Closer.

Ne-yo's song "Closer" is bomb.

On a more serious note, though, my friend asked me, "When do you feel closest to God?" What a question. I feel like I got so tied up in doing things for church, school, and others that I forgot about my own relationship with God. How sad that, somehow, God gets left out of the picture when He should be center stage.

To answer his question, I feel closest to God when...

• I'm outside. Blue skies, sunshine on face, wind tangling my hair. When I look at majestic trees spreading out their branches as far as possible. It's as if they want to soak as much 'it' as possible. What is this 'it'? Sunshine? Air? Mother nature? God? Just LIFE. So I want to do the same thing! Spread my arms and twirl around and soak.
• I'm in corporate worship. It could be a circle of friends singing with only our voices or a huge hall of strangers united by one voice. Music has this strange and beautiful quality of uniting people. When our hearts connect for something bigger than ourselves, it's even better.
• I'm in pain. I'm alone. I'm broken. I have to wake up and surrender each day to the Lord because I can't make it without Him. He's really the only one who's constant, unchanging, and prepared to handle me.
• I'm with children. They're not always easy to be with, but there are moments when they sit on your lap or hang onto you by your neck. No spaces allowed. The pure in heart shall see God [Matthew 5:8]. Their love is so evident that I can't help feeling and seeing God's love overflow to me, too.

When do you feel closest to God?

Draw near to God,
and He will draw near to you.
[James 4:8]