Quadriplegia and God

Joni: An Unforgettable Story by Joni Eareckson Tada. Zondervan, 2001, 205 pages. ISBN: 0-310-24001-8; paperback $12.97 at Amazon.

Reviewed by Jeff McNair

Joni: An Unforgettable Story, chronicles the life of Joni Eareckson Tada. As a young woman, Joni was severely injured in a diving accident. She relates how her life changed physically in that she now needed the use of a wheelchair. However, the truly dramatic part of her story is her spiritual transformation. This is not a book of platitudes. The author is very real in sharing her desire to take her own life at first but being unable to do so due to the severity of her disability.

With the help of friends who came alongside her, Joni transformed into a woman of amazing faith in the face of extremely challenging life circumstances. The reader experiences firsthand what can happen in the life of a person who is totally committed to God. The difficulties of quadriplegia remained as her faith blossomed. But when she was desperate for God, she found him there, and that faith has continued to carry her through forty years of ministry.

This year actually does celebrate forty years since the original release of the book. Over the years it has been updated and revised for new generations. To date, it has sold five million copies internationally and been translated into fifty languages. She is the author of over fifty books.

Joni has advised United States presidents, and religious and secular leaders around the world. People from many places in the world have shared that they came to faith in Jesus through the reading of Joni: An Unforgettable Story. People with no understanding of God will read her story and remark, “I want to know the God of Joni.”