EMILY: Hi, I’m Emily Shanahan and I’m here with Joni Eareckson Tada.
JONI: That’s right, and Em it’s so much fun to have you in the studio today and we’re going to do something different. I’ve never done this before… I’m going to hand the mic over to you and since you are a communications major at Cedarville University and you are interning with us here at Joni and Friends, you get to be the host of today’s program. How about it?
EMILY: All right; that seems pretty awesome to me – let’s do it!
JONI: Ask any question you want.
EMILY: Okay. You have been in ministry for 30 plus years, correct?
JONI: That’s right.
EMILY: Okay. So, through that time period there’s got to be some times of ups and downs, some thrills, and maybe some unexpected disappointments, and I was curious – what gets you motivated? What gets you excited to get up out of bed and come to the office every morning and do what you do?
JONI: Oh, that’s such a great question. I tell you, what gets me motivated is thinking about what God’s blessed me with the opportunity to do. I mean, he has given me this, Em, I can’t believe it! I get to speak to friends listening all across the country through this radio program. I get to travel to our Family Retreats. My husband and I get to go on Wheels for the World teams outreach trips. Emily, I think I am these most blessed quadriplegic you would ever want to meet in the entire whole world! Honestly, I am so, so grateful, and Em, I take this as a stewardship… you know, God has given me this to take care of, so I wake up in the morning and I’ve got this awesome sense of responsibility that I want to handle this gift that God has given me, I want to handle it well for his kingdom. So that gets me motivated, keeping the big picture, remembering the large vision.
EMILY: Okay, but it seems like you’ve trained yourself or been trained to see God’s blessings around you. Whether that in a situation, or provision, or a specific person, but Joni, that’s something that a person has to train herself to do. It doesn’t come naturally, so how did you do that?
JONI: You just hit the nail on the head because I think it was the apostle Paul who told his younger student, Timothy. He said, train yourself in godliness, be trained in godliness. It takes time to cultivate the habit of looking at everything from God’s perspective. And Em, when I see you here at Joni and Friends’ International Disability Center, when I come wheeling in here, you serving as an intern, it just makes me so happy… you are a blessing to me…
EMILY: Thank you.
JONI: And your mom and Ashley, who is your helper during this time; just looking at life from God’s point of view sure helps.
EMILY: As a third question, Joni, if we have time, what would be one Biblical insight that you would share with a listening audience if you knew you only had one more opportunity to do so, what would that be?
JONI: Okay. If these were believers listening to me, I would quote 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus concerning us.” Boy, it takes a little maturity to cultivate the attitude of gratitude, but it really catapults your joy forward. And if there were non-believers listening, folks who don’t know Christ, I’d say, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son for you, my friend, that you might know him as you confess your sins and embrace him as Lord and Savior… that’s our mission, huh, Em?
EMILY: Yes, it sure is. Well, thanks, Joni, for that information.
JONI: Well, you know what? You have done a great job with the microphone today and if our friends listening want to hear more about you or see you, they can catch a video clip of a television episode we did on your story and all you have to do is go to joniandfriends.org, visit our radio page and just be inspired, huh, Em?
EMILY: Well, thank you. I hope you guys enjoy.
JONI: Well, I do… and Em, thank you for hosting the program today and until next time, this is Joni and Friends and one of those friends is Emily.
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