Sitting here with mud still caked under my fingernails from yesterday's outdoor disaster. Well not disaster exactly. Kids had fun. But I'm questioning some life choices.

Three months ago our outdoor worship night was magical thing everyone's still talking about. Yesterday's nature scavenger hunt turned into me chasing escaped toddlers through poison ivy while parents pretended not to notice their kids having meltdowns.

Outdoor ministry is weird like that. Same person planning same basic idea completely different results depending on factors you can't control.

September family picnic seemed brilliant. Move monthly dinner outside enjoy nice weather let kids run around instead of being cooped up in fellowship hall.

Picked spot under our big tree because shade is good right? Made sandwiches bought chips set up nice tablecloths like I knew what I was doing.

Fifteen minutes in ants everywhere. Not just few ants. Like biblical plague levels of ants.

Coming up through tablecloth crawling across sandwiches one poor toddler had ants in his sippy cup and started that kind of crying where you know whole event basically over.

"Oh that tree?" Mrs Williams says while we're frantically moving food. "Yeah we never put anything under there. Huge ant colony."

Thanks for heads up.

Had to relocate entire picnic to asphalt parking lot. Classy. Nothing says family fellowship like eating on hot pavement while kids complain about sitting on concrete.

Still finding ants in my car two weeks later.

Checked weather obsessively for spring egg hunt. Beautiful forecast all week. Sunny perfect temperature no chance of rain.

Saturday morning gray drizzly and cold enough that parents were digging sweatshirts out of car trunks.

Did fastest egg hunt in church history. Kids running around getting soaked while parents huddled under pavilion looking like they'd rather be literally anywhere else.

Wrapped in twenty minutes instead of planned two hours. Everyone rushing to cars like building was on fire.

But kids? They loved it. Getting wet was apparently best part.

Parents looked miserable. Kids telling stories about it for weeks.

Still not sure if that counts as success or failure.

Campfire night seemed classic. Turns out having actual fires at church involves permits and insurance calls and regulations I didn't know existed.

Gave up. Bought propane fire pit thing instead.

S'mores with thirty kids still more complicated than expected. Kids dropping marshmallows into fire fighting over sticks getting chocolate everywhere except actual s'mores.

One six year old caught his marshmallow on fire and flung it in panic. Landed on someone's shoe.

Total chaos from adult perspective pure joy from kid perspective.

For ministry leaders learning nature doesn't care about your timeline, anyone discovering kids handle outdoor chaos better than adults, people ready to stop fighting weather and start working with it.