Let me tell you about one of my friends here at Joni and Friends.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and as you know, this week I’ve been celebrating with you all all the good things I’ve gleaned from these many weeks of chemotherapy now that it’s behind me, and I tell you, I couldn’t be happier. What got me through? Well, my family and friends certainly were a huge help – my sisters flew out from back east and several girlfriends went the extra mile. But there was one friend in particular who played a special role – I never saw her during my chemo, but her presence was very near and real. Sandy Setliff has worked with Joni and Friends for many years and, some months ago, bless her heart, she stepped down from her role in our ministry to move to Texas to help her 90-year-old father. It was not an easy decision, for Sandy loved her work here at the International Disability Center and she had close friends here… I was grateful to be numbered among them.
Sandy was living back in Texas when she learned back in June that I was battling breast cancer. And it didn’t surprise me when, a day or two later, I received a get-well card from my friend – in it Sandy wrote the words to one of my favorite hymns. I hung the card on our kitchen shutter doors with several other get-well cards that had arrived. Well, the next day, lo and behold, there came another card from Sandy, and the day after that, another one! And in each one, she either wrote several Bible verses or several lines from a different hymn. Soon, her cards began to mount up.
But there was one in particular that made it to my bathroom mirror. It was the one in which Sandy wrote three stanzas from the hymn, “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.” It goes, “All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside? Who can doubt His tender mercy, who through life has been my guide. Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell, for I know whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me, cheers each winding path I tread. Gives me grace for every trial, feeds me on the Living Bread. When my weary steps may falter and my soul a-thirst may be, gushing from the Rock before me, lo a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me, oh the fullness of His love. Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father’s house above. When my spirit clothed immortal wings its flight to realms of day, this my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way, this my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way.” At the bottom of the note, Sandy wrote, “Joni, I bet you never thought this was the way that God would lead you, but remember ‘Jesus doeth all things well.’” Wow!
Now that chemotherapy is over, these many get-well cards Sandy has sent are a real treasure – they are, in fact, a journal of some of the best hymns and Scriptures that saw me through. And, hey, may I encourage you to be a Sandy Setliff in the life of someone you know today who is recovering from an illness? The constant flow of daily encouragement from a friend afar means more than you could ever realize. I share a little bit about this in a video we’ve posted on our radio page at joniandfriends.org and I’d love for you to stop by our website to see it. Again, that’s joniandfriends.org. And finally, for whatever struggles you may be facing today, I just know there’s a hymn that would match your need. It could very well be “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” – and for all those challenges you’re facing, don’t forget: Jesus doeth all things well. And once again, let me remind you of our website – it’s joniandfriends.org.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends