Free The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond This World by Kevin Malarkey; Alex Malarkey

about Alex,” he said. “I began to pray for him, and God suddenly laid something on my heart. Kevin, I realized with absolute certainty that Alex would be fully healed.”
    I looked into his face, not knowing what to say. Jay wasn’t the kind of person known for dramatic, supernatural proclamations—I’d never before heard anything like that from him.
    I placed my hand on his shoulder and nodded in an effort to appear as if I embraced what he was saying. But he wasn’t finished. With emotion rising in his voice, he continued. “When I was younger, I received a phone call from the hospital one evening. The doctor said my father was ill, but he assured me it was nothing life threatening. I don’t know why, but deep down I just didn’t believe him. Somehow I knew my father was going to die. Don’t ask me how or why—I just knew. I could take you to that house and show you exactly where I was standing when it happened. Soon after I hung up the phone, my father died. I felt grief but was not surprised at all. I knew it was going to happen. Do you understand?”
    “Wow,” I said, still at a loss for what to say.
    “From that time to this,” he continued, “nothing like that has happened to me again. That is, until last night, when it suddenly came to me that Alex is going to be fully healed.”
    I thought a lot about what Jay had said. It was similar to what Dave, who had been on the helicopter with Alex, had told Beth. Then there was Beth herself, who had blurted out a kind of prognosis prophecy about Alex, including that his story would bless people across the nation. There had been any number of statements or stories from people that had been out of the ordinary during this short period. They all had in common a consistent message of hope and healing for Alex.
    I wanted to believe. I wanted it all to be true, but I was a long way from receiving it.
    A few days later, Jay rejoined us at the hospital and took me aside again. I was eager to hear what he might say this time. But Jay seemed much less comfortable than he had been on the last occasion—almost pained.
    “I don’t want to tell you this,” he said.
    “But I hope you will,” I replied.
    After an anguished silence, Jay took a deep breath and finally began.
    “Kevin,” he said, “I know you’ve always believed that Alex was destined to be a pastor. I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be bigger than that. He’s going to be more like Billy Graham.”
    Again, it struck me as odd for this particular friend to say such startling things. I’m sure he could see that my eyes were wide open. Like many people, I tend to place Billy Graham on a pedestal. There are Christians; then there is Billy Graham .
    “But his impact will be different,” my friend continued. “Billy Graham’s ministry was to teach people how to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Alex is going to emerge from his coma, and his ministry will be to show people what God is like . But just like Dr. Graham, your son will have an impact across the world.”
    I stared at him with several half-formed words passing over my lips but didn’t make a sound. Showing people the world over what God is like? That’s what Alex is going to do? It’s not that I was opposed to the idea, but the incongruity of it all made it impossible for me to put my thoughts into words.
    My friend came to the rescue. “I told you I didn’t want to tell you. It makes me as uncomfortable as you seem to be. It sounds a little crazy, Kevin, I know, and you probably think I’m nuts. But I know it. I know in my heart it’s true, just like I know the sun is shining today—the same way I knew I was supposed to be faithful and give you this message even though I didn’t want to.”
    These heady days continued with repeated confirmations about Alex’s coming ministry. But there he was, still in a coma, still breathing only because a machine was pushing air into his lungs, his life