Episode Sixteen: JoAnna Oblander's Near-Death Experience: A Life-Altering Visit with God
In this episode of Latter-day Miracles, hosts Haley Hatch Freeman and Misty Smith interview JoAnna Oblander, an inspirational author and near-death experience survivor. JoAnna shares her profound journey from suffering 24/7 migraines and deep depression to a life-altering visit with God. She recounts her vivid experience of being taken by an angel to a divine realm, reuniting with pre-earth memories, and understanding her life's mission as revealed by God. Join us for this touching and miraculous story that highlights the power of faith, the presence of angels, and the eternal love of our Heavenly Father.
JoAnna Oblander
JoAnna’s book available on Amazon
Contact Our Guest
JoAnna’s website: https://joannaoblander.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoAnnaOblanderauthor/
Transcript
Intro: Welcome to Latter-day Miracles, where we share true stories of angels and marvels. Get ready to enjoy accounts from everyday people that remind us of divine love, that we're never truly alone, and the power of faith in these latter days. I'm Haley Hatch Freeman. And I'm Misty Smith. Sit back, open your heart and prepare to be inspired.
Haley Freeman: Welcome to Latter-day Miracles. Today we have JoAnna Oblander, and we are so excited for her to share her near death experience story with us today. We are excited to be touched by her miracle story and I know that you will be too. I'm gonna have Misty go ahead and read her bio and then we're gonna turn the time over to her.
Misty Smith: Alright. Okay. JoAnna Oblander is an inspirational author, speaker, and a near -death experience survivor whose extraordinary journey from the depths of personal despair to [00:01:00] the heights spiritual awakening has touched thousands. Throughout her life in Montana, JoAnna has been visited by angels gifted with vivid spiritual visions and bathed in the presence of divine love.
JoAnna captured her incredible story in her book, A Glimpse of Heaven, one Woman's Life Altering Visit with God. In its pages, she invites readers into her journey beyond the veil, helping them reclaim their divine identity and embrace the majesty of God's plan for their life. Today, JoAnna remains a tireless advocate for healing and hope.
She is a perpetual student of natural health and holistic healing, and is preparing a children's book that nurtures faith and eternal understanding in young hearts. She also actively supports foster and adoptive families navigating the complex realities of reactive attachment disorder. That's amazing.
JoAnna lives in the breathtaking mountain beauty of Montana [00:02:00] with her husband, Greg, where faith and family remain her foundation. Together they have six children, including two children adopted from Russia. And are joyfully watching their posterity to grow with each precious grandchild. Through her life and her message, JoAnna Oblander embodies the truth that shattered lives can mend,
rise, and radiate healing to others. Her story is living proof that heaven is closer than we think, and that each of us is here on purpose. I'm so excited to talk to you. I feel like you have a lot to share that we have in common. So yeah, we're excited.
JoAnna Oblander: I'm excited too. Thank you for having me.
Haley Freeman: All right. So go ahead and begin
JoAnna Oblander: okay. Well, um, many years ago now, um, I was suffering from 24 7 migraines and, uh, [00:03:00] that adventure, if you will call it that sometimes that's what I call difficult experiences in my life, is an adventure, because that lets me believe and understand that. They'll only be temporary. I had 24 /7 migraines for a total of 15 years.
Haley Freeman: Wow.
JoAnna Oblander: And, about 13 years into that adventure, I had exhausted, everything I knew to try to help myself get over those migraines. Um, the pain was as you would, if anybody's had a migraine, they understand how debilitating they can be.
Haley Freeman: I'm a migraine sufferer as well.
And they are not just a headache. They, affect So your whole body,
JoAnna Oblander: Exactly. They're
impairing to functioning in ways that probably someone without a [00:04:00] migraine couldn't understand. But miraculously, um, I had been able to function relatively well. I had been able to get through raising my children to their teen years, my first four biological children. By that point, we had, um, adopted our two children from Russia, which was, uh, a divinely guided experience in and of itself.
