Ken Interview: Gift of Encouragement
JONI: Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Joni and Friends. And guess who one of my friends is today? It’s my husband, Ken.
KEN: It’s me. Hi, Joni.
JONI: I’m so glad you came into the studio.
KEN: I’m excited to be here.
JONI: Running between errands. Thanks for dropping by. Ken, while you have been out of the office I’ve been sitting here doing radio programs and talking all about encouragement. I was telling the team here in the studio with me that you, my husband, have the gift of encouragement straight out of Romans Chapter 12.
KEN: I don’t know if I always recognize it as being a gift of encouragement, but I’ve noticed in the last years of my life that it’s a gift that God has given me.
JONI: I see it all the time. When we travel you have these little “Joni’s Story” gospel tracts; you give them to the receptionist at the hotel desk check-in area; you give them to the concierges; you give them to the maids.
KEN: I think also Joni, you and I, as we have traveled a lot lately … we first of all pray for everybody that is connected to the trip that we are going to in terms of Skycaps, ground crew, gate agents, flight attendants, flight crew. We start out that, way and as we go through the journey we give these tracts out to them.
JONI: We tell people that they have been prayed for. But it’s not just on trips, Ken; you do this even at home. I mean, the other night we went through the El Polo Loco drive-thru to get the grilled chicken salad for dinner and you and I starting talking ‘hey, we need some Joni gospel story tracts in Spanish’ because you give them to drive-thru fast food restaurant guys.
KEN: It doesn’t hurt to give a word of encouragement, just to say what a great job they are doing. Sometimes it leads into other conversations about faith.
JONI: I don’t know, but maybe it has been inspired by you recently rereading Rich Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life.” Rick talks about the importance of writing a mission statement for your life.
KEN: You know Joni, I’m no spring chicken but it’s still important to recognize that we all have a mission statement.
JONI: We do. And you know Ken I wrote mine years ago in my mid-20s. I said ‘I want to be God’s best audio -visual aid of how His power shows up best in weakness.’ That’s my mission statement. That’s what I want to do. I am focused on that every single day.
KEN: You have been doing that well for the last 50 years.
JONI: I’m kind of excited to hear what your mission statement is going to be. You asked me the other night about it and I suggested that you put in there somewhere “encouragement.” You are such a good encourager. Plus you are a good servant of the Lord Jesus.
KEN: Well, the one thing that the Lord has been whispering in my ear is “Say the name of Jesus,” to be bold with it.
JONI: You know, so many people say “God bless you” and “May the Lord help you.” Again when I am on the road or just around town, the gas station attendants to the checkout people at Gelson’s supermarket you say “Jesus,” you use the name of Jesus. And there is such encouragement in that name.
KEN: There is so much power in that name.
JONI: Would you encourage the kids at the fast food counter of a drive-thru restaurant or a maid or a hotel clerk? When you encourage them you are giving them the name of Jesus as well. And when they see your smile and hear the name of Jesus and see how gracious you are toward them, wow! They can connect the dots and there’s your mission statement right there. Sweetheart, you ought to write it down right now, ‘cause that’s you, you are a good servant of the Lord, you speak His name boldly and you are encourager.
KEN: There are other things that it mentions: Ask your friends for advice. And you are my best friend.
JONI: Well, I give you advice. You are encourager and you are a servant. So when am I going to see this mission statement?
KEN: As soon as I get home.
JONI: Okay! Ken, thank you for coming in and I always love having you here at the mike.
KEN: It’s great being with you, Joni.
JONI: Love you.
KEN: I love you too.
© Joni and Friends
