Amber Smith, wife of former country music artist, Granger Smith joins Stephanie Daniels to share about her book, The Girl on the Bathroom Floor: Held Together when Everything is Falling Apart. Amber shares her deeply personal experience of losing her three-year-old son, River, and God’s faithfulness to her in the pit of despair. Her story will encourage you to hold onto the hope that God is near, even when it feels quiet, and that the bathroom floor is not the end—it’s just the beginning.

Get your copy of Amber’s book: The Girl on the Bathroom Floor: Held Together when Everything is Falling Apart

Find out more about Amber and connect with her at: arisewithamber.com

KEY QUESTIONS:

• How have you experienced God in the bathroom floor seasons of your life?
• How can you invite God into your heartbreak? Who can you ask to walk with you?

KEY SCRIPTURES:

• Revelation 21:14: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
• Hebrews 12:1–2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
• Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

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Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, Retreats and Getaways, and disability ministry training.

Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast and her daily devotional.

Dr. Jason Kolb and his wife Amy know firsthand about unexpected turns in life. In January 2023 Jason took a wrong turn at high speed while skiing and landed at the bottom of a 20-foot drop. As an ER doctor, Jason knew he was paralyzed from the chest down and had broken several ribs. Jason and Amy join Stephanie Daniels to share their journey of discovering God's sufficient grace in ways they never could have planned. Their conversation will encourage, challenge, and remind you that no matter what you face, God's grace really is enough.

Read more of Dr. Kolb’s story

Get your copy of Dr. Kolb’s book, Down the Mountain: Skiing, Suffering, and Sufficient Grace

Connect with him at www.drjasonkolb.com

KEY QUESTIONS:

• How can you bring community to someone experiencing isolation?
• Whose burden can you bear?
• What trial do you need to entrust to God today?

KEY SCRIPTURES:

• 2 Corinthians 12:9–10: “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
• Psalm 23:1–4: “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

You make this podcast possible! Thank you for your support.

Find all podcast resources and message our team.

Follow Joni and Friends on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, Retreats and Getaways, and disability ministry training.

Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast and her daily devotional.

Shawn Thornton, our Joni and Friends President and Chief Ministry Officer returns to the podcast to share his experience and insight on disability ministry in the church. Raised with disability in his immediate family, Shawn has a unique perspective on how the church should care for people who live with disability. Hear how God has used his personal experience to grow him as a pastor and prepare him to reach the global church through his role with Joni and Friends.

• Listen to part 1 of Shawn’s conversation with Stephanie Daniels
• Get your copy of Shawn’s book, All But Normal: Life on Victory Road

Prior to leading Joni and Friends, Shawn served as Senior Pastor of Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, California, where he helped launch a dynamic disability ministry that has become a model for churches nationwide. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Awana Clubs International and on the Board of Trustees of Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, California.

Shawn and his wife, Lesli, live in Southern California and have three grown children, Jon, Katie, and Megan (who is married to Wes).

KEY QUESTIONS:

• How can you encourage your church’s culture to welcome people with disabilities?
• How can a struggle you experience equip you to encourage someone else?

KEY SCRIPTURES:

• Psalm 34:8-9: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord, you His holy people, for those who fear Him lack nothing.”
• 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

You make this podcast possible! Thank you for your support.

Find all podcast resources and message our team.

Follow Joni and Friends on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, Retreats and Getaways, and disability ministry training.

Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast and her daily devotional.

Vaneetha Risner is no stranger to suffering. Having lived through polio, the loss of a child, and multiple miscarriages, she has wrestled with God and learned to trust in his goodness. Vaneetha joins Stephanie Daniels to share about her journey and how she has continued to hope in God through the darkness of deep pain. Their encouraging conversation will remind you that God sees you and reassure you that you never have to suffer alone.

Get your copy of Vaneetha’s devotional, Watching for the Morning

Find out more about Vaneetha and connect with her at: www.vaneetha.com

Learn more of Vaneetha’s story on previous podcast episodes: Desperate for Hope: Questions We Ask God in Suffering and Finding Freedom Through Forgiveness

KEY QUESTIONS:

• How have you seen God work through the hardships in your life?
• What struggle do you need to bring before God today, trusting him to meet and sustain you?

KEY SCRIPTURES:

• Psalm 34:3–5: “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”
• Psalm 30:5: “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

You make this podcast possible! Thank you for your support.

Find all podcast resources and message our team.

Follow Joni and Friends on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, Retreats and Getaways, and disability ministry training.

Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast and her daily devotional.

Lars Nelson, a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet, joins Stephanie Daniels to share about his faith journey, career, and passion to see people with disabilities served and included by the church. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he began dance training at the age of 11, studied at the School of American Ballet, then joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2011. He is husband to Tanya and also brother to Eric, who lives with cerebral palsy.

Learn more about Lars Nelson and hear why he names Joni Eareckson Tada as his hero!

Find out more about our Wheels for the World® program, which hand-delivers wheelchairs and Bibles to people with disabilities in developing countries, all in the name of Jesus.

Learn more about our Family Retreats.

Discover our free resources to help your church fully embrace people living with disability.

KEY QUESTIONS:

• Does your church, neighborhood, and community embrace people living with disabilities?
• How can you welcome people with disabilities into your personal circles?
• Who are your faith heroes?

KEY SCRIPTURES:

• 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
• Colossians 3:23–24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

You make this podcast possible! Thank you for your support.

Find all podcast resources and message our team.

Follow Joni and Friends on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, Retreats and Getaways, and disability ministry training.

Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast and her daily devotional.