Destiny

Today something strange happened.

I looked down at my palm and realized it has a new line! I knew eventually new wrinkles would form, but this is a whole new line! 


Down my entire hand. 


It's only on my right pam, but you can see it forming on the other one. When I noticed this it brought an old memory to mind. On our third day in England we went to a meeting of Muslim/Christians to plan a joint youth event. We met two 20-30 something Muslim girls there, who we stayed up all night talking to about every possible subject you can imagine. (I wrote about this meeting in an old blog.) That night,one of the women, Saj, told me in Islam there is a belief about your destiny, which in Arabic they call Qada wa qadar. Muslims believe that Allah knows our fate, and yet we have the free will to make our own choices. The exciting part is some choices change our fate forever. According to Saj our destinies may seem unchangeable, but like the line in our hands they can change. She claims, after a serious period of health problems when she rediscovered her faith, the lines in her hand LITERALLY changed. 


Has this year altered my destiny? 


I'd like to think so. Because the truth is, this work I'm doing, these kids... I am so in love with this place and the people we have met here. What ever my life would have been without this year, it never will be. I have changed my Qada wa qadar, the lines in my hands, and my heart forever.