circles

"what would i do if you never came here?"

but i was always coming here. i thought about one of my favorite Sufi poems, which says that God long ago drew a circle in the and exactly around the spot where you are standing right now. i was never not coming here. this was never not going to happen.

--eat pray love, elizabeth gilbert

as i read this from the shores of the beach below the fort, i felt as if one of the crashing waves consumed me; both violent and refreshing as it overcame me and i swallowed the salt of those words.

God knew i would be right there, in that moment, under that sun. he numbered the grains of sand beneath my pink sarong, and drew a circle around me, as i basked in that very spot. i was never not coming here. all of this was never not going to happen.

as i half-absorbed, half-relished in that thought, i was reminded of how enormous God is. yet, in the same ambivalent breath, how attuned to the minute details that compose our lives. for whatever reason, whatever purpose, God brought me to Haiti, to live for four months, in a community of His followers. as people are fully involved in earthquake relief, prison and brothel ministry (10 of the prostitutes left the brothel today to return home! PRAISE GOD!), or in discipling the many tent communities in the area, i often feel as if what i am doing is not having such a significant impact on the community, both presently or eternally.

but the Lord of lords, our living God, disagrees. i came, as an act of obedience. i came to sacrifice, to serve, to glorify Him. and out of His strength and joy, i am fulfilling His call on my life. and even if another soul is not touched by my work, He has greatly stirred mine. and that my friends, is far beyond significant. that is magnificent.

look at the ground around you. find your circle. God knew it, he drew it.