Miracle for Jen: A Tragic Accident, a Mother’s Desperate Prayer, and Heaven’s Extraordinary Answer
Tyndale House Publishers (February 17, 2012)
On the night of November 5, 2006, the Barrick family was driving home from church when their van was struck by a drunk driver. Fifteen-year-old Jen suffered multiple skull fractures and severe brain trauma and was not expected to survive the night. But against all odds, she did. As she lingered in a coma, doctors warned that if Jen ever woke up, she would be cursing and screaming in confusion due to her brain injuries.
Instead, after five weeks she opened her eyes and began praying and praising God. Jen didn’t remember her middle name, recognize her parents, or recall that she had a little brother—but she remembered Jesus and every word to every praise song and scripture she had hidden in her heart before the accident.
As any loving mother would, Jen’s mother Linda wanted God to heal Jen—make her like she was before. Normal. But a loving God had something else in mind—instead of making her normal, God is making Jennifer—and the whole Barrick family—extraordinary, miraculous. Miracle for Jen: A Tragic Accident, a Mother’s Desperate Prayer, and Heaven’s Extraordinary Answer is the remarkable true story of a family who overcame tragedy and learned to trust God’s plan for their lives in a whole new way.
From the Inside Flap
In her journals, fifteen-year-old Jennifer Barrick had poured out her heart to God, asking him to use her life. But when her family’s van was struck head-on by a drunk driver, her parents, Andy and Linda, and her brother, Josh, were severely injured . . . and Jennifer was not expected to live through the night.
God intervened.
CT scans after the accident, though, showed severe damage throughout every area of Jen’s brain. Once she regained consciousness, she struggled to find even the simplest words, and when she spoke, her speech was so garbled it was hard to understand her.
But Jen remembered Jesus and His love for her. And when she sang and prayed, she sounded just like her old self—her words were clear, her voice was strong. It was as if everything but her soul had been damaged in the accident.
Today, anyone who meets Jennifer Barrick knows that God is using her far beyond anything she imagined.
In Miracle for Jen, Linda Barrick shares her family’s journey toward understanding God’s will for their lives, letting go of their former plans, and embracing the new future God has prepared for them.
