God calls his children to serve him until their last breath. How can you glorify the Lord and serve him this year? Find a way to volunteer in your church, community, or even with Joni and Friends!
I am celebrating you for serving our Heart for the Disabled families.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I am so grateful to God for you. Thank you for taking the time last week to listen to the stories of our special needs families that we’re honoring with your Heart for the Disabled cards and letters, gifts, poems, and assurances of prayer. You should see our mailroom right now. It is overflowing. And so many of you have written such heartwarming words of uplift and encouragement to these moms and dads and family members, all of whom really struggle – and I mean they struggle hard – with disability! I could just picture Valentine’s Day for them. Joni and Friends teams will be knocking on the front door to hand-deliver big boxes of Christ-centered encouragement, and fun, and support, and gifts, and well, your love.
Even now, we’re sorting through the letters and placing everything in their proper boxes so that each of these five families will be blessed. But this year, something is missing in our mailroom at Joni and Friends. Actually, I should say that someone is missing. Our precious volunteer, Kaye Norris, developed cancer last year and, after a valiant battle, she went home to be with Jesus. Back in the 1980s, Kaye, a single woman who taught kindergarten – and never missed a day of teaching – Kaye arrived at Joni and Friends wanting to serve. And when we saw her passion and enthusiasm, as well as her attention to detail, we quickly placed her in charge of our Heart for the Disabled campaign. And for well over 25 years, Kaye Norris has been the one who has read through every single letter to make certain it was appropriate; she’s logged every gift, whether it be a handmade quilt, a crayoned drawing, a gift card to McDonald’s, or a teddy bear. Whatever, Kaye handled it and made certain it was placed in the box for the proper family. Then, she made certain that every donor – that’s friends like you – every donor was properly thanked. Finally, Kaye was in charge of shipping these huge, big boxes filled with encouragement in a timely manner to our various Joni and Friends teams across the country, all so that they would arrive at everyone’s homes on Valentine’s Day. And Kaye also prayed – oh, did she pray over these families! And she will be missed.
Romans 12:7 says, “If your gift is serving others, serve them well.” Well, that’s what our friend Kaye did. Her gift was serving others and, oh, did she serve people well, and the many scores of families who struggle with disability. But even though she has graduated on to glory, don’t think that her service has stopped. Because Revelation 22:3 says that, “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.” Yep, that’s what Miss Norris is doing right now, with as much, if not more, passion and enthusiasm. Right now, she is serving the Lord – that’s a fact – and she’s having a great time doing it.
You know, one day all of us will graduate to glory, where we will serve the Lord Jesus for all of eternity. And until then; until we are called to that higher service, we must serve until our last breath. So find a way you can volunteer in your church or your community, or consider serving with Joni and Friends this year, perhaps on a Wheels for the World team or at one of our Family Retreats. Serve as an intern with us! All of us are called to serve in the kingdom of Christ. Hey, visit joniradio.org today to see a photo of our precious friend, Kaye Norris. Again, that’s joniradio.org, and thank you for serving. That’s your good word today from Joni Eareckson Tada sharing hope.
© Joni and Friends