Hello again!! I'm back with lots more to tell about our retreat! Sorry it's taking me a few days - we've got a lot to catch up on now that we're home.
So, when I last left off, we were preparing for the kids and their families to arrive on Wednesday. We had a little more orientation, and set up the houses that our families would be staying at. The houses were all really nice, and ready for guests, but we added a few extras like T-shirts and sunscreen, and made sure everything was warm and welcome. Then, we grabbed some lunch and went to our "headquarters" which was a restaurant called "The Bait House" that was closed to everyone but us for the "off-season." We stood there like kids waiting for Christmas morning, ready to "attack" our new friends as soon as their cars pulled into the parking lot.
We were partnered with a very nice family from Kentucky with three children - a 6 year old girl, a 4 year old boy (the "patient"), and a baby girl who is just 1 day older than Christa. The boy is doing great and has been off-treatment since April, and they were an especially fun family to hang around with.
Since this was a family event for us, I thought it might be neat to let Cline tell you the rest, because I don't think you want to read the novel I could write about it, and I can't pick and choose the things I should leave out. Here he is to give you an overview of the retreat:
Cline here!
A "typical day" at The Lighthouse:
7AM -- Wake up and get ready with a few minutes with Christa before heading off (on our bikes!) to our family's house to help get them packed and ready for Morning Watch.
8:15AM -- Leave family's house and head to Beach Club (on bikes :) to help unload family when they arrive and go to beach for Morning Watch from 8:30-9:00AM. This was a time of singing and devotional with our own nuclear family (for us, this would be Cline and Jessica only as Christa was playing with Mimi).
9:00AM -- Back across the street for breakfast and clean-up and then quickly over to our family's house again to make beds, wash towels, clothes, dishes and hurry back to children so that parents could go to Common Grounds, their small group session, where they had the opportunity to share their "stories" with one another. For many of these parents, this was the first time they had ever shared their cancer story to anyone outside their families and doctors. As a result it was an incredibly emotional, but very popular part of the trip for them.
9:30-Noon -- Play with kids! Because Em (the baby in our family) still takes two naps a day like Christa does, one of us had to be at the house with her at all times. But Jessica and another family partner, Diane, took turns staying with Em so all of us still got to participate in some of the fun activities with the youngsters. One day, we made "edible haunted houses", and another day, we had "practice" for the talent show held after the Luau (more details to follow). A lot of time was also just spent swimming and playing by the pool with little folks who enjoyed just being "normal" for a while.
Noon-12:30PM -- Moms and Dads came back from Common Grounds (although on certain days Mom's went to the Watercolor Spa for treatments, while on another, the Dad's all went golfing) and ate lunch together.
12:30-2:00PM -- Rest time. There was a big focus by the Retreat staff to ensure that each day the family partners got the opportunity to have some down time to recharge and prepare to serve again. For us, this was usually when Cline would run and then we would all get ready and go to the Beach together. (This was also Mimi's "break" for the day!)
2:00-5:00PM -- Families and their partners would join up for joint activities and had free-time to ride bikes, build sandcastles, go swimming or whatever we enjoyed doing together. While the entire trip was a blast, this was my (Cline's) favorite part because it was just "un-programmed" time to sit and interact as humans on a casual level without having an agenda to follow. Christa liked this part best because it either meant swimming with Daddy or eating sand (a delicious, if gritty, culinary treat who's after-effects are still being seen in her diapers!).
5:00-5:30PM -- Shower and head over to The BaitHouse (our headquarters) for dinner duty. This usually involved setting out and serving donated food and drinks.
6:00-6:45PM. Eat dinner. After serving the families plates (especially the kids!) and filling their drinks, we'd quickly eat ourselves before scurrying over to their house again for turn-down. Each night we would turn down the beds and leave a note and cookie on our family member's pillows. Cline usually missed this part because of his kitchen duty and cleaning up of tables/chairs, etc.
6:45-9:00PM. Night activities. This usually involved more time with us and the kids while their parents had more planned events. One night we made tie-dye t-shirts, while another, we watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks" on a big inflatable screen while having a fun ice-cream party. A highlight of the trip however was the Luau, catered by Watercolor with delicious coconut shrimp, jerk chicken and an ENTIRE PIG, they had smoked and pulled for us. After the Luau, we had the talent show where each child performed their very own special unique talent. From three-year-old's singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or 5 and 6-year-olds telling knock-knock jokes to a little boy doing a "no-hands" handstand while being held aloft by two adults ("I hadn't even practiced doing that before!" he said.), we had lots of incredible entertainment.
9:00-until. We would have our Nightcap activities which started with singing 2 or 3 songs to guitar and then devotional time with Muriel (which was always incredible!), and then usually a fun game or sometimes after a particularly exhausting day, just a few announcements and then lights-out.
This is just a taste of what this week offered. It really was an amazing experience to see what acts of plain, unadulterated Christian charity can do to families that are hurting. The children and their parents just blossomed under God's care and cultivation through the hands and feet of the volunteers. I would definitely encourage anyone looking for a mission project or a way to serve who has a passion for children to consider The Lighthouse. I know we hope to go back again next year!
This is Jessica again. I was going to add some pictures, but I left my camera on by accident, and my battery is dead. I'll post a few once it re-charges. This could be a good thing, because it might allow me time to get permission from the family we worked with to post some pictures of them, too! Like Cline said, I hope we get to go back. The website says that the families should go at least twice to get the most out of the Lighthouse, and I think that applies to volunteers, too. There is so much to do, and it took a couple of days to learn our way around and get the schedule timed just right. It was amazing to watch these kids and their families relax for a few days and play at the beach with other people who know firsthand what they are going through. My favorite part of the trip?? The talent show! The "sick" kids got to be "normal" for a while and the siblings (who often feel "left out" because their sister or brother needs so much attention) got to shine and feel special, too. At the end, each child got a medal while "We Are the Champions" blasted through the speakers. Parents cried, the kids beamed, and it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Even the teenagers had a great time and cracked everyone up with their skit.
Mom, thanks again so much for going with us and watching Christa! We couldn't have gone without your help, and we soooo appreciate you giving up a few of your days to help us do this. Got any plans the second week in April??? :) (By the way, my mother "acted" all exhausted on the way home, but she only made it half a day before she called because she missed Christa! So cute :)
