Joni is celebrating her 72nd birthday today! She is praising Jesus for her many blessings, and she wants to pass them on. Join her in sharing practical help and the joy of Jesus with a gift to Joni’s House. The best gift you can give Joni for her birthday is a gift to someone in need!
Today on my birthday, I am one big, happy, shiny mirror.
Honestly today, I mean, I’ve got so much joy, I just have to reflect, I have to mirror it to others. ’Cause I am passing on the blessing. Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and at my age, 72, I am the most blessed quadriplegic in the world. I got strength; I got health; I got a mission, and I get to sit up every morning and face life head-on. And so I am not receiving gifts today; I am giving them. I am so happy in the Lord Jesus, I simply just have to pass on the joy of Jesus.
You see, I am keenly aware that there are hundreds of thousands of people – disabled people around the world – who do not have strength; they do not have health; they cannot sit up and face life head-on because they don’t have a wheelchair. They don’t have resources. They’re trapped in poverty and hopelessness. And well, I simply cannot sit on my blessings, while others are still in need. So on this, my 72nd birthday, I am pouring fuel on the fire in my heart to make sure as many people with disabilities as possible find hope in Jesus. That they get a wheelchair. That they be given a Bible. Be plugged into a caring church. Receive medical help and food or a job. Whatever my team and I can do to give them the blessing of the joy of the Lord.
I’m even donating to my own birthday today! Like I said, I don’t want to receive gifts; I want to give them. I mean, sometimes I sit in my wheelchair just enjoying my backyard, and I’m thinking of all the disabled people I know who live in shacks made of cardboard and rusty tin. Their back yards are nothing but hard dirt. They scrimp; they save, eking out a bare existence. Right there, I just have to close my eyes against the flowers in my yard, and I just have to pray on their behalf. So it’s why I’m giving gifts on my birthday, not receiving them. And I want you to join me. I’m asking friends like you to help support Joni’s Houses in places like Nepal, El Salvador, Ukraine, Uganda, and more. Joni's House is a center where disabled people can receive wheelchairs – the wheelchairs we give – plus the precious Word of God. They receive medical help and food, receive hygiene kits, and even job skills training. Even now as I speak, we are delivering wheelchairs to the needy in El Salvador. And we’re doing it because we want them to enjoy the same satisfaction that we have found in Christ. When it comes to Joni's House, it’s a way of doing hands-on, up-close-and-personal mercy ministry, all the while calling disabled people around the world to share our joy in the Lord Jesus.
You know, every birthday should be joyful, and today, mine certainly is. My joy in the Lord is overflowing, and that joy just has to spill somewhere. So why not on the world's disabled? Why not on those who need him most? And so, like I said, I am mirroring, I am reflecting, I am passing on, I am giving the same blessings with which God has enriched my life for so many years. And on today, October 15th, I am doing it with a gift to Joni’s House. So join me, would you? Go to joniradio.org where you can let your joy spill over onto the world’s disabled! Donate to my birthday. And as you do, I’m asking God to give you the biggest, the greatest blessing of all: an enlargement of your joy in Christ. Because it is always, always more blessed to give than to receive. It’s something I’m celebrating on this very special birthday, so get in on the fun at joniradio.org. And, hey, while you’re on my radio page enjoy the photos and video that I’ve posted of Joni’s House.
© Joni and Friends