“The anxiety was terrible.” Harold Tisdale Jr. recalls, “I didn't realize, that I was struggling with it until I would get in my patrol car and I wonder if someone gonna kill me just for sitting in my patrol car.” 

Harold became a Georgia state trooper at 22 years old. He loved his job and took pride in serving his community. He says, “My entire family is in law enforcement, my mother and my dad, my uncle, my little brother. And it was what seemed like a way of life, being able to help people and seeing how my dad helped a lot of people in his time. And it inspired me.”

Harold says his training gave him confidence to handle any situation. “They filled us up with pride and assurance of ourselves, knowing that we put on that badge and we hopped in that blue and gray patrol car that we were the best. They wanted to train us, so that we were sure of ourselves, that we knew that no matter the traffic stop or the car chase or the incident that we could hold our own.

That training and self-assurance was put to the test in 2012 while pulling over a man who had been driving erratically. Harold says, “(HE) takes me behind a gas station, then another alley, abruptly parks. And he comes out the car with an AK-47. And, that was probably the, one of the worst moments of my life. So I drew my weapon and I started firing. And then he went down.” The gunman survived the and was arrested. Harold was unharmed physically, though the trauma took a heavy toll emotionally. “I suppressed those emotions. I held those emotions in. I'm a, I'm a trooper. I'm a Georgia trooper at that. I'm sharp. I'm tight. The world can't see me cry, my wife can't see me cry. My brothers in law enforcement, can't see me go through those hurtful moments, crying out for help.  And so I held those emotions in. And next thing you know, my heart was hardened. My heart was hardened.”

After years of working roadway fatalities and violent encounters with criminals, Harold’s personal life began crumbling. He hid his anxiety from his wife and turned to alcohol to numb the pain he was going through. “I go home and I got all these thoughts and these emotions and these feelings from just trying to do my job.” Says Harold, “And so when my wife needed me to be there, I wasn't there. I couldn't be there. My emotions wouldn't allow me to be there. Fighting these internal battles, all I knew was that I worked, I provided for my family. And when I got off work, I was gonna drink some alcohol.”

Night terrors kept him from sleep. He eventually saw a counselor who diagnosed Harold with PTSD, anxiety and depression. Harold was forced to retire. “All I knew was the patrol.” He says, “All I knew was the write tickets, give warnings, help people, kiss babies, love on them. That's all I knew. And now you're telling me that I can't, how do I provide for my family?”

He began smoking marijuana daily in hopes of calming his nightmares. It didn’t work. Still struggling with PTSD and now lacking purpose Harold was overwhelmed with thoughts of suicide.  He says, “And I heard a voice saying, just do it. Just do it. And I never heard that voice before. I've never heard just do it. And I said, ‘Do what?’ And I heard, “the gun is right there.’ I just began to scream, ‘no, no, I can't. I can't. I can't.’ I can't. I'd never heard that voice before in my life. And so I text my wife, I said, ‘Babe, I am so sorry for everything I've done. I said, I'm so sorry for the pain I've caused. I'm so sorry for the frustration. I'm so sorry. Sorry for the embarrassment. I am so sorry for everything that I have done.’”

Harold resisted the temptation to harm himself that day. Then, new years eve 2017 he joined his wife at a church service and heard a message that changed his life. “I heard the Gospel, I heard how much God loves me. I was filled with joy. I was filled with hope. I was just so excited from what I had heard. I had never experienced it before.” Says Harold. “I came to Jesus broken, filled with weed, filled with Tito's, filled with pain. And he saved me.”

Harold says God began healing his emotional wounds and set him free from the addictive behaviors that failed to bring lasting peace. “He took the taste of alcohol and marijuana out of my mouth. The Holy Spirit healed me. My heart had been captivated. My soul had been saved and I wanted more. I didn't need marijuana to go to sleep. Nightmares gone. As I learned about the goodness of Jesus. Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts gone, gone. Jesus fills every hole in our heart. And he says, come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened I will give you rest, rest for your soul.”

