Welcome to "Joni and Friends," I'm Joni Eareckson Tada.
Most of you know me, and you know that I am a ‘stick to the job until it gets done’ kind of person. If there’s a deadline or a due date, I'll work overtime… I'll spend Saturdays… I'll be up late. If there’s a responsibility I need to fulfill, I like to do it, and do it well. Which is why a few Saturdays ago, it was so odd for me to break the norm. My secretary Francie had come up to my house on Saturday morning to help me write these radio programs – I dictate, and she types away at the computer. We’re a great team; we’ve been doing this, well… ever since 1982 when we started recording "Joni and Friends." (Yikes, I just realized, next year will be our 30th anniversary of producing this program… do I really talk that much?!). Now you have to understand, when Francie and I first started doing this, it was long before computers. I mean, we thought we were really high tech with our Brother typewriter… I don’t know if many of you remember those things, but there was a tiny little screen that showed you a few words that you could quick-correct before they printed? High tech, maybe not… it really was nothing more than a fancy typewriter. So, back then, it was just our Brother typewriter machine, carbon paper and lots of white-out. But, oh, did we enjoy those days!
And I still enjoy composing these radio programs, but a few Saturdays ago I did something I have never done in all the many years I’ve been putting together these programs. I played hooky. Actually, both Francie and I and my husband Ken played hooky. Because (what can I say) it was such a beautiful, unusually warm Saturday morning here in Southern California, and, honestly, I had started working on radio programs – honestly I did (that morning I got three or four done), but as I looked outside at our backyard I just blurted out, “Hey, why don’t we all just go to Sperling’s nursery and pick up something to plant in the front yard?”
I don’t think at first Francie believed her ears, but we both thought, hey, why not?! We never take a break. So within the hour, Ken drove us to Sperling’s nursery where we enjoyed looking at all the plants and late-blooming flowers. We purchased a few hearty perennials and a couple of colorful annuals; we picked up a bag of soil and a couple of hand shovels, piled everything in the back of the van, and headed home to do some afternoon gardening (not the best time of year, but thankfully this being a warm climate, and all)… well, I had the best time sitting there on the front walk – and here’s a good word for it: vicariously enjoying digging in the dirt as Francie and Ken got on their knees and went to town with the little hand shovels. The Bible says that godliness with contentment is great gain… and the measure of my contentment that day was that I could sit there, and be happy just watching. I could enjoy digging in the dirt in a vicarious way, just watching my husband and friend.
Godliness with contentment is great gain. And the key to contentment is leaning very hard on the Lord Jesus, finding fulfillment in Him and His grace more than sufficient. That’s something I celebrate every day – and I invite you to join me, for there is great gain in simply being contented with what you have and what you’re able to do (or not do). Oh, friend, by the way, don’t forget to drop by my radio page at joniandfriends.org to pick up the little Christmas tri-fold that has my artwork in it – something special to slip into a Christmas card, or tuck under the ribbon of a gift… a wonderful way to witness of the great contentment and the great gain that can always be found in Jesus Christ.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends