Dancin' Shoes

               Did you know I have a pair of dancing shoes? 

                Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and I just had to tell you how I got them.  You see, one of the highlights of our five-day Joni and Friends' Family Retreats is Family Celebration Night; it's our last evening together and it always ends with a kicky, upbeat song of praise that gets us folks in our wheelchairs out on the floor, wheelin' and swingin' to the music.  It's the next best thing to doing a jig!  And sometimes it is just that.  At other Family Retreats, it might be a square dance or a 50's style sock hop.  Whatever it is, the very idea of getting people in wheelchairs out on the floor to swirl and twirl and move in and out and around... well, goodness me, we look like a bunch of Dodg'em cars out there having so much fun.  And don't worry, no one has clunked foot pedals or fallen out of their wheelchair yet.  So...

                Where does the joy come from? Well, the inspiration always effervesces on that last night because that is when at our Family Retreats we underscore the happy-hearted hope of Isaiah 35:3-6.  Listen to what it says beginning at verse 3:  "Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way...be strong and do not fear; your God will come...then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  Then will the lame leap like deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy."  That's the kind of hope talked about in Colossians 1 where it describes the joy and love that "... springs from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven."  No wonder disabled people experience such joy when they hear a rock-solid truth like that.  I mean, if you were in a wheelchair, wouldn't hope like that make you want to kick up your heels? 

                But last year, I was doubly blessed at Family Retreat because right after our celebration night was over, the mother of a disabled child presented me with a special gift:  a pair of red, high-topped tennis shoes!  Size 10!  The mom explained, "Joni, all the parents chipped in for this gift for you.  We've all signed our names to the shoes-they are your dancing shoes for when you get to heaven!"  I looked at them closely and sure enough these big, red high-topped Jack Purcels had the names of all the parents who were attending Retreat that week.

                Right then and there, I burst out laughing.  I mean, if I wore these tennis shoes, you would laugh, too.  (For one thing I'm not a size 10)!  But that night, as I lay in bed with those tennis shoes sitting on the dresser, I had to blink back tears of gratitude.  Oh, Lord Jesus one day soon I will dance...and leap like a deer.... The promise is for you, too, with all the challenges and trials you may be facing today.  Friend, strengthen your feeble hands and steady those shaky knees.  Soon our God, your God, will come and together we will leap for joy. 

                And that's exactly what we're doing in just a few short weeks at our Joni and Friends' Family Retreats.  We'll be having a blast with scores of moms and dads with kids with disabilities.  So would you please be in prayer for the families who'll be attending?  Many marriages are almost to the breaking point and the disability has become so burdensome, so wearing, so difficult.  Be especially in prayer for our Family Celebration Nights at these retreats because that's when we often invite many of these parents to open up their hearts to Jesus Christ for the first time, and their children, too.  We want them to experience the hope of Isaiah 35 and Colossians chapter 1... the hope that assures them that, yes, one day soon (and very soon) our God will come. 

                And if you'd like to check out our schedule of these twenty-some-odd retreats which we will hold across the nation, then please visit us at joniandfriends.org and flip to our Family Retreat page where you can sign up and volunteer.

www.joniandfriends.org ©  Joni and Friends