Jun. 30, 2007 - Joni and Friends Family Retreat 2007
Joni and Friends Family Retreat
I have been so overwhelmed with the positive experience we had a Joni and Friends, that I scarcely know how to put it into words.
I really didn't know what to expect. I did hope that my twins who have autism, and my other son who has other mental problems, would be able to go to camp in a supportive, safe environment.
But what we experienced, far exceeded our expectations.
First of all, when we arrived, we were greeted by the STMs. STM stands for "Short Term Missionaries." These are people who PAY about $400 to spend the week with us and help us with our children. Each of my children had their own STM the entire week. This person accompanied us to meals, went swimming with our children in the afternoons, and attended all the camp activities with our children.
What a difference! You don't realize what a load you are carrying until someone takes it from you! I was almost lost to have so much help!
Anyway, we drove up the driveway to the Oakwood Inn on beautiful Lake Wawasee in Syracue, Indiana, and were greeted by a whole crew of STMs ready to unload my car and carry our luggage in! They were all dressed up in difference kinds of fun costumes.
Here's a picture of just a few of them:
The young man in the wheel chair is Amos, and he was such a blessing to my older son. He helped with the teens and he just gushed with personality and love for the special kids. I'm sure he inspired the parents and kids using wheelchairs at the retreat.
Anyway, all these people helped me carry in my stuff! And if that wasn't enough, when we all walked in together as a family the entire staff (over a hundred I would guess) stood on each side of the entry way and whistled and applauded as if we were walking the red carpet! It was embarrassing, but the kids were overwhelmed with happiness. You couldn't wipe the grin of their faces. (They do ask if you want a quiet greeting or a loud one -- and we asked for the works.) 
When we got to our room there was a box with a beautiful bow on it. Inside the box were wrapped gifts for each member in our family. The boys were soooo excited. There was also a beautiful memory book hand made by someone with a special couple of covered pages for each day of the week. It's gorgeous and I can hardly wait to fill it up with pictures.
After we got settled into our rooms we went to supper and following supper they had a parade! They had ice cream sundaes and kettle corn for everyone! The parade was awesome. It was a private parade just for our campers. There were firetrucks, a fancy armored car, ponies, motorcycles, police cars and a cute little train. (The train gave rides afterwards!) If you have little ones, gather them around to see the parade!
Everyone in the parade allowed the campers to touch and experience their vehicles! The young man above was very excited to trade his wheel chair for a two-wheeler!
Every morning we were served a wonderful breakfast. We had a delicious buffet at every meal and the food was scrumptious.
After breakfast each morning we all split up into our groups. My twin boys were in the "quiet room" group. This was a group of all ages of kids who needed a more quiet experience. Since the twins aren't used to big crowds of kids, I chose to place them there.
I was amazed. Everyone was so impressed with how my boys got everyone in their room to participate. They said they had never seen anything like it. Most of the kids in that room have autism. And so getting kids like that to play a game or try something new is difficult. But the teachers said that the twins were instrumental in communicating with those children, and that they got the kids to do things that the teachers couldn't get them to do!
Do you know how much that warmed this mother's heart? Why do my boys interact with younger kids this way? I have no idea. They don't have younger siblings. But we do have dogs. And we do have younger kids at church and they are uncles to nieces. But I think the real reason is that God is healing them. And I also believe it's because the same Spirit that dwells in them is that same Holy Spirit that dwells in all God's children.
You have to realize, that just a short few years ago, these boys didn't participte themselves. God is truly healing them, year by year, event by event, experience by experience.
I did have something very disappointing happen. We had some beauuuuutiful pictures of the boys from the first three days of camp. My husband took them with his camera, and since he was taking pictures with his camera, I didn't take pictures with mine. His camera is also a video camera, and he uses a disk right inside the camera. Well, the camera fell to the floor, and because the disk hadn't been formatted (or something like that) it wouldn't bring up the pictures we took after it had fallen on the floor. If anyone knows how we can get those pictures back, let us know!
But here are a few pictures someone else took of the boys in activities:
Isaiah is in the middle looking up.
Don't they all look so peaceful?
