Welcome to Joni and Friends where I’ve just got to tell you about my friend, Teresa. Teresa is a registered nurse and a workaholic – she’ll be the first to admit it. Last summer she was studying super hard to get her Master’s degree. Teresa is the kind of person who meticulously organizes her time so that she had so many hours to devote to church, to clean house, to shop and run errands, and just the right number of hours to devote to studying for her post-graduate degree. Teresa had all her plates spinning just so… and nothing (absolutely nothing) dared upset her balance. Her Master’s degree was that important. Well, Teresa was halfway through her semester when she learned that her husband planned for the two of them to serve as short-term missionaries at our Family Retreats this summer. Earlier in the year they had talked about it, and Teresa thought they had agreed that “No, we’ll wait till next year when the Master’s degree is behind us.” Well, her husband must have missed that part of their conversation, because they received our orientation booklet from our ministry – they were signed up to go. Needless to say, Teresa was not a happy camper.
So she did what any workaholic would do: she packed up all her books and took them with her to Family Retreat. Teresa sequestered herself away in a corner of the cafeteria with her laptop and papers. By the morning of the second day, she had read over 300 pages and was making detailed notes on her computer and that is when it happened. Teresa accidentally deleted the entire file on her laptop. She sat back so infuriated with herself and that’s when the miracle happened.
On her way back to her room, frustrated and angry she ran into one of the parents that asked if Teresa would please join her and her autistic son down at the pool. Teresa thought, Auugh, well, why not, everything else is a mess! So she threw her books in her room, put on her swimsuit, and headed with them down to the pool. The little boy with autism got so excited that Teresa joined them, splashing and playing with her in the pool. And right there, laughing with the children in the water, and helping them in and out of their wheelchairs, this nurse felt ten years of stress fall from her life. Teresa wrote me later saying, “Joni, I now understand what a college classroom could never have taught me… that to care for a boy with autism and to share the life of Christ is far more valuable than any Master’s degree any day!”
Philippians chapter 1 says that if we have any compassion at all, we are going to care about the needs of others. Compassion always “does” something about a need. It doesn’t just talk about it or feel about it, it does something. It doesn’t study it, compassion doesn’t research or examine the need, and when it comes to people’s real hurts, having a Master’s degree doesn’t make us an expert in helping that hurt. Only compassion!
So, friend, I would love for you to show a little compassion and come and volunteer with Teresa and the rest of the gang this summer at our Joni and Friends’ Family Retreats. You will be so blessed just as Teresa was. Visit me would you today at joniandfriends.org and I will be happy to send you several brochures for you to give to others who you think might want to volunteer with you. Again, that’s joniandfriends.org and while you’re visiting click on our Family Retreat video to get a firsthand look on all the fun and fellowship. Or you can also call us at 1-888-522-5664 and I'll be happy to send you those Family Retreat brochures to share with a family like that mother with her autistic son. Because, remember, when it comes to helping a hurt, compassion will always be there. See you later, friend. Until next time on Joni and Friends.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
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