Joni & Friends Family Retreat 2021 - Maranatha Week 2

 

    Looking back on week two brings so much joy to my heart. There was lots of singing, laughing, dancing, and a number of great conversations. Not just with my camper and her dad, but with leadership and other STMs (in case you forgot, Short Term Missionaries 😉) There were a few... interesting moments that got a tad bit rough because I was kinda tired from week one, but God really gives strength when it is needed. Encouragement too! The day before the second week of camp started, I was able to go out to dinner with some friends at The Deck. We had a ton of wonderful conversations, great food, and two of them (leaders of the Youthful Adults) found that I would be in their group with my camper. It was awesome to hear so many things from so many people about my camper. 

Training and Preparation

    Training was a bit interesting for me during week two. I had already gone through training, so I helped out "reset" the campus for the families that would be arriving the next day. Running gift baskets up to the Duneside apartments, setting up portions of the empathy exercise, and prepping the STM backpacks and water bottles.

    This week, I had a one on one assignment with a camper. She is so much fun, so loving, and absolutely loves to giggle. I was so excited when I found out that I had been paired with her. In 2019, I had seen her and her STM around camp and loved all the smiling. Her STM from the pervious camp, Tonya, told me all about her during training for week one, and I could barely contain my joy.

    Since I wasn't a leader for week two, I was able to jump in on the empathy exercise and have a little fun with it. Ok, maybe a little too much fun. Thanks Linda for having this amazing idea. 🤣 My job (given to me by leadership!) in our group was to basically wander off and disappear. I accomplished my goal pretty quickly and very well. My poor group had lost me and I was nowhere to be found. Well, sort of. Thanks Ashley for helping me out. 😜 I thought for a minute that they would hear us laughing and find me, but we did it. Victory.

Later that night, I was able to make a welcome sign for a family for the first time in a couple years. It was fun to pick what I wanted to do and how I might do it. It was super fun to design and I only sat and stared at the giant collection of markers for five minutes before deciding on what I actually wanted to do. 🤣 It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it,  but I ended up loving it. 💛

    The next day, I spent a good amount of time writing Happy Grams and soon the STMs were prayed over, commissioned, and had taken communion together. 

The Families Arrivals

    When you are assigned to a family, the welcome feels a little bit different. A little bit nervous but super excited to meet your family. Wondering what the week might look like. Thinking about all the information on your camper's information sheet. 

    Whenever a car rolls up to Maranatha, you feel the excitement around you rise as many other STMs are wondering, "is that my family?" Then, Linda calls out over the speakers "can we get the STM(s) for the _______ Family  on deck?" If it isn't your family that arrived, there is a little bit of a disappointment because you are SO ready for your family to arrive. The sign you designed to welcome your family is done, you are in your costume, and you find it hard to wait. Finally, your family's STM(s) are called up. 

    When my camper's family STM (ME) was called up to be on deck, I practically sprinted to grab my Disney themed sign from the stack. I had heard so much about my camper and I could NOT stop smiling. There I waited, at the beginning of the STM lined sidewalk to welcome them. They got out of the car (I fell in love with my camper) and Linda announced over the speaker, "Let's give a big, loud Joni & Friends welcome to the Schmidt Family!" The STMs are shouting and cheering at the top of their lungs as I usher my camper and her dad down the sidewalk (basically a red carpet walk without the carpet) to the end of the cheering where I told them where their housing was and arranged to meet up at dinner time. 

    I was able to have an amazing dinner with my family, we went to the welcome ceremony for lots of cheering and singing, and then we were able to go to the ice cream social! There were a bunch of great conversations, some reunions with old friends, and if I'm honest, some near tears of joy. 

Programming Every Morning

    Each morning after a great breakfast, my camper and I headed off to the Youthful Adults programming. This looks super different from the kids programming I was in the previous week. We stayed in the same room instead of rotating with a few different groups. There was worship, games, a message, and of course crafts. Oh, and how could I forget! One of her absolute favorite people at camp, Pete, was in our group, so she would smile super big whenever he would come by us to say hi. 

    Music was probably my camper's favorite part. We would get up and dance as I held her up (she isn't steady on her feet). Swaying and singing too. Next time you see my irl, ask me to show off a snapshot of one of our dancing moments. I will gladly show you, but be forewarned, I will probably talk about how awesome my time at camp was for the next little while. 

The Little Moments

 Before family fun night started, I went for a nice stroll with my camper. We walked around the main area where the Sweet Shoppe, Tabernacle, and Lodge were for a bit and then we headed down to go and take a look at the beach. We sat and watched the waves for a little bit while we had Spotify playing from my phone.

