Joni and Friends^®

A faith like a mustard seed. That's all it takes. Do you know how small that is? It's like the size of... a really small...seed (for lack of a better example).

How can something so small be so hard to grasp?

Faith adventures, as I like to call them, are all around us. Recently, I've been more aware than ever of these journeys.

Joni has gracefully lived with quadriplegia for much of her life - only now to also be fully engulfed in a battle fighting breast cancer.

Jake Olson is a 12 year old who, after ...

When I was little, I would gaze at the night sky. Shooting stars, the Milky Way, constellations - we could see it all from our backyard.

I remember thinking how small I was and how expansive everything else seemed to be. The world, and just how big it was, was lost on the 8^th grader with braces and glasses and a pint-size view of life.

And now that I'm an adult (for the most part), the world still seems big. Vast. Enormous. Which makes the impact Joni and Friends^® is having around the globe so truly amazing!

Joni was ...

As I was looking at this beautiful picture of Joni, I thought to myself, "Joni paints with her mouth, and I carry things under my chin."

I was born a Congenital below-the-elbow Amputee. From day one, I had to learn to do things differently. I was 10 when I learned how to tie my shoes, and I can assure you there's no "around this and that" song that goes with my double knotted fun.

I finally figured out how to type one-handed and "do" my hair in college (leaving home for school was a terribly scary and forcefully liberating ...

Judy. . .happy birthday!

You're going before me (just barely!) into the 70s in this "long obedience in the same direction" of which you are the epitome!

Competence through struggling for excellence.
Compassion by confronting suffering.
Patience through quiet service.

In this next decade we finally get to "be" what we've wanted to grow up to be!  Quite a challenge before us, isn't it?

In her little book, "Dream Big" Olivia says:
"Nobody can be exactly like me.  Even I have trouble doing it!"

Happy birthday, my friend.

Decading with you. . .Evelyn!

For Judy Butler of Joni and ...

Last weekend, when Joni addressed the graduating students at Biola University, my own Alma Mater, she started with, "Are you ready?"

There's a loaded question.  Ready to graduate?  Ready to venture into a whole new world?  Ready to serve Christ like never before?  Ready to never have a summer vacation again?

The question hit me hard.  Am I ready?  My first reaction was to ask, "For what?" - then I realized, that's the point.  It brought to light the fact that I've been searching for something for awhile.  There have been many changes to life this past year ...