the ninjas were rain-free

All week I checked the weather forecast. Rain all day and all night on Wednesday. "No, please no!" I would mutter every time I checked. Wed. night was going to be our monthly "Fun Night" with the college group. We had been planning an epic evening: NINJA NIGHT. Every single activity we planned was going to be outside. And we didn't have a back-up plan (all buildings at church was full with people, kids, classes, seminars, etc).

Sunday - Checked weather.com. Rain predicted on Wed. Prayed.
Monday - Checked. Rain all day and all night on Wed. Prayed.
Tuesday - Checked. Um, yeah still planning on tons o' rain. Prayed a ton.
Wednesday - Rained during the day. Started to panic. Um, what are we going to do? Everyone will show up wearing their ninja costumes and...we'll have to stay inside our meeting room. Where's the fun in that?

Then...about an hour before college group started, the rain lifted. The sun made brief, sporadic appearances from behind clouds. A half rainbow shone over the nearby community college. I got hopeful. Maybe it will stay clear enough for us to play?

You guys, I am not even kidding: we were rain-free until the very MINUTE we all finished our activities and went back to our meeting room. I was one of the last people inside and I went over to the sink to wash my hands. I looked out the window and was like, "Whoa! No way! It JUST started pouring!"

Thank you, God!

This might seem so silly to you, but to me, it meant a night of fun and building community with our college students. We had such a great time! And the whole night would have been a bust if it had rained.

What did we do for Ninja Night, you might be wondering. We had three sections of activities. The first was to practice ninja fighting skills. We had a guy come and teach us some sweet martial arts moves. Then we had bostaff combat (using pugil sticks), and then a throwing stars competition (we threw the stars at cardboard pirates). The second section was to practice their speed and agility. We had an obstacle course in the playground (including a Gauntlet of DEATH - people on swings trying to knock them down as they ran through). The third and last ninja section was to practice stealth and concealment. So we had a huge game of Hide and Go Seek around church.

Here are pictures from the night.