Hope and Healing for Veterans at Warrior Getaway
“Just come home.”
Jay always felt called to serve in the military. Like many family members who served before him, Jay had clear motivation:
“We serve and fight and sacrifice because we love what is behind us—because our families are worth fighting for… because you are worth fighting for. It’s not hate for our enemies that compels us to serve. It’s the love for our families, our communities, and our nation that calls us into action.”
Jay and his wife Anne prayed together about his enlisting. And not long before he was deployed to Iraq, they had a conversation—just for a brief moment in the car—that Anne will never forget. She recalls:
“I had been reading articles about soldiers losing limbs in combat and I said, ‘Jay, if you lose a limb, I will be okay with that. Just come home.’”
“Like a big shotgun blast…”
While stationed in Iraq, one day Jay was sent in a convoy to secure a route through Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad. Falling under attack, the convoy was hit by two IEDs (improvised explosive devices). The first disabled the Humvee Jay drove. Then, moments later, Jay’s fellow soldiers saw a second device skip off the ground before hitting his vehicle’s door.
“I looked down and saw the cargo pocket on my pants… there wasn’t anything below it. That IED took my legs right off,” says Jay.
Fighting for his life, Jay came home to the U.S. where he spent nine months in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He lost both legs and multiple fingers and sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. Life would never be the same for Jay or his family. Still, Jay has no regrets about his sacrificial service.
“I would do it all over again,” says Jay.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13
When Jay came home from war, Anne was thankful to have her husband back, but she still had to grieve…
“I had to grieve the man I lost and accept the man that came home. Jay returned home from war, but I lost the person I married… I had more in common with the widows in our church than I did with the other young mothers.”
Anne
Jay’s family had to re-learn how to do life, now with the difficulties of trauma and disability. For Anne as a caregiver, both for young children and for her spouse, there was never a day off. And the grief and stress often became overwhelming.
Finding Healing at Warrior Getaway
Like many Veteran families, Jay and Anne’s family came to a Joni and Friends Warrior Getaway feeling burdened. And in the midst of Christ-centered community, God began a deep healing work.
“At Warrior Getaway we get to break away from our everyday stress and reconnect with Jay as husband and father,” says Anne.
Now Jay and Anne give back through Warrior Getaway by serving as volunteer leaders, pointing Veterans and their families toward new hope in Jesus. As Jay says:
“A lot of families come to Warrior Getaway at the point of breaking. If we didn’t have Warrior Getaway and people pouring into us, so many families wouldn’t still be together.”
You can share hope with those who serve!
Jay knows firsthand the difference you can make for a Veteran family by providing the opportunity for them to come to Warrior Getaway.
“There are families who come to Warrior Getaway in dire financial situations. They live full-time in hotel rooms because they can’t afford housing. And they can’t afford Warrior Getaway without a scholarship…
What’s the dollar amount for restoring a marriage? What’s the dollar amount you put on preventing a Veteran from committing suicide?
We’re talking about holding families together. You can’t put a dollar amount on that,” says Jay.
Support Joni and Friends
Your generous gift today will bring healing and hope to Veteran families through Warrior Getaway! Learn more about Joni and Friends.
