In my last post I was looking forward to the weekend in Ganaway with the young people from our youthclub, somewhat apprehensive as I prepared talks last minute, and racked my brain thinking through the things I had probably forgotten to do. But looking back in reflection now 3 words spring to mind : "God Is Good". The weekend was awesome, what can I say : memorable, fun, action-packed, life-changing, challenging, relationship-strengthening, bridge-building, barrier-breaking; all these terms don't really come close to describing the experiences of this weekend. And theres one reason why : Gods presence. In safety, in conversations, in the weather, in providing for the things we had overlooked, in the challenges from his word, in the fun, in the laughter, in the silence God was present in it all.
In that environment it really was great to see our young people letting their hair down and enjoying the gift of life that God has blessed us with, having the freedom to do so in their own way. Everyone i'm sure will have been challenged as we considered Running the Race, I know I was, considering who or what we are running our lives for, how we can face the hurdles and struggles of life, how we can run this race with passion giving it our all, and how we are representing Christ as His ambassadors here on earth. There was certainly some food for thought, and I trust and pray that God by his spirit will nourish and grow the seeds planted through the weekend, bearing fruit in the lives of the young people he cares so passionately about.

Now my thoughts turn to the year ahead, as the organisations start back, and as we look to move on with the momentum built through the weekend, and carry this through the year ahead. We must seek to nurture and develop the relationships over the weekend throughout our programmes in the year ahead, and indeed seek to draw others from the fringes in. And to do this we must fall on our knees and cry out to our Father, seeking His guidance, strength and direction as we look forward to what He has planned for the year ahead with our young people at Trinity.