But nothing was helping, and my doctors gave up on me,
told me it was
all in my head, oh, that I needed to seek therapy.
Haley Freeman: Oh, no.
JoAnna Oblander: I had by that point, plunged into, um, deep, deep depression, which eventually became suicidal depression. and by that time, my husband and I were self-employed running two businesses, not just [00:05:00] one.
Um, after we had adopted our two children from Russia, we had felt that we needed to have an an additional income stream. And so I was managing six children and two businesses and a household and running on adrenaline and dealing with 24 /7 migraines and I couldn't do it anymore. Um, my health was failing me in ways beyond just the migraines.
I came to believe that I was failing my family and that, um, I had become an impediment in their life. And then because I was struggling to function as well as I needed to, given my circumstances, our businesses [00:06:00] started to be impacted substantially. And bill collectors started calling. And on this particular day, uh, I had a couple of bill collectors call, but the last one who called me, um, was a woman who let me know in no uncertain terms after I had explained to her that I was trying to do the best that I could, that I was, um, now dealing with severe depression.
That, uh, I was trying to get things put in order that I could function once again and be able to get back on top of the business. Anyway, she told me how horrible I was and how it was my [00:07:00] choice to be depressed, to have the health problems that I had, that it was all my doing. And it was nothing but excuses.
And by that time my
Haley Freeman: a stranger was telling you this, a bill collector.
JoAnna Oblander: A bill collector, yes.
Haley Freeman: Whoa.
JoAnna Oblander: And, um, obviously she wasn't having the best day either. Um, and um, at that point, everything she told me just confirmed what I was already feeling about myself. And so I had, had miraculous events in my life already at that point.
Um. And I won't go into that, but I knew, I knew God was there. I knew God was aware of me, but I also knew I couldn't do it any longer. And so [00:08:00] I got down on my knees that night and I prayed to God and I let Him know that He knew and I knew that I had given my life everything I had, that I couldn't do it any longer.
And He knew I couldn't do it any longer . And I told him that I would be taking my life the next day. And I believed at that point in time that I was going to be doing my family a very big favor. And I just told God and all the sincerity of my heart that what He did with me the next day would be His choice.
That I hoped that He would welcome me, welcome me with loving arms, but that if He had to send me to hell, [00:09:00] that was okay. It couldn't be any worse than what I was already going through.
Misty Smith: Wow.
JoAnna Oblander: And so, um, after I said what I thought was going to be my last prayer, I climbed into bed and I cried myself to sleep.
And not very long after I fell asleep, um, I became aware of an angel standing over me and he was reaching out his hand to me. And I knew that he was asking me to reach for his hand, and I did. And as I grabbed his hand, he pulled my spirit from my body. And, he then pulled me through what I call a conduit.
It was like a tunnel with walls, but not smooth walls, just more like, I don't know, like a hole through eternity, I [00:10:00] guess. And, he always held onto my hand. He kept a hold of my hand and he stayed in front of me and, and pulled me through. What I knew were great distances. I didn't have the sensation of time.
I could see the stars and the galaxies and everything that was part of the universe and it was profound and amazing and
And I was just so in awe of what I was seeing. And with within about what seemed about, I don't know, five or 10 minutes, I knew that we had traveled an incredible distance and we arrived at our [00:11:00] destination, and I could see that we were at this complex of rooms, and I never did see the outside of the complex.
I don't know what it looked like, but inside I could see all of these rooms, just hallways of rooms. And I immediately started looking at the classrooms that were a part of this complex. And I realized that I, I had been there before. I recognized what I was seeing, and I was recognizing some of the rooms.
And I, it was kind of like being taken back to your old high school. And it's like, okay, I know this room. You know, it would be like the science room and this is the, mm-hmm. You know, whichever room, but, um. These rooms were not about science or social studies or history or math or [00:12:00] those kinds of subjects.
