Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story

Like many Christian, I have long known of the life and ministry of Joni, who has taken her tragic diving accident that left her a quadriplegic and turned it into a ministry reaching out to the disabled for Christ. What I didn't know much about is her marriage, so when this book popped up on my Amazon Vine list, I decided I had to read it.

As you can imagine, her marriage to Ken has had good and bad times. The book actually starts with her diagnosis with breast cancer just a couple of years ago and then flashes back to them meeting, falling in love, getting married, and what happened when the daily routine of caring for Joni got to be too much for Ken. While he took his vows seriously, he did begin to withdraw. But that's not the end of the story as God used a book and good friends to speak to his heart and renew their relationship in ways neither of them expected.

The chronology is not always linear, but it is well marked, so you can easily follow the time line if you are paying attention. The book is written third person, but the details are still vivid and real as if it were told first person. This style does allow for switching points of view, something that often bugs me, but works in this case because it is handled skillfully. And we really get to know Ken, a man who I've always admired for the role he took, but all the more so now for his honesty in the pages of the book.

I pretty much expect that as I read the book, but here's what I didn't expect. God used the lessons He taught them to teach me as well. I am single, and no one in my life is in a wheelchair, so I didn't really expect much that would apply to me. Instead, I was struck by their faith and commitment to God. While I call myself a Christian, I have been drifting lately, and the book really hit me upside the head with how much that is truly my fault. It's something I need to change going forward.

So this book is highly recommended for anyone. Whether you can relate to the Tada's physical circumstances or not, their faith and commitment will speak to you and draw you closer to God.

The Untold Love Story of Joni and Ken reveals many of the mysteries of how Christ works in his children's lives in this fallen world. As Joni writes in the epilogue, this book is about Ken and Joni and it is also about Jesus Christ and his love and overcoming power.

Reading this book was my first glimpse into Joni Tada's life; however, it seems like many readers will already know of her life and ministry. No matter what readers' familiarity with Joni is currently, this book will provide a more intimate look at her marriage and personal life. I think the purpose of the book is to show readers an honest look at Christian marriage -- for better or for worse. Married folks know the joys and struggles of marriage. Ken and Joni know the additional struggles of marriage where one spouse is a quadriplegic requiring constant care and help. The book also tells the story of Joni's breast cancer and prolonged battles of constant pain -- all occuring while she continued to engage in an international ministry.

This story is not only about Joni, though. It is also about Ken and his faithfulness, shortcomings, relationship with God, honesty, etc. Readers learn about Ken's spiritual journey and how God led him into a closer relationship with the Lord and with his wife. This book removes any facades and shows the brutality of life with disability. I think this story reveals a couple striving with all of God's grace to live out the gospel life in the kingdom of God while still on earth. God transforms Ken to be the "head of his wife" as Christ is the "head of the church." Additionally, there are many unsung heroes behind this story, and those are the caretakers that help Joni in her daily life, including her main caregiver Judy who responded to a call from God to help Joni.

There may be times while reading the book that we wonder "Why?" however, I think more than not we will end up exclaiming "Wow!"

I think this book can help all people become better followers of Jesus Christ, and I think that is the hope and goal that Ken and Joni have in sharing their story. The author Larry Libby writes in the 3rd-person point of view and offers an authentic, well-written account of Ken and Joni's lives. Readers have to pay attention to the timeline of the book, as it moves forward and backward.

My only critique of the book is that it glossed over much of their lives and was a bit narrow in its scope. Because it is a book of their love story, I think it was important to discuss (appropriately) their love life and discussions regarding sex and children. As the couple considers marriage the question is asked "What about sex and children?" Unfortunately, the question is never answered or revisited. In a sex-obsessed culture as ours(i.e. I sharply criticized a recent Christian book written by a pastor that asserted that Christian husbands need sex at least 3-4 times a week to avoid temptation and the wife is responsible to provide it), I think this could have been a helpful and signficant discussion of sex's importance or unimportance in a Christian marriage. It also seems like Ken may have been an excellent father...did the suggestion of adoption ever arise in the relationship? No mention of either is made here, and I wonder how they worked that out and how God spoke to them. Both of these issues, could be relevant to couple facing disability, sickness or infertility.

I also recommend another recent book that includes many citations of Joni Tada. [[ASIN:B008JFCWLI Disability and the Gospel]]

A very honest, revealing story. Really, it's not just about marriage, but it relates to any close relationship between someone with a profound disability and one of their caregivers.

While I was disappointed that there seemed to be a lot left out in this book regarding Ken and Joni's courtship and earlier years of their marriage, I really appreciated the sharing of their hearts and their struggles in the later years of their marriage and to see that they are real people who deal with real issues and real emotions.

I have to admit I had them set up on a pedestal, which this book helped to knock down, because it points to Jesus and how He is needed in our lives most of all, to get through any and every situation. Ken and Joni are very clear about this - Jesus is the center of their lives as individuals and as a married couple and this book shows how they grow and mature as followers of Christ.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this couple and who wants to be challenged in their own walk with Christ.