So in the mornings, while the kids were all in their classes doing activities with their groups, we parents got to listen to a devotion and then we split up in small groups. I grew to love the women in my group! The women's husbands also met with each other. Our husbands were all in the same group, so it was a lot of fun getting to meet couples in the same tough places in life. We all opened up to one another about the stresses of raising kids with disabilties. Guess what? I found out I'm not the only one freaked out about how messy my house is!
The surroundings couldn't have been more beautiful. We stayed at a beautiful inn on a lake.
In the afternoons kids could go swimming, boating, tubing, rock wall climbing, zip lining, horse back riding, giant swing-swinging, hand biking, crafts, kite flying, and more! My boys mainly went swimming, tubing, boating and Noah went rock wall climbing. I took a scrapbook class and my husband went to a jewelry class. Isn't that funny? Anyway, what follows are pictures of afternoon activities!
That's Noah on the wall! Spiderman!
My honey makes me a necklace.
Tubing is especially exciting for the young people in wheelchairs -- well everyone in wheelchairs, really. Because while they are in that tube, no one knows they use a wheelchair, and they get to be just like everyone else!
Out of the wheelchair and enjoying freedom!
Let's go fly a kite!
On Tuesday night we all dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls and went to a square dance. The boys were so handsome in their western shirts and cowboy hats! (Do you know how HARD it is to find western wear in Indiana? It's not exactly something you can just run and get at Walmart!) At the squaredance we were treated to authentic Amish apple pie and ice cream. Outside, they also had a petting zoo. The kids just loved it. These pictures don't come near to capturing the fun!
After the square dance there were hay rides and carriage rides. Unfortunately, all our pictures of our boys from this night are gone.  But here are someone else's:
On Wednesday night, we took the kids to their STMs for supper, and then all the moms and dads had a lovely "date night!" We got to eat in the fancy restaurant at the inn. After that, we got to go on a beautiful sunset pontoon boat ride. There was also a fruit smoothie/coffee bar available to us. At the end of the night they gave us all a gift -- a really sweet picture frame with the word "joy" etched onto it. The theme of the retreat was Joy.
The reason the date night was such a big deal is that it's very difficult to find a babysitter when you have kids with disabilities. You also can't be spontaneous, or have company very much. When you live with a disability, everything revolves around that. It sucks you dry of fun if you're not careful. It's expensive to get a sitter. I pay anywhere from $6.00-$12.00 an hour for a sitter.
While the parents were on their date, the kids had a carnival!
Isaiah and Isaac took this little girl with autism under their wings all week. She loved it.
Boat dock where we boarded for our sunset ride.
Thursday night was talent show night. Anyone could enter (one act per family). So, our son, Noah represented us! It was a lot of fun watching everyone and being in such a supportive environment. So many people touched my heart that week.
Noah sang the Veggie Tale tune, "Rumor Weed." I was so surprised at how well he did! He was amazing!
Noah also played Nebuchanezzer in a skit his group did that night about Shadrach Meschac and Abednego:
Isaiah and Isaac's group performed a song. Isaiah is in the purple shirt and Isaac is in the gold one:
One of the women I met in our support group made a huge impression on me with her sense of humor. Come to find out -- she's a professional clown! She helped me see the tougher things I go through in a humorous light. Here she is performing a great song with her daughter:
Everyone fell in love with this little baby girl. People couldn't keep their hands off her! She is sooo beautiful.
Friday came too soon. We all had such a good time. I never had to worry about my children. We were in a safe environment in Amish country; we were served by people who had extensive background checks. I have never, ever been in a more positive, nurturing, kind environment.
Not surprisingly, the boys want to do it again next year. I don't know if we can pull it off or not. They got a scholarship this year for part of the cost, but those are usually reserved for first-timers. However, I must say, this was a priceless experience for them. They got to shine. They got to have fun.
And Eddie and I got to eat meals with no one staring. "Normal" at this camp was that everyone was different. Everyone had challenges. And no one stared or pointed or questioned or judged. What a freeing experience it was!
And, as usual, our doggies were glad to see us when we got home. In fact, if they see a suitcase, they get very sad now. Here they are all curled up next to me on the coucc; the Rottie is at my feet and not in the picture:
Thank-you to all those who donated for our family to go. I cannot tell you how much it meant to us. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I know God is going to bless you real good for allowing us this wonderful experience!
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