Hi, my name is Jessica, and Renewing Strength is my blog. Thanks for visiting! Read on to learn how my blog can help you look beyond your hopeless circumstances and renew your strength.
My Blog and Content
It only takes an instant for your life to change. For me, this moment happened one rainy afternoon on an innocent drive. Those few seconds left me fully paralyzed and changed my life in ways I had never dreamt were possible. Sudden turn of events in life can make you grow weary or stumble and fall. When it seems like there is no hope left, how do you carry on?
Understanding this battle first hand I decided to share my struggles and my triumphs with the world. My goal is to help you see that even during hardest times, you can still come out of it on the other side feeling positive, inspired, and able to move on.
This passage from the book of Isaiah encourages me, “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (40:30-31). If you feel lost and hopeless and you want to know how to carry on—this blog is for you.
This site is to encourage you and me. It’s a place where together we can find hope, we can cling to faith, and we can truly discover “renewing strength.” I post a blog as often as I can. To be sure you don’t miss my newest posts, you can subscribe to receive them via email:
My Story
I was sixteen years old and I still remember it well all these years later. It was Labor Day weekend, September 5th, 1992 and my friend Trisha and I were going to Hardee’s for lunch. It was one of those wet, yucky, rainy days that no one really likes. After lunch, Trisha wanted to go by her boyfriend’s house. Just as we arrived, he was pulling out of the driveway. Without really thinking it through, we followed him.
Not long after we started following him, we hit a bad spot in the road. The car hydroplaned, crossed the center lane, and hit another car nearly head-on. The impact was fierce. I was riding in the front passenger seat. On impact, the seatbelt did not work properly and the force of my body against the seatbelt broke my neck. The doctor’s call it a hangman’s fracture because the seatbelt literally hanged me.
After that, everything was different.
For some time, it felt like my body was not the only part that was broken. My heart was too. But this accident was just the beginning of the story God was weaving together for me. So much has changed for me since that day—my lifestyle, my attitude, my heart. I press forward, I continue on, facing every day one moment at a time.
You’re here today reading my story and my writing for a reason. “Renewing Strength” is special because it does just that. It renews your strength. It encourages and lifts people up. It reminds all of us that even during difficult times, God will carry us through. I don’t think about myself being disabled very often. For me, when I look back over the years and see the things that have happened, both good and bad, I see that God has been there. He’s been there in the celebrations and the tears. At the scene of the crash, God brought the perfect person who gave me CPR and kept me alive. A few years ago, I broke my hip and He had me in the right place at the right time to get help from a fat embolism. He has been there all along.
I resisted writing for a long time, but I really believe it’s what God is calling me to do. I hope my story and my writings will help meet you in whatever place you are in and jump start your heart to find strength to go on during difficult times and find hope even when life seems hopeless. This is one of the beautiful things about our God. Even in the deepest of pits and most difficult circumstances, He is there. His love is constant and He will carry us. We just need to let Him.
Please connect with me on Facebook and Twitter. If you have any questions or would like to contact me to speak at your event, please email me at jesslanerenew@gmail.com.