Joni & Friends Family Retreat '22 - Maranatha Week 1

 

    Yeah, I know, it has been a couple months since this specific week of retreat ended, but sometimes I find it so incredibly difficult to find the words to really describe all that happens in just a week of the summer. But here I am, trying my best to find words for this little "slice of heaven."

    At last. The event that I’ve been looking forward to since October of last year. The time for Joni & Friends family retreats has come again. After a week of me losing my sanity with packing and last minute preparation in procrastination, it was time to take the approximately four hour drive up to Michigan.

In case you are not familiar with my adventures with Joni & Friends, here is a relatively short summary. Since the summer of 2018, I have been serving alongside Joni & Friends as a Short Term Missionary (STM) at a number of their Family Retreats. These retreats are for families affected by disability to relax, be poured into, and encouraged, all in a Christ centered environment. While at retreat, the families are taken care of, ministered to, and catered to in whatever way possible. I absolutely love serving at these retreats in whatever capacity that leadership assigns me to and will serve at as many of these retreats as I can, as long as I am able. I have written many a post about retreat since 2019, so feel free to check those out when you can!

Maranatha Bound

Thankfully, my brand new driver’s licensed self did not have to try and drive all that due to the generosity of a dear friend. There was laughter all the way, we picked up a new friend, and we all made our way up to where I’d be spending the next three weeks serving. Our mission field if you will.

    Right as soon as I got there, the feeling of familiarity and “home” came over me. Many returners have that same sensation. Even the camp pastor said it. “It’s a little bit like coming home.” Seeing familiar faces of those I have come to call my JAF family, almost crying from pure joy, and getting to be in one of my favorite places, makes me smile so wide that my cheeks were hurting by the time I set my head on the pillow.

Training and Preparation

    First week, the first day of training, I woke up bright and early. When I say early, I mean four in the morning. I had no need to be up that early whatsoever, but it just so happened that my body decided that two hours of sleep was enough (yeah, I know, 2AM isn’t the greatest bedtime). Rain was falling and it was a little chilly, so obviously the best plan is to just stay in my bed where it’s warm, right? That is of course not  what I did. I grabbed my sweatshirt and umbrella and had a nice stroll down to the beach with a cup of coffee in my hand. It was quiet and serene, the only thing to hear being the sound of waves.

Then training began. The amount of information that Joni & Friends needs to give their STMs is a lot, but so extremely helpful and of course necessary. All day the first day (June 5th) and half the day the next, we sit in our seats for training and get up on occasion for meals or moving to another room for more training. We also got to know our assignments. Some were placed in programming and others would work one-on-one or in an STM pair to be a camper’s buddy. During week one, I was given the blessing of being one-on-one with a girl in the "Sharks" age group. Junior High.

So much prayer and preparation goes into these retreats. Volunteers and staff are running all over campus just to be ready. Just for the families that are on their way. By the afternoon, STMs are fully equipped (even if they feel as though they may not be). Costumes are donned, music is played, and we all line up along the sidewalk. Soon, it is announced that the first family has arrived. 

The Families Arrivals

    Every welcome feels oh so special. We’re all decked out in costumes that relate to our theme, music is played, families walk in and are cheered for, and sometimes people cry. It’s a truly beautiful thing. 

    So when I found out that the theme for camp this year was going to be sort of ocean-y, the gears in my head immediately began turning. What was my costume going to be this year? There were so many different ways to go with it. I could have gone simple and worn a swimsuit, gone the sailor route, or go with the first impulsive thing my head came up with. Obviously, I went with the last one. After a few trips to the store and hours of work, I had my costume. I have very few pictures of myself in costume, but here is one in my back yard right after I had finished it!

Each week that I have a camper, my ears are tuned to hear the words “can we have the _______ family’s STM on deck,” and I am so excited that I can’t stand still. At long last, my family’s STM is called for and I, an individual who only ever runs if I need to, ran as though my life depended on it. I sprinted over with a large umbrella in my hands and nearly tripped over my own feet to go grab my sign and stand at the ready. It was time to meet my camper and her family. 

As other STMs cheered my family on as they walked down the path, I stood at the end of the walkway with my sign and waited. There is nothing like seeing your camper for the first time. This week, I thought that my heart might just leap right out my chest. Right away, I was overcome by this insane sense of love. 

The evening went on as dinner, the welcome ceremony, and of course a long awaited ice cream social happened. Many laughs were had as I got to know my family and of course my family got to know me a bit. Almost right away, I found out that I might just have to sing during the talent show. I’m not a girl who will get up on stage and sing. Not normally anyway. At Joni & Friends Retreats though? If I can make it happen for my campers, I’ll do it. 

Programming Every Morning

    The theme that went along with our Bible verse this year came out of Hebrews. 

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,"    Hebrews 6:19

    This year, Joni & Friends had fun with putting on the retreats with a fun ocean-y theme. 

    For the first time, I was paired with a camper who was in the Junior High group. I can officially say now, I have been in each and every age level at camp except for the nursery. The Junior High crew (The Sharks) was a great group. Though the kids thoroughly enjoyed calling me old (even though I am only about six years older than them), I loved hanging out with them  each and every morning for singing, a short sermon, and lots of laughter during game times. 

