Ten Years Later: All But Normal and the Faithfulness of God
Ten years ago today, Tyndale House released my memoir, “All But Normal: Life on Victory Road”
As I look back, I find myself overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness.
All But Normal tells the story of my childhood through the lens of our family’s life with disability. When my mom was just fourteen years old, she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. Because of that injury, she could never drive a car, hold a job, or move with ease. She lived with significant physical, emotional, and mental health challenges for the rest of her life.
She also loved Jesus.
To this day, my mom remains one of my greatest spiritual heroes.
Our home was often filled with chaos. The effects of her disability touched nearly every day of our family life. As a little boy, there were moments that were confusing, frightening, and heartbreaking. Yet those were also the moments when I discovered that God meets us in the darkest places. He became my refuge long before I knew how to explain theology. He simply met me in my need.
One of the greatest surprises over these past ten years has been hearing from readers. Countless people with complicated, painful, and deeply challenging childhoods have written to tell me that God used All But Normal to help them revisit some of their hardest memories, not with despair, but with hope. Nothing could be more meaningful to me than knowing God has used my family’s story to bring healing and encouragement to others.
One of the beautiful threads woven throughout the book is the story of Joni Eareckson Tada. I mention Joni more than a dozen times, and I was deeply honored that she wrote the Foreword.
Long before I ever knew Joni personally, her life had already shaped mine.
Her memoir, Joni: The Unforgettable Story of a Young Woman’s Struggle Against Quadriplegia and Depression, published in 1976, became a lifeline for my mom. After one of the emotional breakdowns that so often accompanied her brain injury, she would eventually gather herself and quietly say, “If God can help Joni, He can help me. If Joni can do it, so can I.”
In our home, the two names most associated with hope were Jesus… and Joni.
That is why serving today as President of Joni and Friends feels almost impossible to describe. It feels as though God has brought my story full circle. What I watched my own family navigate as a child is now the very ministry in which God has called me to serve. Every day I have the privilege of coming alongside families who are living what many would call an “all but normal” life because disability has become part of their story too.
The same Jesus who sustained my mom. The same Jesus who has sustained Joni for decades. The same Jesus who met a frightened little boy in the middle of family chaos is still meeting people today. His peace is real. His joy is available to everyone who trusts Him as Savior and then walks closely with Him, trusting His sovereign hand through suffering. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
My mom has now been with Jesus for more than twenty-five years. Recently, I told Joni that if she arrives in heaven before me, I have one favor to ask. Would she find my mom and tell her that, later in life, we had the privilege of serving the Lord together?
Without missing a beat, Joni smiled and said, “I’ll run.”
I can still picture that conversation.
For ten years, God has used All But Normal, my mother’s battle with physical, emotional, and mental health challenges, and her testimony of hope in Christ to minister to countless people.
Amazing.
Only God.