Well, it’s time to pull out the old suitcases – I'm about to start traveling again. Over the last couple of months, I’ve enjoyed a wonderful break from airplanes, and packing up and going places, but now, at least for the next couple of months, it's back to going from one-hotel-to-the-next. You know, it's funny... my friend Delinda has a little girl, a toddler, her name is Sarah... anyway, Delinda took little Sarah to Tucson the other week to meet someone, a relative who was in town and was staying at a hotel. Anyway, Delinda and Sarah were walking down the hallway and when they entered the room, the first thing Sarah said was, "Where's Miss Joni?" Apparently I live in a hotel room -- it's the only place Sarah has ever seen me, so it was "this is a hotel room... so where's Miss Joni?"
Well, I guess it's 'hotel' time again. It’s time to get “On the road again; just can’t wait to get on that road again; the life I love is giving the Gospel with my friends; my, it's good to be on the road again." Just kidding about that Willie Nelson song -- oh, not the giving-the-Gospel part; I'm talking about "I just can't wait to get on the road again"... listen, getting a quadriplegic like me out on the road again is not easy. But you know what tempers it? You know what makes it more than okay... no, I take that back, what makes traveling enjoyable and exciting for me? It's giving the Gospel.
Believe me, I know very well I could -- and should -- be living a debilitated life lying in bed in my bedroom. Most quadriplegics like me don't even survive as long as I have been living. I could be down with a bladder infection or lung infections (which are so common to quadriplegics).
But no! I am so very blessed to be able to wake up in the morning, sit up in my wheelchair, and know that God has given me another day... I've been blessed with the gift of another day. That's so amazing! And not only do I have the gift of this day, but God has blessed me with this unbelievable opportunity to get up and go out and tell others -- especially disabled people and their families who are unchurched -- I get to tell them about the goodness and graciousness of his Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. So I don't mind pulling out my suitcases or getting on airplanes -- because I know full well one day I will not be able to. And that makes traveling this coming month and next an even greater privilege.
2 Corinthians 8:3 says, “It is a "privilege" to share the good news of Jesus”. Friend, do you consider it as such? Do you realize the days you've been allowed to share Christ are numbered? Are limited? So, grab hold of each opportunity even if it means getting out the suitcases and packing up and going on the road again? Remember, even that's a privilege!
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends