Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and if you know me, you know I love hymns. And that’s why I’ve got my good friend in studio today, Tommy Walker. Tommy, thanks for coming over. TOMMY: Thank you. It’s an honor to be here. JONI:Well, the reason I want to introduce my listening audience to you is because you love hymns too. TOMMY: That’s right! JONI: You really do. But your music, oh my goodness, you give...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a real miracle story. And miracles happen all the time at a Family Retreat; especially one that’s held in a developing nation. Like this month, we’ll be holding an International Family Retreat near Lutsk, Ukraine. Moms and dads who have kids with disabilities in a place like Ukraine, well…there’s a lot of social stigma; parents are often afraid to even bring their...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Joni and Friends. Where we sure do love “Wheels for the World”. It’s our program where we take refurbished wheelchairs and Bibles to very needy disabled children around the world who crawl in the dirt and cannot go to school for lack of a wheelchair. Our trained physical therapy volunteers do such a great job. They hand-fit each wheelchair to whatever dis...

I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a fun follow-up to “Heart for the Disabled”. Back in January you heard me share those 5 stories of precious people and their disabled loved ones who needed encouragement. And oh my goodness, did you respond! I don’t know how we do it, but every year we seem to keep breaking records. Thank you for responding with your heart and writing such wonderful notes of encouragem...

“Jesus, I am Resting, Resting.” It’s a favorite hymn and I love the arrangement that my friend Buddy Green does on this particular hymn. Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart. Thou had’st bid me gaze upon Thee and Thy beauty fills my soul For by Thy transforming power, Thou had’st made me whole. O, how great Thy loving kindness...

This is Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to “Joni and Friends.” If there's one thing God has opened the eyes of my heart to, it is this: to live each day with an eye on eternity. Oh, my goodness… Live with the goal of investing in the heavenly kingdom. And there something else I might pray almost every morning, I’ll pray "Lord, I'm not satisfied with the Joni I was yesterday. Today, I want to...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and welcome to Joni and Friends. You know, um, I’m winding up this treatment for cancer and I have received so many letters and emails, posts on Facebook from you friends listening, and asking about some of the details of what it’s been like to go through this battle. And I wish I could answer every single letter, but, you know, I thought today it might be good to get...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a confession about cancer. I’m sure you’ve heard that I’m back battling cancer again; for the second time. And this time it’s a little different. The cancer is a bit faster-growing and I’ve just about completed radiation. Now, as a quadriplegic, it has concerned me. After more than 50 years of total paralysis, my lungs are not in the best of shape, and the radiatio...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a great story about the power of prayer. I was at BWI Airport outside of Baltimore city and waiting to go home. Unfortunately, our flight was late, and the seats in the waiting area of gate D-7 were full. My traveling companions, Judy and Bunny gathered around me to pray, something we always do before flights. But this prayer was a little different. Bunny knew I ne...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to "Joni and Friends." I’d like to tell you about a friend of mine named Muni; he has the brightest, most contagious smile I’ve ever seen. Muni lives in India and his joy is a stark contrast to his circumstances. You see, Muni contracted polio at three years of age and has been crawling through the dirt ever since. Muni is the Client Services Direc...

Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada with a quotation that you are going to like. Well, maybe you won’t like it. We’ll see. The quote originates with one of the early church fathers, Saint Sebastian, who helped guide the fledgling church back in the early 200s. Yikes, that is going back a ways to a time when persecution against Christians was hot and heavy. Back then, our brothers and sisters in Christ wer...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I am a sinner. I don’t mind saying that one bit. I don’t just sin; I am a sinner. But I’m a redeemed sinner, thanks to Jesus, and He has saved me from the penalty of sin and the power of sin (there’s always grace to overcome sin), but He has not saved me from its presence. I live in a fallen world and you do too. We still wrestle against the flesh, the sinful nature...

