I’ve never been the best at dealing with unexpected changes to the plan. I like to know what I’m doing, I like to know where I need to be and at what time. It means, from time to time, I find myself growing frustrated in those moments where unexpected disruptions crop up and delay me or completely alter my carefully constructed plans.

It’s something I’ve discovered I need to get over living here in Uganda!

Each week I have a prayer time with the other couple of women who lead the ladies Bible study that I’m a part of. This week I was picked up, perfectly on time, and we made our way across a bit of Kampala to where we were meeting that day. All was well. It was only as we were leaving that we discovered the screw well embedded in the somewhat flat tyre.

The three of us all knew the theory for changing a tyre, but with all our might we couldn’t release the nuts holding the spare onto the back of the car. Thankfully a neighbour was home and willing to lend some much-needed muscle, even though he’d never changed a tyre himself. Together, with much potentially conflicting advice thrown in, the flat tyre was removed and the spare secured in place.

The unexpected has become more commonplace living in this bustling city, with roads as likely to be jammed with traffic as not, in a country where relationships come first, more important than completing tasks or achieving stuff. It’s hard to predict what will happen each day, and whether those items I decide need doing at the start of the day will get done, but I’m learning to roll with the punches and enjoy those moments of unpredictability.

As Proverbs 16:9 says – We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Fortunately, this week there wasn’t another meeting to get to or any other pressing activity, and I still ticked everything off my list that I’d wanted to accomplish. In the delay I found laughter and bonding and more knowledge about a skill that’s definitely useful on these bumpy roads strewn with puncture-producing castoffs.

I’m still learning to hold life more loosely and to accept whatever changes might come. As I’m discovering, it’s often in the disruption where we find the greatest reward.