Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I’m Lindy’s daughter!
Welcome to Joni and Friends, where you know I’m always so glad we can spend these couple of minutes together talking about things and people that count, people that encourage. And I hope you don’t mind me sharing today a few words about my mother, Lindy – Lindy Eareckson. There was no one quite like her. Especially when I was first injured and institutionalized during those first couple of years. After the diving accident in which I became paralyzed, I spent four months in a hospital and then was moved to a state institution, and they placed me on a geriatric ward. It was long before rehabilitation centers were developed for young people like me with spinal cord injuries, and nobody really knew what to do with this, you know, quadriplegic kid back in the 60s. And so, I was put in a room with five other girls like me. Ours was the only room of young people on a ward reserved for old people. And it was pretty depressing.
But my mother, she could always be relied on to brighten the day. It was a long drive between our home on the west side of Baltimore and this institution where I was residing on the northeast side of the city, but Lindy made the hike as often as she could during the week. And she was always looking for ways to help not only me, but my roommates. I remember one time she decided that I had lived with dirty hair long enough. You see, at that point I was too weak to sit up in a wheelchair, and so I couldn’t wash my hair in a sink. So one Saturday morning, my mother, with permission from the nurses, brought in a big pitcher and basin and a bottle of shampoo and conditioner.
She angled my shoulders over the edge of the mattress as far as possible, and with my sister holding my head, my mother proceeded to wash my hair. And oh, it felt so good! Up until then – I mean, what, we’re talking four months here – my scalp had only been cleaned using alcohol wipes; my hair was matted, dirty. When my roommates saw the lengths to which my mother went to wash my hair, and when they saw my great relief, they could not help but look at me a little enviously. You see, most of the spinal-cord-injured girls in my ward had very few visitors – for most, their families lived in western Maryland or over on the eastern shore. My roommates did not have anyone to help them wash their hair. But I’ll never forget my mother drying her hands and saying to them with a smile, “Okay, who wants to be next?” It didn’t take long for them to reply, “Oh, me, Mrs. Eareckson! Take me next!” “Don’t forget me,” someone else said. And for the rest of the day, she and my sister washed the hair of all five girls in my room. Boy, did my mother – did Lindy Eareckson – make friends that day. And from then on out my roommates – bless their hearts – didn’t call her Mrs. Eareckson; they called her Mom.
Isn’t that neat? My mother thought nothing of going the extra mile. If anyone would ask for her cloak, she’d be the one to give them her shirt. And she showcased a true Christian testimony along the way. Everyone knew Lindy Eareckson was a Christian by the way she showed love for others. My mother wrote up a page of helpful tips for people who visit their loved ones in a hospital, and I’d love for you to visit my radio page at joniradio.org and download it if you need some ideas. Doesn’t have to be washing somebody’s hair, but there are lots of ways you can give a Christian testimony when you visit someone in the hospital. Again, you can download the file, or you can just ask for “Tips from Joni’s Mother,” and we’ll get it in the mail right away. Finally, I want to thank you when you go the extra mile and when you give the shirt off your back. For when you do, you, too, will show that Jesus Christ really cares, and you’ll prove it by putting his love to work.
Used by permission of
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