You are listening to Joni and friends. Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada. Last fall, I took one of those strength assessment tests alongside my coworkers at Joni and Friends. It’s the kind of test where you learn if you are a support person (on the scale, those people are colored blue) or if you are a detail person (that’s green) or an assertive person (that’s red). Well, my husband Ken Tada and I work...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a beautiful poem from a good friend. And I’m a big fan of good poetry, especially poems that have been written in the furnace of affliction. I have a friend like that. Her name is Lisa Marie and honestly, she is such an inspiration to me. When Lisa was around 12 or 13 years old, she started suffering from unusual achiness in her joints; she was always seemed tired...

Well hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and it’s wonderful to imagine what that garden must have looked like: the first animals, the first flowers and trees. Well, we know that there was the tree of life in the middle of the garden, but perhaps you did not realize there were two trees in the middle of the garden. Listen to Genesis Chapter 2, verse 9, then let me flip over to Genesis Chapter 3, right afte...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada thanking God for His protection. And speaking of protection, I love Psalm 5, where it says, "But let all who take refuge in You. [Oh Lord] be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them that those who love Your name may rejoice in You." I love that because when God protects us, it’s great cause for rejoicing, I have a fun story to prove...

Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada with a good word from Mark, Chapter 1. That’s the scene where Jesus is walking along the shore and he calls to Simon and Andrew “Come, follow me,” and they obey, leaving their nets at once to follow Jesus without delay. Don’t you love that? They dropped everything and obeyed at once without dragging their heels or second-guessing his call. How compelling must’ve been th...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and yes, I am tired. But I am so happy! We are getting closer to the end of my radiation therapy and I am so, so grateful for the prayers of so many of you who have remembered me, and my husband Ken in your intercessions. We are beating back this cancer with radiation and after it’s over I will be on other medications for a long, long time. But that’s okay. I’ve made it...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and has this ever happened to you? Okay, here’s the scene—tell me if you see yourself in it, okay? It was just a few weeks ago and I wheeled up to the kitchen table with every intention of spending about a half hour or so in my Bible. Before I had a chance to open the Word, sitting right there on the table, my eyes glanced to a couple of catalogs which had arrived in th...

A disability doesn’t have to destroy you – that’s today’s issue on "Joni and Friends". Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and I'll be the first to confess: when you get that bad medical report, when you learn the broken neck means paralysis, when you hear you have some terminal disease, when any of these physical hardships hit you broadside, it can come close to breaking you. I’ve experienced m...

Hi, I’m Joni with an interesting observation about the apostle Paul. You and I both know that Paul has got to be one of the best examples in Scripture of what it means to follow Jesus, and follow him closely. Yes, you are very much like Paul when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit; when you are out there doing great spiritual conquests, when you are energized by the Word, and you just can’t stop t...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a good word about our Abba daddy. Yep, our Abba heavenly Father daddy who is totally invested in the spiritual battles that His children face every day. God is a warrior: a daddy-warrior who fights hard on behalf of His children, you and me, and when I am in a tough spiritual battle, mostly against those irksome demons that harass me constantly—you know, harassing...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Joni and Friends. Not long ago I found myself in a prayer meeting at an international church. When I arrived, I immediately noticed many people, all of them believers in Jesus, and they were obviously from different nationalities. Some of them were dressed in African garb, others looked Middle Eastern. One or two people even wore turbans, and I noticed a...

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and have you ever wondered exactly why God created you? Or why He created your children or your grandchildren? God couldn't have spelled it out any plainer than in Isaiah 43:6-7. He created you and me for one purpose: to showcase His glory, to enjoy it, display it, and demonstrate it every day to all those we encounter. God says in Isaiah 43 "Bring my sons [and my...

I love that beautiful gospel song, something that you often sing right before communion. So if you know it, sing it with me today. Let us break bread together on our knees Let us break bread together on our knees When I fall down on my knees With my face to the rising sun Oh, Lord, have mercy on me. I love this old hymn, especially the part when we sing “On our knees.” I grew up in a Reformed Epis...