For those of us who believe in Heaven

[CharlesFamily]

Riverrose,

Your story gave me goosebumps. I too have experienced something similar.

Not a near death experience, but something that has always stuck with me was a story my mom told me years ago. My dad is a retired Columbus SWAT Officer. He was active on SWAT during the drug wars of the '80's. His job was entry during the drug raids on the crack houses. His partner would knock down the door, and my dad would be the first one through the door.

One night, my mom was awoken from a sound sleep by an urgent voice telling her to pray for my Dad. She didn't question it, she jumped out of bed and hit her knees. When she finished, she felt a sense of peace and was able to climb right back into bed and go back to sleep.

The next morning, she found out that at the exact time she was awoken and felt the urge to pray, my Dad was doing an entry. Drug dealers had gotten very smart about trying to outsmart the police and they would put bright lights facing the doorways so that when the police would enter, they would be blinded. That's what happened that night. My dad entered and was momentarily blinded by the light. When the light was knocked down, seconds later, there was a man standing 5 feet from him with a gun pointed at his head. My dad couldn't see him, and while he was blinded, the man had pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired.

Some would say coincidence - I don't believe in coincidence!

Barbara

 

[Carolyn R]

Barbara, your story reminded me of a story one of my brothers shared. He was an officer in Peoria Arizona. He was in persuit of a suspect, the suspect was on foot. My brother got out of his vehicle and persued him on foot, the patrol car could not go where the suspect was heading. At some point it all went very wrong, the suspect pulled a gun on my brother and my brother had pulled his also, at this point in the chase, they were in an opening and there was very little to take cover behind.

After several warnings, my brother realized the suspect was not going to drop his gun. To himself he said, " Lord, I will count to three then shoot, please forgive me". He began to count to himself, and heard a voice say " he is going to give up", the suspect tossed out his gun. There was no one around but the two of them.

After all the paperwork was done and he was being booked, my brother said why didn't you shoot? The suspect told him he had every intention of killing my brother, but he heard someone behind him tell him to put the gun down. The voice was so loud, he thought back up had arrived, again, it was just the two of them, not another person around.

My brother had dark black hair, shortly after he developed a grey/ white spot about the size of a half dollar at the front of his hairline on his forehead. He has had people refer to it as a wisdom streak. I think it is his reminder not to take life for granted. I well up with tears each time I hear him talk about it.

 

[Performancemini]

yes-Ozymandias, I don't know what Bible you read from-but I have never read that there was no Heaven or place where God is we go to in mine. I don't want to tell anyone how to believe either. But how I believe is the most precious thing to me and if someone WANTS to know why I believe so I will explain; if they don't, that's their choice, but that's doesn't mean I can not still pray for them-as that is MY belief and teaching and comforts me.

 

[vickie gee]

Having a near death experience helped me to be more comfortable with the time when death will come like a friend.

THe experience happened 3 months to the day after my brother was killed in a car accident at the age of 36.

I stepped on a yellow jacket in our back yard and in about 5 minutes I had no control over any part of my body and was having difficulty getting any oxygen. It was like my body was frozen. (anaphaelectic shock)

If my husband hadn't been home I would have died, but he was able to get me to the hospital in a few minutes.

He said my eyes were rolled back and fluid was rolling out of my mouth, and I could not control my bowels and kidneys.

WHile everyone would have thought I knew nothing about what was happening, it wasn't so.

I knew what was happening and what was being said and done,and what my body was doing but I just couldn't react to it.

I heard the doctors and nurses discussing everything.

I was content with dying but I knew it would be too much for my Mum and Dad after losing my brother.

Inside of me I was saying "don't let me go, it will kill Mum and Dad" but I was kind of looking forward to dying. I felt very close to being with my brother and in the distance it seemed to be very white and a bit foggy looking, but inviting.

I am a believer but only pray "thy will be done" because it seems that is what it will always be.

I have been with four family members at the time of their death, since my experience. I talk to them right up to the end because I know you can hear even when it looks like you can not.

My anaphaelectic shock reaction happened August 23rd,1985.

"I talk to them right up to the end..."

That is what my sister and I did right up until my mother drew her last breath and it did seem like she drew several last breaths. You could tell her body was growing colder and colder and she would appear to stop breathing altogether and then you would see her gasp and draw in some air. We held her arms and hands. I told her heaven was going to be more beautiful than we can imagine. My sister told her angels would take her there. I whispered a secret to her that I never had the courage to tell her before. I am so glad we were with her. I could not do that when my grandaddy passed. I was grown but was very afraid of losing him and yes, afraid of death (back then). I stayed outside in the hallway of the hospital. I regret that. I wrote a poem as soon as I arose the next morning. Maybe I will share sometime.

 

[Genie]

The last member of my family who passed away was my brother, August 17,2012. Glen was the best brother a girl could have.

He was quiet and polite and shy. He loved our Mum, as we all did, but Mum always had a special spot in her heart for Glen, as he did, for her.

As Glen struggled to breath I told Glen often, that Mum loved him so much, and he was such a good brother.

Eventually he no longer responded but I continued telling him how much he was loved by all of us, all the way to his last breath (I was called at 9:15 p.m.and stayed until 10:36 a.m. when he passed.

There were 6 children in our family and Mum used to sing a special song to the newest baby to lull them to sleep, which we all were very familiar with hearing.)

When I was not talking to Glen I would quietly sing Mum's song for the babies. Glen slipped quietly away and his face looked so peaceful.

 

[vickie gee]

Genie, my mom had a special song she sang to all the grandkids and great-grandkids to sing them to sleep also. I stayed the night shift with my mom her last week. She was in a hospitable bed in their living room. The wife of my nephew stayed with me one night and she caught me humming the song to "Nanna." She said "that's the bye-oh-bye-oh song that Nanna always sings."

 

[Mona]

Since this subject was posted asking people to share their experiences and specifically stated/asked not to start a religious debate,(This isn't to start some dabate on religion. I love stories like this and thought I would share.) please refrain from posting debate posts because they will be deleted. Thank you.

 

[CharlesFamily]

Carolyn, your brother's story gave me goosebumps while I was reading it. So amazing and thanks for sharing!

Barbara

 

[Genie]

Vickie:

My Mum sang

"Bye baby, bye, bye,

Bye baby bye a bye,

Bye baby bye, bye,

Bye a baby bye!

And it was a repeat until the baby gave up

 

[vickie gee]

How far is Heaven? Not sure but sure I love my favorite Texicans singing about it. Say hello to brothers Henry, JoJo, and Ringo. I have seen these guys in concert and we have one of their concert dvds. They rock. If you think they show off toward the end of this just check out some of their other stuff on youtubemusic. [/media]

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I am not a religious person, but I too have had experiences that can not be explained by science or as coincidence. I have had quite a few ghostly encounters, some witnessed by others also, and some by just myself. I have also had three different situations where I was going to be somewhere, but I got a bad feeling and decided not to go, just to have a body discovered during the time I would have been there.

The first time, I worked at a military base forty miles out of our town. I live in the high desert of Southern California and it can be 5-10 years before we get a snow that really sticks on the ground. This one morning, it snowed alot. On my drive to work, there was a small truck broke down on the side of the road, and it was covered in snow. I was young and stupid, and I slowed down because I was going to stop and play in the snow that had collected on the hood of the truck. At the very last minute before I pulled over, I had this feeling that I should get to work early. I found out later that day at work, that the truck had broken down a couple of hours before I almost stopped. A soldier was on his way to the base, but apparently he had trouble, jacked the truck up, crawled under it, and because the ground was wet, the jack fell and crushed him to death. I get chills knowing that had I stopped, I would have been the person who discovered him. The second time, my husband was with me. We always got gas from this certain truck stop. One night I glanced at our car clock and it was 6:10. Out of the blue, I told my husband that we should drive an extra couple miles out of our way to see what prices were like in that area. We hadn't filled up anywhere else in months. We weren't in a hurry, so he agreed. We found out the next day that a woman's nude body had been found at our usual truck stop the previous night. The newspaper listed the call to 911 as being placed at 6:14. They believe a trucker had dumped her body sometime within the past 48 hours. And the third time, we were in the next town over. Our ritual was that when we went to that town on a weekend, we would get a pizza and go to this small Regional Park where they have two lakes for fishing, riding stables, and camels, and we would walk around the lakes and watch the horses for hours. My husband was driving to the pizza place around one in the afternoon, and all of a sudden I told him that I didn't want to go. He asked me why, and I told him that I just wanted to come back home instead. We heard on the radio the next day that they had found someone floating in one of the lakes there a little after two in the afternoon - when we would have been there. I can't explain the feelings that made me change my mind on these occasions, it was just a really strong feeling that I didn't want to be there.

