::Joy is my middle name::: He moves mountains

The kid is sleeping, the french press is brewing, and it's time for me to blog about the weekend in the mountains.

This last weekend was the Young Life fall retreat for staff, leaders, and college students from the Front Range (From Pueblo all the way to Laramie!). We took 27 girls and 9 guys from CU up to Crooked Creek. It was an intentional time of precious community, valuable conversations (we were encouraged to go deep rather than dabble), and laughter. It was good for the students to get away from Boulder and to experience God... many in new, refreshing ways.

The theme of the weekend was Luke 10:27... " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " We talked about loving God with all that we are and that God Is. The first night, we had to write our own interpretation to the verse. I wrote:

Put God first, in His most rightful place. In my core, my breath, my waking and sleeping. In my emotions, relationships, joys and tears. In my knowing and unknowing. In my passions, my gifts, my chores, my desires, my words and my actions.

Love God. Love people.

I've been a Christian for a while and felt convicted with the fact that I'm not often amazed by God.

"Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5

The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Matthew 8:27

"The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law." Mark 1:22

"He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'" Mark 2:12

I know that God does amazing things every day... it's me who doesn't see them.

The whole CU crew went for a hike on Saturday afternoon. We didn't really get to a specific destination, but at one point Paul (our leader) stopped us and talked about how Jesus would go to the mountains to spend time with His Father.

He went to the mountains to gain perspective. And so did I.

While we were spending some time with the Lord on the hike, God reminded me of something really neat: the last time I was at a Young Life camp (in November of 2000), I met Christ for the first time in a real, personal way. It was there that I trusted Christ. I felt God telling me "look at all I've done in your life since then." Great perspective! I was able to dwell on the fact that God has moved in mighty ways in my life. I sat in silence with my God and was truly amazed.

::A few pictures from the weekend::