JAF and Me

     Four years ago today, I attended my first Joni and Friends Family Retreat at Twin Rocks. I had watched a short video on Facebook about camp two weeks before camp was going to start. I thought it looked like a great oppurtunity so I signed up. Little did I know what I had signed up for .

      The first day of training was terrifying. I was homesick, was catching a cold and I didn't really know anybody. It was such a hard week. For almost the first year after camp I didn't really talk about camp, simply because I was trying to process the whole thing. 

        The May before my second year I finally decided that I really did enjoy myself and that I wanted to go back.  I didn't want to go alone this time, so I brought along all of my brothers and several friends from church. By this point I was in love with the ministry and here's why. At Joni camp I was pushed beyond myself phsycally, emotionally and spiritually. I was shown where my love for people had fallen short. I have always had a love for the disability community, but now I love them way more then I did. Some of my greatest friendships happened at camp, everyone from the other STMs to the Families to the Leadership. My life has been so blessed by Joni and Friends that is has become an important part of my life and year. If some summer in the future it didn't work out for me to attend at least one family retreat it will be a very sad year. 

       I am very happy to report that my camper from my first camp and I are very good friends now despite a rough week at camp! I was able to serve her family again last year by being her sisters STM (short term missionary). Over the last four years I have attended seven Joni and Friends Family Retreats in two states. I absolutely love it! www.joniandfriends.org

Kembucha Revolution

                                                              Kombucha Revolution
                                                                             By
                                                      Stephen Lee and Ken Koopman

    This book was beautifully designed and filled with great information about how to start brewing your own kombucha. The author of the book from Portland, OR this was a fun fact to learn because I am from Oregon also. The majority of the book is recipes for making your own kombucha, which is totally great, that's what the book is for, but I would have liked more about the art of brewing kombucha, why are certain things necessary  and that sort of thing. Overall it was a really good book.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

My Summer and Joni and Friends

       My summer was absolutely amazing! Earlier this year I wanted to attend 3 Joni and Friends Family Retreats, and by the grace of God I was able to go to all 3! Each camp was different and I learned soo much at each one. I have said this before, but my year would not be complete without going to at least one Joni Camp during the summer. I love all the people at camp. The fellowship is so great.

     The first camp I went to this summer was Mission Springs I in June. I had so much fun during this week, not only because I got to see other STMs and returning families who have become great friends, but also because of my camper this week. We had so much fun together!! We collected over 20 banana slugs, whom we carried around in a 5 gallon bucket. We also played lots of soccer. It was also a week of pushing myself physically. He was a runner, so he would be standing next to me one second and be halfway across the camp the next. I loved the challenge of having a runner, but partway through the week an old leg injury flared up. Several years ago I had gotten shin splints in my right leg, and with all the running and soccer playing it got aggravated. It was such a great lesson in depending on God for physical strength.

     In July, I went back to Mission Springs for the second time this summer. I got to have my camper from last July again! I was sooo excited! We had bonded so much last year, and I was praying really hard that I would get him. This young man has come so far since last year. We had so much fun sharing experiences at camp together! I love his family and him sooooo much. We picked right up from where we left off last year.

    I just got home from my third and final camp for this summer. It was held at Twin Rocks in Oregon. It was bittersweet. I loved being there, but I was already going through camp withdrawals, because I knew that I was going to have to wait a whole year before I could go back to camp again. Throughout this summer I have only had to wait 3-4 weeks between camps, so waiting 52 weeks is way to long. I absolutely loved my camper from this last week! She is one of the sweetest, patient, happy people I know. We went swimming, played on the swing, rode horses, played with wagons and did piggy back rides (she rode on my back not the other way around ;)). She also rocked at the talent show with her sister!
    Joni and Friends has meant sooooooooooo much to me over the last four years. I want to become more involved in disability ministry because of the wonderful, God loving people I have met at camp. I am looking forward to next summer when I can return to Joni Camp, but I am also looking for ways to get involved in my community.
www.joniandfriends.org

Soli Deo Gloria!

Juice

                                                                            Juice
                                                                                by
                                                             de Castro, Gores, Slater

    This book was really interesting!  I had watched a documentary about juicing last year, and it had sorta caught my attention. But this book seemed to explain juicing in very easy to understand terms and to make it really simple to do. Let's take a look at the book!

The Information was Excellent: I absolutely loved how easy to understand the authors made this book. They explained how much nutrition there is in fruit and veggie juices, that we can't always get by eating. There was also a ton of recipes and tips about how to do a juicing cleanse as well as how to incorporate juice into your everyday life.


There was Balance:  In this book they really tried to emphasis  that juicing shouldn't be difficult or an out of balance starvation diet. It was pointed out that juicing should be included as a normal part of a healthy lifestyle. This is really different, because the current fad with juicing makes it more of a starvation diet.




Christian Perspective: While this book wasn't written by Christians, it still had a lot of great points. I would love to see more Christians writing about these subjects. I highly recommend this book!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.