It’s easy to feel God in our goosebump moments.

I’m talking about the way a worship song can urge you to lift your hands to heaven, a cabin full of young life campers crying together in their brokenness, a mission trip changing the way you count your blessings. These types of moments are designed for goosebumps. They’re the moments God places in our lives that make our hearts race and the hairs on our arms stand straight up and our jaws drop in awe. These are the times that God’s nudge – His presence – is so easily recognized.

These experiences are nothing short of life-changing because they’re the moments that build a foundation for a faith, a life changing relationship with Jesus. I don’t think my faith would be half of what it is today without those goosebumps moments. However, it’s been awhile. And in all honesty, my faith needs a recharge – a revamp. What I’ve realized is that I seem to be stuck on this false notion that my faith can only be built on these types of “big” mountain-moving spiritual experiences.

That being said, I think one of the most common misconceptions Christians (including myself) have about these “goosebumps moments” is what they are meant for. The strength of our faith is not measured by our emotional response to these moments… who cries the hardest at church or who speaks the most powerful words at bible study or who prays with the most focus.

No – our life reflects our faith in our actions. How we choose to react to God’s grace. What is the highest priority of your life? What type of loyalty and selflessness do you bring to relationships? Who are you when no one is watching? What’s different about your life – because you know who Jesus is?

Applying the love we’ve received from Jesus to the way we go about life – to the way we treat people we love, ourselves, or those who can do nothing for us. That’s how we live out faith – how we walk with Jesus.

We get so caught up in what the goosebump moments can make us feel – that we forget our own lives hold the type of potential to show who Jesus is here on earth.

Take it from me. Don’t forget about the gift each day is, the volumes your words can speak, or the grace your forgiveness can show. A life made new in Jesus Christ is the most beautiful freakin’ thing!!

With this on my heart, I’m off to go scrub YoungLife camper’s toilets for a month – to use my little moments to give campers their big ones – the type that created my goose bumps. Perhaps I’ll even be doing a little goose bump chasing of my own. All I know is that God has called me to drop off the face of the earth and sacrifice a month of my boat-filled-friend-filled-adventure-filled summer home to go fold bed sheets. Sounds glorious right??

But I think that when God gives you an opportunity – you take it. And that’s where you’ll find Him.

That being said, chase the goose bump moments. Seriously, I don’t know how you couldn’t crave moments that ignite your faith fire. But – don’t forget the little moments can feed that fire.

If you care to write love letters, hate mail, half-birthday cards, whatever, I would be stoked to hear from you for the next few weeks!! My address is …

Riley Paul 

Young Life Washington Family Ranch 

Summer Staff Session 2

1 Muddy Road 

Antelope, OR 97001

To everything there is a season – a time for, a purpose under heaven. -Ecclesiastes 3:1