My Week at Joni and Friends Family Retreat 2023: Days 1 and 2

Family retreat has now come and gone, and I had an amazing time there!! I so needed this week at camp.

I wish I was still there, as the week went by too fast. I have decided to break this post up into 3 parts, so that it won't be too long to read. This post will be about days 1 and 2, Sunday and Monday.

I was in the sweet shop again this year, which I was very happy about. This year was my fourth year at retreat, and every year I was in the sweet shop.

For a while, I wasn't sure if I would be able to go to retreat this year, but things turned out in my favor, and I got to go.

I did week 2 (Sunday, June 11 to Friday, June 16) of this retreat again, like I have every year (there are three weeks total), and I arrived a day early, on Saturday, with a friend who was also doing week 2 (although she was also staying for week 3 and couldn't drive me home).

Sunday, the STMs who weren't there already arrived, and we then started training. Training was basically how to handle situations that may arise, how to treat the campers/families that are coming, as well as the different types of disabilities.

The woman I was rooming with for the week was in the sweet shop with me, as well as another woman who I roomed with for the 2 years previously, which was pretty cool!

We had an hour of training, then lunch, then more training, and then dinner. After dinner, those who were a buddy to a camper/family made posters to welcome them to camp, and we had ice cream in the sweet shop.

I had brought some supplies with me, to make a poster of my own to honor my mom. The theme this year was Fearless, and the decorations that were there were of superheroes, and when I read that we could dress up as a personal hero (or do something to celebrate a personal hero), I immediately thought of my mom.

I put a picture of my mom in the middle of the poster, put My Mom My Hero around the picture, then added some images of things that she liked around the rest of the poster. I also added the words courageous and strong in one corner, and love split up on either side of the photo (L and O on the left side, V and E on the right).

I am very happy with how it came out, and others have said they liked it, as well.

Monday, we had breakfast, lunch, and some last-minute training before the families/campers came.

I went to the sweet shop at one point during the day, along with the others that were in the sweet shop, to make some brookies (part cookie, part brownie; they are sooo good!!) to sell to those at camp.

I was struggling with things during the family arrival time, and I was allowed to go the sensory room that they have on the campus. I think it took me about half an hour or so to calm down. I am so thankful for the sensory room!

Once all the families were there, we had dinner, a welcome ceremony, and then an ice cream social. 

Once the ice cream social was over, we had some free time before the STMs had a debrief at around 9:15 pm.

While I was sitting at one of the outdoor tables, waiting for the debrief to start, one of the leaders came over to sit with me, and started asking me about my faith and my relationship with God.

I told her that my faith isn't where I would like it to be, that I want to deepen my faith as well as my relationship with God. I also said that I had been wanting to do both for years, but never really knew how to go about that.

She then asked if I wanted to fully accept God into my life right then, and to start my journey to a stronger faith. I was a bit surprised by that question, but I said yes, as I really wanted to do this, and that I was in the right place for this journey to start.

The leader then prayed for me, and then she helped me pray to God for helping me in my journey, and to fully come into my life.

Once we finished praying, she asked me if I wanted to share my decision with the other STMs at the debrief, and I told her I didn't feel comfortable with telling them myself. She then asked if I would like her to start out, telling them about our conversation, and then have me say one sentence about my decision, and I was fine with that.

When the debrief started, she asked me to come up, and as I did so, one of the other leaders came up as well, to support me while I stood in front of everyone. I was surprised by that, but very happy that she was there, as I would not have been able to stand there on my own. 

When I told everyone my decision, they all stood up and cheered for me. Yet again, I was surprised by that, but it made me realize that I made the right choice, and that everyone at the retreat supported me, and that they truly cared about me.

So, even though there were a few bumps at the beginning, the start of retreat was going well, and I was feeling so loved by the other volunteers!

I so wish I could travel back in time and relive retreat. It was the best week of my life, and I so needed the time I spent there.

Part two of this post will come on Monday, and part three will be on Wednesday (at least, that is what I am planning).

I so hope that I get to go to retreat next year as this is always my absolute favorite time of year. I have made so many amazing friends, and have some amazing memories that will last me a lifetime. That is something I would never trade for anything.