do so without making a racket. It also means the engine itself is cleaner, quieter and will last much longer than some others. It's a bit different than anything I've experienced before. It's much heavier than a bike, but it has a lot more pick up (my ole' legs just can't compare), and it is pretty easy to maneuver around (here in Thailand, you are usually maneuvering around potholes, cows and dogs... and the occasional cobra, like we did yesterday!).

So for all of you who were (are) petrified about us riding a motorcycle. Your nightmares have come true. And for those of you who actually had faith in us :), praise the Lord He provided this. It really is going to be nice to go to church not sweating through my shirt. A luxury? Perhaps, but I can't help but think the Thais will appreciate not having a sweaty Farang running around the premises. And hey, just think... it will give everyone something else to pray about! (that was supposed to be a joke... we'll see how funny it actually is...)

in Thailand for His Name's sake,

Drew