Make the most of the time that God has given you, because life is an adventure! Move forward with your limitations by God’s grace.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with Sharing Hope.
And not long ago my friend—Karen—came to town; she flew all the way out here from back east by herself. Now, that's not an unusual feat, except that, well, Karen is blind. I mean this woman cannot see the furniture in front of her, but somehow—with a lot of courage and plain old determination—she got on the plane back east and found a friend to pick her up at the LA airport.
And we spent the first night she was here, Karen and me, at a local restaurant, just the two of us. I thought she might ask her friend to join us but, no, her friend had to get going and she explained that she was only here to drop Karen off. Well, before the friend left, I said to her, I said, “Well, at least I just need a little bit of help here.” “No problem,” she said. I got settled in at our table and I said to this friend, "Now before you go, just reach into my handbag in the back of my wheelchair. Get out my special spoon…” For those listening who don’t know, my hands are paralyzed, my fingers don’t work, and so I have a special spoon that I feed myself with. Okay, I said to this friend, “Get out my spoon and please put it in the little cuff right here on my arm splint. Yup, that’s right, and, okay, now put the napkin on my lap and would you please push my glass of water near Karen so she can (Karen, you’re not going to knock this over, are you?) put it there so Karen can reach for it and hold it to my mouth when I need a drink.”
Well, I don’t mind telling you that once Karen’s friend left us, I think we made everybody else in that restaurant very, very nervous. I saw someone eyeing us when Karen—bless her heart—put her hands around the glass and lifted it so I could reach the straw. As I sipped the water, Karen asked, “Joni, is this the blind leading the paralyzed?” “No,” I said, laughing, “this is the paralyzed leading the blind because I have to tell you where your food is on the plate!" After a while, people stopped staring. I think it was because they saw how relaxed both of us were, despite it being a bit of a three-ring circus. I also think they were blessed to see that a blind woman and a quadriplegic in a wheelchair could have dinner together, could bow their heads, pray to the Father together, and just enjoy the mainstream of life together. It was a witness! And, yes, we got through the meal without spilling anything on the floor or water on the table. I did have to ask the waiter to take my spoon out of my arm splint, wipe it off, and put it back in my backpack. And then, when Karen signed my signature to my credit card receipt, she didn't quite sign the dotted line, little bit over the dotted line.
But hey, life’s an adventure! It really should be an adventure. Like Karen said that night, “Joni, one day I know I will not be able to do this stuff, you know, fly by myself, have dinner alone with a friend. My disability is worsening. I've lost my sight and soon I will lose function of my arms and legs, so I am going to make the most of the time God is giving me and do all that I can with what little I have left.” Wow! Oh, friend, this is why Karen is such a huge inspiration to me, because if she can, by God's grace, move forward with her limitations, oh, my goodness, then so can I, and so can you! People who suffer greater conflict always have something to say to those who suffer less. So today be inspired by my friend Karen, because as far as I am concerned, the blind can lead this paralyzed person any day because I know it will always be an adventure.
© Joni and Friends