Joni Earreckson Tada has now spent 50 years as a quadriplegic….and she is praising God for the blessings that injury has brought about.
Tada was just 17 when she dove from a pier jutting into the Chesapeake Bay and snapped her spine in the unexpectedly shallow waters, emerging as a quadriplegic. But the accident wasn’t the end of Joni’s story. It was the beginning of a beautiful but arduous life of service that has blessed millions around the world.
As Joni says, “God permits what He hates to accomplish what He loves.”
And she has accomplished much through this one imperfect but beautiful life.
Joni leads the international ministry Joni and Friends, which provides prayer, support, resources, and even camps to serve and encourage families touched by disability, takes wheelchairs to people around the world, and offers books, curriculum, and services too numerous to mention.
She’s written dozens of books including “When God Weeps,” “Glorious Intruder,” and “A Place of Healing.” She’s also an artist, a radio host, and even the star of a movie about her own life.
She served on the National Council on Disability and continues her advocacy on issues that touch on the value of life, including health care reform, adult stem cell research, and fighting euthanasia. Part of that advocacy was founding the Christian Institute on Disability to train people and churches everywhere to be advocates too.
Her problems haven’t lessened. Years of sitting in a wheelchair have left her with chronic back and hip pain and in 2010 she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She told CBN news, “Every single morning when I wake up I need Jesus so badly,” “It sounds incredible, but I really would rather be in this wheelchair knowing Jesus as I do than be on my feet without him.”