My Name is Heather, I have great reason to believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have testimony from an early age which holds me firmly in belief that what is written in scripture is faithful and true. I feel it is my duty to share this experience with anyone who would wish to listen. Throughout my life, to this day even, I have recognized God's presence in my life. I hope you recognize him too!
I'll start with a bit of background information about my life:
As a child I was joyful yet riddled with sorrow from my parents being divorced and living without my mom, among other troubles. Daytime was spent in happy imaginative play but during the night I was fearful and always sad because of these things.
One day when I was informed about Death by a family member and it became a great terrifying mystery which haunted me and further troubled my sleep. I'd keep having the same dream which I was in the slimy intestine of a huge devil being digested and I'd kick and punch to try to get out, but I couldn't.
In response to this fear my dad spoke to me about the bible, he told me that it was whatever I wanted to believe it was. That it was a book of stories that could help me through my life and had advice in it. That it taught about God, but I didn't have to believe if I didn't want to. (Obviously he didn't want to force any ideas on my young mind.)
Then shortly after that my family started going to church for the first time ever. This was very confusing to me, because I'd never heard any of these things in my life. Not on TV and not in school or my home. It was the only time besides picture day that I got to wear a dress.
We went for a few times during a month or so, not very long. I got to learn about Jesus and his sacrifice, how to pray and about heaven.
Now after we stopped going to church I had someone to talk to at night instead of hopelessly crying to myself: Jesus. I poured my heart out to him every night and prayed for everyone and everything I ever met or could think of because I heard from my family that "everything dies". I didn't want anything at all to die, ever.
Anyhow, after some time my wounds began to heal and I grew up a little more and stopped praying so much.
Then one summer my family went to Nesmith Park where there was a river which we would often come to swim at with other the local residences.
This is when I had an encounter with death:
I was playing in the river in the shallow part because I couldn't swim at all. I accidentally went out too far and fell into a drop off that I had been warned about. (For those who don't know, a drop off is like an underwater cliff.)
I remembered to stay calm and hold my breath as I had been told many times, "Just in case I ever fell in". The drop off was so deep that it felt like I was drifting in the coldness of outer space by the time I felt like I couldn't hold my breath any longer. So finally I called out for help with my last bit of breath. I remember seeing the bubbles come out from my mouth with my muffled cry.
Then I rose up out of the water in spirit and I saw my body floating dead with fish swimming around me. It was not scary or painful to be separate from my body, it seemed very unusual to me and I pondered it for a while.
I felt an extreme sense of happiness that I had never felt before. I felt complete and peaceful, like I didn't need anything. I felt like I was continually understanding things. At first it was overwhelming. Moments later I noticed a cloud above me, then a light shone from it and I saw three winged people wearing white who were smiling at me while holding their arms outward like they were going to embrace me in a hug. I wondered if they were my family because they loved me so much.
Then I was lifted up and I saw nothing but white brightness around me then a voice that seemed like my dad's was speaking to me without words like the ones we use on Earth.
The voice was kind, gentle, strong, firm and extremely focused all at once. He showed me my whole life in the blink of an eye, ALL at once!
Then we went back and reviewed many specific moments in my life.. many of which I had forgotten until he showed me the events.Without him saying a single word I understood how he felt about my actions. There was a specific time when I was stealing candy from the kitchen and supposed that nobody saw me because I was "So good at stealing". Not too pretty of a tale. Even so, there was an intense feeling of understanding even when the memory was not nice.
After review I was asked "Do you hate anyone?" I said that "I don't hate people, but I don't like what they do sometimes."
I was also asked "Do you love anyone?" I said "Yes"
Then he asked me "Who do you love?" So I responded, "I love my family and friends."
Then He asked "Why do you love them?" I said "because they are nice and they take care of me."
All of my answers were instant and honest, only the truth was spoken in his presence.
However, there was a brief silence when I answered this question, I knew that I didn't have a complete understanding of what love is.
I hadn't recognized what love was besides towards my parents, family and friends. Of course the world teaches us to mistrust others and suspect evil of them, so we distance ourselves from allowing "strangers" into our hearts.
I was asked "Do you want to stay here with me?" Of course I said "Yeah, I like it here."
Then a thought came to me about my dad who was still at the river. Then I remembered that my dad's life would be ruined if I died and left him now because he loves me so much.
It was decided then once everything was considered I was told "You have a purpose" and sent back.
Once I came back to where my body was I was floating in spirit above the water still.
I could hear all of the people chattering and laughing around the swimming place. Then I noticed as I looked from person to person that I could hear their thoughts, some were innocent enough but others repulsed me and I was made to no longer be able to hear them.
When I looked to my dad who was at the edge of the water I heard him ask where I was in his mind, then he asked aloud. Then He realized I was underwater and I heard him exclaim "Oh Sh*t" first mentally then aloud!
He dove in and pulled me out of the water and dragged me to the shore and layed me down. As a spirit I went over and layed down into my body and woke to the pain and loudness of that life. The extreme happiness faded and was muffled by every bad feeling that dwells in the human flesh: Sorrow, Confusion, Anger, Hungers, Tiredness, Heaviness.
