McVea Crystal - Waking up in heaven: a mothers remarkable journey and the story God sent her back to share

WAKING UP IN HEAVEN

Originally published in the USA as Waking Up in Heaven by Howard Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, New York, in 2013.

First South African edition in 2013 by Struik Christian Books
An imprint of Struik Christian Media
A division of New Holland Publishing (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd
(New Holland Publishing is a subsidiary of Times Media Group)
Wembley Square, First floor, Solan Street,
Gardens, Cape Town 8001

Reg. No. 1971/009721/07

Text Crystal McVea and Alex Tresniowski 2013

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV) 1984, International Bible Society.
Used with permission.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Project management by Tarina Vermeulen
Proofread by Joan Moore
DTP by De Wet van Deventer
Cover design by Sarah Butler
Cover image from Shutterstock

ISBN 978-1-4153-2443-1 (Print)

978-1-4153-2189-8 (ePub)
978-1-4153-2190-4 (PDF)

www.struikchristianmedia.co.za

I would like to dedicate this book to God.

You found me in my darkest moments and changed

me forever. I look forward to the day I will be

in Your presence again, this time forever.

I n December 2011 I opened a Facebook message from someone I didnt know. Laura, my name is Crystal, it began, and I was compelled to write you after seeing you on The Dr Phil Show. At the time I was promoting my new book, An Invisible Thread, which tells the story of my friendship with Maurice Mazyck an eleven-year-old homeless panhandler when I met him in 1986, and still my good friend today. I was getting emails from a lot of people who were moved by the book, but something about Crystals message was different. I, too, was given a second chance on December 10 of 2009, she explained. That was the day I died.

Its not often you read a sentence like that, so I kept reading. I soon learned Crystal McVea was a schoolteacher and a mother of four living in southwest Oklahoma. In 2009 she went into the hospital with abdominal pain and suddenly stopped breathing. In the frantic minutes between when she died and when doctors were able to revive her, Crystal went to heaven and stood with God. Now, that by itself was intriguing to me, because I love hearing anything about heaven and what it would be like to stand face-to-face with God. But I was intrigued for another reason. Crystals story reminded me of what happened to my mother.

When I was twenty-five my mother, Maries, long battle with uterine cancer neared its end. Shed bravely fought it off for several years until she just couldnt fight it any more. Losing our mother was something none of us children could ever prepare for or even begin to comprehend.

On the very day I turned twenty-five, my mother asked me not to leave her alone. She said she felt strange and scared. I assured her someone would be with her every minute and through the night. The next morning she was unresponsive, and we called for an ambulance. Before it arrived my mother woke up and started weeping inconsolably. She was petrified and filled with sorrow, and she knew her life was ending. Id never seen her like that and I tried desperately to console her. I even told her she was only going to the hospital for a check-up.

Promise me I will come home, my mother said to me.

Not knowing what else to say, I made that promise to her.

When she arrived in the ER at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City, her oncologist examined her and suggested we have a priest come and give her last rites. My sister Annette and I said a prayer with the priest, while the doctor and a nurse waited just behind us. When the prayer was over, the doctor checked on my mother. He turned to us and said, She is gone.

Annette and I hugged and cried and tried to find comfort in the belief that Mom was at peace with God. That powerful belief sustains so many people in their darkest hours, and there in the ER it sustained us. Of course, we all yearn to know with certainty that our loved ones are in a better place, but thats not a gift we can ever expect to get. Certainly it is not a gift I ever imagined Id receive.

But then, just a few minutes after the doctor declared my mother was dead, a nurse in the ER said something unimaginable. Oh, my God, she said, your mother is alive! Talk to her; talk to her!

The nurse had seen my mother start to breath again and open her eyes. We stood there in absolute amazement, and we looked at the oncologist, who was as shocked and baffled as we were. My mother had only occasionally been lucid in the previous weeks, but suddenly she seemed free of pain and in control of her mind and her body. Most remarkably, she had a warm, peaceful smile on her face, something we hadnt seen for the longest time. She was glowing, and she no longer seemed scared. Then she shocked us even more by speaking in a strong, clear voice. And what she said was:

I cant believe Ive been given the time and the strength to tell you everything I always wanted to say to you but couldnt.

The next six hours were nothing short of a miracle. My mothers vital signs were inexplicably strong and she was completely calm and in charge. She was moved to a private room and, one by one, she spoke to all five of her children and her husband, my father Nunzie, and gave us loving messages of hope and strength. You have always been such a good daughter, my mother told me. Laurie, I am so proud of you. I love you very much. Can you imagine what it feels like to have your mother tell you she loves you after you thought she was dead? Her doctors simply couldnt explain what happened only our mother could. I saw the other side, she told us. It is far more beautiful and peaceful than we could ever imagine. I know now in my heart that I will be able to take care of all of you from there.

We asked the doctor if we could take my mother home. Id made a promise to her, and, incredibly, I had a chance to keep it. The doctor didnt know what would happen next, but he let us check her out. Then came the final shock.

I dont want to go home, my mother told us. I want to stay here until it is time to go to my new home.

As much as we all wanted our mother to stay with us, God had a different plan for her. Still, Hed allowed her to come back and share a beautiful message with us a message each of us would carry in our hearts for the rest of our lives.

Not much later, my mother sat up and told us God was calling her back. She asked us to all hold hands and say the Lords Prayer and then leave her in peace. A minute or two later, she was in a coma. A few days after that she passed away at the age of forty-seven.

I immediately thought of my mother when I read Crystals note and I was surprised to learn that, while she had seen me on Dr Phil, she hadnt actually read my book. She did not know my mothers story. She wrote me, because, as she absently watched