For as long as she could remember, Pastor Veola Thomas says that she has been able to see things that others couldn’t.

"God has been showing me things since I was a little girl," said Thomas, pastor of Church of Life Deliverance Tabernacle in Lula.

She credits taking heed to those spiritual visions with keeping her, and others, safe on more than one occasion.

"When I was in about seventh or eighth grade, I told my grandmama that I didn’t want to go to school. That was unusual for me because I loved learning," Thomas recalls.

"When she asked why, I said that I had a dream about the bus having an accident. She told me everything would be OK and to go ahead and get ready for school."

Being an obedient child, Thomas did as she was told.

"The bus was about 15 minutes down the road, and just like in my vision, it had an accident. One of the wheel axles broke and we were heading downhill toward an embankment," Thomas said.

"I believe because I prayed after God showed that vision to me, that we were spared. God is just so divine. He showed me that before it happened."

That hasn’t been the only time that she’s seen things before they’ve happened. One vision involved her son, who at that time was 3 years old.

"I left my son with a friend to go apply for a job in Gainesville. As I was walking down the street with a friend, I had a vision come before me of my son lying on a stretcher," Thomas said.

A voice in her head told her to go into the next store.

"As I entered the store, the phone began to ring. The clerk said, ‘Is there a Veola Thomas in the store?’" Thomas remembers.

"I told her that was me and took the call. It was the hospital."

After taking a taxi to the hospital, Thomas found her son on a stretcher, just like in her vision.

"He was injured, but not to the point that it was life-threatening. I held him close and praised God for that," Thomas said.

She gives God the credit for directing her to go into the store to intercept the call and for sparing her son more serious injuries.

As a minister for the last 20 years, Thomas says she’s seen her fair share of people who choose to not listen as intently to the messages that God is trying to give to them.

"God’s word is so inspiring and so uplifting, when He is speaking, we need to take heed," Thomas said.

"That’s why so many people are off track, because they don’t listen."

In an effort to help others share her vision, Thomas has penned a motivational book, "Anointed Words, Dreams and Visions from God."

If more people put their faith in a higher power and trusted their inner voice, Thomas says, they could lead more fulfilling lives.

"You can start owning your situation instead of letting the situation own you. If you get knocked down, you don’t have to stay down," Thomas said.

"When we are walking on the path that God has for us, we’ll find everything that we need right there."

Although there have been times when people laughed at her for sharing her visions, Thomas says she takes that in stride.

"When God warned Noah of the flood that was coming, people laughed at him for building an arc," she said.

"God is so real to me. He moves and he speaks and he directs every step of our life, if we allow him to."