Free Joni by Joni Eareckson Tada Page A

tilt-board. By Thanksgiving you should be sitting up in a chair,” Joe said brightly.
    Earl, another aide, nodded and said, “You see, your body is so used to lyin’ flat that your circulation has adapted to this position.” Earl punctuated his explanation with wide, sweeping arm gestures. “When we raise your head, the blood leaves your head, and you feel like you’re gonna black out. But if we do it slow’n easy, your heart will ‘remember’ and begin to do its job again. Your circulation will pick up and blood will be pumped to your brain again.”
    So we worked out longer and longer each day until I could “sit up” on the tilt-board without blacking out or getting nauseous.
    We took inventory of my muscle capability and feeling. Doctors and therapists determined I had full feelings in my head, neck, and shoulders to the collarbones. There was a slight tingling sensation in my upper arms and chest, making it feel as if these parts of my body were asleep.
    Diana came by after I was making progress in P.T. and offered her encouragement. Her optimism was contagious. Each time she came to visit, she’d have new encouragement from the Bible. “Listen,” she exclaimed, “it’s from John 16:24: ‘I assure you that whatever you ask the Father he will give you in my name. Up to now you have asked nothing in my name; ask now, and you will receive, that your joy may be overflowing.’ Isn’t that great?”
    “Yeah, it really is. Hey, maybe God is doing something special. Did you hear about our church?” I said.
    “Church?” Diana asked. “No. What’s happening?”
    “Our church is having an all-night prayer service for me. They’re going to pray for my healing and recovery,” I explained.
    “Oh, wow. That’s neat! ‘Ask now, and you will receive,’” Diana repeated.
    I was further encouraged because my P.T. had by now brought a tingling feeling to my fingers. While they were still numb and paralyzed, I could feel a remote sensation in them. I knew God was beginning to heal me.
    On the night of the prayer service at church, friends from high school, teachers, parents of friends, and friends of friends crowded into the Bishop Cummings Reformed Episcopal Church. And I went to sleep that night expecting to awake the next morning fully healed.
    It didn’t happen that way of, course. So I rationalized that the Lord was testing our faith and that the healing process and full recovery would come slowly and not in some sudden, supernatural way.
    When Diana, Jay, my parents, and Young Life friends came by for a visit, I gave the outward impression that everything was under control, hiding my disappointment and impatience.
    “The Lord’s going to heal me,” I promised them. “Let’s keep praying and trusting.”
    “Oh, Joni,” someone would gush, “you sure are brave. I wish I had your faith.”
    I’d smile sweetly and pray under my breath for God to hurry up and heal me.

CHAPTER 5
    B y December I was still weak, thin, and covered with bedsores, but my physical therapy gave me enough sitting-up time so I could go home for one day. I chose Christmas day and began to get excited planning for it. The night after they told me I could go home for a day, I was too thrilled to sleep. I lay in the darkness of my room and tried to recall all the memories of my last Christmas before the accident—walking in the snow with Dick, Christmas Eve at the cathedral, making angels in the snow, drinking hot chocolate beside the fireplace, singing carols as I played my guitar. What would it be like this year?
    Christmas Day finally came! Jay helped the nurse dress me for the trip home. I wore the pretty, dark suit I had bought on the trip our family had taken out West just weeks before my accident; it hung on me like a sack. Jay also brought me a lovely blond wig to wear over my own hair, which was still not long enough to style.
    Dad drove up to the door and waited while Joe and Earl carried me to the car. They