Heath Lambert: I am excited that our guest on the podcast this week is Joni Eareckson Tada and her husband, Ken. Joni is the founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International and is a popular Christian author and Christian speaker.
One of the things that you’ll notice about our podcast this week is that the format is different in a couple of respects. First of all, our podcast is normally about 10 minutes. We try to have that be short enough to give you some content that’s helpful but not so long that you have to make a great big commitment in order to be able to listen to it. That’s a little different this week because our conversation with Joni and Ken was so fruitful. We just wanted to give you the whole thing. It’s about a 45-minute conversation that I hope you’ll take the time to listen to and be encouraged by. Another reality that makes the format a little bit different is that the conversation this week is hosted not by me but by Sean Perron, who is the chief of staff of ACBC. Sean caught up with Joni and Ken and had a wide-ranging conversation with them about Joni’s story, their story together, disability ministry, the sufficiency of Scripture, and about how to help people affected by disabilities. I think this conversation is really encouraging, really helpful, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Sean Perron: Joni, I’d love to hear about your story. I know many people probably know it, but there are a lot of people that listen to the podcast that don’t. So tell us a little bit about your story.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Well, I can’t believe that it’s been fifty years—oh my goodness—since I took that faithful dive into shallow water so many years ago in 1967. I was a seventeen-year-old, excited about going off to college in just a month, and on a fling, went swimming with my sister in the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland. I dove into what I thought was deep water. But immediately when my head hit the sandy bottom, it snapped my head back, crushing my neck at the 4th cervical level and I realized real fast that I was in shallow water and I was face down, and I could not right myself out of the water. I was just desperately holding my breath, hoping that my sister might notice that I was in danger. I could only hold my breath so long, and I’m screaming in my head, “Kathy, please see me!”
Well, Kathy had her back turned to me, and she was just about ready to leave the water to walk up onto the beach toward our towel and a crab bitter toe! And in that instant, she quickly whirled around in the water to scream to me to watch out for crabs. And when she did, she saw my blond hair floating on the water, and when I didn’t respond to her call, she knew immediately something awful had happened and came swimming very rapidly toward me. She pulled me up out of the water, spitting and sputtering. I was gasping for breath. And when my sister told me that story months later, I thought, “Oh my goodness, what a sovereign God we have who can even move a little sea creature into just the right position to pinch my sister’s toe just when someone needed to be alarmed that another person was in trouble!” It, just from the very beginning, helped me see that God is concerned not only with the big issues of life but the small, tiny, and seemingly insignificant, incidental things like a crab biting someone’s toe. It, to me, was strange but a comforting assurance that God was in the details. He was in the details in the very beginning.
Sean Perron: Wow, so that was fifty years ago.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Fifty years ago! I sound old, don’t I?
Sean Perron: No, no! And then now, I mean, your ministry, Joni and Friends, has impacted millions of people. How did that come about? I’d love to hear that part of the story as well.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Well, in twenty-five words or less, I’ll try and squeeze it in. I was a mouth artist. I was drawing paintings and pictures, holding brushes between my teeth. I went to the University of Maryland, studied art, and, you know, I just wanted to be an artist. Since I was now disabled and could not use my hands or my legs. I’m sitting down in a wheelchair. I’m thinking, what can I do? Well, at least I could paint. And so I was showing my artwork locally, and a local NBC affiliate picked it up. And then, before I knew it, I was on The Today Show in New York and shared my testimony with Barbara Walters. And then a Christian publisher heard me that morning and asked if I’d write a book about my autobiography, and then Mr. Graham and Billy Graham’s wife Ruth read the book and said, “Let’s make a movie.” And before I knew it, I was catapulted onto a national platform back in the 70s and the 1980s. And immediately, even though I was still a young person, I realized that God was giving me this remarkable sphere of influence and that I had to be a good steward of it, especially when letters started coming in from all over the world. Letters asking questions like, “My son’s disabled. How did you get up out of depression? Can I help him out of depression?” “Well, what about my pastor? Your church seems to have embraced your special needs family. What about mine?” “What about miraculous healing? What does the Bible say about that?” Question after question. And so, in my efforts to steward those opportunities well, I began a ministry called Joni and friends in 1979. And we were dedicated to equip the church to not only communicate the gospel but to evangelize and disciple and shepherd and embrace people affected by disability, and that’s what we’ve been doing for over three and a half decades now, and I so enjoyed my work.
Sean Perron: That is a perfect segue to my first question. So, Joni and Friends Ministry to help people who are affected by disability. ACBC is a ministry for counseling and providing resources to help people to do ministry. How do Joni and Friends and the mission behind Joni and Friends and the mission behind ACBC, how would you say those two relate?
Joni Eareckson Tada: Well, we were just in a conversation with Dr. Al Mohler, and he was describing that every relationship and every opportunity is a counseling opportunity. And I believe that because we’re all broken to one degree or another. My brokenness sitting here in a wheelchair without using my hands or my legs is just a little more visible than your brokenness. That doesn’t mean necessarily that I’m minimizing my disability. It’s just that the same struggles that I wrestle with are probably ones that you understand. So, I think, first and foremost, we need to see that when 2 Corinthians 1 tells us that the God of all comfort has comforted us so that we can comfort others in any trial. I love that word, “any.” You don’t have to be a quadriplegic to relate to other people with disabilities. You could be a healthy, able-bodied, typical person running around, and the issues that you overcome in your life, the grace that you see effectual in your brokenness, is something that gives you the platform from which to speak into the heart of someone with cerebral palsy, or someone with quadriplegia, or multiple sclerosis, or someone who’s been newly diagnosed with ALS. And so there are all kinds of ways that that we can administer and serve others.
It’s my hope and desire that we can somehow partner, serve, and equip our friends in the biblical counseling world to have the tools, to have the knowledge, to have even the language to speak into the hearts of special needs families, to show them the love of Christ, to embrace them, and not just to minister to them but receive from them because there is so much that persons with disabilities and their families can share with others who are typical.
Sean Perron. Yeah. So with ACBC—and it’s not just ACBC, there are many, many counseling organizations and biblical counseling organizations that have a commitment to the sufficiency of Scripture for the counseling problems, not the medical issues, but counseling issues. How is your ministry? Have you seen the sufficiency of Scripture impact the people that you’ve been ministering to, and how have you come to see that doctrine as important?
Joni Eareckson Tada: Well, you’re absolutely right. It is so important. I’m convinced that the Word of God is sufficient for every counseling need, no matter how severe or significant the issue, apart from medical challenges and disabilities which might require medication or other kinds of medical treatment. Because there are all sorts of disabling conditions, such as psychiatric illnesses and mental illnesses—certain kinds of mental illnesses which require medical help, but where it concerns accepting the will of God, embracing the will of God, when it comes to recognizing your own sin, dealing with it, confessing it, when it comes to getting actively engaged in your own sanctification, you don’t have to have a disability. No matter what your challenge is, these are issues that we all wrestle with, we all struggle with. So the fact is all Scripture applies to a person with a disability.
Now I recall when someone first told me to look at Romans 8:28, that all things are put together into a pattern for good to those who love God. I retched at the idea. I found it repulsive. I felt like vomiting on that person’s shoes. How dare he tell me that this could be part of God’s good plan for me? And my friend challenged me and said, “No, Joni. The Bible’s not saying that all things are good; it’s saying that all things, even though they may be horrific, tragic, life-altering, even those things, God can miraculously mold into a beautiful pattern in your life. And that pattern is in Romans 8:29, that you be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, that you become less of the stubborn, headstrong teenager that you once were and become more of the young woman who can reflect something of patience, endurance, tolerance, self-control, and long-suffering. When I began to see that, it was as though someone struck a match in my heart. It’s like, oh my goodness, God’s word does work in my life. I’m going to take this football; I’m going to run with it. And there were many other Scriptures that God used in that way in my life.
