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In our latest book, A Little Door, A Little Light, we talk about special things that take place, minutes, hours or days before a death. Sharing in those moments with our loved ones is time that is so meaningful there are not words to adequately describe this time. This next story is from Lori and her description of such a time is "miraculous."
| Miracles Do Happen
by Lori |
| My mother's sister Aunt Maxine had surgery in October. The surgery was performed on a Monday and it was successful but on Wednesday she had gone into a coma. It was six days later when I arrived in El Paso. I saw her and there was no response.
| | When the Dr. came in I asked repeatedly if there was a chance Aunt Maxine would come out of the coma. Sadly he shook his head and said she had aggressive cancer and a stroke. He stated if he had known this was to have happened he would never have allowed the feeding tube.
| | I asked the Dr. if he had spoken to the family about Hospice. He said he was going to and asked me if I had known about it. Well that started the ball going. Within a few hours a young lady came into the room and started speaking to my uncle. About 20 minutes later this lady asked my Uncle if he and Aunt Maxine used to dine at a certain restaurant. Well it turns out she worked there and said, "I remember Maxine. She predicted the birth of my little girl."
| | How wonderful it was that this person came to my Uncle at such a difficult time. It eased his mind knowing this person had known Aunt Maxine. With kindness and tenderness the lady went to Aunt Maxinežs bedside and kissed her hand and said "Thank you." She turned and told us a nurse would be calling.
| | Within a half an hour the phone rang and my Uncle got up to get it. Within moments, I heard such surprise in his voice and said with a question "Beverly?"
| | With that I looked up and when he got off the phone I said "Why did you call my mother's name? He said he was just as surprised as me when he heard the nursežs name was Beverly.
| | Wow I thought, something is going on here. Now you have to know me to understand but just sitting in the hospital room is impossible. I went to my Aunt's bedside and talked nonstop for the rest of the day. I kept telling her she was going home and I kept talking about everything from childhood to the present.
| | We returned at 6:00 am the next day to be there when the Doctor came so he could sign the papers for Hospice. Within minutes I started talking, telling Aunt Maxine we were going to take her home. As I was holding her hand she opened her eyes and said, "home.". I swear I couldn't believe it. She closed her eyes.
| | The doctor walked in. I told him what had happened and he said it was impossible for Aunt Maxine to be speaking. He said that the cat-scan had showed almost no brain activity.
| | I said, "Talk to her, hold her hand."
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With this sad look on his face and to, how do I say, to not humor me, he took her hand and asked her if she knew who he was. There was no response. Still holding her hand he looked at us and said it was good that we were going to take her home. At that moment she squeezed his hand and said, "home." I think the doctor was in total shock but he could give us no explanation for what had just transpired.
| | We got Aunt Maxine home and the kids came over. They asked how their mom and grandmother was, so I said "go ask her, she's awake."
| | For three days Aunt Maxine spoke simple words and told each one of them how much she loved them. My Uncle said it was a miracle. He had my Aunt at home beside him and she spoke with him.
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The day I left she slipped back into the coma and passed away a week later.
| | Of course my husband says I talk so much I could get anyone out of a coma just to shut me up, but what I say is: "Miracles do happen!!!
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| Let There Be God
by Liz |
| I couldn't resist sending you this story about my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter. Anna.
| | My daughter was on an errand in the car, as usual, and from the back seat
car seat came the piping voice of Anna: "Mommie, where did the trees come from?"
| | Reply: "God made them."
| | "Who made the birds?"
| | "God made them."
| | "Who made the clouds?"
| | "God made them."
| | These questions went on and on, until finally little Anna asked, "Who made God?"
| | There was a slight pause while my daughter thought how to answer. "Well, I guess he made himself."
| | There was a longer pause, then Anna Renn said, "Well, he must have made his head first, then, so he could say "LET THERE BE GOD!"
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Peter A. Letendre wrote to me shortly after visiting Angels On Earth. One of our stories reminded him of something that happened in his life. I'll let him do the telling:
| A Dream To Cushion the Shock
by Peter A. Letendre |
| I visited the Heaven on Earth webpages as you recommended and found it quite thoughtful. One story called "Heavenly Music" brought back memories of my late father. All because of the mention of the song, "Everything is Beautiful, in its Own Way." This was my Dad's favourite song. If I close my eyes I can still hear him singing it.
| | It's funny these connections, makes you feel small to all that is!
| | Another memory that came flooding back when I read that song title was the terrible nightmare I had the night before my Dad died. I dreamt that he had been decapitated. I woke in a heavy sweat, unable to come to terms with such a grotesque image. It was almost impossible to get back to sleep.
| | About ten the next morning I received a telephone call from my older sister telling me that my Dad died of a brain hemorrhage during the night, around the same time as I had my nightmare.
| I now think the message in the nightmare was from an angel to cushion the shock at the loss of the head of the family. I guess some things are beyond all wisdom.
Peter A. Letendre
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I think that God was definitely watching over Peter.
