AL: Joni, you’ve often talked about the huge difference your family made after you broke your neck.
JONI: Oh boy, that’s right, disability is such a family affair, Al, no matter who the person is who’s got the disability. It could be the father, mother, or child. It affects everyone in the family.
AL: And what would you say would be the biggest impact of illness or injury on a family?
JONI: I think it’s that there’s no time for a break. There’s never a chance to get a rest… catch your breath… (I'm not talking about vacation; I’m talking about just having a little respite once in awhile).
AL: And that’s the whole reason for our Family Retreats each summer.
JONI: Matter of fact, I got a great letter from a single mom who attended one of our Family Retreats with her disabled son. She writes: “Dear Joni, My family and I have never felt so loved and accepted than at a family camp with Joni and Friends. We were so ministered to. Even by others with disabilities! One man named Ray really blessed me when I saw a person across the aisle struggling to get her breath. It was the evening program time, and here was this sudden oxygen emergency. Ray was sitting up front, but when he heard that there was someone in the back who couldn’t get enough oxygen, bless his heart, he started to make his trek down the aisle, which took him a long time, since he could barely walk himself. But yet, he got up, ever so gingerly, and made his way toward the back. When he reached the person in need, he said, ‘I’ve got oxygen.’ Even though he was clearly disabled himself, wearing oxygen tubing, he was willing to give his own breath, his own oxygen to help someone in need.”
AL: You know, we hear about volunteers and staff ministering to families like that one, but it’s great, Joni, to know that the disabled themselves enjoy doing ministry, too.
JONI: You’ve got it, and it’s interesting that Ray’s unselfishness gesture left one of the biggest impressions on this single mother. So much so that one of the outcomes of her week at the Family Retreat was that she started a disability awareness support group in her own church. She put a P.S. in her letter, she says, “I never realized how I had isolated myself regarding my son’s disability because people don’t understand. But people do -- God’s people do -- and I have since gotten permission from the Elders to start a disability support group in our church. We are calling ourselves Indispensable People after the verse in 1 Corinthians 12:22... those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.
AL: And these Family Retreats, Joni, are “indispensable,” too… it’s why we will be praying for the first of our summer retreats which begins this week in Texas.
JONI: That’s right and I’d like our friends listening to please be praying for not only people like Ray, but those single mothers who, for the first time, are getting an honest-to-goodness break from the strain of the disability.
AL: And friend, it’s not too late, if you know someone with a disability, to have them and their family sign up for our upcoming Family Retreats all across the country!
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends