Miracles

[Deb]

Yesterday we (Colorado) were having the blizzard of the century and I did something I rarely do these days: I took myself to a movie. It took me forever to find a movie that was even remotely interesting (considering my state of mind at the time), and finally settled on--gasp--a Christian movie, Miracles from Heaven. Being faced with the prospect of being snowed in (after dealing with 7 consecutive months of snow, being snowed in was not appealing in the least), I was determined to see anything palatable, even if had a religious bent to it (and some good reviews). I dug myself out and headed out in the storm. Actually, once I was out of my neighborhood (the snow was at 12" at that point, without a snow plow in sight), the going was not so tough. (Note: final tally, 24" with drifts to 36")

I have to say this was one of the best movies I've seen! Maybe it's because I've been so fascinated with near-death experiences resulting in spontaneous healing. Of course, also the concepts of spirituality were not so deafening that I couldn't trade out, in my mind, all the references to god and JC for spirit, All That Is, higher self... But the fact that the story was based on true events was what sealed the deal.

No need to go into explicit details about the movie, and I have no idea what was added by Hollywood for drama, plus the trailer I'll link to here pretty much tells the entire story. Basically: this family's young daughter, Annabel, age 5, had an incurable, fatal illness (pseudo-obstruction motility disorder). After (years?) of mis-diagnoses, a lot of obstacles, ineffective experimental treatment, she was allowed to go home briefly from the hospital to be with her family. At that point she was in constant pain, full-blown depression and wanted to die. And she was dying. Her older sister, trying to coax some normalcy back into her life, convinced her to climb a very large, very dead tree like they used to when Anna was healthy. They made it up 3 stories (30' ?) when the branch they were on started to break. Ann scrambled back towards the trunk of the tree, fell through a hole and down 30' to the ground, INSIDE THE TREE, landing on her head. It took 5 hours to get her out. Emergency services had to bring a crane and have someone go down into the tree to harness her and hoist her out. She'd been unresponsive the entire time. Medevac to the hospital. The doctor there said she somehow had no trauma to her body, other than minor scrapes and bruises. No broken bones, no sign of brain or spinal injuries. She woke up smiling and happy.

It was after that, that the family realized she had been completely cured of her disease. Later that she finally started talking to her parents about what had happened to her while she was "dead" -- she was told to come back here, she had work to do, and that she would be healed.

I think my favorite part of the movie, besides knowing that it was a true story, was seeing the actual family at the end and knowing this was was not an old story. Anna's 12 years old and has not had a health issue since her healing in 2011.

[Sena]

Yes, miracles happen. No, you don't need to invoke Christ. He has probably moved on to fresh pastures elsewhere in the universe (multiverse?)

[BethAnne]

A couple months before my Grandmother died she went into a 4 day coma.

Up until that time this woman was very difficult to deal with.  She'd had a lot of trauma in her life.  Her mother died when she was 5 and the father just left her with her mean grandmother.   She was widowed early and manipulated out of her property.  It left her a bitter person.  The family realized this and gave her as much support as she would allow.  But NO ONE wanted her to live with them after her stay in the hospital.

Well, after 4 day in a coma she came back Miss Merry Sunshine!  A completely different and lovable person.
I always felt it was a gift for everyone that we all made peace before she transitioned.