As Joni reflects on her birthday, she talks about how she already has received the best of birthday gifts. Join in on her birthday celebration at joniradio.org.
Hi, I’m Joni Tada with a few thoughts about my upcoming birthday.
Yep, this weekend I’ll be celebrating another miracle. And this year has been an entirely big miracle for me, as I reach the age of 74. As a quadriplegic? I am outliving all the doom and gloom statistics about aging with a spinal cord injury. And I am celebrating two things. A little like the two things that Joseph celebrated. I’ve always been fascinated by the colorful twists and turns of Joseph's story in the Bible. And through decades of quadriplegia, he has been a favorite. Now, in the beginning, right after I was paralyzed, I identified with Joseph when he was stuck in prison. The confines of my wheelchair made me feel stuck, too. Quadriplegia was so confining. But as I look to another birthday, Joseph’s story resonates for quite a different reason. Because there did come a time when Joseph was able to look back on his awful days in prison as a distant memory. Being sold into slavery by his wicked brothers? It was all behind him. And when Joseph reflected on everything that God had brought him through, he wanted to honor God by naming his children, Manasseh, and Ephraim. The name Manasseh symbolized how God made Joseph forget all his troubles. The other son was named Ephraim to represent how God made him fruitful in the land of his suffering.
The story about Joseph and his two sons has grown on me over the years. Actually, when I think about it, his son's names have grown on me too. When I look at my wheelchair, I’m half-tempted to name one of my wheels, Manasseh, and the other Ephraim! Because my wheelchair is no longer a prison. Instead, I look down at my wheels and they are a reminder of all that God has brought me through – the Lord has honestly made me forget so many of my past troubles and dismal times.
Now I'm not saying that I've arrived, and that this wheelchair is easy, but the sheer awfulness of those former times and troubles has dissipated. What’s more, just like Joseph, God has given me the incredible privilege of being fruitful in the land of my suffering. Oh my goodness, I look at my life and I’ve experienced so much fruit! Fruit like endurance and perseverance and patience. What’s more, I can see the fruit of my labors. It brings such joy to sit in my wheelchair and see how God has used what I've learned to encourage other people. And then, abundant fruit in the land of my suffering by all these Family Retreats, and getaways, and the Wheels for the World wheelchair ministry. All of it spawned because of my accident.
So in a few days, on my birthday, I can say, that I have already received the best of birthday gifts – God has made me forget my past sorrows [a little like Manasseh] and he has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering [like Ephraim]. What more could a 74-year-old woman ask for? And if you want to help me celebrate that, then I invite you to join the party at joniradio.org where I ask you to donate to my birthday, so that we can do even more wheelchair ministry and retreats, and getaways in this coming year, giving the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people with disabilities all around the world. Because we want them to be fruitful in the land of their suffering. So, celebrate my birthday with all of us at Joni and Friends and visit joniradio.org today. Wish me well as I reach the age of 74 – it’s a miracle! So, cheer me on with your prayers as I wheel into another miraculous year. See you at the birthday party at joniradio.org!
© Joni and Friends