Hope is on Your Horizon at Warrior Getaway

By Joni Eareckson Tada|Published On: September 5, 2022|Categories: Joni's Posts|

Joni Eareckson Tada smiling at the camera against a black background.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to kill and a time to heal…a time for war and a time for peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1,3, 8

I love my country. My pride in America rests in its people who have sacrificed everything to make life safe and free for me, my family, and communities all across this nation. The news media may have forgotten about wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, but we haven’t forgotten. Your service to our country is glorified by the enormous price you paid and the losses you sustained to secure our freedoms.

And you still bear the wounds of war, whether loss of limbs, head trauma, or PTSD. Although Americans like me are grateful, we will never be able to repay you. But we can honor your sacrifices, remember them with pride, and come alongside you in your journey of healing.

It’s what we do at Warrior Getaway. This is your place where you will find support and hope-filled encouragement.

We will listen—really listen—to your stories and jump into your foxhole as you fight new battles on a different frontline; a frontline that’s closer to home.

I know a little something about those front lines. When I crushed my neck and instantly became a quadriplegic, everything changed. Forever. In your case, everything changed because of a bomb, an explosion, witnessing the horrific carnage of war, or even a terrible blue-on-blue in which you were accidentally injured by your own unit. Those life-altering experiences are tragic. And you don’t realize how tragic until you get home and it hits you… you’re not the same person.

Even though I suffer greatly, I cannot say that I understand all the battles which still rage inside your head (and spill over into your own family).

But I know One who does understand. You will hear about him at Warrior Getaway. He is Jesus. For when they hang you on a cross like mangled meat on a slaughterhouse hook, you have the final word about suffering. Jesus ‘gets’ PTSD. He is intimately acquainted with all things ‘ghastly and horrific,’ so he understands ‘moral injury’ inside and out.

Jesus goes where your medication cannot go; he goes where no doctor goes, no surgery, or therapeutic treatment can ever go. You have the commendation of Christ himself for when he walked on earth, Jesus went out of his way to love Warriors and bring healing to their families (Matthew 8:5–13).

The view from behind a family of four, two children in the front and the parents trailing behind as they walk towards a lighthouse at the end of a stone pathway with a body of water surrounding it.

So, I encourage you and your family to take a deep breath at Warrior Getaway.

Open your heart and let down your guard as best you can. Because hope is on your horizon. So is faith.

At Warrior Getaway, make friends with Jesus, the Prince of peace. He’s the only one who can bring the peace you and your family so desperately need. He can do that because he wrote the book on suffering.

My hands do not work, but if they could I would salute you Warriors… and my husband Ken and I thank you for coming to Warrior Getaway!

–Joni Eareckson Tada

Joni delivered this message to the Warrior families at our Warrior Getaway this summer. She wants all our servicemen and women, and their families, to find the same faith, hope, and love through this very special getaway.