Joni and Friends Family Retreat Part 1

Last week we went to the Joni and Friends Family Retreat.  We had SO MUCH FUN!  We have decided that this will be our family vacation every single year.  Let me tell you a bit about it.  This retreat is designed for any family with a family member that has a disability.  Each person who needs one is paired with a short term missionary (STM).  These are people that have raised money to come to camp on a short term mission trip to serve people and families impacted by disability.  We had an STM assigned to each girl.  Our STMs were with us most of each day giving us an extra set of hands and eyes on the girls.  This allowed us to relax and have fun as well as do some activities that they couldn't or didn't want to do.  The STMs even ate with us so that we could enjoy our meals....and boys did we enjoy them!  The food was amazing!  To top it off there were gluten free options at each meal so I never had to worry about food.  Now THAT is what I call a vacation!  I think the best way to tell you about our trip is just to go day by day.

DAY 1
Technically this day was not at retreat but we drove up to the Chicago area where the Stumbos met us at a hotel to spend an evening together!  We were soooooo excited to see them again.  It's been over a year since we saw them last which is very unusual for us.  Unfortunately with the difficulties we had with Oksana last year we were not able to see them when we normally would have.  That made this visit extra special even if it was extra short!  We swam together, had dinner, ate ice cream, and sat up until 1am talking!  We got adjoining rooms so all we had to do is open a door between us and we could visit easily.  The next morning we had breakfast together, spent a bit more time visiting and then we had to head to Michigan.  We can't wait to see them again!

DAY 2
We arrived at the retreat center to a very warm welcome.  We pulled up to the front and got out of the car to see all of the staff and STMs lining each side of the lobby cheering and blowing bubbles at us as we walked through them.  While we were being welcomed someone took our car to our apartment.  After meeting our STMs (pictures below) we rode a golf cart to our place.  Now, I thought that we would be in something like a hotel room but possibly more rustic.  Boy was I wrong!  I almost jumped for joy when I saw that we were in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment!  That made our lives so much easier for the entire week.  I just can't explain how happy I was!  We went to dinner after unpacking and then we had an opening ceremony to welcome everyone.  After that there was an ice cream social.  They had build your own sundaes, sno cones, pop corn, and they had a fire truck and a police car for everyone to see.  It was a fun time to just start to get comfortable and get to know people. 

This is the tabernacle where we had our opening and closing ceremonies as well as all of our teaching and worship.

 

DAY 3
We started with a wonderful breakfast.  After this the STMs took the girls to groups divided by age where they basically did a VBS.  Stories, crafts, games, etc.  The boys went with the teens where they did similar things but much cooler ;).  Larry and I went to the tabernacle for worship and a teaching time with our retreat pastor.  After that we were broken into small groups.  I was with about 5 other women and Larry was with a group of men.  We had time to get to know each other, discuss the teaching, and share prayer requests.  After small groups we went to lunch.  This is the only day we had lunch separate.  The women, men, and children all had separate lunches to allow us more time to visit and get to know each other. 

After lunch was free time.  There were so many activities to choose from!!!  The STMs came with us to help us with the girls but we found a time each day to give them about an hour long break.  On this day we went to the beach of Lake Michigan and got to zip line!  The water in the lake was absolutely freezing so we just put our toes in it and played in the sand!  Anya wasn't going to zip line so her STM stayed at the beach with her and she had a blast digging holes in the sand!  Here is my first experience with how amazing  this retreat was.  Everything was adapted so even Oksana got to zip line!  I couldn't believe she wanted to do it but she did so they made every possible accommodation to allow her to do it.  They put her in a full body harness and lifted her to the top of the tower since she couldn't climb it.  It was so cool!  She absolutely LOVED the zip line.  I was the only one who didn't go because I wore flip flops and needed closed toe shoes.  I will be sure to be ready next year!

After free time we went back to the room and got washed up for dinner and then it was western night.  When I first heard about this I have to admit that I wasn't too sure about it but it was a blast!  They had a petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, dancing, and apple pie with vanilla ice cream!! 

 

This is getting long so I'm going to tell you one more thing about day 3 and then I'll do the rest in another post.  On this evening they had a "sib" night.  All of the jr and sr high siblings of a person with a disability were invited to a party at the beach.  The boys had an absolute blast.  They had a bonfire, ate s'mores, and had water balloon fights.  They were supposed to be finished at 10:15.  At 10:20 we got a text asking if they could stay longer because they were all having so much fun.  This was the beginning of a bond between these kids that would continue through the retreat.  I'll share more about that later.