Instead, these rooms had students in them that were learning what it would be like to have different experiences in mortality. And basically most of them were instructing those of us who were there, what it would be like to have certain experiences in mortality. And we weren't intent on, um, finding experiences that would be like a vacation to Tahiti or um, a trip to Hawaii or
or what would it be like to be a CEO of a corporation or anything like that. Instead, we were so intent on selecting experiences that would help us to become like our Father in Heaven and we had such reverence and [00:13:00] love and adoration for Him, and
we weren't concerned whether we lived a long time, whether we had an easy life or not. We were concerned about what experiences would help us grow in our ability to be loving and to be compassionate, to have all those qualities that we knew so well in our Father in Heaven and revered so much and
I remember watching a classroom where they were being taught what it would be like to have cystic fibrosis. And I remember watching a man listen to what they were describing, and he looked at his friend and he goes, I think that would work for me.
Haley Freeman: Wow.
JoAnna Oblander: And, so I, I watched the classrooms and I watched the instructors and [00:14:00] the interactions between the students and the instructors.
And I was, I was so amazed. And then my, my angel got my attention and showed me that I needed to look to my left, to a different room. And it was in this complex, but it wasn't a a classroom and as I looked at the classroom, it was empty. I, um, except for one individual, and I guess I didn't explain before, but as I looked at these rooms and the classrooms, I was able to see through the walls, just I was able to see through the walls and just see whatever I wanted to see.
And so as I looked at this other room that my angel directed me to look at, I could see through the walls of the room and there was just one individual there. And I [00:15:00] immediately recognized Him, even though His back was turned to me. And I knew that I was seeing my Father in Heaven,
and I could see that he was watching the doorway. Of that room and the door was closed, but I could tell He could also see through the doors and the walls and, and He was watching, two individuals approach the door of the room, and He started moving towards the door to, to open it for them. And as I watched that, all of the, the memories, all of the understanding that I had ever had in that realm of my existence were restored.
And I was able to remember [00:16:00] everything, everything I knew there, everything that I had ever experienced there, I was able to see those that I knew and that I had interacted with. And I, I just was immersed again as though I had never left. And I was able to see how, how devoted and how much love we had for our Father and how much we wanted to serve Him and how much we wanted to be like Him
And, and even the, the love that we had for each other. Um, it was so profound how. We were all so different just like we are here in this world, but there was such an, a reverence for each other, such, [00:17:00] um,
such a, a spirit of honor between us. We recognized that we had different talents, that we had different strengths, different weaknesses, but we just were like each other's best cheerleaders. We just honored, every improvement um, someone else made every new thing they learned, every new advancement they made in their intelligence, and we just supported and applauded each other in ways that
were just so profound. And as I watched myself and, and had those memories returned to me, I was astounded by myself. I call it my reunion. [00:18:00] Um, and it was just the most profound reunion I had ever experienced. Um, I just was so amazing. I was so much more intelligent than I would have ever realized. I knew so much more.
I understood so much more. I, I had so much more capabilities and capacity than I would've ever imagined. And, and yet. It wasn't like I was standing out from anybody else. It was that we were all so amazing, just profoundly amazing. And I watched and was shown a, a great debate that took place there.
And, I saw Satan and I saw that he was presenting his argument and his plan for [00:19:00] this world. And I saw, I don't remember actually seeing the Savior. I believe I did see Him and I saw those who were arguing for Him. Satan basically was wanting to force all of us to, comply with his plan. And on the other side, we were being offered to choose to always have the option to choose.
And that's what I had always seen there in that realm is that never had we not had the ability to choose for ourselves what we did or didn't do what we, what we learned or didn't learn. Um, choice was just such a profound part of that existence. And so., I, I [00:20:00] saw myself supporting the argument for choice.
And, about that time my angel, uh, realized that I had been distracted by watching and being reunited with all those memories. And he directed me to look back at the room where, where God was. And I started watching again. And by that point He was at the door and He was greeting the two individuals who had approached the door.
