“‘But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord…” (Jeremiah 30:17).
Motion sickness.
Bleh.
It’s been a part of my life since I was a kid.
I remember my family having to pull over many times on the way to my grandparents’ house so that I could switch seats with my mom and sit up front.
I remember hoping that we wouldn’t take the scenic route to my other grandparents’ house because, although I enjoyed the views, the winding road made me feel terrible for several hours after we had arrived.
I remember begging my family not to go out to eat at a particular small-town restaurant they love because the drive there would make me feel nauseous for the rest of the day.
For most of my life, my motion sickness was limited to the backseat of a car, so I tried not to complain too much. I knew that, comparatively, motion sickness wasn’t that bad, and although I would feel zapped of energy for several hours afterwards, I could at least deal with the nausea by simply moving to the front seat.
But then it worsened.
I stopped attempting to ride in the back seat some time ago, but a year-and-a-half ago, I noticed a significant change in things.
I was on a short flight to visit a friend. As my head began to pound and my stomach jumped around, I remember thinking, “This flight has to end soon. I NEED to get off of this plane.”
And from that point on, things only continued to grow worse, intensifying to the point that I once became nauseous while sitting in a room (not even in a moving vehicle) because I had turned my head back and forth too many times, too quickly.
Motion sickness is nauseating, exhausting, and even anxiety-producing in regards to travel.
On the World Race, there are many long travel days, and since transportation around the globe is often very different than in America, these days can begin to feel a bit miserable, even for people who do not suffer from motion sickness. (If you understand spiritual warfare, it probably won’t surprise you to know that the moment I remember my motion sickness noticeably worsten was shortly before I committed to the World Race.)
When I began to think about how many days I would feel sick on this World Race journey, I couldn’t help but become a bit concerned.
So I began experimenting with everything I could to deal with my motion sickness, in an effort to figure out how to make it through the World Race, but nothing seemed to help.
For example, on a family excursion, I took Dramamine, wore Sea Bands, sat in the front seat of the car, and we stuck to highway driving the entire time, yet that trip resulted in us pulling over in a parking lot, as I began to pace around, crying because I felt so sick.
While discussing my motion sickness, my parents once asked, “Well, have you prayed about it?”
Uh, oops. No, I hadn’t.
They prayed over it, and I began to seek prayer from others–having people come into agreement with me for God’s healing.
During a trip that required some pretty extensive travel, I had friends cover my trip in prayer, and my motion sickness never reared its ugly head.
When I returned home from my trip, one of the friends who had been praying said, “I’m believing it’s getting better because God wants to increase your faith and confidence.”
While my motion sickness didn’t disappear after that trip (though I do believe that I will one day have total healing), something else did disappear: my fear and anxiety in regards to travel on the World Race.
With an increase of faith and confidence, I began to believe that if God had made my nausea subside once, He could and would do it again.
During a time of prayer with loved ones before I left for the World Race, someone prayed, “I thank you for already healing her of all her motion sickness.”
And I believe that He has.
I’m now on the World Race, and the Lord is proving Himself so faithful to take care of me.
While I will admit that I filled my bag with Dramamine and packed my SeaBands, I haven’t used them.
Four flights and multiple car rides (sitting in both the front seats AND back seats) later, my motion sickness has been non-existent with the exception of a few brief moments of significant turbulence on our flight from Los Angeles, California, to Auckland, New Zealand.
The Lord is so good.
With motion sickness that had intensified to the point that it could have prevented me from coming on the World Race, I am saying, “Praise Jesus! I receive your healing!”
Ministry Update: My squad is now in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. While we are here, we will be working with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) to pioneer their newest Australian location. I am already so impressed with the heart and vision behind the Coffs Harbour location of this organization, as they seek to love and serve God and love and serve others. I’m looking forward to joining forces with them over the next few weeks to love, serve, and minister to locals in the Coffs Harbour area. And I’m already having a fire lit in me with ideas that I can utilize when I return home.
As always, thank you for being a part of this journey.
XO,
Jami
