I had the pleasure to meet Alexine Garcia while I was in El Paso, TX!! She was an amazing woman and I am now proud to call her a friend!! Please read her article she wrote about Journey to Change!!
One Woman’s Journey to Change
by Alexine Garcia
This Summer Linda Patterson drove her Harley across 7,000 miles of American asphalt in the July heat, rain and wind for a purpose.
Linda Patterson, of California started her Journey to Change on July 15th as she saddled up her 2005 Harley Screaming Eagle Fat Boy alone. This was not something she wished to do alone, but God would have it no other way. “The hardest part was the first two days,” Linda said, “When I didn’t believe I could do this. I was tired. I was not listening to my own body’s limitations. I was really mad at God because I didn’t want to do this by myself; it was really scary. But I kept trying to find someone to go with me and God kept saying, no you’re going to do this alone.”
This solitude fit right into Patterson’s life journey. 12 years ago she was a broken woman, addicted to drugs, stuck in an abusive relationship, with 4 kids following her lifestyle. It was then that God showed her the reality she was living. “My husband had barricaded himself in the bedroom with a rifle. Right then I saw my life for what is was and that I couldn’t live this way anymore,” Linda said, “At that moment I felt touched by God. I just got very peaceful and quiet and my whole life around me was ready to fall apart because I just stopped. I just stopped trying to make it work and said, “Okay God, here. I don’t know what’s wrong and I don’t know what to do and I don’t even know if You know, but I can’t do this anymore and I gave everything over and I haven’t taken it back since.”
Today Linda Patterson is a different woman. This ride across America was to show other people that no battle in life is too big. That they are not alone on this journey even if they are by themselves. With God by their sides, and courage in their hearts they can hand their own lives over to God and begin new.
Right away Linda saw the ripple of what she was doing. She created a website to keep track of her journey and share what she was doing with the world. Through this page many came alongside and were impacted. “I met this gentleman name Ernie who gave up his fight with cancer. When he saw my webpage he decided to continue his chemo treatment. That’s not me, I know that’s God. Those are the things that I am doing this for. God reaches out and touches people through us if we are brave enough to put ourselves out their and live life.”
Today Linda shares her life with many women who are in recovery for domestic violence and drug abuse. “They don’t usually see people who have changed their life like I have. You hear my story and see me now, you know that I’m not the same person. I am a professional business woman. I run a corporation for a gentlemen. I am a member of society, I participate in the community. You would never know I come from the background I that I do, because God has really changed me. And that is something that the women I work with really get to see is; that my faith is really big even through the bad things God has a purpose.” Linda is a powerful example of what giving up to God’s purpose can do in a person’s life.
7,000 miles of wind blowing through her life sure brought about a lot of change. This has been a journey for Linda as much as it was for everyone around her. There is no way someone can ride on a bike through 15 days and 15 states without returning unchanged. Linda said, “The very best moment is when I got lost on a road that took me down this deserted highway. It was just west of Milwaukee. I sat on the road said a little prayer and this little tiny frog jumped underneath my bike, and it was like God just saying this is where I want you to be sweetheart. And I went down that road and it was absolutely spectacular out there. It was definitely God’s country. It was a spiritual ride. I got to ride in a rainstorm through 150 miles. And I could really feel that God was carrying me in the palm of His hand. All of it has been beautiful, but coming across Texas cracked my heart open some more. I fell in love with our country as I saw it for the vastness and the incredible gift that it is. At a spiritual level it brought to my heart the freedoms we experience here and the gifts that God has given us.”
Although her ride is over her journey is not. You can check out everything about her two week adventure and cause at www.journeytochange.me. Linda is still raising money for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee. She feels that this is a charity that helps many people going through the struggles she used to face. If you would like to help her reach her goal there is a donate button on her website.
After her journey was finished Harley Davidson of Milwaukee, MN included a link to Linda’s webpage on their facebook site. Later the same day they wrote Linda to let her know that this was the most hits any link had ever gotten on their page. Over 10,000 people clicked to like, and over 4,000 left comments. It is so amazing to see Linda give all the credit over to God. All to often we miss opportunities because we don’t believe what we can do matters or is going to effect anyone. Sometimes we see ourselves as just one person and we wonder what we can possible accomplish. But God sent Linda out on the road alone to accomplish His work. We must always remember that our God is not a God of numbers, but a God of love and power.
