My life goal is to see the world's one billion people with disabilities embraced and encouraged by the church.
Joni Eareckson TadaRead
My weakness, that is, my quadriplegia, is my greatest asset because it forces me into the arms of Christ every single morning when I get up.
Interpretation
Embracing one's challenges can lead to strength and spiritual growth.
In this quote, Joni Eareckson Tada reflects on how her physical limitations, specifically her quadriplegia, serve as a catalyst for her spiritual reliance on Christ. Instead of viewing her condition as a mere weakness, she recognizes it as an asset that deepens her faith and connection to her spirituality every day.
In practice
During a motivational speech addressing overcoming adversity.
My life goal is to see the world's one billion people with disabilities embraced and encouraged by the church.
Heartache forces us to embrace God out of desparate, urgent need. God is never closer than when your heart is aching.
...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.
My wheelchair was the key to seeing all this happen—especially since God’s power always shows up best in weakness. So here I sit … glad that I have not been healed on the outside, but glad that I have been healed on the inside. Healed from my own self-centered wants and wishes.
If you truly believe in the value of life, you care about all of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society.
God deliberately chooses weak, suffering and unlikely candidates to get His work done, so that in the end, the glory goes to God and not to the person.
I'm not afraid to compete. It's just the opposite. Don't you see that? I'm afraid I will compete — that's what scares me. That's why I quit the Theatre Department. Just because I'm so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else's values, and just because I like applause and people to rave about me, doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I'm sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of a splash.
I remember integrating the all-white Yazoo City High School after my Black school closed its doors. Teachers sprayed me with fire extinguishers, and I carried a stick to fend off attacks from fellow students.
He lay back, put his arm over his eyes, and tried to hold onto the anger, because the anger made him feel brave. A brave man could think. A coward couldn't.
Part of the problem is we had so far to go, given the deep homophobia in our society. But, the movement is very real. The movement is very real.
You pay a certain penalty for going your own way. A lot of people think you're nuts, and you're not as popular with girls as you should be.
I grew up in a culture in which it was a sin for a woman to speak out.
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