Joni Eareckson Tada — Nicole O'Meara - words of hope for Christians living with rare disease and chronic illness

The first devotional made me cry, not out of sadness, but from a sense of connection I have never before felt to Joni. She described what it felt like to have COVID as a paralyzed person. In her words, it was “suffocating.” Seeing that word in black and white took me back in an instant to being in the Emergency Room in 2021 and feeling like I was suffocating from the bleed in my lungs. My pulse raced and tears I couldn’t stop leaked out my eyes. Something of the fear of that memory returned but this time, it was accompanied by a feeling of knowing. Joni knew what it was like for me because she had felt it too.

That feeling of being known and understood returned several times as I read through Songs of Suffering. Our situations are remarkably different, but Joni shares many of the same feelings I have experienced. I’m sure that is true for other readers and for other reasons. Perhaps even you.

Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'MearaAugust 30, 2023suffering, hymns, music, devotional, Joni Eareckson TadaComment

The Spoon Theory & The One Spoon That Matters Most

Have you heard or seen the hashtag #spoonies around social media? It’s a helpful label for those living with chronic illness and has an interesting history. But I’m not in love with it. I’ll tell you why.

Christine gave her healthy friend 12 spoons and asked her to list the activities she does during her typical day. With each activity, Christine took away a spoon. Soon, the spoons were gone but the list of activities kept going. That is a great illustration to show how a person living with chronic illness feels but it is too simple. And it doesn’t acknowledge the fact that healthy people also have energy limits. As finite beings, all of our resources are finite and we are entirely in need of help. We cannot manufacture what we need on our own.

Trusting in God’s sufficiency means looking for ways to glorify him within the circumstances we live in. It means not worrying about how many spoons we have, but focusing on the one most important spoon.

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