Embracing the Summer Rain
By Clare Ogle, an MHS houseparent
My family and I go to the beach a lot, and for all the times I’ve been to the beach, I remember very few rainy days.
This year, we took our student home to Ocean City, New Jersey for a student home vacation. We planned our activities assuming there would be sunny weather, but we drove down in the rain, unpacked in the rain, and woke up to more rain. There we were—all 14 of us—inside a very nice beach house watching the rain outside.
Not exactly what we had planned.
But you know what? It turned out to be more than fine. We ate and laughed together, played games together, and just relaxed inside together. Our vacation rental was smaller than our student home, so even though you might think we’re together all the time at student home Ridgeview, we can still be very spread out. That wasn’t the case at the beach house. Those of us playing cards at the dining room table were a few feet away from the guys playing video games in the living room, and it was wonderful!
We also had the unique opportunity to start our vacation by just relaxing. Our schedule during the school year is very tight—and for good reason. There has to be structure to get 12 high school boys, a 7-year-old, and an almost 3-year-old up and out the door each day. It takes even more effort to get homework done and dinner made each night. But on our student home vacation, we were able to be together without any homework, not as much cooking, and a much more relaxed schedule.
By the end of Monday, the weather had started to clear and we spent the rest of the day outside playing volleyball and basketball, eating on the boardwalk, and shopping. When we woke up on Tuesday, I am happy to report the sun was shining in all of its glory!
We appreciated the gorgeous sunshine even more because of the rain we had seen the day before. And I think that is often true in life. We make plans assuming everything is going to be lovely and sunny, but sometimes it rains. Sometimes, it even pours. We have no control over it, but we do have control over how we handle it. We chose to embrace it on our student home vacation and start the summer off on the right foot.
May your summer be filled with lots of sunshine, happiness, and rest. But on those days when it does rain, choose to embrace it and, in turn, grow to appreciate the sunshine so much more the following day!