No place I'd rather be.
No place I'd rather be.
No place I'd rather be.
Than here in Your love, here in Your love.
Set a fire down in my soul.
That I can't contain, that I can't control.
I want more of You, God.

These are the lyrics we sang at my very first Young Life leader meeting last summer at SharpTop Cove. These are the lyrics that brought me to an uncontrollable sob last year at that meeting.

These are the lyrics of the first song we sang at our first Young Life leader meeting of the week at Crooked Creek Ranch. These are the lyrics that brought the oh-so-familiar tears to my eyes.

Let's just think about those lyrics, because you are probably wondering why I cry when I sing or hear them.

1. It is an overwhelming feeling to be surrounded by God's love and people who love you and love God.
2. I am a very emotional person, so I cry a lot.
3. I feel this sense of comfort and security when I am serving the Lord through the ministry of Young Life.
4. I crave more of God. More intimacy. More love. More wisdom. More patience. More. And to know He wants more from me, and to know He wants to give me more of the things I desire is incredible.

These are just a few reasons why I get emotional when I sing this song. But honestly, there is no place I would rather be than in God's love and presence. And I feel that and felt that at Crooked Creek Ranch about two weeks ago.

I traveled with 106 other people from Rowan County via charter bus (check out another blog post of mine for more detail -- the j o u r n e y of a lifetime) to Crooked Creek Ranch in Fraser, Colorado. Not only was this trip a trip of a lifetime, but for some it was a trip that would change their life and their eternal destination.

While at Crooked Creek I experienced some incredible highs, and some pretty scary lows.

For starters, I cried (happy tears) when seeing the Rocky's for the first time. To know God created those immense structures, and also created every detail of my very being is kinda mind-blowing. Also, as we were entering Colorado I woke up to a magnificent sunrise -- sidenote: I love sunrises and sunsets.

Another high of the trip was riding horses through the mountains. My horse's name was Duchess..I thought it was very fitting for the rider, lol. But riding Dutchess was such a great and humbling experience. The strength of a horse is amazing. Their beauty and grace is so incredible. The way the listen is so comforting. And the view. Wow. Honestly at Crooked Creek, or any Young Life camp for that matter, you cannot help but be in awe of God's glory radiating from the beauty of creation.

Now for a low. When serving in a ministry, because we are human, we can at times forget that we can not save our friends. Only God has the power to save. Only if they make the decision to accept His saving grace, His proposal for eternal life and freedom, His sacrificial and unconditional love. But like I said, as humans we can...I can forget that it is not all up to me.

About day three at camp (so really day six for us as a group from North Carolina), I was tired. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I was laughed out, cried out, talked out, walked out, singed out, and stressed out. I was worried about my friends. Worried about where they were with understanding the Gospel, or if they were accepting it, or if they cared. I was worried about the schedule. I worried if my girls were having fun. I was worried about drama. I was just worried about every little thing you could imagine.

And the devil knew I was weak. Because the devil can't have my heart, he tried to take my joy and my energy, but God prevailed...

I saw God prevail when my friend who leads with me fell off her bike down the mountain, but only came out with some bruises and a few stitches.

I saw God prevail when I held my unconscious high school friend in my arms after she passed out from an asthma attack, but was breathing and talking 30 minutes later.

I saw God prevail when my leader friends surrounded me when I was overwhelmed and crying before dinner.

I saw God prevail when Steve, our camp speaker, told the leaders at our meeting that night that we can not do it alone. We can't. We aren't suppose to. We can't do it. But God can.

Steve did not know the day I had. Steve did not see me cry before dinner. But God did. God knew what I needed to hear, and He worked through Steve to show me His goodness, and to give me rest. He reminded me that I can not do it alone.

John 15:5 reads:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

I do not find it coincidental that this is part of the scripture reading the entire camp (500+ people) studied on our last day together.

This verse reminds us that as branches of the vine, if we want to live we MUST abide in Him. Some translations use the word remain. Throughout this chapter in John he uses the word "remain" 10 times. TEN. That is a lot.

We need to remain in Him for energy, for strength, for guidance, for rest, for life. Because the verse concludes by saying, "apart from me you can do nothing."Nothing.

Confession time: I have a lot of "day three"s in my life. Days were I am exhausted and feel like I am going at it alone. Days where I feel like the devil is just trying to steal my joy. Days where I find myself not fully remaining and abiding and resting in Him.

But the cool thing is, God always prevails and is right there to catch us when we can't do it alone, because He KNOWS apart from Him we can do nothing.

Back to another high. I got the opportunity to hike Sheep Mountain with 500+ people and see a view that less than one percent of the world will ever see. Less than one percent of the world will ever hike to the elevation my friends and I hiked. Not only did we hike to the top of Sheep Mountain, but we also ate together at the top. We broke bread together and shared in fellowship.

*insert another crying moment*

Yes, I cried. How could I not? As I stood beside someone near and dear to my heart and ate my lunch looking out into the Rocky Mountains, into God's beautiful, massive, incredible, breath-taking creation I cried. I was so overwhelmed by God's goodness.

Psalm 121:1-2 reads:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

These are the verses read aloud when we reached the peak of the mountain. Looking out among the creation created by God's hand, and hearing those words I could not help but cry tears of joy and gratitude.

That was not the last high, but honestly there were so many if I wrote them all I'd be typing for weeks, so I will wrap it up.

My last high: Day 7 at the "Say So"

On the last day of Young Life camp we always have club (a daily event where we sing, play games, and listen to the camp speaker) before we head home. At the end club, the speaker gives campers a chance, if they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, to stand up and say so (that is why we call it "Say So".)

Now if you thought I was emotional about the song and the hike, you were wrong. At "Say So" I ALWAYS cry. Especially this one. I got to hold hands with one of my high school friends as she announced to everyone that she accepted God's proposal as her Lord and Savior. Along with my friend, if I counted correctly, (I think I may have lost count) 171 campers said they accepted Jesus.

171. ONE HUNDRED and SEVENTY ONE. Like wow!

Praise Jesus! Hallelujah! 171!

171 lives were forever changed that week. 171 names were written in the Book of Life. 171 children of God came HOME to the Father. 171 friends' eternal destinations changed. 171 people went from death to life. How great is our God?!

That is at why times and places like this, there is no place I'd rather be.