Hi everyone, I have been meaning to write a post about my camping trip last weekend, but I have only just been inspired, so you will have to forgive my tardiness 
.
So, last weekend was summer Harvest 2010, which if you read my blog from last years harvest. you will know that it is a long weekend away for young christians and non christians, looking to find out about and encounter God. To be honest it was a pretty amasing weekend for many, myself included. I went there with a view of finding some answers to some questions i had, as well as just spending time being close to God and getting myself prepared for the year ahead.
If you read some of my posts from last month you will now that i have felt lead quite strongly down the path of leadership in the church, and am preparing to move churches to pursue that path, but there was one question i wanted to ask God, and that was, what kind of leadership are you leading me into? Beacuse there are so many options, i have found it difficult to dicern where i am headed. Well in all honesty, last weekend, i didn’t get that answer, what i did get was and understanding of what a leader is, how big a responsibility it is, and how i need to prepare to be effective in that role thanks to the leadership seminars that were run over the course of the weekend.
So ok, i didn’t get the answer i was looking for, but thinking about about it, i don’t think i was meant to, not yet, its still early days, i guess i have my whole life ahead of me, to figure that out and decern what kind of leader i am going to be.
However i certainly got a taste of what being a youth leader is like, as i went with a youth group i have known since i became a christian, and i have developed a great respect for their leaders, trying to keep every one in check and behaving properly, and ofcourse me being older than most of the group, i pitched in to try and stop the jumping on each other etc. But during that time i made some new friends, and got to see some old friends i don’t see very often.
I also grew quite close to a couple of people in the group, both whome i have know for some time, but have never gotten that chance. However the downside to that was that they were both going through a particularly difficult time, but God equipped me for that, he provided me with some great advice for them, and i believe He pulled them closer to him through that. So i am happy that i could help bring peace to them even for a short time 
.
There were many other activities happening over the course of the weekend, such as Tribal Wars which involved pitting campsites against each other in battles of strength and accuracy, like tug of war and welly wanging etc. there was also water games, inflatable gladiatoring, and a gyroscope ( a chair that people sit in to get dizzy ). There were also entertainment events such as Harvests’ got Talent, 70′s disco, comedy night and a couple of open mic nights. Infact on one open mic night even i played my guitar, which was extraordinarily terrifying but an incredible rush, as i have never done anything like that solo before, and i mean ok i wasn’t fantastic as the nerves got the better of me abit, but i am glad i did it, its something i can cross of my bucket lits 
, but i have felt inspired to practice more and build confidence and then go for it next year .
In conclusion, last weekend was awesome, there were great speakers, brilliant worship lead by a band called Yfriday, and I did lots of business with God, i hadn’t realised how much i need to release to him until then, and it was so freeing when i left on sunday afternoon. Though admittedly it was a bit of a tearful farewell, particularly for one person who had to leave all her friends behind that day as she recently moved away, which i think we all found hard watching her go :’(, but i think she left with a sence that she is never alone, she will always have us as friends, and it just adds that extra aire of excitement when we do see her .
Since coming back from Harvest, I have felt stronger, and more prepared for the time ahead. I have dealt with so much of the rubbish in my life being there, and i am ready to move forward, i am ready to follow the Gods will for my life.
I hope you have enjoyed my latest installment, it was great to follow up harvest with this, and if you are my friend of FB then check out the video of some of the fun we had camping in a field, it didn’t rain much .
So until next time, farewell and God speed 
Matt