More from and about
Joni Eareckson Tada
(biographical info at bottom of page)

  

Sometimes God allows what he hates, to accomplish what he loves.

   

The best we can hope for in this life is a knothole peek at the shining realities ahead. Yet a glimpse is enough. It's enough to convince our hearts that whatever sufferings and sorrows currently assail us aren't worthy of comparison to that which waits over the horizon.

      
Contentment ... has an internal quietness of heart that gladly submits to God in all circumstances.
 
 
We will stand amazed to see the topside of the tapestry and how God beautifully embroidered each circumstance into a pattern for our good and His glory.
  
I wished God were like He used to be, a few notches lower.  I wanted Him to be lofty enough to help me but not so uncontrollable. I longed for His warm presence, times when He seemed more. . . safe.
  
  
As a matter of fact, God isn't asking you to be thankful. He's asking you to give thanks. There's a big difference. One response involves emotions, the other your choices, your decisions about a situation, your intent, your 'step of faith.
   

When I was on my feet, big boisterous pleasures provided only fleeting satisfaction. In a wheelchair, satisfaction settles in as I sit under an oak tree on a windy day and delight in the rustle of the leaves or sit by a fire and enjoy the soothing strains of a symphony. These smaller, less noisy pleasures are rich because, unlike the fun on my feet, these things yield patience, endurance, and a spirit of gratitude, all of which fits me further for eternity.  It is this yieldedness that gains you the most here on earth.

     

Contentment ... has an internal quietness of heart that gladly submits to God in all circumstances.

   

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Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much.

   

Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God's strength in you.

   

One of the most wonderful things about knowing God is that
there's always so much more to know, so much more to discover.
Just when we least expect it, He intrudes into our neat and tidy
notions about who He is and how He works.

   

    
A diving accident in 1967 left Mrs. Tada a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, unable to use her hands.  During two years of rehabilitation, she spent long months learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth.  Her high detail fine art paintings and prints are sought after and collected.

Due to her best-selling books, beginning with her autobiography, Joni, as well as having visited 35 countries, Joni's first name is recognized around the world.  World Wide Pictures' full-length feature film, Joni, in which Mrs. Tada recreated her own life, has been translated into 15 languages and shown in scores of countries around the world.

Mrs. Tada's role as a disability advocate led to a presidential appointment to the National Council on Disability for three and a half years, during which time the Americans with Disabilities Act became law.

Joni and Friends was founded by Mrs. Tada in 1979 and has grown into four flagship programs that affect the lives of thousands of disabled people and their families.  In 2002, Joni and Friends will serve over 500 special needs families through nine Family Retreats across the nation.  Through Wheels for the World, over 14,000 wheelchairs have been collected nationwide, refurbished by inmates in correctional facilities, and shipped to developing nations where physical therapists fit each chair to a needy disabled child or adult.  Joni and Friends, a daily five-minute radio program, is heard over 850 broadcast outlets and this year received the "Radio Program of the Year" award from National Religious Broadcasters.  Through ten Area Ministries offices, Joni and Friends teams provide church training and education to promote inclusion of people with disabilities.

Mrs. Tada is a highly sought-after conference speaker both in the U.S. and internationally and is also a columnist for Moody Magazine, the United Kingdom's Christian Herald, and several European Christian magazines.

Mrs. Tada holds an honorary Bachelor of Letters from Western Maryland College; an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Gordon College; an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Columbia International University, the first honorary doctorate bestowed in their 75-year-old history; and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary.

Mrs. Tada and her husband Ken have been married since 1982. Mr. Tada recently retired from 32 years of teaching and has come on board with Joni and Friends to serve as Director of Ministry Development.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors and recently received Family Life Ministries Robert McQuilken Award honoring "The Courageous Love of a Marriage Covenant Keeper."
  

    

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.  Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader).  All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another.  Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!

  

Other people:  Alan Watts - Albert Einstein - Albert Schweitzer - Andy Rooney - Anne Frank - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Wilson Schaef
- Annie Dillard - Anthony Robbins - Ari Kiev - Artur Rubenstein - Barbara Johnson - Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Franklin
- Benjamin Hoff - Bernie Siegel - Bertrand Russell - Betty Eadie - Booker T. Washington
Charlotte Davis Kasl
- Cheryl Richardson - Cristina Feldman - C.S. Lewis - the Dalai Lama - Dale Carnegie - Deepak Chopra
Don Miguel Ruiz
- Earl Nightingale - Elaine St. James - Eleanor Roosevelt - Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emmet Fox
- Frederick Buechner - George Bernard Shaw - George Santayana - George Washington Carver - Gerald Jampolsky
Harold Kushner
- Harry Emerson Fosdick - Helen Keller - Henry David Thoreau - Henry James - Henry Van Dyke
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Henry Ward Beecher - Hugh Prather - Immanuel Kant - Iyanla Vanzant - Jack Canfield
James Allen
- Jennifer James - Jim Rohn - Joan Borysenko - Joan Chittister - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - John Izzo
John Ruskin
- Joni Eareckson Tada - Joseph M. Marshall III - Julia Cameron - Kent Nerburn - Khalil Gibran
Leo Buscaglia
- Leonard Jacobson - Leslie Levine - Lucinda Bassett - Lydia Maria Child - Lynn Grabhorn - Marcus Aurelius
Marianne Williamson
- Martin Luther King, Jr. - Maya Angelou - Melody Beattie - Michael Goddart - Mitch Albom
Mohandas Gandhi
- Morrie Schwartz - Mother Teresa - M. Scott Peck - Nathaniel Branden - Nikos Kazantzakis - Norman Cousins
Norman Vincent Peale
- Og Mandino - Oprah Winfrey - Oriah - Orison Swett Marden - Pau Casals - Peace Pilgrim - Phillips Brooks
Rabindranath Tagore
- Rachel Carson - Rachel Naomi Remen - Rainer Maria Rilke - Ralph Waldo Trine - Richard Bach
Richard Carlson
- Robert Frost - Robert Fulghum - Robert Louis Stevenson - Russell Baker - Sarah Ban Breathnach
Shakti Gawain
- Soren Kierkegaard - Stephen Covey - Stephen C. Paul - Sue Patton Thoele - Susan L. Taylor
Sylvia Boorstein
- Thich Nhat Hanh - Thomas Carlyle - Thomas Kinkade - Thomas Merton - Tom Walsh - Victor Cherbuliez
Wayne Dyer
- Wilferd A. Peterson - Willa Cather - William James - William Wordsworth - Zig Ziglar

   

       
    

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.