Losing It All Meant Finding Everything

Jenny Schumacher had always worked hard to be at the top. As a teenager, she was a straight “A” student, and champion water skier on her way to college and a career in coaching. To her, there were few things worse than mediocrity and failure. 

Jenny said, “There was a sense of pride though, for sure, and I never considered life without a head start.”

Then, in March of 1999, at 17-years-old, Jenny was in a violent car accident that left her with multiple broken bones, including her back. True to form, she made a rapid recovery and was soon back to skiing. Something, though, had changed.

“I was lessened. Like, my body hurt. I just went from above average to average,” said Jenny.

It was then, Jenny, who had given her life to Jesus as a young child, turned away from God.

Jenny explained, “My wretched attitude was, ‘Well thanks, God. You know, I appreciate You saving my life, but You didn’t necessarily do me any favors. So, well, I’m just going on with the next thing that I want,’ and this is when rebellion started in my heart.”

So, instead of pursuing college and a coaching career, she married soon after high school and had two sons, but raising them aggravated her injuries. Now, with severe degenerative arthritis in her spine, the only thing getting her by was pain medication.

“All I wanted to be was this good mom,” said Jenny as she began to tear up. “And I couldn’t even do that. And it just crushed me. And I needed help.”

Before long, she was taking 30 pills a day.   

“I let my injuries tell me you are nothing and you are weak,” said Jenny. 

Her addiction would cost Jenny her marriage, and custody of her two young boys.

Jenny said, “I was just messing up, just messing up, failing miserably.”

Eventually, Jenny’s addiction escalated to meth and cocaine. It also led to an arrest, and a 2-year-stint in jail for drug possession and carrying a concealed weapon. Again, she blamed God.  

“I had been praying for change and I was pretty mad at God, because HE got me arrested!” exclaimed Jenny.

After Jenny was released, a relative eventually took her in, but Jenny used their basement as a make-shift lab to manufacture meth. It was good money and, for a while at least, she was back on top.

“Everyone wanted to be around me. Everybody wanted what I had. Everybody wanted to house me, because I was so important,” said Jenny. “And it didn’t take long before it really destroyed my life.”

And the lives of her relatives. One day, while making meth, there was an explosion. Instead of calling 911, Jenny fled, and the house burned down.   

In tears, Jenny explained, “I destroyed what they loved and what they had worked hard for. And I had violated their trust. It was like, you know, time stood still, and I could just feel relationships tearing and betrayal. I was so ashamed. And, I ran.” 

Then, after hiding out for a week, Jenny woke up in a hospital recovering from a near lethal overdose. Charged and found guilty of arson and manufacturing meth, she was given a 15-year-split-sentence, three years in and three years out, with parole for good behavior. 

Jenny said, “I was starting to go, ‘Maybe I don’t have all the answers.’ So, I asked God to help me, to be with me.”

After months of prayer, reading Scripture and accepting God’s love and forgiveness, Jenny recommitted her life to Jesus Christ.

Jenny said, “I felt His love, and I really realized He never left me, even in the fire He was there, even in the hospital. It was me who turned my back. From that moment forward, I began to devote every moment I could to reading the Scriptures from front to back. And I said, ‘God, refine me, reshape me, Lord Jesus, show me, teach me, whatever You need to do.’ And I began to be made whole.”

While in prison, God also healed her of addiction. She was released for good behavior after serving only 3 years of her 15-year-sentence.

“I walked into Julia Tutwiler penitentiary for women ashamed, torn, lost, discouraged,” said Jenny. “When I left there, I had hope. I didn’t necessarily know exactly where I was going, but I knew I had the Lord on my side. I knew I was unworthy, but He made me worthy through what He had done on the cross for me.”

In the coming years, Jenny married Caleb, a U.S. Army chaplain and began taking strides to mend the relationships with her family. Today, she’s a public speaker and author.

Jenny continued to express her gratefulness to God, “He repaired my heart. He restored my soul. And it didn’t matter if I was disabled. It didn’t matter if I had scars, because He could mend them. He is the Redeemer, He is the Healer, He is the Almighty. With Him, all things are possible.”