It’s My Life and It's Different Now

Lightning strike changes a woman and her life after a near death experience.

The Day Lightning Changed Everything

A wicked storm came hard that afternoon. Rain beat against the roof, and thunder shook the house until the windows rattled in their frames. The sky kept splitting open with flashes of white light, each one sharp enough to make her flinch. Even though it was daytime, the sky had turned so dark it felt like night. The thunder seemed almost constant, with no quiet space between one crash and the next.

She was on the phone when one clear thought came to her: I need to get off this before lightning strikes me. It was the last clear thought she remembered before everything changed.

The next moment was silent. There was no fear, and the sounds of the storm were gone. It was peace. She found herself somewhere without the noise, beyond the rain, and she was free of the body she had left behind. She could not explain exactly where she was, only that she was held by a love greater than anything she had ever known. She didn’t panic, she wasn’t suffering, and everything seemed clear, even comforting. There was only a peace so complete it seemed to wrap around her and carry her.

She thought she was standing at the feet of God. He asked her a question, and her answer sent her back. The return was violent. One moment there was perfect peace, and the next there was pain. She felt as if she had been slammed back into her body. Sound rushed in first: voices, rain, movement, and confusion. Then came the smell of wet air, burned electricity, and a sharp, strange scent that seemed to cling to the room.

An EMT leaned over her. He was the one who had shocked her heart back after it had been stopped. Still caught between that world and this one, she looked up at him and said, “I met God.”

At first, she didn’t fully understand what had happened. There were voices, too many questions, and too much pain for her to think. Later, at the hospital, the truth settled around her. Her heart had stopped. She had been gone long enough for everyone around her to fear she might not come back. She had been struck by lightning, and it stopped her heart.

Sometime later, after she was back home, a reporter came to interview her. He wanted to know what it had felt like. How could she explain something that did not have words for it? “A peace that passes all understanding,” she told him, “and the feeling of great love.” That was as close as words could come.

She had believed in God since she was a little girl. At seventeen, she had become a born-again Christian. But life has a way of pulling people through distractions, disappointments, and distances they never planned to travel. Before the lightning, she had believed. After the lightning, she knew. She no longer feared death the way she once had. She no longer feared that peaceful crossing, and she felt closer to God than she had in years. The lightning changed her life.

She had seen life after death, an experience that let her die and then let her live. What she learned filled her heart with peace and love. Now she cherishes every day and shares her story as often as she can. It is like she is on a mission to bring hope and love to anyone who will listen. Yes, her life changed that day. A storm, thunder, and lightning made her different. She had a new chance to give comfort and care to those she loves.

Her story goes on. Maybe it was always her purpose. A clue about what was next would not have prepared her. It turned out to be a different kind of shock.

The first time it happened, she was going about her day when the local TV station showed a photo of a little boy who was missing or lost. Something inside her went still. It was not like guessing. It was not like imagination. It was a knowing that came clear and sudden, the same kind of certainty she had felt in the peace beyond the storm. And she knew, as surely as she could know anything, where that little lost boy was.

At first, fear held her still. Who would believe such a thing? What if she was wrong? But the feeling would not leave her. So she called the number on the screen and gave the person on the phone an address. Later that day, the boy was found, and someone at that address was arrested.

Later, it happened again, only this time it was a young girl. She had been in her car and on the way to work when she seemed to disappear. Clear as day, she knew that the girl was still alive and trapped in her car. The knowing came with urgency and sorrow, and it frightened her, but she could not ignore it. So she called the number and told them where to look. They found the girl.

And that is how her life took another turn. The lightning had not only brought her back from death. It had opened something in her, something she did not fully understand, but could not deny. From that day forward, she carried both the memory of God’s peace and the burden of listening when that quiet knowing came.

The cover image was a gift from mousethyme.