The Power of Prayer

by Sara Sawyer

Sometimes our problems can seem so big in our world, but so small to the rest of the world.

When Christy Campbell, of Searcy, faced the tough decision of whether or not to put her 16-year-old dog, Sir Oliver the Apothecary (Ollie), to sleep because of health problems, it was a huge problem that rocked her world.

Ollie was a cute little Maltese, born January 1, 1989, and was the first dog Christy had ever had. "He was my first "child," I guess you could say," Christy explained. "I watched him get old and get arthritis and cataracts. His quality of life was diminishing."

Christy said that when she and her husband Kerry and their four children moved, they began to wrestle with the idea of putting Ollie to sleep because he couldn't even get up and down stairs and had lost control of his bladder.
Christy struggled so much with the idea that it kept her up at night. "I love Ollie and I was having such a hard time making the decision," she said. "I started praying that God would just take the matter out of my hands."

A few weeks after the family moved into the new house, Christy decided it was time to let go of Ollie. "I went to Ace Hardware and bought a little tub to give the dog a bath and when I started to check out with it, I realized this may be the last time I ever give Ollie a bath," she explained. "I started crying at the check out and then cried the whole way home. It was such a hard decision. I kept praying that God would just take this from me."

That night, Christy took off Ollie's collar and put him in the bath. "Mama doesn't know what to do Ollie," she said to the dog. "I just don't know what to do."

They had to keep Ollie in the garage because of his bladder problem. The garage has four stairs to get outside, so they knew Ollie was safe in there because he couldn't make it down the stairs.

That night there was a terrible storm and it blew the door to the garage open. Christy had been in a hurry to get to work the next morning and decided she'd feed Ollie that night when she got home, so she did not notice the door to the garage was open. "When I got home that afternoon, I went to feed Ollie and he was nowhere to be found," Christy said. "My husband and I looked all night for him, but we couldn't find him. We went to bed that night with no Ollie."

Christy realized that this may have been the answer to her prayer, but was still very discomforted not knowing what had happened to her dog. "My prayer changed to thanking God for answering my prayer, but I just wanted to know that he didn't suffer."

On Thursday night, the Campbell's neighbor said that one of the neighbors down the street had found a little old white dog barely surviving in her backyard and took it to the veterinarian. "Our neighbor told us that the vet didn't know what to do, and that since Ollie didn't have his collar on, they didn't know who to call, so he put Ollie to sleep."

When Christy heard this she knew her prayer had come true.
Christy was astounded at the power of God and how He had answered her prayer. "It wasn't just that He answered my prayer," she explained. "It was how he answered my prayer. He did it at the right time the right way. If I'd only known the vet had Ollie I would have had the chance to go and get him back before the deed was done.

"And what are the chances that that little old dog could have made it out of a door that had been blown open by the wind and down the stairs and 1/4 of a mile down the street to a neighbor who was nice enough to drive him to the vet. God is so amazing."

Christy said she has been telling everyone about the power of God and prayer. "If you don't believe that prayer works, this story will prove that it does. God is big enough to handle major problems in the world like the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, but also can take the time to fix the problems that are major in our lives."

Christy said she is so thankful for the way it all happened and how God answered her prayers. "I was upset that I had lost my dog, but in awe at the same time at how God answered my prayers and took the burden off of me."