So the challenge is when and how you apply those Scriptures. Looking back on my friend who shared that Bible verse with me, I thank the Lord for the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit nevertheless took that life truth and pressed it deep within my heart. Even though it perhaps was shared with me at a time when I was resistant, then again, looking back, maybe my resistance is what needed to be crumbled. So, God, in His perfect timing, you know, allowed me to hear—and not only hear but absorb—truths that, at first, I thought were so repulsive but then became life-transforming. So I think we all just need to be sensitive about when and how, and where we apply certain Scriptures. Certainly, a mother who gives birth to a child with multiple disabilities that’s not the first Bible verse she’s going to want to hear. So the challenge is asking the Lord Jesus, “Father, these are your words. How can I minister them, and in what form and when? That is why I often do not give the Joni book, the autobiography I wrote. I don’t give it to young people who just suffered a spinal cord injury. That’s not a good time to share the story of a successful quadriplegic who’s now smiling in her wheelchair. There’s a time for weeping, the Bible says, and we should weep with those who weep, not rejoice over their sorrow. So, it’s a matter of discernment and sensitivity, isn’t it? And ask the Holy Spirit, “When, Lord, and how?”
Sean Perron: When you have someone in your life that has experienced that pain and that tragedy—and for the people listening to the podcast, they may have spent time with them in the hospital, they may be ministering to them—and they haven’t rushed to those verses yet. But the person looks at them and says, “I’m having a hard time believing that the Bible really, really speaks to these issues I’m facing.” What would be something that maybe you found helpful in those moments of darkness when they’re saying, “I don’t know if the Bible is sufficient for these counseling problems.” What would you say?
Joni Eareckson Tada: I would say, “I know exactly how you feel. If I were in your position, I’d feel exactly the same way. I really don’t fault you, and I don’t blame you for holding those views of God’s Word. I don’t blame you one bit, but together, we’re going to pray, we’re going to become friends, we’re going to build a relationship…” That’s the key. “And I think over time God will give us answers. So can we wait until then? Let’s see.” That’s a wonderful way to respond to somebody! And I think that degree of empathy—I remember…. [unintelligible] when my husband Ken and I were contemplating marriage, and he wanted to ask me to marry him, he took me to spend time with his mother and father. Now, I had met his mother, a strong Japanese woman, and Ken Tada was her number one Ichiban son, and she had great hopes and aspirations. I’m certain for him to marry, I don’t know, perhaps another fellow Japanese woman. who knows! But here I was, Caucasian, and not only Caucasian, but I was also in a wheelchair! And not just in a wheelchair. I was a quadriplegic! And I will never forget going to mom and dad Tada’s house for Sukiyaki dinner, and after dinner, Ken broached the subject of marriage, that he wanted to propose to me and that we were there to secure their blessing. And his mother turned to me with her eyes very wet and said, “But, you have to understand. I don’t see how this will work.” As she glances at my wheelchair. I said, “Mrs. Tada if I were you, I’d feel just the same way. I’d look at myself and think this isn’t going to work. So please understand that I resonate, I get it, I know what you’re thinking and saying, and I don’t blame you or fault you one bit. I just want to, over time, demonstrate and prove to you that I think this will work.” And just that little bit of ‘Aha, I get it, or I’m resonating with you, or I understand what you’re feeling,’ really took us a long way, and we’ve been married thirty-five happy years.
Sean Perron: I was just about to ask!
Joni Eareckson Tada: Right? A long time! And before my mother-in-law passed away, she was a dear and close friend. She admired me and my achievements as much, if not more, than my own mother. It was quite something. A great relationship ensued.
Sean Perron: Hmm, praise the Lord. So, you guys have been married for how long again?
Joni Eareckson Tada: Thirty-five years.
Sean Perron: Thirty-five years. And maybe some people listen to the podcast that are affected by a disability. What would you say to them as they’re thinking about pursuing marriage? Do you have any thoughts that you want to share with them?
Ken Tada: I think the first thing I would say is—as far as contemplating marriage to someone who’s disabled—I know for a fact, you know, I can just share that Joni and I, without Jesus Christ in our lives, it wouldn’t work. You need something stronger in your life, whether you have a disability in a marriage or you’re just getting married for the first time. But you need something more that will sustain you for the first six months, you know, that easy breezy, ‘Boy, everything is looking great,’ floating on air feeling that you get when you first get married. When reality starts to set in, and you realize you’re going to be with this person for the rest of your life, I think the thing that most has sustained both Joni and me is exactly what I just said, that we both love Jesus and He’s been to the sustaining force for us for thirty-five years.