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| The first time I was saved from death in a car accident I was a teenager and never even thought that perhaps Heavenly Father was watching over me. Later in life, I called on God on three separate occasions to save me when my car hit ice. He did and so I am here to tell you about two stories that involved another lady and God's involvement in her life.
| Now I Believe in Guardian Angels
by Eve |
| A number of years back when I didn't believe in too much of anything something took place in my life that demonstrated to me that I did indeed have a guardian angel.
| | I was living in Florida with my 2 older children at the time this happened. We all lived with a woman, Rhonda, who watched my kids when I worked. The children were 3 1/2 and 2 years old.
| | I worked as a waitress and was in the final days of my divorce. I had been working forever - 3 weeks without a day off - and was looking forward to having an evening to my self.
| | My children were always well taken care of by Rhonda. I spent time with them in the early mornings and every afternoon I came home at 3:00 to spend a few hours more with them before I started the dinner shift at the restaurant. My shift ended at 1:00 am.
| | The day finally came that I had a break. I was off until the next morning at 11:oo am when my workday started. I was so excited. I had bought a new dress with the spaghetti straps. Well they were called spaghetti straps back in 1960! I also had a pair of new flats and a full slip to go under the new dress to make it billow out.
| | That day my children and I had a full day together playing at the beach. We had enjoyed a good dinner with Rhonda. I tucked my children into bed and got dressed for my big night out. It felt wonderful!
| | I headed for my favorite bar, which was called Mac's bar in Daytona Beach on RT. A1A. I was a regular there and it was going to be nice to have a full evening out around people I knew. I was so pleased to be dressed up and not in my waitress uniform. A few of the guys I knew took me for turn around the dance floor. I wasn't dating anyone as I was waiting for my divorce to become final. Well I helped close the bar with a few of the regulars and decided to head for the beach. I went alone.
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The next thing I knew my friend Rhonda was knocking on my VW car window. It was 6:30 in the morning and there I was in Rhonda's driveway. I do remember leaving Mac's alone and I vaguely remember being on the beach. I have no memory of anything from that point until I woke up in the driveway.
| | I started to get out of the car and realized I had the car beach blanket around me. To my surprise, I was naked underneath the blanket!! Stunned I started to cry and then panic set in. Where were my new clothes?
| | Rhonda happened to look in the back seat and on the floor were my neatly folded sopping wet clothes already starting to show salt rings on them from the ocean water.
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| We can only guess that must have I waded into the ocean with my clothes on, got cold , took them off and drove home wrapped in the blanket.
| | My question is this, how did I drive home totally drunk, across a bridge, a main highway , 3 stop signs, 2 stop lights and never get stopped by a policeman? How did I manage this and end up in the driveway of the place I called home, without a scratch on me?
| | Rhonda made me swear I would never get that drunk again. We shudder to think of all the things that could have happened to me, from raped to being shark food!
| | Now I believe in Guardian Angels! I didn't believe in anything when this happened! Now, I feel that someone is looking out for me.
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Eve shares one more story with us, and this one took place some six years later.
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By His Grace
by Eve
| | I was driving our GTO home from Florida after a 2-week visit with Rhonda and her family. My third child was with me, from my second marriage. At the time John was 2 1/2 years old.
| | I had taken some couch cushions and surrounded John in the back seat, in case he got on the floor or tried to get on the floor. Remember in those days we didn't have child seats for toddlers.
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| We were now living in Illinois with my husband. I was in Indiana when I hit a patch of what you call black ice, under a bridge. The car went into a spin and we went loop de loop, whirling around and around, ending up in the middle of the four lanes going the wrong way, stuck in a snow drift! There were cars that had passed me, a couple behind me, when I went into the spin, yet not one car was hit.
| | My son, John, came up from the floor laughing saying "Mommy do it again!" Talk about shaking. I was so glad that John was all right.
| | Two cars going the other way stopped and the drivers helped me get my car out of the snowdrift and headed north for home once again.
| | Now I ask, Why again was I saved from death? My only answer is God was waiting for me to come to Him and accept Him as my Savior. There were even more times I should have died, I didn't. It took many years before I accepted Him. He kept me safe until I finally woke up and realized how empty my life was without Him !! By His Grace I am SAVED !! What a wonderful GOD He Is!!
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Some of you possibly remember a story we published earlier by Jack McKinnon. Way back in July of last year (1999) Jack wrote his thoughts on angels. I wanted to close this segment and share those thoughts with you again.
| Regarding Angels and Messages, I believe that angels show up in many different ways. The important thing we can do to help their work is to believe and pay attention. Sharing experiences of angels is good. It shows people where angels have shown up in the past. It inspires people to be open to angels in the future. But most importantly isn't that the message came from an angel, it is what the message was. Because the message came from God, and God is who we should glorifying. Thanks again for your encouragement, and stories. You are doing God's work in carrying his messages.