I'll start with a bit of background information about my life:
As a child I was joyful yet riddled with sorrow from my parents being divorced and living without my mom, among other troubles. Daytime was spent in happy imaginative play but during the night I was fearful and always sad because of these things.
One day when I was informed about Death by a family member and it became a great terrifying mystery which haunted me and further troubled my sleep. I'd keep having the same dream which I was in the slimy intestine of a huge devil being digested and I'd kick and punch to try to get out, but I couldn't.
In response to this fear my dad spoke to me about the bible, he told me that it was whatever I wanted to believe it was. That it was a book of stories that could help me through my life and had advice in it. That it taught about God, but I didn't have to believe if I didn't want to. (Obviously he didn't want to force any ideas on my young mind.)
Then shortly after that my family started going to church for the first time ever. This was very confusing to me, because I'd never heard any of these things in my life. Not on TV and not in school or my home. It was the only time besides picture day that I got to wear a dress.
We went for a few times during a month or so, not very long. I got to learn about Jesus and his sacrifice, how to pray and about heaven.
Now after we stopped going to church I had someone to talk to at night instead of hopelessly crying to myself: Jesus. I poured my heart out to him every night and prayed for everyone and everything I ever met or could think of because I heard from my family that "everything dies". I didn't want anything at all to die, ever.
Anyhow, after some time my wounds began to heal and I grew up a little more and stopped praying so much.
Then one summer my family went to Nesmith Park where there was a river which we would often come to swim at with other the local residences.
This is when I had an encounter with death:
I was playing in the river in the shallow part because I couldn't swim at all. I accidentally went out too far and fell into a drop off that I had been warned about. (For those who don't know, a drop off is like an underwater cliff.)
I remembered to stay calm and hold my breath as I had been told many times, "Just in case I ever fell in". The drop off was so deep that it felt like I was drifting in the coldness of outer space by the time I felt like I couldn't hold my breath any longer. So finally I called out for help with my last bit of breath. I remember seeing the bubbles come out from my mouth with my muffled cry.
Then I rose up out of the water in spirit and I saw my body floating dead with fish swimming around me. It was not scary or painful to be separate from my body, it seemed very unusual to me and I pondered it for a while.
I felt an extreme sense of happiness that I had never felt before. I felt complete and peaceful, like I didn't need anything. I felt like I was continually understanding things. At first it was overwhelming. Moments later I noticed a cloud above me, then a light shone from it and I saw three winged people wearing white who were smiling at me while holding their arms outward like they were going to embrace me in a hug. I wondered if they were my family because they loved me so much.
Then I was lifted up and I saw nothing but white brightness around me then a voice that seemed like my dad's was speaking to me without words like the ones we use on Earth.
The voice was kind, gentle, strong, firm and extremely focused all at once. He showed me my whole life in the blink of an eye, ALL at once!
Then we went back and reviewed many specific moments in my life.. many of which I had forgotten until he showed me the events.Without him saying a single word I understood how he felt about my actions. There was a specific time when I was stealing candy from the kitchen and supposed that nobody saw me because I was "So good at stealing". Not too pretty of a tale. Even so, there was an intense feeling of understanding even when the memory was not nice.
After review I was asked "Do you hate anyone?" I said that "I don't hate people, but I don't like what they do sometimes."
I was also asked "Do you love anyone?" I said "Yes"
Then he asked me "Who do you love?" So I responded, "I love my family and friends."
Then He asked "Why do you love them?" I said "because they are nice and they take care of me."
All of my answers were instant and honest, only the truth was spoken in his presence.
However, there was a brief silence when I answered this question, I knew that I didn't have a complete understanding of what love is.
I hadn't recognized what love was besides towards my parents, family and friends. Of course the world teaches us to mistrust others and suspect evil of them, so we distance ourselves from allowing "strangers" into our hearts.
I was asked "Do you want to stay here with me?" Of course I said "Yeah, I like it here."
Then a thought came to me about my dad who was still at the river. Then I remembered that my dad's life would be ruined if I died and left him now because he loves me so much.
It was decided then once everything was considered I was told "You have a purpose" and sent back.
Once I came back to where my body was I was floating in spirit above the water still.
I could hear all of the people chattering and laughing around the swimming place. Then I noticed as I looked from person to person that I could hear their thoughts, some were innocent enough but others repulsed me and I was made to no longer be able to hear them.
When I looked to my dad who was at the edge of the water I heard him ask where I was in his mind, then he asked aloud. Then He realized I was underwater and I heard him exclaim "Oh Sh*t" first mentally then aloud!
He dove in and pulled me out of the water and dragged me to the shore and layed me down. As a spirit I went over and layed down into my body and woke to the pain and loudness of that life. The extreme happiness faded and was muffled by every bad feeling that dwells in the human flesh: Sorrow, Confusion, Anger, Hungers, Tiredness, Heaviness.