A Lifetime of Wisdom: Filled with God's Priceless Rubies

When a diving accident in 1967 paralyzed her from the neck down, Tada, then a teenager, questioned God and life itself. Decades later, the author and founder of Joni and Friends, a ministry for the disabled, writes from her wheelchair, “[T]here are more important things in life than walking.” In her latest book, Tada jumps back in time to reveal her thoughts as a young quadriplegic, then pleads with her teenage self and the reader to be patient and hopeful. In each chapter, Tada offers a “ruby” of her own hard-won wisdom (e.g., God may not always provide healing; courage in the midst of suffering is a testament to God's love; God gives grace in tough times) and encourages readers to dialogue with God to understand the purpose for hardships. Tada then supports this argument about suffering with Scripture, folding some verses into the chapters and compiling others into three appendices. Those who are ill, struggling or hopeless may be comforted by her testimony and perhaps roused to pray and perform good deeds while awaiting relief in whatever form it may take. (Mar.)