During the summer following 7th grade I had the opportunity to go on my first short term mission trip. Our church had been sending youth to the mountains of Tennessee for many years to spend a week serving others and growing together. Many of the things I have learned, and am still learning, about the character of God were things that began to draw my attention during that week.
The ministry that hosted our team for the week was called Mountain T.O.P. (Tennessee Outreach Project). Appropriately many of the devotions and messages that week revolved around the idea that we were experiencing a “mountain top moment” in our faith journeys. The idea of being close to God while on a mountain top really resonated well with me and I discovered quickly that short term mission trips provided me a great opportunity to feel closer to God. At the end of the week we had to return to the “valley” of normal routine life. At that time for me that valley just happened to be middle school and indeed it was more challenging to feel closer to God in that environment.
Fast forwarding to today the “valleys”, though perhaps fewer and farther between, remain challenging. One certainty in my life is that God is right there with me. He is no closer on the mountain tops than He is in the valleys. A line from one of my favorite songs, Song of Ascent, by Hillsong United, claims “You’re the summit where my feet are.” I’ve adopted that as a personal goal. Wherever we find ourselves God is there creating an amazing Mountain Top for us to redirect our attention towards.
Romans 12:2. “Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.”
Romans 12:2 CEB
Ramblings of a Faithjunkie 
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