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My Journey with Jesus
I have so many experiences to share, that it's hard to narrow them down to a simple testimony. I am a relatively new Christian (since 1999) even though I had always believed in a "Higher Source". I just couldn't bring myself to call this source "God", much less think about Jesus as my guide and saviour.
That all changed in 1999. My father, whom I absolutely adored, passed on in his home after suffering a sudden heart attack. On the morning of his death, I had gotten up early to see my daughter off to a horse show. After making sure she would be okay, and had all her equipment and food packed for the day, I said goodbye and waved to the family she would be traveling with. Since it was very early, I crawled back into bed and promptly dozed off.
I don't know how long I had been asleep, but all of a sudden, a very bright, pinpoint of a light appeared to me. It suddenly burst into an extreme flash of white light that appeared to penetrate the walls so that I could "see" to the outside. It was as if someone took the brightest flash of the largest camera manufactured and set it off an inch from my eyes. I bolted upright in bed and tried to catch my breath.
The vision I just experienced frightened me greatly. I had read in a book written by hospice nurses about near-death experiences, where many of the dying patients described seeing a "bright light" days before their death. I searched my mind for a meaning: was I to die today, or worse yet, was my daughter in a fatal accident on the way to the horse show?
The vision disturbed me, but I laid back down and tried to get back to sleep. Exactly five minutes later, the phone rang. It was my brother. He relayed to me that Dad had a massive heart attack. His heart had stopped and the paramedics were attempting to defibrillate him as we spoke. ( My mother had attempted CPR until the paramedics came.) I didn't need anyone to tell me that the CPR would be unsuccessful, and that the moment Dad's heart stopped, he was already on his way to eternal life. The vision I experienced made complete and total sense then. God let me know, through the vision, that Dad was on his journey to heaven, with Jesus at his side. What a true gift from God!!
During the next few days, amidst bouts of painful grief, God directed me to a Christian radio station that became my number one source of comfort and inspiration (except of course for prayer). Never before in my life had I even considered listening to Christian music on the radio. To this day, it is about all I listen to.
Having the vision was like being smacked on top of the head with a baseball bat - as if God was saying "if this doesn't convince you that Jesus is real and alive, what will"?
I believe that something positive comes out of every negative experience. And as much as I miss my father, time eases the pain, and I cannot thank Jesus enough for coming into my life on that day.
Barbara Fox
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