Ken and I have often enjoyed participating in the annual Wheel-a-thon to benefit our local university’s center for disabled people. We fill up sponsor forms...

Joni and Friends Blog

24.03.2025

Restoring the Joy | Joni and Friends

You probably can see that the scoliosis in my spine is getting worse (I keep slumping to the side)...

Joni and Friends Blog

23.03.2025

A Sneak Preview? | Joni and Friends

I never used to understand Christians who longed to go to heaven. To me, it was a place where not only God would know all and see all...

Joni and Friends Blog

22.03.2025

Ups and Downs | Joni and Friends

The other night I fell into bed with a miserable cold. Mind you, I am not able to blow my nose because I can’t use my hands, and I can’t really cough...

Joni and Friends Blog

21.03.2025

The Service You Perform | Joni and Friends

Occasionally, the blues weigh us down. And I‘m no exception. The other day I was struggling all morning to breathe comfortably. I’d only been sitting...

Joni and Friends Blog

20.03.2025

Follow Jesus | Joni and Friends

“Yes, I will follow Jesus!” We’ll gladly follow the Lord around the Sea of Galilee and be fed with the five thousand. We will drink wine made from water...

Joni and Friends Blog

19.03.2025

A New Disability Brought a New Call | Joni and Friends

Meet Vianey, an energetic mom of three from Monterrey, Mexico. She lived a busy, happy life, never imagining that disability would be part of her story...

Joni and Friends Blog

19.03.2025

Lifting Barbells | Joni and Friends

Growing strong in Christ is like lifting very heavy barbells. The trouble is that no one likes to lift them. We walk around those huge barbells...

Joni and Friends Blog

18.03.2025

Muscles of Faith | Joni and Friends

Candy, a fellow quadriplegic, was my exercise partner in physical therapy. Every day the therapist positioned our wheelchairs in front of a wall of weights...

Joni and Friends Blog

17.03.2025

This Thing is From Me | Joni and Friends

God often does things that seem so counterintuitive. Like, I was once speaking at a conference and before I was to go on...

Joni and Friends Blog

16.03.2025

Me, A Pharisee? Never! | Joni and Friends

Most of us would like to identify with the tax collector. But frankly, we may be more like the Pharisee—a good, solid citizen who does things above...

Joni and Friends Blog

15.03.2025

A Selfish Sacrifice | Joni and Friends

“So, what are you giving up for Lent?” That was a common question among kids as I grew up. And the answers were predictable for many of...

Joni and Friends Blog

14.03.2025

Lent | Joni and Friends

The season of Lent can be summed up in one word: repentance. That’s why my best companion during Lent is my old Book of Common Prayer...

Joni and Friends Blog

14.03.2025

God Weaves Stories of Love and Joy at Family Retreat | Joni and Friends

Ellie’s heart races as the first van pulls up to Family Retreat. It’s Ellie’s first time volunteering with Joni and Friends and she’s been paired...

Joni and Friends Blog

13.03.2025

Wings of Freedom: How a Wheelchair Transformed Tong’s Spirit to Soar | Joni and Friends

In a corner forgotten by the world, Tong's home once resembled a silent ocean, its every moment immersed in waves of stillness...

Joni and Friends Blog

13.03.2025

No Sea?! | Joni and Friends

The first time I read these verses, I whined, “Oh no, you mean in the new heavens and new earth there won’t be any sea? Heaven’s centerpiece will be a city?...

Joni and Friends Blog

12.03.2025

Under the Wings of Love and Faith: The Story of Tong’s Family Rebirth | Joni and Friends

In a corner forgotten by the world, Tong's home once resembled a silent ocean, its every moment immersed in waves of stillness...

Joni and Friends Blog

12.03.2025

The Person God Uses | Joni and Friends

Whatever you give unreservedly to God, He will take. Whatever God takes, He will cleanse. What He cleanses, He fills and what He fills, He will always use...

Joni and Friends Blog

11.03.2025

New Church, New Friends: A Family’s Journey to Belonging | Joni and Friends

You’re in the sanctuary as the service begins. There’s a family beside you that you might not even notice, but look closer… Sitting between his parents...

Joni and Friends Blog

11.03.2025

The Cowboy on the Clay: Reigniting the Love of Art | Joni and Friends

My sullen mood proved no match for my occupational therapist back in 1968. I was so demoralized about being a quadriplegic for the rest of my life...