I lost my grandmother last November, and when she was in the hospital, there were times when she would completely ignore the people in the room with her, and she would stare up at the corner and move her mouth silently like she was talking to someone there that only she could see. There have been times when our cats will stare straight up at our ceiling and act as if they are watching something. That's the only thing I can compare what she was doing to. It took me two weeks after she passed before I started having "dreams" about her. But in my dreams, she is always "gone" and she continuously hugs me, or she stands in a corner and just watches me. I find that she visits me more often when I take naps.

I don't know if it's spiritual intervention, a sixth sense, or what...but I definately know that there are unexplainable things out there. Thank you all for sharing your experiences, it is reassuring to know that I am not alone.

 

[Mona]

In November 2010, I lost my Mom to lung Cancer. It was discovered late, and advanced quickly from there and once it went to her brain, it was quite rapid. I had been staying there in her home with her, when she was hospitalized. It was the middle of the night, and she only lasted 6 and a half days after she went in. The night she went in, the doctor told us that this was "the beginning of the end". Those 6 days were the longest, yet most precious days.

I was afraid to leave Mom's side for fear she would die while I was gone. They had a room in the Palliative Care unit for family, where we could go to visit, or rest or whatever. I only went down there a couple times throughout those days to get a quick nap. I also left the hospital once to go to my Mom's to shower, but after that, I showered in the bathroom in her hospital room. I still don't know how I managed on such little sleep. I did sleep some at night, in a chair at her bedside, holding her hand. I just wanted her to know that she was never alone.

My Stepdad was also there with us. He was a resident of the nursing home not far from the hospital, and he wanted to be there with us too. We were allowed to stay in Mom's room 24 hrs a day. They brought a cot in for Jim (my stepdad) and my sister slept in a recliner, and me in a highbacked regular type hospital chair beside her bed, and holding her hand. I still rtemember the night she woke up in the middle of the night and saw me sitting there, smiled at me, squeezed my hand and never said a word. I will cherish that always, and am so glad she knew we were at her side.

Mom was kept very heavily sedated and on morphine, as the cancer had gone to her brain causing her severe pressure pain. She was able to talk and wake up once in awhile during the first couple of days, but it wasn't long before all that changed and she was out of it for the rest of the time. We would talk to her anyway, and I told her so many things that I felt I needed to say before she died. I know she could hear me because at one point, when I thought she could not, the tears started to run down her cheek and she gave a little squeeze on my hand.

BUT, prior to that, she had not been concious for several days, was unable to speak. She just laid there...could not move on her own, could not open her eyes, speak, could do absolutely nothing, and was just resting comfortably while her body let go. Her breathing became very slow and gasping for air with her head sort of laying with it's side to the pillow, and we knew it was not long off. I told my stepdad that if he had anything he wanted to tell her before she died, now was the time, as she was letting go. He went over to her while my husband and I sat at the other end of the room in the chairs. He was standing beside her bed and said what he needed or wanted, and we were watching Mom, and suddenly she turned her head, like she was following him...like from it's side to laying with the back of her head on the pillow. Her eyes opened, and she had this huge smile. A few more breaths, and she was gone. I felt this total feeling of reliefe flood my body. I could not believe what I had just witnessed. I thought she was telling Jim all was OK, and she had to go, but looking back at that scene and playing it over in my head many times since then, I have often wondered if at that moment, where we witnessed that "miracle", if it wasn't her "seeing the light", or being "called home" and it was such a beautiful place that she did that so we all knew she would be OK and that it was a good place to go. I guess I'll never know now for sure.

Although I can't say my Mom comes to visit me to let me know she is OK, she does come to me in my dreams, and I just love it when I can dream of her.

Also, since the time we were in the hospital with her, I started noticing that for some reason, I was very often seeing the time 11:11. I would not watch for it, I would just happen to look and see it. It has happened I am sure hundreds of times since then, seeing it on the clock, am or pm, and in times posted on forum posts, or when driving I happen to look at the clock out of the blue and find it there. I have no idea why that time came to me while we were in the hospital with her, but now I tell myself that it's "her" number, and that each time I see it, it is her stopping in to say hello. I will smile and even often kiss my fingers and touch it to the clock and tell her hello, and start talking to her immediately, like it is this little peep hole that allows me a direct line to her. I know, it is really wierd, but I guess it is just a "comfort game" I have made of it.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Ohhh what great stories, thank you all very much for sharing these personial experiences.They are very touching!

 

[Genie]

In November 2010, I lost my Mom to lung Cancer. It was discovered late, and advanced quickly from there and once it went to her brain, it was quite rapid. I had been staying there in her home with her, when she was hospitalized. It was the middle of the night, and she only lasted 6 and a half days after she went in. The night she went in, the doctor told us that this was "the beginning of the end". Those 6 days were the longest, yet most precious days.

