ith his infant daughter, Anna Joy, nestled in his lap, you would hardly be able to tell that there was anything different about Jon Sheptock. She is sleeping peacefully and her shock of strawberry blond hair matches her father’s. Before she was even born, Jon wrote a song for her in which he thanks God for his “Anna Joy.” The fact that he wrote this song before he even knew she was a girl is a small example of this young man’s big faith in God. What a welcome into the world! In contrast to the joy with which Jon and his wife, Staci, celebrated their daughter’s birth, Jon’s own birthday was not so welcoming. Jon was born without arms and one of his legs is much shorter than the other. Although his birth father wanted to keep him, his birth mother refused to even see him and so the couple put him up for adoption.

After spending some time in foster care, Jon was taken into the home of Rudy and Joanne Sheptock. Although this loving couple already had seven biological children, they felt burdened to care for children whose disabilities made it difficult for them to find homes. When they took Jon into their home, they decided to adopt him and they loved him as their own. Growing up in Peapack, New Jersey, with thirty-four siblings, Jon has some incredible stories of daily life in a family of this size and how God provided for them. Once, with a number of children still in diapers, the Sheptocks ran out and were unsure of how they would get money to keep up an adequate supply. That very afternoon a Huggies truck broke down in front of their home. Because they were unable to deliver the shipment, the workers decided to unload the merchandise on the Sheptocks!

As a young child, Jon got around with the aid of the walls inside his home. For balance, Jon would slide along the wall, leaving a tell-tale path as he mastered the art of walking without assistance. One evening, during a Bible study in their home, Rudy Sheptock felt God telling him that Jon would walk. He told Jon to stand up and walk to him. Everyone was astonished as four-year-old Jon took his first steps, from one end of the living room to the other, landing safely in his father’s arms. While Jon has painful memories of classmates cruelly reminding him of his differences, he has never let his disability interfere with his life. With his feet, he writes better than most people; he changes his daughter’s diapers, and he even drives, with a specially equipped car. In fact, when he visits his family, his brothers and sisters fight over who will challenge him on the latest video games because he is the undisputed champion!

Jon is grateful for the vital support he received from his parents who always affirmed his identity in Christ. They challenged him to see his physical differences as a spiritual opportunity. His parents fostered Jon’s spiritual development, introducing him to his heavenly Father, while providing a powerful example of a life lived by faith. They encouraged him to express himself through song, so from the time Jon was a very young child, his mother would take him along when she went to speak at churches and he would sing “Jesus Loves Me.” Now, with a demo recording and a CD on the way, Jon is eager to express his love for the Lord with his God-given talent. One of his favorite songs is, “As Long as I Can Sing, I Want to Sing About You,” and it is so powerful because he really means it. His audiences recognize his sincerity and Jon challenges them to match it with their own, “Every song that I sing has a special meaning. When I do a concert, I ask people to think about the words that I am singing,” he says.

Whether he is singing in a church or on the boardwalk in Cape May, listeners are captured by the beautiful correspondence between Jon’s life and music. Although he currently works as a salesman for an eyewear distributor, Jon’s heart is in his music. He finds joy in performing the songs that mean so much to him and reaching out to those who are in need. The generous funding provided by the congregation of Northport Baptist Church will enable him to reach out on a larger scale. Jon is currently researching record labels and is excited about being able to touch even more people with his music and his message. Thinking about the prospect, he grins, “As my mom says, ‘Never miss a chance to be a blessing,’ that’s how I feel, too.” ?