Sunday, April 13, 2014

Visiting Heaven’s Throne Room - Part 1



Some people have asked about my visit to the throne room which I mentioned in a Facebook comment about the upcoming release of the movie “Heaven is for Real.” I want to say that I know after reading Todd Burpo’s book about Colton’s journey to Heaven to be real because so much of what he mentioned was so similar to what happened to me during my visit to Heaven. I do want to say for good measure that my visit to Heaven’s throne room did not coincide with what people would call a near death experience. Before I talk about my visit to Heaven’s throne room though, I will mention my actual near-death experiences. Some of you may know from previous Facebook postings that I had some medical problems in my late 20s. Both incidents stemmed from minor issues that became major health scares due to undiagnosed medical conditions. In and of themselves the medical issues were not that significant but became a perfect storm when combined with medications that interacted with my body in a way that could or should have easily caused death.

I have had two near death experiences that happened after my visit to Heaven, one when I was 26 when I went into anaphylaxis after a reaction to receiving sulfa antibiotic (which it turns out that I’m deathly allergic to) and a second time at 27 years old when I had a DVT and pulmonary embolism that resulted in a 3 week hospital stay and major surgery removing a blood clot from my lung.

In the first near-death experience at 26 years old, I saw my dear uncle Ronnie Olson who passed on before I was born. Ronnie at the time would have been one of the few significant family members to pass on before me. Ronnie was my maternal grandparent’s first born son. He died at the age of 18, just shy of his 19th birthday from leukemia. Ronnie stood before me in my parent’s living room (Barb and Don McKinney’s home in Burleson, Texas) while I laid on the couch struggling to breathe. Ronnie stood before me and said “You have to stay.” He paused, and then he added “Tell Mom and Dad that I love them and I will see them soon.” Then he was gone. About an hour later, my mother rushed me to the ER where I was given injections of epinephrine to stop the anaphylaxis reaction from the sulfa. I was back at my parent’s home later that morning. I only told my grandparents about Ronnie. It seemed to me that the message was for them so they were the only people I told. Many years later I mentioned this to my best friend Bobbi Brink and my husband Dave. This posting is probably the first that my mom, dad, brothers, or other family members know about this incident. 

The story continues with Part 2...

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