The Little Moments

    Some of my favorite moments during the week happened when we were playing card games in the Sweet Shoppe. There was a ton of laughter, story telling, and shouts of joy. I was introduced to a card game that had somehow flown under my radar. Now, I can say that I am very proficient in Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. 

    Despite the chilly weather, my girl and I changed into our swimsuits for one of my favorite water activities. Tubing. While we were being pulled around the lake behind a speed boat, laughter as my crazy mane of hair blew every which way rang across the water.

  

Adult/Kids' Night

    Wednesday, one of my favorite days, rolled around and I was excited. Mom and Dad were going to have their date night and I would be having dinner on my own with my camper. Just us and whoever sat at our table.

While mom and dad were off of what my girl called their “gross date night,” we had lots of fun. We laughed with a sweet girl who made me her “honorary STM,” watched teenagers be scared by an angry duck, and attended the dance party at the end of the night. There was so much joy. 

Talent Show & Karaoke

    Dubbed the “Greatest Show On Earth” (sorry, not sorry, Ringling Bros), the Joni & Friends Family Retreat Talent Show was under way. Singing, dancing, signing lyrics, and so much more talent was displayed. Just about every time I see one of these shows, I get (at the very least) a bit choked up. By the end of it, I’m just trying REALLY hard not to sob. My heart is always so full. 

After the talent show, a whole new kind of show begins. Once again, the theater kid buried deep inside of me was unleashed. For it was time for karaoke. My girl and one of my friends got up to the mic with me as we sang a song and two of us were complete and total dorks. It was so special and I may or may not have gotten on one knee to be extra dramatic for the song. Why? Let me answer that with my favorite response. Why not?

    That evening, I checked out a golf cart so that I could drive my family from the Sweet Shoppe to their housing. I'll freely admit that as soon as they shut the door and I drove away, I cried a little bit (if you know me personally, you know how big of a deal that actually is for me). My last full day that week with my family had come to an end. It would be the next day that I'd have to say goodbye.

Farewell For Now

    Friday. The day I look forward to the least. The day we STMs have to say goodbye to the campers (and for those of us staying another week or two, say goodbye to other STMs who have to get back home). While mom and dad packed up their belongings in their car, my camper, her sister, and the sister’s friend were taken on a golf cart ride. By who? That would be me. We drove around with music playing for about an hour until it was time to head back for closing ceremonies. 

The closing ceremony is something that really gets me. I have to make sure that I have a couple tissues on hand when going to this, or else I’m gonna be in trouble when the tears start coming. Our families have the opportunity to share how their week was and oh my goodness was it hard to hold back the tears. These families absolutely have my heart. 

When it came time to say goodbye, I was so close to actually sobbing. I was somehow able to keep myself together until after the STM debrief and I was in my room though. My camper and her family were headed home and I had said my farewells. Just writing about it a two months later has got me all emotional. 

Weekend Respite

    The weekend after a retreat is something so strange. After an entire week in which everything is scheduled, you have no real schedule. The person you have been walking alongside all week has gone home and now you feel like there is a missing piece. At least to me anyway. Right away, I missed the laughter, the jokes, and the little hand squeezes. 

I was one of the STMs who stay over the weekend to stay on to serve during week two. I would also be staying over the following weekend to serve at the third and final week of retreat in Michigan. My roommate that week was only going to be serving for one week, so that meant that I was going to have a new roommate for week two. The insane amount of excitement that I had when I found out who my roommate was going to be was so funny. One of my friends, Ashley, was going to be rooming with me for the next two weeks. 

While resting and recovering from a long week, I got to know some of the STMs better. There was so much laughter and camaraderie. Memories were made and stories about the time we had will be told again and again. One specific story was mentioned all throughout week two and even referenced during week three. Now, I have a pretty important rule that I will hope you abide by. “Never go to the bathroom in a Chinese buffet.” Trust me. It is a rule that has served me oh so well in my life and now there are others who follow that same rule (at least I hope they will). 

Saturday morning, I just could not sleep in and just couldn’t stay in bed. So I grabbed my “art bag” that I had packed and hiked on down to the beach. Waves, WWII airplanes, worship music, and watercolors. That was my Saturday morning. It was so filled with peace and I can say that I am glad that I got up at five in the morning. If I hadn’t, I would not have seen those planes, I probably would not have painted something that I really love, and I would not have heard what I needed to through the music that I had been playing that morning. 

I was refreshed and ready to serve for the next week of camp. 

-fin

   Sometimes I find it so hard to put my experience at these camps into words. Even after a few weeks of processing it all. It would be so easy to just say, "you really have to be there to get it" kind of a thing. However, I don't want to just stop at that. This isn't some inside joke or secret society. It is a little slice of heaven that I want to share with anyone and everyone. So I do my best in my finite vernacular to explain this bit of how life should be.

    I know for a fact that this isn't the best explanation of Family Retreat. Like I said, "you have to be there." But if I can just show a little peek into retreat, I'm going to do that. I hope that one day, each of you get a chance to serve at one of these retreats. These four weeks mean the world to me and I never feel more joy than I do when I'm at or thinking about camp. There's still three more weeks to recap and I'm only sad that it's over.

  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! You can also follow SBF on Pinterest for some inspo, see what I'm interested in, and repin blog posts! 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

-what song do you think I was on the mic for at karaoke?