What I find more remarkable, however, is how readily many people in our society believe outlandish and unsubstantiated urban myths and conspiracies (Pop Rocks and Coke, JFK assassination, AIDS is man-made, etc.), yet disregard thousands of personal and consistent testimonies of miracles and near-death experiences from people throughout all cultures and religions.

I began to see my life and each breath I am given as a living prayer to God and a way to pray for others for our world.

Live a life of gratitude, giving thanks in all circumstances.

The last verse that became clear to my vision that day was this: "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God's in Christ Jesus for you."

When you are doing God's will everything seems to happen without much effort or many obstacles.

The heaven I witnessed was so pure, love-filled, and magnificent that I did not want to return to earth.

I feel as though I am trying to describe a three-dimensional experience while living in a two-dimension world. The appropriate words, descriptions, and concepts don't even exist in our current language. I have subsequently read the accounts of other people's near-death experiences and their portrayals of heaven and I am able to see the same limitations in their descriptions and vocabulary that I see in my own.