Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to “Joni and Friends.”
And there are a few other people we are welcoming to Joni and Friends this week. We have a whole bunch of interns from all around the country who are here at the International Disability Center. They’re studying with us for a week our “Beyond Suffering” Curriculum. Then we are sending them off to one of our Family Retreats and then they are all going to go and serve at an orphanage for children with disabilities in Haiti. It is a wonderful experience for these young women, and men. And I have with me today one of our interns, Beth Massengale. Welcome, Beth, to the program.
BETH: Thank you for having me.
JONI: Beth, where are you from?
BETH: Birmingham, Alabama.
JONI: And welcome here to the IDC. We are so glad you are here with us.
BETH: Thanks.
JONI: What folks can’t see who are listening is that you are sitting in a three-wheeled scooter. Now, you are not an elderly person. You are a young woman barely out of her 20’s.
BETH: Yes!
JONI: You have that young look about you. What can I say! Describe a little about your disability for our friends listening.
BETH: Sure. I have two of them. One is disautonomia and that is the autonomic nervous system not functioning well. The blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature are not regulated causing me to faint or nearly faint. And then Myasthenia Gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular condition causing weakness, balance and vision problems.
JONI: Oh, my goodness, Beth. For one so young and to have so many disabling conditions, my heart aches for you. But you know what, I love your smile and the light in your eyes. To what do you attribute this?
BETH: The Lord Jesus and His joy, because truly the joy of the Lord is my strength.
JONI: Beth, you shared a little bit about that strength from the time when you were a very young girl and our lives connected way back when you were young. Tell our friends about that.
BETH: I would say in 1986 when I was just six years old I’d listen to Joni’s record “I’ve Got Wheels” over and over again and that was my first introduction to my hero…
JONI: …It went: Wheels, I’ve got wheels. They get me where I want to go… Well, that was preparing you for a disability, right?
BETH: Absolutely!
JONI: But then a couple of other of my albums?
BETH: Oh, “Spirit Wings”, “Joni’s Song” – even the ones you sing with Dr. McArthur and the Wolgemuths.
JONI: Right! There is one song in particular, I have forgotten all about it, but a couple of days ago you sang it for me.
BETH: “I Am Willing Lord”.
JONI: How does it start?
BETH: Sometimes when I am down…
JONI:…and I don’t feel that you’re around, Oh Lord, feeling so sorry for me, Not knowing that all the while you are working to see if when I’m put through the fire (and you too) we will come out shining as gold. That’s your whole goal in life, isn’t it?
BETH: Absolutely!
JONI: Beth, what has God taught you not only battling one condition, but two very serious disabling conditions. What have you learned from the Lord?
BETH: When I was first diagnosed it was very easy to wallow around in self-pity and focusing on what I could not do, but God actually used your testimony, Joni, to show me that you actually quote in one of your books “You gotta get busy livin’” and that is what I chose to do a couple of years ago is not let my disabilities define who I am so the Lord began turning the wheels and giving me the desire to intern here and your staff have been wonderful with making accommodations with me being here.
JONI: Oh, Beth you touch me deeply. Never when I said those words so many years ago, did I imagine there was a young girl in Alabama struggling to put it all together with so many medical conditions. So friend, listening people are watching you; people are observing your testimony; people are learning; people are growing from you, so be observant, know that you are on stage, and let the Lord use your life to inspire others, right Beth?
BETH: Yes! Thank you. It’s such a joy to be here. A dream come true.
JONI: Thank you for coming.
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