The Touch of Christ

Disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic since a 1967 diving accident, is also a cancer survivor. Breast cancer “was a bruising of a blessing,” she says, “because it helped us face our own mortality.”

The “us” refers to Ken Tada, her husband of 30+ years. In Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story (Zondervan), the couple shares how physical challenges have brought them closer to God and one another. During the “worst of all nights,” when pneumonia ravaged Joni’s chemotherapy-weakened body, she asked God to help her sense his presence.

As Joni summoned Ken for the third time that night, her prayers were answered. She “could feel the touch of Christ” while her husband ministered to her needs and offered encouraging words.

Spouses — and, indeed, all Christians — are called to be Jesus to one another. He says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40, NIV).