Wed., March 30th Update from Joni

I am amazed at how fast Joni and Friends’ Family Retreats are filling up – already there are waiting lists! (There’s still need for ‘volunteers,’ though, so pray about serving with us this summer :). It’s clear people with disabilities and their families are in huge need of soul-strengthening encouragement. And I’ll confess, I’m in need of encouragement, too…

I’ve been dealing with a strange new level of pain the last four days, and Ken and I just can’t seem to ascertain what’s ‘wrong’ with my body. It’s been so frustrating, I’ve felt like trading my body in for a new one! But just last week I stumbled across 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” Just when I feel like complaining, I’m reminded to honor God with my quadriplegia. It’s like Alan Redpath wrote: “There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose.”

God’s purpose is that I glorify Him with my response… that I do all I can to lighten the load of others facing far greater afflictions… that I pray for the families signing up for our Family Retreats… that I bite my tongue from complaining, and choose instead to “honor God with my body.” Remember this when you, too, look in the mirror tomorrow morning. I know you’ll join me in uplifting the Lord through every weakness He allows — after all, they come with great purpose.