When God Surprises You at the Top of Your Cliff

The last day we were in North Caicos, the pastor took our crew along the ocean to Middle Caicos.

After eating lunch at the cafe near the bottom of this cliff and hill, the rest of the crew took off to try to find a spot to snorkel, but Jonathan and I stayed behind to explore this path.

It was hot and I was hanging onto my hat,

(the only one I could grab at home just before rushing out the door to meet our plane)

but we were just loving the view of the earth and ocean meeting the sky.

And then we saw something we were not prepared for.

I think God loves to surprise His children,

and He sure surprised us with this at the top of the cliff.

As we neared it, it brought tears to my eyes.

I hadn't dreamed we'd find stone praying hands inside a little stone circle at the top of a cliff along the ocean shore of a Caicos Island.

But there they were--like the prayers of our own hearts beckoning heavenward

to a God Who Listens.

And so a mother and a wife

in all her poor humanity,

complete with a crazy hat and floppy outfit and sunglasses

stood reverently, tearfully,

where earth and sea and heaven met.

And there she sees this little placard

inscribed on the side of the little monument.

"Circle of Hope."
Hope.

 And she thought how hope had been given to her recently 

in a way she hadn't experienced before. 

And how much God wants to give hope to His people. 

And then God allowed us to discover this precious little spot.

I wanted to stay longer, but it was hot and more people were coming by,

and so we got up and kept following the path,

till it ended in these stone steps leading down into the earth.

You'll have to wait till next post to find out what we discovered down those steps, 

but you won't want to miss it. 

And if I could leave a thought with my readers, 

it would be

to not be afraid to explore paths never taken before.

Paths of faith and hope and trust,

paths of obedience and self-denial,

paths of humility and honesty with ourselves and with God about our feelings and our emotions,

paths of reconciliation and forgiveness,

paths of giving and receiving love,

paths of caring and sharing,

paths of joy and celebration,

paths of adventure with God.

You never know what you might discover at the top of your cliff--

whatever that cliff may be,

whether spiritual, physical, financial, relational, emotional, or otherwise.

But there, where praying hands arise,

desperate hands,

hopeful hands,

earth and heaven meet

and God bends low.