Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast

Season 4: Find Hope in Your Hardship

Episode Summary

What does it mean to suffer well? How can we understand and cope with pain, disability, and grief? We're excited to kick off a new series of encouraging conversations about finding hope through hardship, and share practical ways to include people with disabilities in your church and community. In each episode of Season 4, Crystal Keating will talk with a guest who shares how they lean on Christ through their challenges and redefine their experience with suffering. Subscribe to hear our first conversation with Katherine Wolf next Thursday!

Episode Notes

Welcome to Season 4 of the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast!

We are excited to kick off a new series of encouraging conversations about finding hope through hardship, and share practical ways to include people with disabilities in your church and community.

The past few years have brought unexpected changes and challenges, from the Coronavirus pandemic to global unrest, not to mention personal difficulties. And trying times bring up big questions:

What does it mean to suffer well?
How can we understand and cope with pain, loss, disability, and grief?

Beginning next week, we will learn how to lean on Christ and redefine our experiences with suffering. In each episode, Crystal Keating will talk with a guest who knows what it means to suffer. Each conversation will shed light on some of life’s great challenges and provide deep encouragement.

Episode One kicks off with Katherine Wolf, a true trailblazer when it comes to disability and suffering. In 2008, at just 26 years old and 6 months after having a new baby boy, Katherine miraculously survived a catastrophic stroke. Now profoundly disabled, Katherine has learned to take joy in doing hard things in the good story God is writing in her life. She and her husband Jay have used their second-chance lives to disrupt the myth that joy can only be found in a pain-free life.
In other episodes, Crystal will interview remarkable people who have walked with Jesus through disability, illness, and other experiences of great darkness and difficulty. Guests will include Scott Sauls, Danika Deva, and, of course, Joni Eareckson Tada.

Subscribe to the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. And be sure to share it with a friend!

As you listen, you can send Crystal a message with your comments and questions.

We pray that you will find encouragement and inspiration as you listen this season!

Support Joni and Friends to help make this podcast possible.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Join us in answering the call in Luke 14:21-23... until his house is full!

Founded by author and international disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada, the ministry provides Christ-centered care that serves needs and transforms hearts through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, and Retreats and Getaways. Joni and Friends also equips individuals and churches with disability ministry training and provides higher education courses and internships through the Christian Institute on Disability.

Find more encouragement through Joni's radio podcast, daily devotional, or by following us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Episode Transcription

Crystal Keating:

Hi friends, I’m Crystal Keating and I’m excited to kick off season 4 of the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast! Each week we’re bringing you encouraging conversations about finding hope through hardship… and sharing practical ways that you can include people with disability in your church and community.

Over these last few years, we’ve all experienced unexpected changes, haven’t we? Many of us have faced disappointments, challenges, and struggles that we never expected. But in the midst of complicated and unwanted hardships, is it possible to suffer well? Is there a way to redefine how we think about our pain, loss, disability, or our grief?

During this next season of the podcast, I will be talking with new guests about these real-life questions. I know you’ll be inspired by the hope each person has found in Jesus as they walk through disability, illness, or other heart-wrenching challenges. And we’re starting next week with an incredible guest - a true trailblazer when it comes to disability and suffering and doing the hard things in the good story that God is writing in her life: Katherine Wolf. At just 26 years old and 6 months after having a new baby boy, Katherine miraculously survived a catastrophic stroke. Since 2008, she and her husband Jay have used their second-chance lives to disrupt the myth that joy can only be found in a pain-free life. I know you won’t want to miss this powerful conversation so subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and share it with friends! And as you listen, visit joniandfriends.org/podcast to send me a message with your comments and find resources mentioned throughout our conversations.

I pray that you are encouraged and inspired as you listen this season. Thank you for joining me for the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast.