Callie wrote to us and shared this amazing story with us:
I was in a car accident in 2008 in Good Hope, GA. I was not expected to survive the night and even if I did survive, my prognosis was very bad. I had sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (bleeding and swelling in my brain), had fluid in my lungs, and a broken pelvis/hip. God performed a miracle and healed me to the point that I was released from the hospital less than three weeks after the accident. Today, I appear to be a perfectly healthy 20 year old. I do have lots of issues with my memory and reading comprehension, but I can definitely handle that in comparison to what my prognosis was. I am in my third year at the University of Georgia and I have been dealing with a lot in terms of my relationship with God this year. I am working on listening and obeying Him, which requires the ability to discern his voice. Last week during a day off from work and school, I drove to downtown Madison to “escape” and spend some time with Jesus. I have been reading a great book called “Discerning the voice of God” by Priscilla Shire…she was writing about the importance of listening for particular phrases that will not leave your mind. A phrase that would not leave my mind was “Good hope”, which I had heard over and over so many times over the last 4 and a half years. That phrase only left me with a reminder of the terrible accident that almost took my life. While I am so thankful for being physically healed, I still have lots of emotional scars that impact me very deeply through fear, anxiety, and a whole list of other things. So I decided to look up this phrase and found this verse in 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: “16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” This spoke volumes to me. And all of the sudden, I knew what I had to do. I had to drive to Good Hope. I didn’t know why, but I did. As I approached the intersection where my accident was (where the Good Hope General Store is), I grew increasingly anxious. I drove through and realized I didn’t have a plan after that, so I decided to turn around at the next road. I drove for a couple of minutes, frustrated with myself for not having turned around sooner. Finally I saw a road up ahead. I turned down it and turned into the nearest driveway. This was the moment when I saw the Prayer Garden. I was beyond confused and thankful that God had led me here. I got out and sat on the beautiful bench, laughing and crying at God’s provision.
I just wanted to tell you this story and thank you for building the prayer garden. I have a feeling I will be coming back to that very bench. Your ministry has blessed me and I hadn’t even heard about it until I stumbled upon the prayer garden last week. Thank you so much for following God’s calling.