To Heaven and Back
Read To Heaven and Back Online
Authors: M.D. Mary C. Neal
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EAVEN AND
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UBLISHED BY
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Scripture quotations marked (
ESV
) are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (God’s Word) are taken from God’s Word, a copyrighted work of God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (
GNT
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NIV
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NKJV
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NLT
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NRS
) are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following materials: “Footprints in the Sand,” copyright © 1963 by Carolyn Joyce Carty. Reprinted by permission of Carolyn Joyce Carty. “In the Name of Love,” words and music by Carole King, © 1977 by Elorac Music. Reprinted by permission.
eISBN: 978-0-9848192-1-8
Copyright © 2011, 2012 by Mary C. Neal
Previously published by CreateSpace in 2011.
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v3.1
I dedicate this book to God:
You gave me life
And I live for your glory
.
“This is the beginning of a new day
.
God has given me this day to use as I will
.
I can waste it or grow in its light and be of service to others
.
But what I do with this day is important because
I have exchanged a day of my life for it
.
When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever
.
I hope I will not regret the price I paid for it.”
—Anonymous
This book is written with special thanks to:
• Bill Neal, for being my loving, patient, funny, talented, and devoted life partner.
• Willie, Eliot, Betsy, and Peter Neal, for your constant inspiration, wonder, and deep beauty. You are the sources of my greatest joy and most profound sorrow, but my life would be barren without the experience of each of you.
• Ellen Nolan, David Pfeifer, Sophie Craighead, Reverend Dr. Paul Hayden, Terri Hayden, Cindy Leinonen, Mark Barron, Elizabeth Gerdts, and Kasandra Loertscher, without whom our family would not have survived nor be where we are today.
• Tom, Debbi, Kenneth, Anne, Chad, Krista, Tren, and Linzie Long, for bringing me back to earth and for being such a loving part of our family.
• Betty Thum for always giving me unconditional love and support. I pray that I give the same to my own children.
• George Thum, Paulita Neal, Edwin Pounder, Robert Hume, and Bill Hume for all the ways in which you have loved and encouraged me.
• My YaYa sisterhood: Linda Purdy, Susan Farquhar, Kelly Kiburis, Becky Patrias, Julie Connors, Ann Bayer, and Susan Marks, who have sustained me for more than forty years.
• Robin Steinmann, Corrine Alhum, Barb Forbes, Natalie Stewart, and Sherry Pointsett for helping me understand the power of prayer.
• Marta Lozano, for your continued support and for tolerating my working on this book instead of completing my charts.
• All the unnamed people who have helped me become the person that I am today.
“The best and most beautiful things
in this world cannot be seen or even heard,
but must be felt with the heart.”
—Helen Keller
God and His angelic messengers are present and active in our world today and this involvement and intervention is both ordinary in its frequency and extraordinary in its occurrence. Despite leading what I would consider a very ordinary life, I have had the privilege of being touched by God in visible and very tangible ways. One of these experiences began on January 14, 1999, when I was vacationing in South America with my husband. While boating, I was pinned underwater in my kayak and drowned. I died and went to heaven. After a brief stay, I was returned to my body. I returned to my earthly life with two shattered legs and severe pulmonary problems. I was hospitalized for more than a month, wheelchair bound
for even longer, and did not return to my orthopaedic surgery practice for more than six months.
Many have described my accident as terrible and tragic. I describe it as one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. The series of events surrounding my accident and recovery were nothing short of miraculous. Not only did I have the privilege of experiencing heaven, but I continued to experience the intensity of God’s world and conversed with Jesus several times in the weeks after my return.
Through this experience and conversation, I gained an understanding of many of life’s important questions, such as “What happens when we die?”, “Why are we here?”, and “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I also gained an understanding of the disciple Paul’s statement from
1 Corinthians 13
that of faith, hope, and love, the most enduring is love. I already had reasons to believe in miracles, but taking a journey to heaven and back transformed my faith into knowledge and my hope into reality. My love remained unchanged and everlasting.
One of the several reasons for my return to earth was to tell my story to others and help them find their way back to God. During my initial recovery, I was invited to share my story with small groups in my community and these people shared my story with their friends and family. As it was spread to many parts of the country, I was often told of the profound impact my story made on
the lives of the people who heard it. In the process of sharing, I realized that my story does not really belong to me, but to God and is meant to be shared. It has inspired many people, stimulated discussion, and has often resulted in a rejuvenated relationship with God. It has lessened people’s fear of death and increased their passion for living a full and meaningful life. My story has deepened people’s faith and given them hope for the future.
Noblesse Oblige: With Privilege Comes Responsibility
Truly, God does not give us a lamp so we can hide it under a basket or a bed. He gives each of us a lamp so we may give light to the world. Light always dissipates the emptiness of darkness. Ultimately, I felt that if the reading of my story could bring even one person closer to God, it would be worth the writing.
Thus, I began to set down on paper an account of my observations and experiences.
What I could not have known, and did not know as I worked to complete my manuscript, was that the sense of urgency compelling me to complete it was also God’s hand at work in my life. For the story did not end there …
“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer
.
From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint
.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
—Psalm 61:1–2 (NRS)
