Encountering Jesus at Family Retreat
The endurance it takes to care for a severely disabled child year after year is a labor of love few can understand. You see, all year long families impacted by disability live on the edge of exhaustion and despair through sleepless nights, endless medical appointments, financial pressures and marital strain. Isolation and hopelessness leave these families teetering on the brink of depression. And for many special needs moms and dads, the pain is sometimes too much to bear.
The demands of caring for a child with a disability never end. Often, these moms and dads feel there is simply no relief in sight. They are at an utter loss as to where to find someone they can relate to; someone who cares.
Rejection is an everyday heartbreak for families wrestling with disabilities.
That’s one reason why Ken and I love serving special needs families at Family Retreat and Family Retreat at Home. Because we know that families struggling with disability desperately need a place where they can breathe in God’s renewing presence and re-charge from the stress and pressures of this world. They need an encounter with Jesus, and that’s what Family Retreat is.
Family Retreat lets special needs families know they’re not alone!
Rob and Cheryl Trotter’s family is the perfect example. Their son, Sam, was born with microcephaly, epilepsy and vision problems. His toileting challenges and tube feedings keep Rob and Cheryl busy around the clock.
He has constant seizures. In fact, there was a time when Sam would have 30 to 35 grand mal seizures every month. And as Rob explains, “We spent more time at the hospital than at home.”
Rob went on to explain that disability creates “a whole new parenting paradigm.” The never-ending heartache of disability leads to unimaginable struggles and tension.
“It’s pretty typical for me to cry,” confessed Cheryl as she wiped her tears off her cheeks. Sam requires 24/7 supervision. That means that Rob and Cheryl had to take turns sleeping on the couch so they could watch Sam during the night.
Necessary choices like these don’t just leave couples physically and emotionally depleted, they wear on a marriage like few other hardships.
But at Family Retreat, Rob, Cheryl, Sam and Sam’s little brother, Toby, found “joy in the midst of our day-to-day stuff,” said Cheryl. “Joni and Friends helps me take God’s Word and put it into our family!”
One Family Retreat highlight for Rob and Cheryl is the chance to reconnect as a couple and strengthen their marriage during the parents’ dinner and dancing date night. “We get to dance together once a year at Family Retreat,” Cheryl shared with a glowing smile.
Family Retreat gives the whole family opportunities to get closer to Jesus.
In fact, at Family Retreat Sam worshipped God like never before. Cheryl saw the joy on her son’s face and declared, “Lord, Sam is worshipping you! He knows you! You have given him spiritual gifts. You have got a calling on this boy’s life to glorify his heavenly Father!”
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
Special needs moms and dads often ask themselves, “Where is God in our lives each day?” Family Retreat, as Cheryl describes it, “Is where your theology meets your reality.” Family Retreat brings families struggling with the reality of disability into the presence of Jesus.
“You can’t put a price on the ministry they do,”
Rob
Rob, Cheryl, Sam and Toby encountered Jesus at Family Retreat. But there are countless other weary and wounded families like theirs who need to experience the power of God’s love and mercy, too! Yet waiting lists for Family Retreats are often long, and many families need either full or partial scholarships.
So, on behalf of families struggling with disability, join me in praying and giving generously to strengthen weary families! You can provide a Family Retreat scholarship for a child or adult with disability for only $360 today! And your gift of any amount will be used to help special needs families come closer to Jesus!
Time is short so let’s leave our legacy for God’s kingdom today!
–Joni Eareckson Tada
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As a Luke 14 Friend, you help every person living with a disability find dignity, practical care, and the hope of Jesus! Your monthly gift provides medical and mobility support, essential resources, and spiritual care so every person is welcomed into God’s house.