Jack McKinnon
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Being Watched Over by God
by Denise Parker |
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| | The first time I felt the intense presence of God was when my sister and I were in an accident. We were traveling along, when a guy made a left hand turn into us and totaled my sister's car. Neither one of us was wearing a seat belt and we both walked away with out a scratch. The policeman and witnesses said they were sure they would find bodies when the car stopped spinning.
| | My sister was a nanny at the time and had two children strapped in car seats in the back. The side where one of the children had been was completely caved in and there was glass every where. But when we went to get the child out, the back seat had wrapped around the car seat, providing him with protection. Neither child was hurt either. It was amazing! I knew from that moment on I would never doubt that God existed. I was 18 at the time and going through a real questioning of my faith.
| | The next time I felt God was at work in my life has to do with my son. I had my tubes tied in 1992, but along about 1994 I wanted a baby so bad I could taste it. At one point I thought I was pregnant and went to the doctor to find out that of course I wasn't.
| | I was sitting in a chair mourning the fact that I was not going to have any more babies, when all of the sudden I heard a crash from the bathroom. My son, who was, two at the time, had taken a light, plugged it in, put in the bathroom sink and turned on the water.
| | He was knocked off the sink from the shock, but was unhurt. I honestly believe that God was telling me to wake up and be grateful for what I had and quit moping about what I didn't. I honestly have not had a baby craving from that day on. God knew two was my limit.
| | Lastly, in Feb. 1997 we were driving from Valdez, AK to Anchorage, to take my daughter to a doctoržs appointment at Elmendorf. We got off the ferry at 4:30 a.m. and decided to go ahead and go on to Anchorage. The weather wasn't too bad and the roads SEEMED fine.
| | We were driving down Thompson's Pass, when out of the blue we hit a patch of black ice. The car went out of control, we were spinning and going backwards down the pass. There were places we could have gone over. I have never been so scared in my whole life. At first I was screaming, then I asked God to please get us safely through this and to protect us.
| | The car slowed and we went hood first into a snow bank. No one was hurt, not one scratch on the car and although it died when we hit, it immediately started back up. Now we were quite stuck and basically in the middle of nowhere at 5:30 on a Sunday morning.
| | Within thirty minutes, someone came by, pulled over and called a tow truck for us. The gentleman said it was going to take about 3 hours before they could get to us.
| | Thirty minutes after that another gentleman stopped with hot coffee and juice and a newspaper. Then within another thirty minutes, two fellows with 4X4s pulled us out and we were on our way.
| | I know that God was watching over us that day, as I honestly believe he does every day.
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| | Denise Parker
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Watched Over
by Penny |
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| | My oldest sister, Joann was living with my first husband and our 2 children. Joann had gone to her boyfriend's house to be with him. Joann was expecting a baby in a couple of months, but she and Bill couldn't afford to get a place together just yet.
| | We had gone to bed and our room was pitch black. I know that I was sound asleep, but some kind of click- or snap-type sound woke me up. I looked up in the corner of my room and there was a heavy white mist just hanging there; it had no real form to it. By the time I got my husband to wake up it was gone.
| | I told him that something had happened to Joann and he just shook his head, but he could also see that I was very upset. We went into the living room and I was telling him what I had heard and seen. Then I turned and looked at the front door and told him that Bill (Joann's boyfriend) was here. He said he didn't hear anything and I said no, he is out in front of the house.
| | Just then, Bill knocked on the door and asked to be let in. I told him to go away. I didn't like Bill nor did I trust him. He insisted that he had something to tell me. I told him that I already knew that Joann was gone. He wanted to know if the hospital called me. I told him that I just "knew" and that I wanted him to leave.
| | After he left I told my husband that we needed to call my mother. Since we didn't have a phone in the house he drove me down to the corner and I tried to call my mother three times. Each time I dialed the number the line would go dead. Then my husband tried and the same thing happened to him. I was beginning to panic at this point and decided to call my brother who lived close to our mom. Well, to my surprise, I had no trouble getting through to him. When he answered the phone all I could say was, that Joann was dead. He told me to calm down and then I told him that I tried to call mom, but couldn't get through to her. He said that he would call her and let her know.
| | My brother told me later that when mom answered the phone, he told her that Joann was gone, and being woke out of a sound sleep, mom wanted to know where she had gone. Well, he finally explained it to her and in a much more gentle way than I would have.
| | I feel that it was Joann's way to soften the blow of the bad news and that knowing me as well as she did, she had something to do with my not being able to get through to our mother that night. Since then I have learned to think before I speak when it comes to telling someone some bad news.
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| | Penny
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| | Penny added this footnote:
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My parents have both since passed away. My mother lived with us for over 20 years after dad died. It would seem that my mom is continuing to let me know that she is still keeping an eye on me. I guess it is because I am the baby of the family and she really got in the habit of it from living with me for so many years.
| | Last night as I was sitting here at the computer, I could hear Mom in the other room coughing. You see she had chronic bronchitis and was always coughing, and after living together for so long, it is one sound that you don't forget.
| | Mom seems to know when something is going to happen either to the plumbing here in our apartment or for that matter, when I need to pay attention to something and she manages to get my attention somehow. Last night the plumbing started backing up and when I heard her cough, I got up and checked and sure enough, I had to call the maintenance man to come take care of things again!
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