Although summer is a few months away, it’s not too early to talk about our Joni and Friends Family Retreats. I’m excited to tell you that we have 16 of them planned this year and already these retreats for disabled people and their families – believe it or not – they’re filling up.
All through the year we find encouragement in letters that we receive from families that have attended our retreats. Now, I’ve got a letter here from Lettie Kirkpatrick who lives in Tennessee and she writes, “Joni, my 19 year old daughter Sheila has a disability and when our family decided to attend one of your Retreats, we were curious to know what it would be like to spend a week in the company of other families who go through similar struggles. It was definitely a unique experience – because your Retreats are a place where the abnormal is normal! In our small groups we saw hurts revealed, weaknesses confessed, family needs laid bare, and victories savored.” Oh boy! I tell you, I love that letter!
Because Lettie hits the nail on the head. And there’s also more – she sent a poem with her letter. Let me read it to you. I think it sums up what happens at a Family Retreat. It’s a poem by Robert Browning Hamilton and it goes:
I walked a mile with Pleasure, She chattered all the way,
But I was none the wiser For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow And not a word said she
But, oh, the things I learned from her When Sorrow walked with me.
Wow, that’s good poem! Not only for a family like Lettie’s with a disability, it really speaks to me today. And I bet it speaks to you. And isn’t it the truth that the deepest, most profound experiences with Christ are usually during those times we’ve walked through the greatest sorrow? It’s a little like that verse in Ecclesiastes 7:3 where it says, “Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.” Kind of a curious verse, isn’t it?
But I tell you, I’ve seen it happen many times at a Family Retreat. Faces start out sad, but what with all the fellowship and Bible reading, all the wheelchair square dancing and wheelchair hiking and wheelchair rock climbing and “getting out” of those wheelchairs and swimming and so much more – I agree – it is good for the heart to walk with sorrow for a little while, and to see then that weeping which might endure for a night, it can turn into downright hands-down, slam dunk joy in the morning. And it’s why I want any of you who are listening right now who might have a disability in the family to come on and sign up for one of our Retreats this summer!
Oh, by the way, there is a footnote to the story of Lettie and her disabled daughter, Sheila. I want to add that Lettie wrote again to let us know that Sheila ended her courageous battle against her life-long disease. The Lord took her home. She was an honors student at her high school and I’m just glad that we had the chance to connect with the Kirkpatrick family before Sheila went home to be with Jesus.
I know that if Lettie were here in the studio with me right now, she’d want to encourage other families affected by disability to experience what they experienced at Retreat. Right, Al?
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends