90 Minutes in Heaven Page #7

brought you back so that you could

share your experience with others?

Don't you realize what a powerful

encouragement you could be?

I want you to make

a covenant with me.

What kind of a covenant?

It's simple.

Find someone you trust.

Share a little bit about your

story just to gauge their response.

If they think you're crazy

or you hallucinated,

I promise, I promise you never

have to talk about it again.

But if they rejoice with you

and urge you to tell them more,

I want you to take it as a sign.

A sign that God wants you to talk about

those 90 minutes you spent in heaven.

- I think I can do that much.

- When?

Soon. I promise. Very soon, right?

All right.

Very soon.

Hi, honey.

Hi, darlin'.

Hey, David.

Glad you could make it.

Soon as in now.

Honey?

Yes.

Darlin', I want to tell

you something. What's that?

Remember the day I-I left

for the convention? Uh-huh.

Well, that morning just plays

over and over in my head.

And you said, "I.O.U."

Yes. And I do.

Well, in fact,

I think I owe you.

Oh, don't I know it. I've been

waiting a long time for that.

I owe you an explanation.

Darlin', would you sit down

for a second?

Please.

You know,

I died in that accident.

When I woke up,

I was in heaven.

You went to heaven?

Yes.

Tell me more.

When I died,

I didn't flow through

a long dark tunnel.

Uh...

I had no sense of fading away

or coming back.

I heard no voices calling

to me or anything like that.

Simultaneous with my last

recollection of seeing the bridge,

the rain,

a light enveloped me,

with a brilliance

beyond earthly comprehension

or description.

In my next moment of awareness,

I was standing in heaven.

It was perfect.

And I knew right then I would have

no needs and never would again.

I didn't even think of Earth

or of those left behind.

Though I did not see Jesus

face-to-face,

I did sense his presence

at every turn.

And I did see people

I had known.

As they surged towards me,

I knew instantly that all of

them had died during my lifetime.

Their presence

seemed absolutely natural.

It was as if God had removed anything

negative or worrisome from my consciousness.

And I could only rejoice at being

together with these wonderful people.

Donnie, I'm so excited

you're here to join us.

I saw Papa.

You know, my grandfather

that everyone called Joe.

I heard his voice

and felt his embrace.

I'd been with him when he'd

suffered a heart attack at home

and had ridden with him

in the ambulance.

I'd been standing just outside

the emergency room at the hospital

when the doctor walked out

and faced me.

The doctor shook his head

and said softly,

"We did everything we could. "

As I walked among them,

I became aware

of the wide variety of ages.

Old and young

and every age in between.

Many of them hadn't known each

other on Earth,

but each had influenced

my life in some way.

Even though they

hadn't met on Earth,

they seemed to know

each other now.

One person in the greeting

committee was Mike Wood,

my childhood friend.

He was a popular kid

and became a hero to me

because he lived the Christian

lifestyle and often talked about it.

After high school, Mike received a full

scholarship to Louisiana State University.

When he was 19,

Mike was killed in a car wreck.

When I attended his funeral, I

wondered if I would ever stop crying.

I couldn't understand why God had

taken such a dedicated disciple.

Through the years since then, I had never been

able to forget that pain and sense of loss.

Then I saw Barry Wilson,

who had been classmate in high

school, but later drowned in a lake.

Barry's smile radiated a happiness

I didn't know was possible.

And I saw my great-grandmother

Hattie Mann.

As a child, I knew her only after

she had developed osteoporosis.

Her head and her shoulders

were always bent forward,

giving her a...

a sort of humped appearance.

But the beautiful thing is, she

didn't carry these burdens in heaven.

Heaven was many things,

but without a doubt,

it was the greatest

family reunion of all.

A holy awe came over me

as I stepped forward.

I had no idea what lay ahead.

But I sensed that with each step I

took, it would grow more wondrous.

Then I heard the music.

I can only describe it

as a holy swoosh of wings.

But I'd have to magnify that

thousands of times

to explain the effect

of the sound in heaven.

It was the most beautiful and

pleasant sound I'd ever heard.

I saw a bright iridescence.

I peered through the gate,

yearning to see what lay beyond.

It wasn't an anxious

yearning, but,

uh, a peaceful openness

to experience all of the

grace and joy of heaven.

At that very moment I was about to

realize the yearning of every human heart.

I was in heaven and ready to go

through the pearlescent gates.

Then, just as suddenly as I'd arrived

at the gates of heaven, I left there.

I spent a lot of time

in the hospital

trying to make sense

of all of this.

I was paralyzed by the notion

of not wanting to return.

I mean, why come back

to this much pain?

I think now I know.

I do too.

I believe it's time for me

to go back to church.

I believe that too.

Have you told anyone else

about this?

Yes. David.

Are you hurt that I

didn't tell you first?

No.

I feel elated to know,

because it enables me to understand

the man to whom I'm married.

- Eva.

- Yes?

Eva.

No one should have to do the

things that you had to do for me.

But you did them,

faithfully, compassionately

and without hesitation.

You come closest to

really knowing how painful

this journey has been for me.

Each day you endured it with me.

Eva, you are

my gift from God.

I was so enthusiastic about

finally returning to South Park.

I hadn't been out of bed for

more than an hour at a time and,

well, I overestimated my endurance

and suddenly felt incredibly fatigued.

Yet, the... the overwhelming

response from the congregation gave me

a new burst of strength,

and I knew right then that their praise

was for God's work and my healing.

It's only taken me...

five months

to get from the conference at

Trinity Pines back to church?

I may be slow, but I'm faithful.

They would like for you to say

something to the congregation.

Eva, I think I made a mistake.

I don't think I can do this.

You can.

I'm not sure if I'm ready.

You are.

Let's hear it, Don.

Say something, Don, please.

You prayed.

I'm here.

Oh, there he is.

Hey, Don!

Don!

Hey! You made it. Yeah.

It's so good to see you.

I believe that I'm alive today

because you prayed me back to Earth.

Tell you what. You buy me

lunch, we'll call it even.

All right, it's a deal.

That's right.

I couldn't figure out

how to get inside,

so I just pried open

the trunk,

knocked down the backseat

and crawled in that way.

But even when I was praying with

you, I didn't know it was you.

Besides, no one lives through that. Hmm.

Well, in my first moments of

consciousness, two things stand out.

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