Living Ministry

A few weeks ago, my new friend Jodi invited me to join her on a little road trip to Muskegon, Michigan. We were having dinner together one evening, and I learned that her daughter, Emily, was going to be serving at a Joni and Friends Family Retreat (I will call it "camp" for short) for three weeks, and Jodi was going to go up on the weekend to visit. I LOVE road trips, and I LOVE Joni and Friends, and I was already beginning to LOVE Jodi and Emily, so I said, "Yeah, that would be great!" We continued eating and talking about other things, and later that night I thought more about the casual invitation and wondered how serious she was. After all, we were new friends, and an overnight out-of-town trip seemed like a lot for her to handle. But I checked back in with her, and found that she was sincere, so we made our plans. 

Everything about those two days was a wonderful gift. On the ride up to camp, Jodi and I talked constantly and got to know each other better. When we arrived, we got settled in at a lovely house across the street where our friend Michael was a generous and welcoming host. Emily gave me a grand tour of the beautiful campus, including a boardwalk along the sandy shore of Lake Michigan. 

We met up with some other mutual friends after that, people who were all there as staff and volunteers for camp, but who we knew from other ministries too: We Carry Kevan and Living with Hope.  In fact, that evening we got to have dinner with workers from all three of these organizations, and the fellowship was incredible! Then we prayed together and watched a stunning sunset over the lake. It was amazing to be with this group of people for such a brief amount of time but feel like they were family. Isn't that just the way it is with fellow believers who live ministry? 

We stayed up late talking, slept soundly, and got up early. Emily and Jodi did all my caregiving, which was challenging because they were new to my routine, I was new to the house, and all the excitement sapped my energy so I was able to do even less for myself than I usually can. But they were great sports and did an excellent job, handling every task with grace and joy. We celebrated our victorious adventure with a delicious brunch before Jodi and I headed back to Fort Wayne. 

The ride back was a little quieter, as we were both tired and also processing our experience. We listened to a little Andrew Peterson music, and I felt the tidal pull of the great lake gently release me back to the flat fields of Indiana. When I got home, I took a nap, then ate a peanut butter sandwich and reflected on the previous 36 hours...

The thing that was most extraordinary to me was that the people I met were camp staff for 1-3 weeks out of the year. But throughout the rest of the year, they live with the very same purposeful, passionate focus. They continue to care for people with disabilities and their families, providing wheelchairs and backpacks and healing and hope... always hope. They have so much light and love in them, and it just oozes from them on everyone they encounter. They smile and serve and celebrate life, and their own needs and weaknesses and pain melt away because they know that the thing that matters most - the ONLY thing that matters - is that people meet Jesus and be forever changed by him. 

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