But ... WHERE is God?

In my most favorite place!

So, in my mind, I'm an amazing writer.  I'm witty, articulate, and can weave an amazing blog post at a moment's notice.  Well, we all have to have a fantasy, right?  I've had this blog post rolling around in my mind now for almost a month, but I'm having a tough time putting it out here on the web.  Why?  Because I'm not sure I can truly articulate what it is I'm feeling; I sometimes have a difficult time making a point, but I'm going to try!

Where do you find God?  In church?  Do you go to church faithfully every Sunday/Wednesday?  Do you go both in the morning and evening? Do you feel like a better person for having gone?  Do you tithe?  Or just give offering?  Sunday school?  Now ... how does all that make you FEEL?  Do you cry?  Do you get goosebumps?  Or do you try your hardest not to check your e-mail and try to be discreet when you yawn?

I feel God.  I don't feel Him very often in church.  I HAVE.  But there is some wall inside of me that prevents demonstrative hand raising, voice raising, and a flood of tears.  I'm always grateful when He DOES break through while I'm in church, but I think all the material/obligational distractions prevent my heart from receiving the necessary message.

I feel Him when I stand on the edge of the Smokey Mountains and peer through the mist on a cool Spring morning.  I feel Him when we drive through the Zion National Park, in the amazing rock formations.  I feel Him as I stand on the balcony of a cruise ship and see the frothy waves churning in the wake of the giant ship.  When I'm hiking through the woods, when I'm galloping across a field on my horse, and when I'm nervously leaning over the edge of the Grand Canyon, trying to just take in the vastness of it.  I get tears in my eyes, goosebumps on my arms, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand up in electric ecstasy.

Enjoy these moments, embrace them.  My mom recently had a discussion where we were talking about "real life", and she said, "This is all there is.  Get up, go to work, come home, go to bed.  Get up and do it all over again.  Grow up, Honey".  Well, I respectfully disagree.  Do what you have to do to live, to survive.  Then get out there and enjoy the gifts God has to give you.  Do what makes you happy, enjoy those moments when the goosebumps appear, and ALWAYS be thankful when He makes His presence known:)