And as I saw those individuals, I saw that they were me and the man who was now my husband, Greg.
And as He welcomed us into the room, I was able to experience the [00:21:00] meeting all over again as it happened the first time. And I knew this was a meeting that had taken place before I'd been born to this world. And I also watched it beside my angel. But as my husband and I, which at that point we were not married, we just, um, plans had already been made.
I knew that we knew when we were going to be born. I knew that the plan was in place, that we would be together in this world as a part of our lives. And so, as God greeted us and hugged us as, and I just,
I just wanted to stay in his arms
to feel His love and, and just to be with Him and not to [00:22:00] ever be separated from Him again.
And so after He hugged us, He motioned for us to, to move to the chairs that were in the room. And there was only two chairs, but three of us. And somehow I knew that Greg was aware of the purpose of this meeting and that he had been part of plans and plan making that had led to this meeting. And , I knew he knew what was going to go on in this meeting, but at that point I was still completely clueless.
And so God motioned for me to sit down in the chair and Greg stood behind me and, God sat across from me and He gently grasped my hands and He [00:23:00] explained to me that He had called me to this meeting to ask me to accept a very important mission. And as all of this was happening, Greg was rubbing my shoulders and I knew that he was essentially giving me a cue that what was going on was gonna be really important.
So from that point on, I no longer watched the meeting from beside my angel. Instead, I experienced the meeting just as it had had happened originally. And for a brief moment as I looked into God's face. I had a mortal, mortal moment, I guess I would call it. I just looked into his eyes and I couldn't believe that I had ever been able to forget [00:24:00] his face.
I knew it so well, and I knew Him so well and I loved Him so much,
and I just couldn't believe that I had ever been able to forget what His face looked like. It just was so perfect
and He was so perfect. It just was nothing He didn't know, nothing, He didn't comprehend, nothing. He didn't understand. He was, He was complete and whole and
magnificent and
completely loving and,
and I just
was
in such awe,
Haley Freeman: One of my favorite quotes from an apostle saying, nothing will surprise us more than how familiar our Heavenly Father [00:25:00] will be to us.
JoAnna Oblander: And that's just so true. Um,
I've always known that God existed and I've always relied on Him, and I've even believed that I had existed before this life, which has been what has been taught by my faith. But, to know that I knew Him so intimately and so personally was just, and, in this mortal realm, we just cannot comprehend what perfection really is.
And He is completely, wholly without a single missing deficit of any kind.
Haley Freeman: Wow.
JoAnna Oblander: And, um, I saw that I was, I was nothing, nothing, nothing compared to Him. And as He looked into my eyes, He, [00:26:00] He gently. Caressed my hands and He explained that he had a very important mission for me to accept, and He explained what that mission would involve.
He didn't leave anything out. He shared everything that I would need to do or that I would experience as a part of this mission. And He then motioned for me to look through the conduit that my angel had brought me through. And as I looked through that conduit, it was as though Earth was like, we were able to zoom into Earth and I could see exactly what my life would be like.
All the events that would be a part of it. Everything that would transpire. But I also understood that everything I was being shown of [00:27:00] my life was conditional. Um, it was conditional upon my choices. And that as long as I leaned on direction from my Father in heaven, as long as I was attempting to do what I knew was the right thing to do, that is what my life would look like.
But that if I ever rejected that or moved away from that, that what I was seeing would change. And so after He was done showing me my life, He explained to me that He knew that what He was asking me to do would be very difficult, but that He knew that I could do it. And in that realm, it's hard to explain because it's so different [00:28:00] from this world, but in that realm, I just don't remember feeling a lot of doubt or trepidation.
It was more of, um, just inner assurances and, and confidence and trusting in our abilities, and we were so bathed in that,
Atmosphere of love and just so close in our interactions with, with God and and each other, that for what seemed like the first time in that realm, I really felt some doubts.
