Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a great story about my friend, Chris.
I’ll tell you the world of quadriplegics is pretty small – believe it or not, many of us know each other, or at least have heard of each other. We keep in touch through Facebook or letters or emails -- usually the emails are requests for prayer. Life with spinal cord injury quadriplegia is so hard. But the neat thing is we encourage each other. Like my friend, Chris.
I met him years ago. This guy’s a quadriplegic who broke his neck at the sixth cervical level, which means that he’s basically paralyzed from the chest down. Chris has pretty good use of his arms, but can't move his fingers. All this is the result of a diving accident nearly 42 years ago. Chris has been dealing with a lack of energy and strength lately and has been wondering if it’s just something that comes with living in a wheelchair for so many decades. It’s made him wonder: if he loses more functioning ability, what will he do? What kind of ministry can he have? Already, he can’t do so many things: he can’t ride a bike or play guitar or, on a more practical level, he can’t change light bulbs, he can’t reach for light fixtures, he can’t open jars and bottles with tight lids, or move furniture. These and a whole bunch more are the sort of things he deals with every day. So how does he find purpose to go on? Why should he keep ‘plugging away’ when each day is filled with incredible challenges?
Well, Chris has gotten some feedback from people on this. And the feedback he’s gotten? People are encouraged by him. They are blessed just by the fact that he makes the effort. They also say that they’re encouraged by his attitude: He’s not bitter or angry, doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder. And these people are right. As a quadriplegic, Chris makes the effort to show up and be involved in life. Long ago, he realized he had two choices: he could stay at home in bed and feel sorry for himself, or he could get up, get out and be a part of life.
Chris wrote me an email recently and this is what he said, “Joni, this doesn’t make me extraordinary, or brave, or special. It just makes me a guy who wants to live life with the circumstances he’s been given. And it means I have an impact, a ministry, if you will. I call it a ministry of encouragement. It doesn’t take any special circumstances to practice this. It can be with the checker at the store, the repair technician who comes to the house, or anyone I talk to on the phone or interact with on Facebook. Every interaction with people is for me an opportunity to spread the light of Christ in the world.” Chris used to think he needed to have some sort of “big bang” purpose in life – but he doesn’t need to be in front of a crowd or speaking to thousands. I mean when you think about it most of us only touch relatively few people, anyway. But that’s where you and I are called to minister just like Chris, and that is where Chris will be doing work, and probably unaware of doing it most of the time. Like he often says, “Here’s to the slow, steady life of slogging it out in the trenches.”
That’s what I love about my quadriplegic friend. When the book of Hebrews says, “encourage one another daily,” Chris does it just by showing up. And you know what? That’s something you can do today, just show up. Just be what you need to be without grumbling or complaining. And if you need help doing that, let me send you my encouragement package – just a few booklets filled with uplifting words to help you keep the kind of perspective that Chris has. So write me today at joniandfriends.org. After all, just a God-blessed, grace-given smile may be all the encouragement that person you meet today will need.
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376