The Circle Room

BY KATHY

In October of this year, a team from East Side Church of God (Anderson, IN) visited us in Haiti.   Each night, the team gave Mark and me a gift, as a way to encourage and spoil us. J The last night, they gave us each a copy of the book Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson.  The title of the book is based upon the following statements to revival seekers from 19^th century Christian evangelist, Rodney “Gypsy” Smith, when they asked him how they could make a difference with their lives:

“Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.”

Well, Mark began reading Draw the Circle right away and just loved it.  He emailed the Mission Haiti Medical board and told them about the book, encouraging them each to purchase their own copy.  One of our board members read the book right away, loved it, and now is coordinating a board-wide, day-by-day reading of the book.  We are declaring 2017 as a focused year of prayer for the MHM board!

 

Our work/eat kitchen table

I noticed that Mark had begun having his devotion time in a different room than usual a few weeks ago.  Before that time, he would have devotions at our kitchen table where we eat, work, check emails, etc.  After he was partway through the book, he moved to a different spot for prayer and reading.  I asked him about it and he explained how the author of Draw the Circle suggests you have your prayer time in a different place than your workspace, to decrease distractions and set aside that time.

This morning, after I had my devotions, I had an epiphany, looked at Mark, and said “HEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!  I am reading the Draw the CIRCLE book in the CIRCLE room!”

What is a Circle room, you ask?  A year ago last summer, two of our kids were visiting us in Haiti.  We were getting ready to play a game, and they asked where we should play.  Out of my mouth popped “Let’s go to the CIRCLE room!” (things pop out of my mouth so frequently!).  They asked where it was and why did I call it that.  I explained that when the ceiling fan is on, it makes a circle.  That was the whole line of thinking behind the name.  We all laughed at how ridiculous that was, but the name has stuck ever since.

See?  It makes a CIRCLE!

But now, I think God has ordained the CIRCLE room to be our room to “draw the circle”.  It is a lovely place, with a set of white wrought iron shelves a special friend gave to me, that I re-painted and jazzed up with scripture, and a comfy chair and couch.  Already we are seeing God working in response to our focused year of prayer, but most importantly, we are seeing God starting a prayer revival within our circle. 

The Circle Room

For 2017, join us in a year of focused prayer, as you draw your circle.