I really wasn't sure I could accomplish the mission He was asking me to accept. And I was really, really concerned because more than anything, I didn't wanna fail [00:29:00] Him. And He could read my thoughts. And He once again assured me that as long as I remembered him, as long as I relied on Him, I would succeed and I would not fail.
Several times He reassured me that as long as I remembered Him, and then He reminded me that He would never ask me to accept an assignment He didn't know I could succeed at, He would never, that that just wasn't in His, He would never set any of us up for failure. He would only ask us to do the things that He knew we had the ability and the capacity to succeed at.
And so when I realized that [00:30:00] as long as I remembered Him
that I would succeed,
then I accepted the mission He was asking me to to take on. And He looked at me and He squeezed my hands and He said, thank you. You have made the right decision and thank you for, for serving me. And He then motioned to us that our meeting was concluded and we stood to leave. And from that point on, I didn't see anything until I was returned to my body.
And I had hoped that when I did return to my body, that I would have this amazing, [00:31:00] miraculous, cured body that was no longer depressed and no longer had 24 /7 migraines. But. I returned to a body that was still sick and that still had 24/7 migraines and severe depression. But I also returned with a knowledge of knowing that I had to hang on and that life was precious beyond what I had ever before imagined.
And that, I had work here to do. Um, I wasn't allowed to remember what I had been shown of my life. A lot of the things of my existence there were removed from my memory as well. But, some things I was allowed to remember. But the one thing [00:32:00] that I was allowed is all the feelings I had as I saw and was reunited with everything I knew there.
I just remember how I felt when I saw so many of us there who were my loved ones and my friends. I remember how I felt when I saw myself and who I really, truly was and also how I felt as I looked into the face of my Father in Heaven. And, I was given a tool, if you will, to to hang on with and given the understanding that although I didn't understand what was yet mine to accomplish, that I did have things yet to accomplish and I did and have and [00:33:00] continue to do those things that I know I'm being, directed by God to do.
Misty Smith: Love that.
Haley Freeman: Absolutely.
Misty Smith: That was a beautiful gift that you were able to see and then retain some of it. How do you feel that helped you going forward to be able to have all those experiences that stuck and then you still have your imperfect body, so how do you feel like that your life changed after that?
JoAnna Oblander: Um, it changed from the standpoint that I then knew I couldn't give up
and
that I had a purpose, that there was something meaningful that I still was supposed to accomplish. Not too long after that, uh, probably about six months after that, my husband, received some divine guidance. In fact, if [00:34:00] you don't mind, I'll share this story a little bit.
Um,
Haley Freeman: yeah, please.
JoAnna Oblander: So, I was, I was desperate. I was looking for anything and everything that I could possibly do to find the cause of my migraines and get 'em handled once and for all and not deal with them because no migraine medications would ever touch 'em, um, including the shots. And, uh, so I had this strong, strong impression this one day that I needed to see a chiropractor that I could trust.
And so I called my husband and I told him, and he goes, well, he says, who do you think you should see? And I said, well, I think I should see Trent. And Trent was, at the time this all happened. We lived in Great Falls, Montana, and when we were first married, we lived in Billings where we live back now again, but,
we had a good [00:35:00] friend in Billings who was a chiropractor, and I said, I think I need to see Trent. He's the only one I can think of that I know who is a chiropractor that I think I can trust. And he said, okay, call Trent, and see if we can get you in to, to him. And I did. And I, he had just left town.
He had gone to some seminar for the weekend. And so I thought, oh great, now what do I do? And I knew I couldn't wait for him to come back. I just knew that this was urgent. And the only other person I could think of was the son of a friend of mine who also lived in Billings, which is a four hour drive from Great Falls.
And, um, so I called him up and I said, just wondering if I can get in to see you. I know I've never seen you before, but I know your mom, you know, we're good friends. And he said, well, that's fine, but I am [00:36:00] in the middle of moving offices, so if you'll just call me when you get about a half hour outside of Billings, um, I'll meet you at my office and just know that it's in disarray and we're still getting everything moved and set up.