3-year-old Oliver was born with juvenile cataracts which have limited his ability to see. His mom, Erlin, told us that even eating became a challenge for the boy.  “He wanted to grab his food, but he couldn't. I had to bring the plate closer to him so he could eat.”
 
As time passed, Oliver´s parents noticed that he struggled to do simple tasks, like finding nearby toys while playing or bumping into things when he walked.  And when he went outside, they said he closed his eyes because the light bothered him.  “It hurts to see him like this.  I now have to walk with him, so he doesn't get hurt, said Erin."
 
With help from the local government, they finally took him to a to an eye specialist.  The doctor delivered the devastating news that Oliver was now completely blind and could no longer see anything.  “I felt so bad because he couldn’t see any more. He didn’t even try to look at things anymore,” added Erin.
 
The doctor told them, however, that an operation to remove the cataracts would cost around 900 US dollars. The boy’s father said they would never be able to afford that since he works on a farm and as a recycler.  “It's hard to see my son like this. Sometimes I wish I could give him my eyes so he could run and play,” said Esteban.   
 
A few days later, Erlin received a call a call from Operation Blessing. Thanks to YOU we then paid for Oliver to receive free surgery to remove the cataracts from both eyes.  The surgery was successful, and the smile we saw on his face as they removed the bandages meant that he could see again!  During a follow up visit, we paid for him to receive free glasses that will correct his vision even more!  
 
“Now he sees everything!  He can find things that couldn't find before,” declared Erin. “And now HE CAN RUN! I had never seen him run and play like this before!  Thanks to people who support Operation Blessing. Thank you for helping our son!” 

The flight home to Georgia from Florida had been uneventful for pilot, Billy Cranford. Then, with the airport in sight, the plane began to lose power. "I saw the runway go out of reach,” recalled Billy. “I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I thought, we are going to crash, and this is going to hurt.” He recalls his last thoughts before the crash. “I remember thinking, man, this, this is it.” The last thing he remembers is crashing through the trees. “The sound that I’ll never forget and that I never want to hear again is the sound of trees hitting my windshield and my wings.” When he regained consciousness, Billy found his cell phone and called 911. The operator on the line quickly responds.

Operator: “Meriwether County 911 what is your emergency?”
Billy: “Yeah, I don’t know where I’m at, I’ve had a plane crash.”
Operator: “Okay, you said you’ve had a plane crash?”
Billy: “Yeah, I don’t know where I’m at.”

Rescue workers can be heard cutting a path through the dense woods trying to reach him. With the 911 operator still on the line, all Billy could do was pray. You can hear his prayer on the call as he cries out, “Heavenly Father give me strength to help us. Give me strength to help us.”

After almost an hour, rescue workers finally reached the plane and flew him to Atlanta Medical Center. Billy’s injuries were extensive. His head and face had sustained several fractures leaving one eye swollen shut and his brain swelling. His back was broken in four places. When his daughter, Lindsey, arrived, she knew her dad needed God’s healing. She recalls seeing her father for the first time after the crash, “He was, you know, almost unrecognizable.” She says, “It was like a pleading. 'Please, if there’s any chance, let him be okay.' I didn’t just want him to be alive, I wanted him to be okay. He’s super active and runs around with my kids and I didn’t want him to miss out on that for the rest of his life.” 

As people came to show their support and pray, amazing things began to happen. The first came shortly after Billy’s pastor prayed at his bedside for Billy’s eye to be healed. Ryan, a family friend was also there and witnessed an answer to prayer right before his very eyes. He recalls the moment, “His eye that was swollen up and couldn’t open actually ended up opening within a matter of minutes, and then we notice that both of his eyes are open and he’s communicating with us.”

That same day, doctors told Billy they needed to perform back surgery the next morning. He recalls his conversation with the doctor. “I said, 'Doc, I don’t want surgery.' He said, 'Well, you have no choice.' I said, 'The Lord’s going to heal me.' He came by and tapped me on my shoulder. He said, 'Well, until then we’re having surgery.' As he started to walk out of the room, I said, 'Hey doc, I want a second opinion.'” The doctor told Billy, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll take you to MRI right before surgery and that’ll be your second opinion."

