It’s National Stroke Awareness Month! And Hi! I’m Joni Eareckson Tada,

and I'm here with my friend Shauna Amick, who works with me at Joni and Friends where we are recognizing National Stroke Awareness Month, and we’re doing it with a little help from our friend, Katherine Wolf.

SHAUNA: Oh, and I was blown away the first time I heard Katherine’s story – I mean here she is, this young, successful model in the Los Angeles area. She’s married to Jay Wolf, who’s now going to Pepperdine for Law, and one afternoon, when her six- month- old baby’s asleep in the next room, she just yells out to her husband; crumbles to the floor, and what they found out is she has had a massive brain stem stroke. So, I can’t even imagine, Joni, one day her modeling career is taking off, and the next she’s undergoing neurosurgery where actually part of her brain was removed. To me, simply surviving a trauma like that would be inspirational enough, but here Katherine and her husband Jay, they’ve taught us how to thrive under these incredible circumstances, and I know if Katherine were here with us right now, she’d be saying Happy Stroke Awareness Month! (JONI: She is so happy.) Oh my goodness, these are words I would never put together! But here’s our friend Katherine, a woman who’s had a stroke, telling us that even after that massive life-altering trauma – life is good because God is good.

JONI: Well, Shauna, let me real quickly for our listeners play a clip, just a little clip, from a video that Katherine did for us.

KATHERINE: Everybody wants to think their story is over when they have a stroke. It’s the end of the line for them; life could never be good again. Nothing could be further from the truth. Guess what just happened when you had a stroke? Your life got really exciting, it got amped out. ‘Cause now the world is watching. You get to cling to Jesus and show other people what that looks like through your story. Your life is good, because guess what? God is good! And God is in your story. He is always at work.

SHAUNA: Oh, man, I just love her. She always puts a smile in my heart and that is why Katherine is such an encouragement to all of us. (JONI: Absolutely!) She reminds us that no matter what we’re going through, we can use that as a platform for making much out of Jesus. And Katherine, she states with both confidence and also great humility.

JONI: And you know, Shauna, she speaks with such authority (SHAUNA: She sure does.), and it’s not that she’s got a Bible degree; she’s no theologian, but this woman knows the Word of God. And what gives her authority is the platform that God has given her in her immense suffering. But when you look at her and listen to her, it’s all about the joy of the Lord.

SHAUNA: Oh, it just beams off her face and you hear it in her beautiful voice. Maybe it takes life being undeniably terrible before we can recognize its undeniable splendor.

JONI: Wow, that’s so true.

SHAUNA: It’s so much like Peter when he was walking on the water towards Jesus, we also we need to keep our eyes up looking at the face of our Savior, rather than down on those ugly details. That’s what Katherine and Jay do.

JONI: They do it every day. So, friend, go to joniradio.org today where you will find a personal video message from Katherine Wolf (you heard part of it just a second ago) but there is so much more that she says that will touch your heart; make you laugh and bring a lot of awareness to what it means to live with stroke and do it with confidence. So, I don’t know if you can say it with me, but “Happy Stroke Awareness Month!” And Katherine’s beautiful smile is right there for you at joniradio.org.

© Joni and Friends

--------

Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.