Joni Eareckson Tada: I remember that when we were first married after about a year or two, Ken just became overwhelmed with the day-to-day routines of my disability. Now, I had help. I had outside help; girlfriends and caregivers who would come and assist with lots of personal care routines. But nevertheless, even with all that help, the psychological burden of being married to someone like me was just a little overwhelming. And I’ll never forget one night before bed, Ken sat on the edge of the mattress and hands-on-knees, slumped-shouldered, looked down at the carpet, shook his head, and said, “I can’t do this. I feel so trapped.” My first response as a newlywed was, “Well, where was your head when we got married? You think you’re trapped? What about me? I’m really trapped! Weren’t you thinking when we walked down the aisle, didn’t you know it was going to be this hard?” And as soon as I said those words, I wished I could have stuffed them back into my mouth because I knew they were wrong. And I kept saying, “Oh, Ken, that’s not me. That’s not like me. I shouldn’t have said that. That’s not me!”
But it was me. It is me. And when I saw the spew of accusations that came out of my mouth, that revealed to me so much of my own heart that needed to be changed. And over time, there was change, marvelous change, not only in me but also in Ken. To the point where, I guess, ten years ago, I started dealing with terrible, chronic pain, and it meant Ken had to get up a lot during the night to turn me and reposition me in bed. Because to lie in one position for too long was too painful. And it was another night, shortly after a painful episode, when he sat on the edge of that same bed and slumped-shouldered and said, “I feel like I just can’t do this.” Remember that, hon?
Ken Tada: I do, but we realized that at that point, Joni and I had developed a way of communicating with each other which meant I felt much more secure in sharing that with Joni because she knew and knows that I love her, and sometimes the disability just kind of creeps in.
Joni Eareckson Tada: And I said to him, “Sweetheart, don’t worry. I don’t blame you for feeling trapped. This is an icky trapping situation, and I get it. I understand what you’re feeling, and I just want you to know I’m going to do my best. I’m going to cheer you on. I’m going to pray for you. I’m going to applaud your every effort and appreciate your every gesture, I’m going to be your best friend through this, and we’re going to get through this. I’m not going to be on the sidelines. We’re going to walk through this together. When I move forward, we’re going to do it. We’re gonna do it together. I believe in you, and I believe that God’s grace is sufficient.” And it was helpful to have that kind of response rather than, “Well, look at me. I’m the one in pain. You’re not. I am.” And those kinds of moments where there’s such transparency, honesty, and openness where your spouse feels trusting enough to be that vulnerable, what a precious thing. You better not squelch it or step on it, or dirty the moment with your own selfishness. And so that’s been the story of our marriage, a constant dying to self and helping the other.
Ken Tada: I want to say one other thing. You know, Joni is really my hero. Six years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and boy, I tell you, it brought reality to both of us. I realized that I could lose my best friend.
Joni Eareckson Tada: But you didn’t.
Ken Tada: I still tear up. I think what happened to us, though, whether it took a catastrophic diagnosis or, you know, something that happens in your life. It just brought reality to who we were on our journey. I think what it did for the two of us is it brought us closer together, and I think we fell in love with each other all over again. There was a time when we didn’t know how serious the diagnosis was going to be or what kind of stage this cancer was going to take, where we just sat outside on our anniversary, just after Joni had her operation, and just enjoyed the backyard. the wind through the trees.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Hummingbirds!
Ken Tada: I mean, everything just took on a whole different meaning.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Yeah, a very sweet time together. You know, my hands don’t work. I can’t fold my husband’s towels. I can’t whip him up an omelet. I can’t, you know, fix them a steak, I can’t rub his back, I can’t do so many things that most women do. But what I can do because you have to examine what is your give giftedness in this marriage, what can you bring to the table. And I think my gift is encouragement, and so I have made it an art to encourage my husband, to affirm him, and if there’s any tiny little seed of some Christ-like characteristic that I witness growing in his life, boy I’m going to water it with kind words and affirming words. Like, “Ken, bless your heart for the way that you reached out to help our neighbor. That was so cool of you to do that. He knows we’re Christians, and to just do that, just to take in his garbage, that was pretty cool.” Just say things that you mean! It’s not empty flattery. I’m not talking about empty flattery, but I’m talking about affirming the Christ-like characteristics in your spouse that you want to applaud and you want to see grow. And they will grow because God will use your words of affirmation, and he will step into that person that God has created him to be, and you can be a part of it by just visualizing it for him. So, I can’t whip up an omelet, but I think what I just described is so much more valuable than a Denver omelet with ham and eggs. I’m saying it’s good. It helps him be the husband, be the man, God wants him to be.
