Mountain top experiences

I just got back from my second YAV retreat. We went to Donegal and Derry~Londonderry. I really enjoyed it! I got to hike the highest sea cliffs in all of Europe, Slieve League! It was really tough but totally worth it. I will admit there were times when I thought I wouldn't make it but I did.

When we got to the top it was just so beautiful and amazing! In moments like that I just think of how amazing our God truly is to create this beautiful world. Up there looking out onto the ocean was so breathtaking.

It's so easy to feel God's presence when I am in these kind of places. Looking out into the ocean it looks like the earth meets heaven, which makes me feel closer to God. So shortly after this photo was taken we had a wee devotion on top of the mountain. It was a great time to share with my fellow YAVs . I realized that I am truly blessed to be with a group of friends who share my love of God, and while hiking on a mountain, I could just turn to them and say we should pray, and we did. The whole time I was up there I kept thinking of this bible verse. 

    

^11-12 Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-12. The Message)

Sometimes we need to stop and listen for God. He may be easier to hear in the quiet but that doesn't mean he isn't always there. We just need to learn to silence the world around us so we can hear Him.