Not again.

I had been enjoying a message about life after death when the speaker began reading a quote from an all-too-familiar source. I could suddenly feel the eyes of my friends turning towards me.

Why did this keep happening?

Afterward, a friend commented excitedly, “Wasn’t that a cool quote? Have you heard of that lady before?”

In fact, I had. One too many times.

Joni. Eareckson. Tada.

After a life-altering diving accident led to paralysis, Joni went onto speak, write, and advocate for people with disabilities all over the world, sharing about her faith in God in the midst of suffering.

It seemed that people couldn’t help themselves from comparing me to this woman and it was driving me nuts.

As a guy in my early twenties adjusting to the new realities of my physical circumstances, constantly being automatically associated with a woman who was nearly 70-years-old was not as encouraging as people seemed to think.

The only problem was, I could not avoid her name.

At a concert one evening, a lady spotted my wheelchair and seized the opportunity to tell me about Joni’s organization that facilitates camp retreats for families with a loved one who has a disability. I faked a smile and thought to myself,

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not going to a camp to celebrate the fact that I am in a wheelchair.”

I shared with a friend about my belief in healing and he was quick to point out Joni and her strong faith in Jesus…and how it did not change the fact that she had been paralyzed for decades. I wasn’t quite sure if he was trying to discourage my thinking or was just stating the facts. I acted as if I did not hear him but in my head I thought,

“I don’t care about Joni! I’m tired of hearing about her!”

Many around me continued to bring her to my attention, pointing out what she was able to accomplish in spite of her injury. However, as far as I was concerned, simply sharing the same faith and physical condition was not exactly grounds for assuming I wanted to be best friends with this lady.

Why did it irritate me so much? Was it that I felt like people saw my injury and automatically assumed I wanted to speak and write about my faith, or that my future vocational aspirations were limited to this arena? Or was it simply the fact that so many people saw me and immediately thought of a 70-year-old woman who goes around singing hymns for audiences?

I was not buying it. I was sure she was a nice lady, but I was sick of hearing about her.

That is, until I actually took the time to read one of her books.

After years of trying to avoid her name, I came across her book, A Place of Healing, and decided to give it a shot.

The pages took me inside her mind and allowed me to see how she processed the chronic pain that came with her paralysis, while wrestling through why God allows such suffering.

I was amazed by how her words displayed the same raw emotion I have experienced at a variety of points in my own journey. One excerpt in particular mirrored my own situation so closely that I felt like I could have written it myself:

“In the dark, in the night, after two in the morning when the medication has worn off and sleep has fled, I have faced the stark reality of my life as it is, and asked myself, How can I go on like this? How can I endure another sleepless night? How can I go through another morning routine of just trying to get a pain-wracked, uncooperative body ready for the day?”

Suddenly I realized I actually had more in common with Joni than I thought. I wanted to reach through the pages and talk to her, recognizing that she was someone who understood how I feel on a level that few others will ever be able to.

As I continued to read about her, I became more encouraged by her story. Yes, her physical body is still confined to a wheelchair, yet she is living life to the fullest and helping others do the same.

Overall, she has a deep trust in Jesus, believes that He can heal her, but doesn’t let the fact that He hasn’t stop her from making a tremendous impact on the lives of others in similar situations.

Going forward, whenever people inevitably bring up her name, I will utilize the opportunity as a reminder to be encouraged by Joni’s example. Yes, this situation is difficult, but like Joni, I’m not going to let that stop me from making the most of each opportunity that God has placed in front of me.

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