And I said, that's fine. So we go into his office, he treats me, nothing happens. Um, I, you know, had anticipated that I was gonna get this amazing something from
Misty Smith: Yeah.
JoAnna Oblander: Or from his office. And I walk out of his office and get into our car and I'm just so disappointed. It's like we traveled four hours, why did I feel like I needed to do this?
Did I just need a trip to Billings? You know?
And, uh, [00:37:00] my husband gets in the car and he looks over at me and he goes, you would never believe what happened in there. And I said, what happened in there? And he goes, I'm supposed to do this.
Haley Freeman: Oh.
JoAnna Oblander: And I said, you're supposed to do what? And he said, I'm supposed to become a chiropractor.
Haley Freeman: Whoa.
JoAnna Oblander: And at this point, we have three children.
Three of our children are 18 and older. Two had just returned from missions for our church and. Everybody was at home and I was loving it because all the kids were back at home. And, and I just said, you're kidding me?
Yeah. Yeah. And he said,
no, and, [00:38:00] and he said, I am supposed to do this. And the moment he said that, again, it just filled my heart and it was like, you are supposed to do this.
And so we went back home and within less than a week we were setting our children down and telling them that we were moving to St. Louis and that their dad was going back to school. And that, the three of them who were 18 and older would have to decide if they were coming with us.
Misty Smith: Wow.
JoAnna Oblander: Or if they were staying behind.
And, we moved to St. Louis and my husband became a chiropractor. And because we went to St. Louis, I was able to determine what the cause of my migraines were [00:39:00] and be healed of them. And my husband is still a chiropractor.
Misty Smith: Good for him.
Um, you, you might find this a little bit ironic, but my husband now practices from the very same office that he had that revelation, but the other doctor
doesn't.
Haley Freeman: No coincidences. Right. Wow.
Yeah. Right. So you are, are pain free from the migraines today?
JoAnna Oblander: Yes. Yes.
Haley Freeman: Wow. Wow. So good. I'm so happy to hear that. Oh, wow.
JoAnna Oblander: Yeah. Another miracle.
Haley Freeman: Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
JoAnna Oblander: Right.
Haley Freeman: Wow. So do you have any tips or advice for someone who is struggling maybe in that deep depression?
JoAnna Oblander: You know, I do.
Um, that could be like a week long seminar actually.
Haley Freeman: Yeah.[00:40:00]
JoAnna Oblander: Um, you guys probably won't be surprised to know that after I did find healing, that I have just studied health. Ever since, um, I believe in the ability for us to be healed, I believe that there's always an underlying cause to everything. And I'm not terribly inclined
I realize that medications and prescriptions and those things have a place, but I think that any time and every time we can determine the source and address it, that's the best way to address healing. Not by medicating it or medicating the symptoms, but addressing the cause. And there are so many factors that can be involved in depression from digestion to the [00:41:00] way we think, to the way, um, we
interact with God. Um, there, my personal belief and feeling is that God is in every answer. and so, whether it's a plant He has created that is an herb or whether it's, just how we talk to ourselves, um,
Haley Freeman: absolutely I had depression as well. Uh, I had my near death experience from an eating disorder, which is always accompanied by depression.
And I was suicidal at one point and one thing I learned from it was I didn't want my life to end. I wanted how my life was going. At that point to end. And that was a really powerful message. And I try to [00:42:00] teach that when I go to speak at schools or anything, you don't want your life to end. You want what's going on right now to end and we can help you with that.
You need to go get help and we can try to fix whatever's going on. You don't want your life to end. We can fix what's happening Exactly. And we can get you out of whatever's happening right now.
JoAnna Oblander: Exactly. And life is so important and so precious. And that's one of the things that I am, um, endeavoring to do now, is to do much more public speaking and to help, individuals who are dealing with depression and anxiety and those types of things, to know that there are things out there, there are solutions, and there isn't one solution that fits everybody.
