My name is Curtis Rook, and I am writing this testimony for my wife, Lydia, posthumously. She was struck by a brain aneurysm on Christmas Eve afternoon of 2000. At 10:30 am Christmas morning, she was officially pronounced dead. She was a strong believer in Jesus Christ, and God had performed miraculous healings for her, including the greatest of all at her death.

In 1989, Lydia was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The doctors felt they could treat the cancer, but they told Lydia she would not be able to have any more children. Lydia took the diagnosis to the altar at New Exodus in prayer. She said when she rose from the altar, “It’s gone.” She told me about this and my response to her miraculous healing was, “That’s nice.” I was not a believer, not in Jesus Christ. I believed she could believe whatever she wanted, and perhaps a strong enough belief in anything could affect life’s circumstances. But she knew, and she was right.

In 1992 Lydia became pregnant. I didn’t give the pregnancy much of a chance. Three miscarriages in the previous five years had made me very doubtful. When people at work would ask how she was doing, I would always stress my doubts that the pregnancy would go full term. It was not until the seventh month of the pregnancy that I even conceded the need to start preparing for a baby; buying a crib, blankets, clothing, bottles. Lydia knew better.

On November 5, 1992, Lydia gave birth to our daughter Kristina. She was a beautiful, healthy baby. On April 18, 1994, she gave birth to our daughter Rebekah, another beautiful, healthy baby. Lydia was right, but I still had my doubts. I was a happy father, and the source of our change in fortunes was not important to me.

On August 17, 1997, I too became a believer in Jesus Christ. You can read my testimony under the caption Revelation. The two miracles that were growing in our house were but a prelude to the greatest healing miracle of all.

About 3:00 in the afternoon of Christmas Eve, 2000, Lydia sat down on the sofa and held her head as if she had a bad headache. She had been fine up until that moment. She laid back against the sofa, as if in a trance. I went over to her, held her, tried to talk to her, but she did not respond. I dialed 911. The operator asked if she was breathing. I couldn’t tell. I laid her down on the sofa and tried to breathe for her, but nothing seemed to be helping. The paramedics came. I went to the bedroom to check on the children. There was a pensive silence in the room. I sat down with them and Kristina leaned against me, crying, “I’m going to miss my mommy.” I said, “We don’t know what’s wrong yet.” It was the first time I had considered the possibility.

The children and I arrived at the hospital and waited a while in the waiting room with Pastor Scott from our church. When the nurse finally came, she told us the doctor would speak with us in the chapel. It was the first hint we had received concerning her condition. I knew it wasn’t good news.

The doctor explained that Lydia had suffered a severe brain aneurysm. He said she was in a comma, was not suffering, but would not recover. The aneurysm had been massive. Kristina and Rebekah, 8 and 6 at the time, were there and we made sure they understood what was being said. They did. The doctor said they would transfer Lydia to Johns Hopkins to see if there was anything more they could do. The doctor had tears in his eyes.

The doctor at Johns Hopkins told us that they would observe Lydia overnight, but gave us no reason to hope. He said a test would be performed in the morning to check for brain activity. He said at present there was none. At 10:30 am Christmas morning the doctor informed me that Lydia had been officially pronounced dead. The grief was overwhelming. I could only sob. It was then that God performed the greatest healing of them all.

I left the hospital about 2:00 in the afternoon and picked the girls up from my sister-in-law’s house. At 4:00 we home with their older stepbrother Romero and cousin Vincent, and we started to open our presents. Lydia had worked very hard to make this the best Christmas ever, and the presents were stacked. Kristina and Rebekah said, “Wait Dad, you have to sit down. We’re going to bring you a special present first.” They set a bag at my feet and inside the bag was a video camera. Lydia had repeatedly informed me that the only request she had not been able to fill was my desire for a video camera. She and the girls had kept it a secret for Christmas morning. I looked at the video camera, the girls, the tree with all the gifts underneath, and I began to feel very sad, because Lydia was missing everything.

Then the Lord whispered to me, “Revelation 21 and 22.” I immediately retrieved my bible and read the following:

"And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.”

"The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.”

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.”

Then the Lord whispered to me, “This is what Lydia is seeing now.”

I realized Lydia was not missing anything. My sorrow lifted. I felt a peace. We had a great time opening our Christmas presents. Jesus had performed the greatest healing of them all, lifting Lydia from the clutches of death of raising her before the throne of God.