Joni and Friends Blog

11.03.2025

Double Standards | Joni and Friends

Why is it that we make requirements of others that we don’t keep ourselves? Some Christians work hard to wipe out social evils, but at the same time...

Joni and Friends Blog

10.03.2025

Before You Worship | Joni and Friends

Recently, I was in bed and reciting to God a Bible passage as part of my worship. But the more I recited it, the more uneasy I felt...

Joni and Friends Blog

10.03.2025

Forever Friends | Joni and Friends

Did you catch that? It’s no mistake that you are living in this century, this decade, and this very year. It’s no accident that you are residing in your town...

Joni and Friends Blog

09.03.2025

What’s in a Look? | Joni and Friends

The eyes can give looks that love or looks that kill. When someone you love holds your eyes with his, you’re enraptured. But when that same person looks...

Joni and Friends Blog

07.03.2025

Beyond Your Limitations | Joni and Friends

Well-meaning people will sometimes say to me, “Joni, God knows he can trust you with suffering. He knows your character. He knows you’re strong...

Joni and Friends Blog

07.03.2025

A Family’s Journey to Healing and Hope Through God’s Love | Joni and Friends

We are thrilled and humbled to report this year has been incredibly significant for Joni and Friends Tennessee, and God made it all possible through you...

Joni and Friends Blog

07.03.2025

Footsteps | Joni and Friends

Funny how certain sounds make you feel so good, so warm inside. The crackling of a fire. The whistling of a tea kettle. Chimes tinkling in a breeze. The steady breathing of a sleeping infant.

Joni and Friends Blog

06.03.2025

A Family Transformed by Love, Service, and Christ | Joni and Friends

Art and Jen have ten children. They have five children still living at home who are all adopted from China and all live with disability...

Joni and Friends Blog

06.03.2025

Love’s Opposite | Joni and Friends

What, would you say is the opposite of love? Would you answer, “hate”? Many would agree that hate is the antonym of love, but consider this: Lust...

Joni and Friends Blog

04.03.2025

Empowered by God’s Love: A Family’s Story of Faith and Service | Joni and Friends

As we reflect on the growth and impact that God has brought to Joni and Friends Mississippi this year, I want to tell a very special story that highlights...

home›Joni and Friends Blog›Kids & Parenting

Joni and Friends Blog - Kids & Parenting

Sow in Tears | Joni and Friends

God Starts What He Finishes | Joni and Friends

Jesus’ Pre-Cross Crash Course | Joni and Friends

Discovering the Love of God in Thailand through Joni’s House | Joni and Friends

The Power of Grace | Joni and Friends

You Did It for Me | Joni and Friends

Winter’s End | Joni and Friends

Mary Listened | Joni and Friends

You Are God’s Friend If… | Joni and Friends

Wrong Expectations | Joni and Friends

Giving All You’ve Got | Joni and Friends

Restoring the Joy | Joni and Friends

A Sneak Preview? | Joni and Friends

Ups and Downs | Joni and Friends

The Service You Perform | Joni and Friends

Follow Jesus | Joni and Friends

A New Disability Brought a New Call | Joni and Friends

Lifting Barbells | Joni and Friends

Muscles of Faith | Joni and Friends

This Thing is From Me | Joni and Friends

Me, A Pharisee? Never! | Joni and Friends

A Selfish Sacrifice | Joni and Friends

Lent | Joni and Friends

God Weaves Stories of Love and Joy at Family Retreat | Joni and Friends

Wings of Freedom: How a Wheelchair Transformed Tong’s Spirit to Soar | Joni and Friends

No Sea?! | Joni and Friends

Under the Wings of Love and Faith: The Story of Tong’s Family Rebirth | Joni and Friends

The Person God Uses | Joni and Friends

New Church, New Friends: A Family’s Journey to Belonging | Joni and Friends

The Cowboy on the Clay: Reigniting the Love of Art | Joni and Friends

Double Standards | Joni and Friends

Before You Worship | Joni and Friends

Forever Friends | Joni and Friends

What’s in a Look? | Joni and Friends

Beyond Your Limitations | Joni and Friends

A Family’s Journey to Healing and Hope Through God’s Love | Joni and Friends

Footsteps | Joni and Friends

A Family Transformed by Love, Service, and Christ | Joni and Friends

Love’s Opposite | Joni and Friends

Empowered by God’s Love: A Family’s Story of Faith and Service | Joni and Friends

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