"I've toured around the world, from London to the Bay..."

Truthfully, I have always wanted to write something where I could incorporate lyrics from an M.C. Hammer song in the title, so that is all this post is about.

OK, not really.

Last week, I was really thinking about something and I thought I would put it on cyber-paper to let you guys read, and I would be happy to know if you feel the same or can share any similar stories.

On March 13, I returned home from a trip I took to Dubai (located in the United Arab Emirates). It was a trip that my job allowed me to take and I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to travel there (for essentially free) and see a part of the world I had never been to before.

It is a truly amazing, over-the-top place. I heard someone say over there that if you put Las Vegas at the nicest beach you could imagine and took away the gambling, that would be Dubai. That's a pretty good description if I do say so myself. Everything there caters to tourists from around the world, the resorts, the restaurants, the shopping....everything.

But despite how great all of the man-made structures and sites are, they pale in comparison to the natural beauty of the beaches and scenery and sunsets that I saw. As you can see, I took plenty of pictures so I could remember all of it.

All of this beauty got me thinking about something. In Don Miller's book Blue Like Jazz, he talks extensively about how one of the most powerful ways we can worship God is through awe and wonder for what He has done, what He has given us, and who He is.

I have had the amazing fortune to travel all over the world in my short 27-and-something years on earth, and one of my goals for the future is to be able to travel places I have never been before; see continents that I have not yet had the opportunity to see. In my travels, I have witnessed unbelievable man-made artistic masterpieces, colossal buildings, and magnificent monuments. But, just like in Dubai, none of them can hold a candle to the beauty God gave us with this earth and it's splendor.

Consider these words from Psalm 115:15-16.

"May you be blessed by the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man."

I absolutely love the imagery that the earth is a gift that God has given us all. He created it, shaped it, delicately formed it, spent time adding details to it, and just went above and beyond making it a testament to His power and His love for man.

Do we need beautiful sunsets or mountains that go on for days or waterfalls? No, I really don't think so, but God freely gives them to us. He gives them to us not just to show He can create something beautiful, but to remind us of His glory, His power, and how awesome He is. To me, it's about being able to see just a little bit of what God has in store for us.

That is worth worshiping. That is what worship is all about. That deserves our praise.

But, if you're like me, too often you get caught thinking, "we have to go halfway around the world to see some of these things! Houston isn't really a place that shows off God's handiwork on this earth." To that I have to say, "au contraire, mon frere!"

You don't have to go to Dubai or other far-away lands to see some of the most beautiful things God has given us. Here's proof: The pictures you see throughout this post are actually not of Dubai or any other country for that matter. All of the sites in these pictures are less than a 3-hour drive from Houston along the Texas Coast.

So no matter where you are, God is still daily presenting you with the gift of his creation. And no matter where we are, God deserves all of the wonder and amazement and worship we can offer.

All of the beauty He has created is for us to have. It's His gift to us.

Where do you see God's beauty everyday?

-Ryan