Writing your legacy and finishing well are important to God. As you get older, keep investing in your legacy by serving those around you for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
Happy birthday to Ken Tada!
You can help Joni Eareckson Tada celebrate her husband's birthday by giving to Joni and Friends in his honor!
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I am so excited because today is Ken Tada’s birthday!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I’ve got his present, I’ve got his cake, I’ve got a gift card to a steakhouse, everything for a party, and Ken and I are ready to celebrate! And I will let you in on a little secret. When a big birthday like this happens, for either of us – maybe even an anniversary – I’ll tell you what we always do. We don’t rush through dinner, but we’ll sit long, talk much, and just reflect on special highlights. And I know, sitting across from him at the table tonight, well, I’ll be listening to him reflect, but behind my eyes, I’ll be thinking about this amazing man turning 76 years old today. He doesn’t look it, he’s got great energy, and after 40 years of marriage together, every year, with every birthday, I honor him more. He loves Jesus. He loves the Word. And what can I say? He loves me. That’s my husband. And as he turns 76, I keep hearing him talk more about finishing well. Ken knows he’s writing his legacy, as it were. He feels that his legacy is a way he can invest in the future. He does what he can to enlarge God’s Kingdom and expand its life-changing impact for decades to come. These days, his legacy has his attention; it’s something he believes in, he works toward and invests in, all so that the Kingdom of Christ goes forth! ’Cause my husband, he wants to finish well. He wants to have confidence on that Day when Jesus recognizes and rewards his service. That’s my husband’s incentive for finishing well!
It’s kind of like 2 Corinthians 5, where it says, “We must all appear before Christ… so, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.” And so, at his birthday dinner tonight, Ken will talk about people and places where he has invested himself. It’s why my husband loves doing Wheels for the World and Joni and Friends Marriage Getaways with me as we counsel couples that struggle with disability. He loves Family Retreat, hanging out with disabled kids. My husband just wants to leave a legacy of serving the ones who Jesus Christ loves with all his heart – and that’s the weak, the frail, the infirm, elderly, boys and girls with cerebral palsy, marriages that are struggling with chronic conditions, kids who need wheelchairs, parents who need Bibles. Nobody understands disability quite like my husband and this is why Ken is invested in the world’s neediest – that is, those with disabilities. Never do I see my husband happier than when he is at our Family Retreats or adjusting a wheelchair with a screwdriver on a Wheels for the World trip.
And tonight, I know he and I are going to talk about serving among the world’s weakest. It’ll be a birthday blessing just to sit with Ken and reflect on it all. And you know what? I would just love it, it would mean the world if you would help enlarge my husband’s legacy. So, please donate to his birthday. I’ll be so bold to ask – after all, I am his wife. Cheer him on; applaud his efforts; encourage him to finish out his legacy well. Visit joniradio.org and give “The Perfect Gift.” I invite you to bless that man I love by going to joniradio.org and giving a special birthday gift in his honor. For Ken Tada, that would be “The Perfect Gift.” Hey, it would be perfect if my friends would donate a dollar to Joni and Friends for every year my husband’s lived his amazing life! Oh, and since I mentioned Ken’s delight in serving at Family Retreats this year, I’ve posted a fabulous photo of Ken Tada and Kyle, who’s got Down syndrome, at Family Retreat; honestly, that kid, he had a thousand-watt smile, and he and Ken are so cute together. So, go love that photo at joniradio.org and celebrate my husband’s birthday!
© Joni and Friends