Alex’s First Mention of Heaven
As nurses came in and out of the room, Beth changed Alex’s trach tube, with myriad details swirling in
her already overburdened mind. Alex waited until Beth finished and then indicated that he wanted to be
alone with Mommy and baby Ryan. The hospital staff respectfully left the room and shut the door. What
is on Alex’s mind? Beth wondered as she cuddled with him. Alex was at the stage when he could only
form words with his mouth and make a faint whisper. Beth leaned in and listened. Alex mouthed, “I
want to tell you about the accident.”
“Okay, honey, what do you want to tell me?”
Beth’s voice was even, but her spirit was startled. This was the last topic she expected Alex to talk
about in the moments prior to going home. And it was the first time Alex had spoken to us about the day
of the accident.
“Jesus came and got me from the car and kept me close to Him the whole time. I was above my
body, watching everyone work on me. I was safe. Jesus kept talking to me, telling me I was going to be
okay, so I was never afraid.”
At this, a radiant smile bathed Alex’s face. He had wanted so long to share his experience and was
now gaining the ability to form the words with his mouth, even if he couldn’t get much sound out of his
lips.
“What else did you see?”
“I saw Daddy taken out of the car. The angels set him down in the ditch.”
Beth understood what Alex meant by “taken out.” He was saying that his daddy was never thrown
from the car, nor had he wandered out in a daze. Angels had literally carried his body to a safe place.
“Then I saw Daddy yelling my name: ‘Alex! Alex! Alex!’ Daddy didn’t know where I was, and he
was worried about me.”
“Did that make you sad, honey?”
“No. I wasn’t sad. I was with Jesus. Then lots more firemen came. One fireman brought Daddy his
phone, and I saw him make a call.”
Beth’s mind raced back to the moment of that call. Humanly speaking, Alex had no way of knowing
about it.
“Another fireman put something in my mouth to help me breathe. A nurse helped me in the car. The
firemen took me out of the car and put me on a flat board. They cut my shirt off. It was my plaid shirt.
They took off my shoes, too. Daddy went over to the helicopter to talk with the man in the blue suit.”
“Alex, do you mean an orange suit? I think that’s what he may have been wearing.”
“No, Mommy. It was a blue suit!”
Heaven, Angels, and early death experiences have been all over the news. People constantly speculate o whether they exist. Is there a heaven? this book was inspiring.Kevin Malarkey and his son were involved in a terrible accident, Alex’s spine is severed from is brainstem, and everyone doctors included gave up hope.
What followed however was a show of God’s mercy and power. He brought together a tremendous support system for the family and prayer support for the entire intensive care ward.
I was skeptical about this book, one reason is because I do not believe in near death experiences, I should say didn’t. The book changed my way of thinking as well as brining me a new perspective on life.
God didn’t allow the accident but he did tremendous things through it. He changed lives, including that of Kevin.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book was the different perspective of people involved in the story. The family’s pastor, The flight attendant in the rescue helicopter who proved to be a strong Christian, Kevin’s father, a nurse; All of these characters come together to tell a complete and comprehensive record of events of the events.
I set the book aside for a while, the loss of my child made it a difficult book to wade into, But the Lord kept nagging me to get into it. Finally I got up the nerve and attacked the book. When I did I got an answer to several of my own questions. God does not allow bad things to happen but he uses them to make miracles. I saw that clearly in Kevin, and I know we will be hearing more about him in the future. Gods hands are firmly on him. This book is not the end of the story, it is the beginning.
1 comment:
Very moving.
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