Sean Perron: The Bible talks about marriage glorifying God, and your marriage glorifies the Lord in a wonderful, wonderful way. And that is very encouraging, and praise the Lord for His kindness in your lives, to be able to have that testimony.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Well, you know, the Bible calls us to die to self and live to God and bless others, and marriage is a wonderful way to do that. It’s a wonderful way to die to your own wants and wishes and your own needs. I mean, oh my goodness, I got married because I thought I was marrying a man who could meet my needs.
[Laughter]
And boy, did I learn real fast in the early years! It’s not going to work that way. But then I had that aha moment that I just described earlier when I was spewing all those awful things out, “You think I’m trapped? What about me?” It must have sounded terrible, and so it was so revealing. My innermost being was poured out there like verbal vomit.
Sean Perron: Wow.
Joni Eareckson Tada: And it was so revealing. And so marriage is a daily dying to self and living for God and enjoying each other. Boy, it’s just so much fun to be Ken’s encourager.
Sean Perron: Praise the Lord.
Joni Eareckson Tada: He’s a great encourager.
Sean Perron: Well, you mentioned a minute ago that you battled with cancer. Did you say in 2010?
Joni Eareckson Tada: 2010.
Sean Perron: Okay. I mean, you’ve experienced real and deep suffering, and you mentioned chronic pain as well. For people who are listening to the podcast who—maybe they’re listening right now, maybe they’re in pain—and they’ve heard us talk together about how the Bible is sufficient for counseling problems. And they’ve heard us talk about how the Word can help them, but they’re in pain right now, and they’re discouraged. What would you say? What are maybe some promises that you’ve held onto in the Scripture in those moments that you would want to encourage them with?
Joni Eareckson Tada: Great question because just recently, Ken was driving me to work in the van, and it was one of those days where it was so hard to wake up in the morning. I wake up in the morning, and it’s hard to get going with chronic pain and quadriplegia. It’s a two-hour routine of bed, bath, exercises, toileting, and strapping on my corset. And having somebody else brush your hair, blow your nose, brush your teeth. And it’s just hard. And on top of that, my pain was exacerbated that day. And Ken is driving me up the 101 Freeway toward work, toward our headquarters at Joni and friends. And I feel like telling him to take the next exit and turn around and go home. I just am in too much pain, and I dread having to wheel into the building and smile at anybody. And I said to Ken out loud, “I’ve got to believe God is going to help me through this.” And so I said out loud in prayer because we always pray on the way to work together, out loud in the van, make it a sanctuary of praise. So I said, “Lord Jesus, Psalm 119:50 says, ‘My comfort and suffering is this. Your promises renew my life.’ This is what I’m going to do, Jesus. I’m going to start reciting as many promises of yours as I can possibly think of because I know you are good at your word. You are going to renew. You are going to refresh my life. You’re going to give me the courage to face this day. So here we go. Lord Jesus, you promise me that you’ll never leave me or forsake me. Lord Jesus, you promise me that even this fits into some pattern for good. Lord Jesus, you promised that your grace is sufficient for every need. Lord Jesus, you promised me that you are my ever-present help in any trouble.”
And I kept going on and on, past four or five exits on the freeway, just reciting out loud every promise I could think of. “I’m going to hold you to this, Lord Jesus. I believe you’re going to renew my life. This is my comfort in my suffering. You tell me that it is, and I believe it. And so, I’m going to share with you those promises that I know you’re good for.”
