I’m sure I wasn’t the only parent at my son’s college graduation last weekend feeling melancholy. Watching him cross the stage and receive his diploma, I saw both the young man with an exciting future ahead as well as the quiet, timid little boy who used to be so hesitant about everything.
It’s okay to look back at the past, actually, it’s good to look at the past . . . as long as you don’t “stay there.” Thankfully, the freeze frame of the day for me is a picture of my son standing uprightly, shaking the college chancellor’s hand, confident of the bright future ahead of him.
It’s been 37 years since Joni Eareckson Tada first went on the air with Joni and Friends radio and now, thousands of programs later, there are lots of reasons to look back and celebrate and, lots of reasons to look forward to the future! As station partners and friends gathered last week for a Joni and Friends Media Strategies Summit, that’s exactly what happened!
The station summit was planned to involve station partners and friends in creative thinking as the ministry moves forward – particularly for the day, with significant emphasis on its radio outreach. Reflecting on 37 years of broadcast ministry and 40 years of advancing disability ministry was a great launching point to look forward. Here’s a glimpse of what was shared by station partners and friends around the table about Joni and Friends:
The take-away is to keep the main thing the main thing — which is what you do . . . Joni and Friends content is all scripture based.
Underscoring the message: hope beyond suffering – that is key.
God can take a young lady’s diving accident and turn it into a way to use people for Him . . . wow!
Joni and Friends . . . beams of light.
Joni . . . one of the most trusted evangelistic voices in the country.
The special day concluded with prayer and a message from Joni as she, and the ministry of Joni and Friends, look forward to the future,
I want our radio listeners to know Jesus – the rigorous Jesus who is with you when your child with a disability is born and who is with you when they’ve grown to 18; the Jesus who is with you through all of life’s journeys . . . knowing that His power shows up best in our weakness.
