A short while back on October 1st – 5th I spent 5 days in the mountains just outside of Colorado Springs. This was for a Youth Minister’s retreat called Wilderness, with the goal that we come back better men, husbands, and youth minister’s. It was incredible. I was blessed by a lot of things that week. God. My small group. My mentor. My surroundings. Here is a small bit that I wrote in my Journal on Friday Morning:
I’ve never been an outdoors-man. I don’t love it. I think I just like the idea of it. It just has a glorified stigma about it, for me. I love the view from my cabin. It was unbelievable this morning. God has done some petty magnificent stuff outside of Indiana. This place is beautiful. What is it about your surroundings that change your mood and outlook? God is no less in the cornfields of Indiana than he is in the mountains of Colorado. Maybe it’s because I’m looking for Him more here. Maybe that’s my problem at home.
The five days I spent there refreshed, relaxed, and recharged me. I’d be lying if I said I came back a different person. But I don’t think I’d be lying if I told you I came back a little more like what God called me to be. That’s the thing. Sometimes we can’t see who God is calling us to be, if we don’t remove ourselves from the busyness of life. I’m way more likely to see God working here if I’d just take the time to look around a little more – to pause.
What’s God doing that’s just passing you by like everything else in your life? Do you need to take some time to slow down, pause, and see God’s hand at work in your life? You’ll never know if you don’t try it out, and from my short experience God never disappoints.
-Jonathon Mitchell