At the beginning at half term I had the great privilege of taking 22 teenagers on the annual ‘Going Deeper’ weekend at Lineham Farm. It really was a great weekend, but as ever there is much to learn and think about from the young people and the preparation that went into the time away.

Our theme this year was ‘Living with Jesus’ – thinking about how we get to know Jesus, how we live a life that reflects this, how we experience worship and what it truly means to love, be loved by and be loyal to Jesus. One temptation of the weekend away in the planning was to fill every part of the program, including the sessions. But perhaps the greatest challenge for me over the weekend was allowing the young people the space to work much of this out for themselves, knowing that by giving them space they can truly discover more of who God is by spending time with Him.

As the team and young people spent some quality time with each other and God over the weekend, I couldn’t help but think about how this related to life in general. Although, obviously the lifestyle of a residential cannot be replicated on a daily basis (what a relief I hear the leaders cry!), we can all too easily fall into the lifestyle of having no space. This can often mean no breathing space when we need it, both with God, those who are important to us and perhaps those who need us. A tutor of mine once said to me something along the lines of, ‘You need to have space in your diary if you want to be spontaneous’, I think this makes a lot of sense.

So after a weekend of great company, food, fun (and not a lot of sleep!), I encourage you to think about where your space is and what you will do with it this week.