I received this book from the Book Sneeze blogger review program in exchange for this review

Ken and Joni Tada, along with Larry Libby, wrote this story about their 30 years of marriage. Joni has been a quadriplegic since the age of 17 when she broke her neck in a diving accident. She also suffers from severe chronic pain, and she recently battled breast cancer. Ken and Joni know what it is like to suffer and struggle through marriage with a disability, and in this book they share about their struggles and triumphs. It is rare to find a book that talks about marriage and disability and to now have one written by Ken and Joni Tada is a treasure.

In this book, Ken and Joni give us a glimpse into their life as a married couple. It is a beautiful story of how God brought them together and what He has done in their lives and in their marriage. Ken and Joni have faced very difficult times in their marriage, and have come through it stronger, more in love with each other, and with a deeper love for Christ. They are godly examples of love and faithfulness in marriage.

If you haven't read previous books by Joni, or aren't familiar with her life, then the book Joni and Ken might be a little bit confusing. It doesn't give the details of Joni's accident and the ministry, Joni and Friends. Reading her first book, Joni: An Unforgettable Story, will fill in more of the story of her life.

When I reached the end of Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story, I found myself wishing that it was a longer book! I wanted to know more, wanted to glean more wisdom from their years of marriage. This book is a treasure!

If you are struggling through a marriage with a disability, or if you want to read an encouraging book about marriage, I recommend this book. You are not alone in the challenges you face. Let Ken and Joni encourage you to press on and remain faithful, even when marriage is hard.

I read several books a year and when I find one that is interesting and well-written, it is a jewel. So it is with this book. Recently, I've aquired an unforeseen disability. This book has really shed light on how I can view and address my recent struggles with the disability. I'm a single person, but I admired greatly Ken and Joni's marriage journey. It's not sugar-coated. They've had emotional challenges. But there are many triumphs, too. Joni's ministry has touched many, many lives. Their perseverance is incredible and inspiring. My favorite story is Ken getting out of the van in the rain and helping the lady in the wheelchair to the bus stop. Finally. Mr Libby does an incredible job with the written word(being written in 3rd person was the correct way); the words jump off the page; the dated passages are cohesive and convey just the right amount of emotion. The book reads fast. Highly recommend--especially for disabled people and Christians looking for a boost or a pep in their step in their walk with the Lord.

Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story by Ken & Joni Eareckson Tada with Larry Libby was the second book I read during my trip to Finland. I started Joni & Ken while I was in Joensuu. I first learned of Joni Eareckson at church in the seventies, and I read her first two books Joni and A Step Further. In Joni & Ken, the Tadas told the story of their first meeting and courtship and eventual marriage in 1982. During their marriage they have had to endure Joni's quadriplegia, her chronic pain and breast cancer and Ken's battles with depression. It is an inspirational love story, wherein the couple reveals their weaknesses and stumbles and how they turned it all around to come out stronger in the end:

"It is a love story about Ken and me," Joni replied, "but it's also a love story about Jesus. It's about getting closer to Christ, and experiencing Him in a way beyond anything we had experienced before. He pushed us out of the shallows in our marriage to unfathomable depths--and it was frightening. But now we know His arms have been underneath us, holding us up all the way along."

Joni and Ken's story was told in the third person, flowing evenly by the pen of Larry Libby. He had to sort through many oral reminiscences and it would have been an awkward mishmash of a read had there been three separate authors involved. Nevertheless at times it did seem jarring to read about Joni and Ken in the third person when knowing they had a role in "writing" the book about themselves.

The daily ins and outs of being married to a quadriplegic is dealt with, in all the dirty contexts you can imagine. I am sure that in spite of our admiration of Joni and her remarkable life, some of us have personal questions that we might be ashamed to have yet which we still wonder about. Joni addresses some of them as just another part of her and Ken's story (like how Joni goes to the bathroom) yet some topics she hints at yet never addresses directly, because, after all, it is none of our business (such as details about her and Ken's sex life). Some of the more unpleasant details of living with quadriplegia were written in order to show Ken the life he would be leading if he married Joni. He might be able to handle bathroom visits and emptying Joni's leg bag for a while, but this dirty work is a commitment for life. Did he know what he was getting into?

When Joni was diagnosed with breast cancer, she took it as another trial. Quadriplegia and chronic pain are only two other trials Joni has endured. So what's cancer on top of that? Others might have cursed the disease and the ravages it does to the body through a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Not Joni. She looked at her cancer as a blessing from God, as the ordeal brought her closer to Ken and strengthened their marriage, making their love stronger for each other than when they were first married. She and Ken felt truly blessed to be together as they thoroughly committed to one another in battling this disease. It was hard not to feel touched by the enduring love that Joni and Ken feel for one another.

Please read this book! Yes, it is the story of Joni & Ken's lives and love; but much more, it is the story of God's unending love for all of us, married, single, caregiver, those bound by a wheelchair, or any other life circumstance. It is the story of how God turns love all around from His viewpoint, NOT ours, just so we can see each other as He desires. Then the living begins, on a whole new foundation that can support us through all our trials and circumstances. I plan to re-read this book, and refresh my understanding that with God, all things are possible, for those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose!

Amazing behind the scene look at a truly remarkable couple. Clear to see The Lord is the center of their lives.

Inspirational story.