RACHEL HALLER KELLEY

In the spring of 2007, I miraculously survived being crushed between two cars while getting out of my own car in our driveway. It was Mother's Day weekend, and I had just gotten home from buying my mom a gift when I stepped out of the vehicle. It continued to roll and pinned me up against my husband's car. What happened next was a complete miracle--one that I had the opportunity of sharing on The 700 Club in the spring of 2013 (see clip below).

The years following the car accident were very difficult for my husband, Michael, our kids and me. We endured a lot of financial trials. We stepped out into ministry, and that's when it seemed like everything started falling apart. One morning, while praying, I envisioned Michael treading water. Then, a raft came in. For the next sixteen months, I prayed for a raft. I did not know what it was or when it would arrive, I just trusted that it would.

One night, Michael and I were watching the news and the cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, was being pulled up out of the water. In that moment, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "Just like this ship is being pulled up out of the water, so I am going to pull you up out of the water." When Michael got a job with that same cruise line 36 hours later, I knew the Lord was about to do something huge in my life.

After Michael completed his first contract with Costa Cruise Lines, we received a call from a friend in Arkansas about possible employment with a small theater in a quaint tourist town. Michael, a talented vocal impressionist, was excited about the new opportunity. We packed up our family, as we had decided this was an open door from the Lord. Before we left, I was praying for Michael and the new theater, and the Lord said to me, "It's you I'm resurrecting." I sat there. Then heard it again. "It's you I'm resurrecting." "It's me, Lord?" I was anxious to see what He had in store for me.

I started a blog, Rachel’s Raft, before we moved to Arkansas, but once we arrived, I had an overwhelming urge to turn it into a book. I started writing as fast as I could. Michael received a call, out of the blue, from a local church wanting to hire him, and one night as I watched my two-year old playfully "feeding" John Grisham's father, I thought about the interesting turn of events. That's when the miracles starting going off like a fireworks show--many of them surrounding the author himself. When the job did not pan out, I knew it was not an accident. I knew the Lord had pulled us to that church. One day, curious to know more about John Grisham, I brought up his website. When I read that he had taken a break once in his writing career--to defend the life of a railroad worker who was killed when he was crushed between two cars--I knew it was not a coincidence. I knew this is where the Lord had led me.

Throughout my journey of obedience, I witnessed God work in ways I had only read about. My story is one of hope, miracles, and a God who is actively and powerfully at work today.