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News, Stories, Inspiration
A Few Words for Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
It’s been two years since we first sat down with Tracey for an inside look at Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). As August is SMA Awareness Month, we asked if she would be willing to share with us again. How has your work at Joni and Friends affected your perspective on your disability? Working at Joni…
A Deeper Healing
“God has taught me that he wants to display his power in my life in far more glorious ways than if I were to jump out of this wheelchair.” Today marks an extraordinary anniversary for Joni Eareckson Tada: 53 years since she took a dive that redirected the course of her life. Becoming a quadriplegic…
Fifty-Three Years on the Path of Life
On this day, 53 years ago, I made a spur-of-the-minute decision to go swimming with my sister Kathy. And that day, a foolish dive changed the entire course of my life. At first, it seemed that the dive that broke my neck set me on a path towards death. Even if I ever make it…
Purposeful Ministry During Medical Crises
It’s the call no one wants to receive. “The tests came back positive.” “The car was T-boned… they don’t know if he’ll make it.” Or, as it happened 53 years ago for Joni Eareckson Tada, “She severed her spinal column. She’ll never walk again.” This kind of news can send any family into a tailspin.…
Quiet Witness
In 1991 we were training as missionaries in Johannesburg when I fell pregnant with our second child. I had a wonderful pregnancy but a very difficult labour. A beautiful little girl was born to us, and we named her Sarah, which means princess. Sarah didn’t cry like a ‘normal’ healthy baby but instead whimpered, so…
Happy 30 Years to the ADA!
As a member of the National Council on Disability, I was thrilled to see the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act back in 1990. I remember sitting in my wheelchair on the White House lawn, watching President George H.W. Bush sign the ADA into law and thinking of all the possibilities for people like…
A Few Words for Parents’ Day
Even though I am in my 70s, I feel as though I am still in my 20s whenever I share stories about my mother and father. And as I have aged, my appreciation for my parents has only grown. I took my mom and dad for granted when I was a child, a teenager, and…
Luke 14 Project: Wheelbarrows are Made for Dirt, Not People
As a photojournalist for Joni and Friends, I have the privilege to see firsthand the life-transforming work that Jesus is doing around the world through your prayers and generosity. Along with many joyous moments, I’ve also seen the hopelessness and devastation that families living with disability experience in developing nations. In February, a small team…
How to Become a More Accessible Church
“On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable…” –1 Corinthians 12:22 Do you have a plan for welcoming and including any person that comes through the door of your church? Today on the podcast, Crystal is joined by Bret Welshymer and Ryan Faulk to talk about how we…
Building Community in an Age of Isolation
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Never a truer word has been spoken, if people’s eagerness to gather again in public spaces is any indication. Our time apart from one another during this coronavirus pandemic has revealed the value of relationships. But without the ability to meet for coffee, go for a jog together, attend…