   There was a pretty great moment out on the lake while we were there. Is that little picture of a pontoon slowly floating along while I snuggle with my camper in your head? It's a beautiful picture isn't it? Well, it is the completely wrong picture. The right picture is a little more... dynamic. We were being pulled behind a speedboat on a tube and going real fast. My hair, which had been pulled back, had come undone and was whipping all around in the wind. My camper was laughing while I tried my best to stay in the tube and keep her in the tube too.

Family Fun Night

    This week, I didn't have to guard any bounce houses because I was too busy having fun and hanging out with my family. We had some great pie topped with vanilla ice cream, chatted with some friends, and stopped over by the photo booth. That was loads of fun. I was able to get to know my camper and her dad better and we laughed just about the whole night.

Adult/Kids' Night

    Kid Night was something especially beautiful for me during week two. My camper was tired and we chilled out most of the night after dinner. We went on the golf cart for a little sensory ride, watched some Disney shorts on my phone, headed to movie night, and then ended up resting on a bench in the gym during the beginning of the dance party.

    While she was laying down with her head on my lap my pant leg quickly became soaked (she is a drooler 😉) and I sat and watched the beauty going on at the dance party. I saw first time STMs dancing with their campers and really connecting with them. I saw my friend absolutely tearing it up on the dance floor with her camper leaving their shoes abandoned not far from me. Then, I saw the joy in my camper's eyes as she heard one of her favorite songs come on as we got up and started jumping around on the dance floor. We laughed a ton and we sang a bunch too. It was so much fun.

Talent Show & Karaoke

   This show was so much fun. I was able to sit back and just watch all the wonderful acts. Which included a performance of our good bye song in ASL. I was so close to crying a couple times but for the most part, I was able to keep it together.

    That evening, I didn't get to karaoke until quite a bit later. For a while, I just sat with my camper and her dad over some sweet soft serve. We had a great night just talking about reading, learning, Broadway musicals, and so much more. It was so nice to just sit for a while and talk without having to really do anything or have to yell over anything to have a conversation. It was the last evening I had with the two of them, so we just relaxed and chatted until they headed to bed.

    Once I had a moment, I called home for a little bit and then jumped into karaoke. I walked in and immediately noticed two of my friends sitting in the corner with tears streaming down their faces. Now, I am the worst at being a comforter when there are tears. I strolled over (pretty dang awkwardly), looked at them, and asked, "you good?" Looking back, I can't help but laugh. It was pretty bad. 🤣 They ended up being fine and all the tears were happy. They had just seen a camper give his all to a song and it brought so much joy that it overflowed into their eyes. I can relate. 😜

    The only song I ended up getting up for was Sweet Caroline due to camp tradition. It is such a beautiful moment at the end of the last full day. People are trying their absolute best not to cry while singing and of course, failing. It is such a special moment. Phone flashlights are whipped out and it feels like you never want the night to end.

Farewell For Now

   I cried far more at the Week 2 closing ceremony than I did at the first week's. The slide show really got me. And so did the families getting on the mic. But those always get me. 😉

    My family needed to head out pretty much as soon as the ceremony was over. We got my camper a goodbye teddy bear, I got some hugs in, and we started heading toward their car. It was so hard to try and keep the tears at bay, but somehow I did. At least until I had a moment to myself back in my room. A few more byes and thank you statements later, both father and daughter were in the car and I was headed back to the big group to hand out some tissue. Eventually, I crashed onto the Sweet Shoppe couches where I struggled to keep awake during the debrief.

    I love my camper from week two so much and can only hope to have as much joy and love as she does. 💛

-fin

    Just like that, we are already halfway through the JAF recaps! Looking back on the three weeks I have already done is so helpful and encouraging throughout the year. During week two, my eyes were opened to something really special. The love that my camper and her dad have. The image of THE Father's love for us and the love that we ought to show for Him. My family had such a beautiful bond and they were the happiest when they were together and near each other. Like how God feels for us and how we should for Him. It was so beautiful and special. 

    Thank you SO much for reading. It means so much to me that you do! Keep an eye out for a post on this site eight days from now (a super easy way to be notified is to follow or subscribe 😉), or for a post four days from now on She Be Fierce 2! If you want to see what I'm up to, you can follow me on  Instagram. I am trying to post more consistently on my Instagram, and am actually ok with posting to my stories. So go check it out!

Until Next Time,

KS

-on a scale of one to a deluge, how much do you think I cried?