Nothin’ is sweeter than when sisters are brought close together.
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and I should know – I will never forget how my battle against cancer last year brought me so much closer to my sisters, Linda, Jay and Kathy. It’s amazing when a disease or disability does that. But sometimes a disability can widen the distance between sisters. I’m thinking of Eunice and Keren, two young adults I met at Family Retreat. Eunice recently completed her undergraduate studies at UCLA and has always had a good relationship with her sister, Keren, who has autism. But they were never really close; they never really hung out together. Eunice just looked at Keren her little sister as her, well… disabled sister. But things changed when Eunice came to volunteer at a Family Retreat for the first time.
Because of her knowledge of autism in her own family, it was just natural to pair Eunice up helping kids with autism. Eunice dug right in, and it was during that week that she really fell in love with the idea of working among young people with special needs. God opened her eyes and gripped this girl’s heart. Before the week was out, Eunice discovered how much she really loved serving among these young people with autism. And that pricked her conscience, because this newfound joy in helping those with autism made her think… Well, what about my own sister? What about Keren who also has autism? The whole experience forced Eunice to closely examine her relationship with Keren and what was lacking. And after Family Retreat things really changed!
Eunice told me, “You know, Joni, I used to only relate to my sister as ‘autistic,’ but serving others showed me that she’s a young woman like anyone else; a young woman with interests, hopes, and dreams. Keren is now a real sisterly friend now.” Wow! And you know what the clincher is? Eunice is thinking of graduate work in autism research (first, however, she’s going to help Keren get settled into her first year of community college. I think that’s so awesome… and for Eunice, sacrificing a year of graduate work to help Keren for her is really no sacrifice at all. It’s what sisters do for each other).
And what I really think is neat is now both girls are serving as volunteers at our Family Retreats. They joyfully serve side-by-side. They are a dynamic duo, praying, working hard, and showing others how God can draw families together around a disability!
Galatians 5:13 tells us to serve one another in love. Not out of duty; not as though it were an obligation. But gladly serve each other because of the way the Lord gladly served others. And if you’re looking for someone to minister to, look for those who are truly needy… those whom not a lot of others are serving. It’s why I hope you’ll consider volunteering with us next summer at a Family Retreat – and if you want to get a glimpse of what it looks like, visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org. I’ve posted a short video for you to look at all about our international Family Retreat we held earlier this year down in Central America. Eunice and Keren would be very happy to have you join them next year at a Family Retreat – so pray about signing up. And don’t forget, there’s lots of Family Retreat photos posted on our Joni and Friends Facebook page as well as our website – I even have a photo of Keren and Eunice that I put up today on my radio page. So take a minute and see what it looks like to serve one another in love – just log onto joniandfriends.org. God’s blessings on you until next time when we get together at Joni and Friends.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends