The dawn’s light pushed through my curtains, rousing me from my slumber. The birds were already paying tribute to the new day. I opened my eyes and instantly, I knew that my life was going to change. Dramatically. I heard God’s voice greet me, “Jennifer, you are to travel across America to give hope to others who are suffering the same type of brain injury you had.” I rolled my eyes.
“You’re kidding me, right?” I said out loud. ” That’s a crazy idea, God. I can barely drive across the San Francisco Bay bridge to Annies Annuals to buy flowers for the garden.” I shook the sleep from my eyes, a bit fuzzy headed, and slow.
“Yes. I’m sure. Have I ever kidded you before?”
“Hmmmmm. No. Never.” God was a straight shooter, at least in my life.
I told my best friend Paula about the trip over breakfast at a local cafe. She dropped her fork in surprise. “See,” I thought to myself. “She thinks it’s a crazy idea, too.”
“It’s brilliant!” She beamed at me.
And so it began, the steps I needed to take to rent a van I could sleep in and to procure all of the supplies I would need to be on the road for three months. I prayed for guidance. I prayed even harder for God to help me be obedient to His word.
The day I left I cried as Paula stood at the curb and waved me off into the unknown. I was scared, hopeful, excited, humbled and full of love for God. Too many emotions all at once to keep inside.
I traveled across America with God and my service dog Shakespeare, without an itinerary. People who needed me wrote to me at my benzo blog and asked me to visit them. I did my best to honor each request. My journey took me all the way to Miami, Florida. God provided for me every every mile, all 8,500 of them. I slept in the van some nights in campgrounds or parked in front of people’s houses. I stayed with strangers in their homes, so honored to be their guest. I stayed in cheap hotels when people gave me money to do so.
To say that the trip transformed me is an understatement. I thought I was traveling to help others heal, but my own deep soul healing took place somewhere on a lonely stretch of highway between Colorado and Kansas. When I returned home at the end of March, I was a new person.
You don’t have to pack up and travel in order to be made new. You can transform right now, right where you are. All it takes is the willingness to allow God into your heart and the obedience to follow Him. He will wash you clean. He will make you whole. He will fashion new garments for you. The life you can have in God, is an amazing life. You will be able to live to your fullest expression, and your purpose. Won’t you take a moment to whisper a prayer and ask God to come right now and enter your heart? There is nothing in your life that will ever be better than the moment you turn your life over to God. A new life awaits you. Claim it. It’s yours. It’s been waiting for you. God’s been waiting for you.
