Rain, my nemesis

Rain has not been my friend in the last few weeks. We've had two major run-ins, one of which occurred on the Great Adventure. You may be wondering, "What on earth is the Great Adventure?" Simply put, it's a trip for the high school youth group at our church into the great outdoors for a whole week. The trip allows and encourages students to step out of their comfort zones, build community with one another, and connect with God, our Creator, away from distractions. Steve & I served as leaders on the trip along with our youth director, Tim Cornwell, and a few others. It was truly a *great* trip for us but also an exhausting one. Over the course of the week, we were challenged by the call to community & selflessness and by all the activities, which included camping, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, rappelling, caving, and tubing. For the majority of us, the most mentally, spiritually, and physically challenging task we faced was the Via Ferrata, a climb up a 900 foot rock using steel rungs, like a ladder. While climbing, each person is connected to a steel cable along the route, which guides you across itty bitty ledges, up steep rock faces, and eventually over a BRIDGE, oh, just a couple hundred feet in the air! Yeah, crazy. Anyway, the whole group persevered and completed the climb! Woohoo! This is where the rain comes in. As we're loading the vans at the end of the day to go back to base camp, the rain comes pouring down accompanied by the raging wind. We're all thinking, "Lord, what timing! Thanks for allowing us all to finish the climb and get down off the mountain before this storm." By the time we roll up to camp the rain had stopped, the sun was starting to set, we're all exhausted & hungry and looking forward to relaxing by the campfire, and our camp... looked like a tornado had blown through it! We're talking things strewn about, tents partially collapsed, poles snapped, and the rain guard from the GIRLS' tent ripped off completely! Ugh....... You assume correctly, everything was soaked! In fact, there was a huge pool of water in the middle of the tent sitting atop the sleeping bags just mocking us. This was definitely a high school girl's nightmare especially after the incredibly draining day we had. So what followed our shocking discovery? Total emotional breakdowns. I tried my best to encourage and comfort the girls, but they were devastated and inconsolable. It took them awhile to calm down, but eventually they did with the help of Tim :) And would you believe that a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky in the midst of the sob-fest!? What a way to remember the truth that God cares for us even in trials. The whole situation is laughable now, but we learned a lot about putting our hope in Christ rather than the weather, our tents, our stuff, comfort, etc. We also really bonded through the experience. And let me give a shout out to the boys and leaders who totally stepped up to serve the girls through it all. Thanks guys! Although much was gained by the tent disaster, we're still not fans of the rain!


(Our campsite, reconstructed)


The second incident with the rain, my nemesis, occurred just last week. I went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with my friend Georgia, and it rained like cats & dogs the whole time we were there and on our way home too. When I got back to my house, it seemed as if the rain had subsided for the evening. The dogs were anxious as they hadn't been for a walk all day, so I decided to take my chances, throw the leashes on, and head out for a quick stroll around the block. Well, I gambled, and I lost. About a mile from my house the rain drops started to fall, slowly at first, and then rapidly as the drizzle quickly evolved into a torrential downpour. I tried to camp out under a tree for a bit, but there was no avoiding it, so me, Riley, and Denver walked home in the pouring rain. I'm sure it was a pitiful sight for those who drove by: two miserable, soaking wet dogs and their crazy owner who slightly resembled Medusa because of the way the rain had clumped her hair together. It wasn't pretty, but we survived.