Sean, I gotta tell you, when I wheeled through that building fifteen minutes later, I was a different woman. I still had pain. My hip hurt like crazy, but I was different. I had courage, and it’s just taking God at His word and believing Him and squeezing every ounce of meaning that you think the Holy Spirit’s going to give you out of it. and just believing it. Boy, when you suffer and suffer hard, that’s the way to live. It is the only way. It is the biblical way to live, take God’s promises, and live on them. They become your meat and your drink. And even at work—in this recording session, right now, my friend Rainy is sitting over to the side, and she’ll tell you, there are so many times at work where I have to ask her and another co-worker to please help me lay down. I have a little office bed. “Adjust my corset, just pull my hip, just do anything you can.” And often I will ask, “And Rainy, just put your nice cold hand on my hot forehead, pray for me. I am failing; I need prayer.” And she’ll pray. And usually, I’ll get up, and still, the pain might be there. sometimes it helps. But I’m a different woman. I’m a prayed-for woman. I love that kind of vulnerability, “I can’t do this thing called life. Would you please help me, God? What are your promises for the day?” You know, this is the way we’re supposed to live as Christians! To boast in our affliction and our limitations, and glory in the insults and injuries and even the indignities of a disability, because then we know God’s power rests on us.
But we Christians, we get so caught up in the, I don’t know. the bright and the beautiful. And when we do that, when we start cruising on how we think the Christian life ought to be led, “I got this, God. You know what, I’ve been to enough Bible studies, I’ve heard enough sermons, I’ve got the lay of the land. I pretty much know how to do this Christian walk thing. So I tell you what I’m going to do, I’m going to take it out through the day, but if I do have any needs, I’ll check in with you.” That’s the way so many of us live, and we think that needs are a messy inconvenience, that pain, disability, problems in a marriage, roadblocks, or dead ends. We think these things are awful inconveniences in an otherwise rosy life, then God lobbies a hand grenade into it all and blows it up with some irritation or trial that seems so untimely. But it is all meant to make us live needy lives. We are needy people.
Sean Perron: Even as we’ve been spending a little bit of time together today, you talking about holding onto the precious promises of God in the Word—I mean, we’ve spent a few hours together at lunch and whatnot. One of the ways I’ve just observed you doing that is through hymns.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Yes.
Sean Perron: I’ve just noticed that you have a beautiful voice and you like to sing. And I’m assuming that encourages you.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Oh, that was almost the way I was going to answer one of your earlier questions.
Sean Perron: Okay. Well, I’d love to know, what are the top hymns that you love, and that you cherish?
Joni Eareckson Tada: Oh, gee! There are just so many. [Sings] Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art! I am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart! [Stops] I love that one. And I love when I’m really feeling low, and pain overwhelms me, or I’m in bed at night, I might sing [sings], abide with me. Fast falls the eventide. When darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, the help of the helpless, O abide with me [Stops]. Those are just a few, but I love hymns about the glory and greatness of God. [Sings] All hail the power of Jesus’ name. Let angels prostrate fall [stops]. I mean, there are so many rich hymns that have such great orthodoxy and such rich truth in them. And this wonderful last line of that glorious hymn by Wesley [Sings]. Hear him, you deaf, his praise, ye dumb. Your loosened tongues employ. Ye blind behold your Savior come and leap, ye lame for joy! [Stops] That’s me! “Leap ye lame for joy.” One day I’m going to do that. It’s so exciting!
Sean Perron: Amen!
Joni Eareckson Tada: So hymns are a great way of reigning in our emotions. Our emotions can run away with us, and we begin to have our reality colored by them, which is such a dangerous thing. But hymns have a way of setting the tone for the day. You can indeed pray without ceasing. I have gone to work, and I’ve been humming a certain hymn all day long. And oh, my goodness. What is it? It is praying without ceasing. It’s just a way of keeping God’s Word and those life-changing principles coursing in your mind constantly through a song. We all know how well songs stick with us, so. Great healing balm. There is a balm in Gilead, and it’s Jesus. And there are a million hymns written about him. So, learn a few. I memorize them and sing them often.
Sean Perron: That’s wonderful! What are some unique concerns, maybe for caregivers of people who are affected with disabilities, and what can Christians do to help care providers? What would be… any wisdom you have there?