I was afraid to leave Mom's side for fear she would die while I was gone. They had a room in the Palliative Care unit for family, where we could go to visit, or rest or whatever. I only went down there a couple times throughout those days to get a quick nap. I also left the hospital once to go to my Mom's to shower, but after that, I showered in the bathroom in her hospital room. I still don't know how I managed on such little sleep. I did sleep some at night, in a chair at her bedside, holding her hand. I just wanted her to know that she was never alone.

My Stepdad was also there with us. He was a resident of the nursing home not far from the hospital, and he wanted to be there with us too. We were allowed to stay in Mom's room 24 hrs a day. They brought a cot in for Jim (my stepdad) and my sister slept in a recliner, and me in a highbacked regular type hospital chair beside her bed, and holding her hand. I still rtemember the night she woke up in the middle of the night and saw me sitting there, smiled at me, squeezed my hand and never said a word. I will cherish that always, and am so glad she knew we were at her side.

Mom was kept very heavily sedated and on morphine, as the cancer had gone to her brain causing her severe pressure pain. She was able to talk and wake up once in awhile during the first couple of days, but it wasn't long before all that changed and she was out of it for the rest of the time. We would talk to her anyway, and I told her so many things that I felt I needed to say before she died. I know she could hear me because at one point, when I thought she could not, the tears started to run down her cheek and she gave a little squeeze on my hand.

BUT, prior to that, she had not been concious for several days, was unable to speak. She just laid there...could not move on her own, could not open her eyes, speak, could do absolutely nothing, and was just resting comfortably while her body let go. Her breathing became very slow and gasping for air with her head sort of laying with it's side to the pillow, and we knew it was not long off. I told my stepdad that if he had anything he wanted to tell her before she died, now was the time, as she was letting go. He went over to her while my husband and I sat at the other end of the room in the chairs. He was standing beside her bed and said what he needed or wanted, and we were watching Mom, and suddenly she turned her head, like she was following him...like from it's side to laying with the back of her head on the pillow. Her eyes opened, and she had this huge smile. A few more breaths, and she was gone. I felt this total feeling of reliefe flood my body. I could not believe what I had just witnessed. I thought she was telling Jim all was OK, and she had to go, but looking back at that scene and playing it over in my head many times since then, I have often wondered if at that moment, where we witnessed that "miracle", if it wasn't her "seeing the light", or being "called home" and it was such a beautiful place that she did that so we all knew she would be OK and that it was a good place to go. I guess I'll never know now for sure.

Although I can't say my Mom comes to visit me to let me know she is OK, she does come to me in my dreams, and I just love it when I can dream of her.

Also, since the time we were in the hospital with her, I started noticing that for some reason, I was very often seeing the time 11:11. I would not watch for it, I would just happen to look and see it. It has happened I am sure hundreds of times since then, seeing it on the clock, am or pm, and in times posted on forum posts, or when driving I happen to look at the clock out of the blue and find it there. I have no idea why that time came to me while we were in the hospital with her, but now I tell myself that it's "her" number, and that each time I see it, it is her stopping in to say hello. I will smile and even often kiss my fingers and touch it to the clock and tell her hello, and start talking to her immediately, like it is this little peep hole that allows me a direct line to her. I know, it is really wierd, but I guess it is just a "comfort game" I have made of it.

Thanks for sharing this, Mona.

 

[Jill]

I really want to say that reading what "the management" here at LB has had to say on this thread is personally meaningful to me because it comes on the heels of a few other posts that I think were meant to rattle or hurt those who have faith. LB, to me, has always been a close knit community where people care about each other and where spirituality and faith are a common thread and comfort. Some private conversations I've had with friends tells me, too, that I'm not the only one concerned and paying attention. More importantly, that more than are speaking up publicly BELIEVE.

 

[ozymandias]

Sorry guys, sincere apologies. Way too much science and not enough other stuff rolling around in my brain.

Genuinely begging for forgiveness

 

[Mona]

Thanks for your understanding ozymandias.

 

[ozymandias]

Thanks for your understanding ozymandias.

Hey, my bad !

:worship

 

[vickie gee]

I don't know what your reading....

http://www.openbible...death_and_dying

Thank you Danielle. I will keep this link in favorites at work. This could come in handy when writing a quick note on a card of encouragement or sympathy card going around the office.

 

[vickie gee]

I know there is a scripture that uses the phrase "but dust" in I believe referring to our physical bodies afterwards. I remember a story about a small child saying "grandma, what do people do with butt dust?"