You’ve planned the perfect retreat weekend for your guests.  All the details have been finalized and confirmed, and then you check the forecast.  Rain all weekend.  What now?  Here are a few tips on preparing for a rainy event:

• Keep a positive attitude.  Just because the weather is dreary doesn’t mean your attitude should be.  Take a deep breath and prepare yourself to have a positive outlook even though the weather is less than ideal.
• Have a rain plan.  Do you have outdoor events on your retreat schedule?  Consider switching to an indoor activity instead.  If it’s rainy one day and not the next, maybe you can rearrange your schedule accordingly.
• Bring the right gear. Give your guests advance notice about the forecasted rain so they can come prepared.  Bring rain jackets, umbrellas, and rainy-day footwear.
• Welcome with a smile. When your guests arrive to check in, have your team available with large umbrellas to greet them with a smile and offer a dry walk from their car to the check-in desk.
• Remember the big picture.  Don’t lose sight of what’s really important—pointing your guests to Christ.  You can even use the rain as a teaching point.  How do we react when our perfect plan gets rained out?  We should seek God through it all.

Everyone hopes for perfect weather during their event, but that isn’t always the reality.  Take heart that while we might be inconvenienced by some rain, God isn’t limited by it.  Even if it rains all weekend, you can still have an impactful and meaningful event that points your guests to God.