Ken Tada: I think as a caregiver, one of the most important things to remember is that you can’t do it by yourself. You’ve got to be able to reach out. And you reach out in different ways, but I think, you know— I know for myself, I have a small group of men who support me in prayer. You know, there are often times were caregivers need a little break. And sometimes, if you’re a friend of the caregiver if you can just offer up a little bit of respite time for that caregiver to go out, go shopping, or if they are in that kind of situation to go out and do some exercising. Just to get away for a little while. But I think those who are caregivers need those practical things in order to be able to function properly.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Yeah, I know, one church where—this is really recent—friends of ours, she is a double amputee. And there are some secondary complications relating now to her sedentary condition. So she’s getting older a little bit, and her husband is her constant caregiver. And finally, their little church has, you know, awakened to this need and their congregation, and they have a rotating group of women who come in and help this woman with her chores around the house because she likes to do a little bit of gardening and she likes a little bit of cooking. And so they come and help her with that while the husband goes golfing. He misses golf, he loves golfing, and he hadn’t golfed in a couple of years. How tragic for that couple. So, it’s just a rotating basis. So there are six or seven women who’ve just opted to learn how to do that, to just come and be a friend, spend time with her, go alongside her, do a little gardening with her, and her husband gets to go golfing. A precious respite for the Saturday morning that enables him to come home and be energized for the rest of the week. Simple tasks like that make all the difference to a caregiver.
Sean Perron: That’s really helpful. As we close, I know you have a newer book out. It’s called A Spectacle of Glory. I’d love for you to tell our listeners about that new book and what made you want to write it.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Well, I chose A Spectacle of Glory because of something that John Owen had once written. He was preaching a sermon on Exodus 3, where Moses saw a flaming bush that was not consumed. And it says, I think in Exodus 3, I can’t remember the exact verse, it says, I will go over and investigate the strange sight why the bush does not burn up. So right there, I will go over and investigate why this bush has not burned up. And I like to think that we are Christians who suffer and suffer graciously, even sometimes with faults and failures, that we are those bushes that are not consumed. Causing others to say, “Let me get near this person and understand this strange sight. Why? Why do her trials not consume her? What is it about her God that is so great that inspires such loyalty? I want to learn about this.” And we become a spectacle of God’s glory, a showcase of God’s glory. So I wrote these devotional vignettes, 365 for the year. A daily devotional to help people get actively engaged in their own sanctification so that you too can be a spectacle of God’s glory, causing your neighbors and friends to think, “Whoa, how is it that she’s able to handle that problem with such grace? Why is she not complaining?” These are the things that entice people to the Christian faith. They want to know why it is that you live the way you do under the pressures that you face. And so this book is written to help people face those pressures with grace and with a good grab hold of Scripture. I think that all of us can and should be those spectacles of glory, those bushes unconsumed.
Sean Perron: That’s a powerful analogy. I’d love, if you don’t mind, for us to close the podcast with you praying for our listeners as they’re thinking through the things we’ve talked about and then wanting to take the next step to help people who have been affected by disabilities, and maybe even the people who are in pain as well. I’d love for you to pray for us.
Joni Eareckson Tada: Father God, thank you for listening in on our conversation, for superintending it, for this time that we spent together. I ask you, Father God, to bless, pour out your blessing, pour out your mercy upon those who are listening right now, suffering from chronic pain. Perhaps mothers, perhaps mothers of children with disabilities. Perhaps women who were in that sandwich generation, tending to young children and, at the same time, an elderly parent. Or others who perhaps are struggling in their marriages or jobs. Pour out your mercy. Be the balm in Gilead that you are, show them your tender loving care and kindness, and be the generous God that we know you to be by giving grace upon grace to all those who seek you this day.
And, in turn, enable us, then, to move beyond our afflictions and our inconvenient, difficult circumstances to see the needs of those around us. Because, indeed, there are people who live on our block, who live down the road, who lives across the street, who lives on the other side of town. People that we know, even relatives or family members that are hurting, broken, discouraged, and depressed. Father, help these friends listening right now to my voice to be salt and light. To be the conduits, the vessels of your grace and forgiveness, your joy and your strength, your courage and your valor, your love and your tender mercy. Help us to be attuned and awake to the needs around us and help us to meet those needs for the sake of the church and for bringing many poor people into the Kingdom, and most of all, for the glory of Jesus Christ. It is in his name we pray these things, Lord Jesus. Amen.