That night, a friend organized a prayer meeting on Zoom and 8,000 people joined in. “We had so many people praying and telling us they were praying, and of course we were praying, and it was just obvious.” Lindsey said. “I mean, every day, you know, there was like a miracle or an answer to prayer.” 

The next morning, they took Billy in for his MRI. In that short time, his back had already started showing signs of healing. Billy recalls the conversation he had with his doctor about the surgery. “He said, 'Well, Mr. Cranford, it looks like you may be getting your wish.' I said, 'How so?' The doctor said, 'Well, I think we’re going to avoid surgery.' I said, 'Praise God.' Then he said, 'Well, we must have gotten some bad pictures yesterday.' 'Yeah right, doc, the Lord healed me,'” Billy said, smiling.

By the end of the week, the brain swelling had subsided. Billy was released to go home to start physical therapy. Today, Billy is fully healed and enjoying the things he loves most… flying and spending time with his family. “Knowing that He’s protected our family and He’s using my dad’s story,” Lindsey said, “I think He’ll continue to use our story and the Lord’s story.” “Satan had plans to kill, steal and destroy that day,” Billy states, “but God said, 'No, I’m going to give him life. I’m going to give him life more abundantly'…and that’s exactly what happened.”

“They still don't know what happened and we'll never know what happened. All we know is God did his thing.”It was supposed to be a joyful day for sisters Ivy Harden and Amy Kryker. They were preparing to head to a family wedding in Seattle when Ivy, who began to feel ill, asked Amy to drive. Amy says, “she was eating, talking…it literally was, when we walked out the door, she handed me the keys and she said, I'm going to need you to drive. You know, I have a migraine.”  Minutes later, Amy had to pull over into a parking lot, where ivy got out and collapsed to the pavement, drenched in sweat, vomiting, and losing her vision. “She was so, so sick so quickly, she felt cold and clammy, and I did feel like we were at a pivotal point, a very serious point,” describes Amy. 

EMT’s arrived and took ivy to a local hospital. The diagnosis was swift and terrifying - a massive brain bleed. Ivy was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, for further testing and possible surgery. Time appeared to be running out for the 54-year-old. By then the news had reached her husband Robert, who was home in Kodak, Tennessee. He was reliving his worst nightmare. “My mom died of an aneurysm”, says Robert. “So that fear that, I can’t do this again, kind of a thing goes through my head, like a punch in the stomach; when the situation really struck me, it was like, I can't do this again” Robert says.

Being thousands of miles away didn’t help. So Robert hopped on a plane to Seattle to be with his wife. Robert shares that “the big fear was if they couldn't get the bleeding stopped, then what are we gonna do?” He says the only thing he could do was pray.

Robert wasn’t alone --- Amy, along with ivy’s mother, family and friends already there for the wedding, had gathered to pray. The family waited as doctors remained puzzled about the cause of the bleed. She had no history of migraines, no known triggers, and they had no solutions. All Ivy had were prayer and faith.Then—on the third day, Robert says, “we walk in Monday morning, bright and early, and she's sitting up, and I could tell immediately her color was different. She was smiling, she wasn't in pain, she was, she looked like herself.

Ivy was released from the hospital the next day, with no residual effects or rehab needed! Ivy shares, “I’m saying to God, well this is your story now. I felt loved, I felt arms around me. Like I felt like he was with me all the time. People talk about a piece that passes all understanding, and he gave me that peace.”

Since then, the Harden family continues to realize the miracle of each day. Ivy hasn’t had any lingering symptoms of her ordeal, and they all have grown tremendously in faith in God!

Robert says, “they still don't know what happened and we'll never know what happened. All we know is God did his thing.” Ivy sister Amy exclaims, “we have seen the goodness of God in the land of the living. We have seen it, we've experienced it. To go from such deaths door to go to life is just incredible.”

Ivy closes in saying, “looking back on it, I see the hand of God. I see his mercy on me. I see his grace. I see for myself a trust in him. Tell everybody watching, he still heals, he still delivers, he still sets us free. And whatever you need is in his presence.”