What a Day It Was!

Last Thursday, I was scheduled to record a hymn at the music studio of my friend Sylvester Otieno who is based in Nairobi. So after having my breakfast, I left home at around 7:45 a.m., feeling bright and cheerful. The sun was rising in the East and the sky was pleasantly blue, as if to signal that a wonderful day lay ahead of me.

When I reached my hometown of Kiserian, I boarded a matatu whose tout informed me that the fare to Nairobi City was KSh 150. I handed him a KSh 500 note. After he delayed giving me back my change, I hoped against hope that he wouldn't forget about it.

As we were in a town called Ong'ata Rongai, the tout told me the matatu would not reach Nairobi. He asked me if I had KSh 50. I apprised him that I had it and then dug into my wallet for the money, my mind preoccupied with the change he owed me.

A few minutes after giving him a KSh 50 note, I asked the tout what the fare from Kiserian to Ong'ata Rongai was, now that the matatu was not going to Nairobi. When he informed me it was KSh 50, I requested for my change. The tout replied that he had given me back a KSh 500 note.

And wa! That got me worried as I couldn't recall him giving me any money. After I disagreed with him, he claimed that everybody in the matatu had seen him hand me the KSh 500 note.

I must have thought I was about to be swindled out of my money before I suddenly remembered putting a KSh 500 note in my wallet. And that made me agree with the tout that he was indeed right. It was a humbling experience to realize that in spite of the avid reading I have been doing, the tout had a better memory than me.

Upon alighting from the matatu in Ong'ata Rongai, I got into a bus bound for Nairobi City. And alas! When it was nearing the city, the bus took a different route that forced me to get off about two kilometres from the bus stop where I was to catch another bus to Sylvester's studio.

Walking to the bus stop was frustrating. But then I remembered a quote by Beverly LaHaye which says, "The true test of walking in the Spirit will not be the way we act but the way we react to the daily frustrations of life." That quote cheered me up a little bit.

Guess what! Just when I was reaching the bus stop, I forgot the name of the place where Sylvester's studio is situated. I hopped on a bus that was heading to a township called Mlolongo.

As the bus followed the road to Mlolongo, I tried sharing a past blog story on my social media platforms. And yikes! Instead of showing the title and photo of the story, Facebook and LinkedIn displayed a "Bot Verification" notice.

You see, it's like some people don't want this blog of mine to succeed. They have been attacking it, forcing my web hosting company to put up an annoying bot verification feature that has been affecting the display of ads from which I earn some money for the work I do on this blog.

Bot verification feature aside, the conductor called out to me when the bus reached Mlolongo. In my rush to hear what he was going to say, I lost the bookmark I was using to mark the pages I was reading in my Bible.

The conductor informed me that we had reached the place I wanted to alight at. Observing it was not the same place I stepped off before, I phoned Sylvester who told me his studio is in Utawala, not Mlolongo. That mix-up made me get on a motorbike, then in a matatu and then in another matatu.

As I sat in one of the matatus, I thought of telling Sylvester when I arrived that it was the guy who coaxed me into boarding a bus to Mlolongo that was to blame for my lateness because he should have informed me the place I wanted to alight at was not on the bus route.

But on second thought, I decided to take responsibility for my lateness. I should have been smart enough to phone Sylvester when I forgot the name of the place where his studio is located. My foolishness made me waste time and money. And money has been hard for me to come by. Trust me, earning a dollar from blogging has not been easy.

Despite all those series of unfortunate happenings, I reached Sylvester's studio in a good frame of mind, a proof that I am getting better at dealing with the curveballs life throws at me. We recorded my hymn successfully, and when I shared the link to the hymn's video on social media yesterday, my brother Bob Njinju commented that I was looking good on the video.

Just as the pleasant weather in Kiserian had signalled to me on the morning of last Thursday, the day turned out to be wonderful for me in spite of the setbacks that came my way. I will strive to create more such days in the future. So help me God.

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NEW! NEW! NEW! If you missed my social media updates yesterday, let me take this opportunity to inform you that I have produced a new hymn titled "Peace in Christ". Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the hymn.