Haley Freeman: Right.
JoAnna Oblander: Everybody has to be looked at individually. Um, what might work for me may not work for you. What might work for us may not work for [00:43:00] someone else.
Haley Freeman: Right.
JoAnna Oblander: That's I think another life lesson is that there's never a group solution. There's always an individual solution, but combined, we become the group solution.
And I believe with all my heart that all of us have come to this world with important things to learn, but also with important things to do for each other.
Haley Freeman: Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, in your introduction, it says that you have had visitations by angels.
So I'm curious, um, after your near death experience. Is this, what has happened since then? Or is it something that you had before?
JoAnna Oblander: No, it actually happened.
Yeah, it actually happened before my near death experience. Um, an angel came to me in my sleep, woke me up, showed me that I have what he called a [00:44:00] center, and it had a shape.
Um, it was in the center of my body. it, it had like a bulb like shape to the bottom and then it tapered towards the top and it radiated light. Um, and he showed me my center and he showed me that my center. Was completely covered by these ugly black and gray jagged rocks.
Haley Freeman: Wow.
JoAnna Oblander: And I could see that the light from my center could filter out a little bit.
But these rocks were preventing me from receiving the light from my center. And, I believe that what that center was, was probably the light of Christ. And the rocks I now understand were [00:45:00] symbolic. They were the difficult and hurtful and painful experiences that I had had in my life. And that
i've learned in all of my studies that our self-conscious can try to protect our hearts, from getting hurt. If somebody says something mean to us, then our subconscious can try to figure out how to protect us. You know, whether it's surround our heart with cotton balls or put a steel wall around our heart, for me, I obviously, my subconscious used the rocks, and so the angel was telling me I had to let go of all of this hurt, of all of this pain.
I needed to get rid of the rocks because once I did, I would be able to receive that light that I needed [00:46:00] for my life, for, for guidance. I think we all know that, you know, we all have that internal voice. Mm-hmm. And I believe that that's, you know, God speaks to our minds, but more than than anything, he speaks to our hearts.
Haley Freeman: Right.
JoAnna Oblander: And so, if you use that center that I was shown as a symbol for our heart, then when we protect our hearts, when we try to not be vulnerable, which seems a little bit counterintuitive. You can't experience life for any great length of time without hurt or pain. Right.
Right. So eventually many of us, we just don't wanna be vulnerable. We don't wanna allow ourselves to be hurt again. But the reality is, is without that vulnerability, we're shutting out the good things too.
Haley Freeman: Yes,
Misty Smith: you're right.
Haley Freeman: That's [00:47:00] good point. That's a treasure to hold onto, that wisdom there.
Thank you.
JoAnna Oblander: Yeah. So that was my visit from the angel, one of them.
Misty Smith: I love that. So I really love how, with everything you described, by the way, you did such a beautiful job at describing and painting that picture. I could see it. Mm-hmm. Vividly, like I feel like I walked through it with you. Um, I really love that you focus on the purpose.
On your purpose, because I feel like especially during these times, the world is so hard and we don't give ourselves enough grace. And we have to remember that through the trials and through the hard, we find our purpose. I love that you pointed out that your husband became a chiropractor too.
I feel like I've always felt like I knew what I wanted to do, but it wasn't until I had my experience that I knew what I had to do. You know, [00:48:00] when things shifted, I, and, and it's made me think, you know, things we've learned in our previous before life for this life, and we were able to carry here.
They become part of us. We have it because God knows us so well. He's able to use the hardships, the trials, the depression, the anxiety, the stress, and be able to help us see what our true purpose is in helping one another grow. I absolutely love your story and I just hope everyone. Sees their trials as a way to grow versus stopping them.
Because I, I think, I think that's, sorry. I think that's what's so hard to accept is that a lot of people are drowning in their sadness and if they only let the light in and they could [00:49:00] see God's potential for them, they'd be able to see their purpose just like you and your husband. And honestly us, we, I feel like, yeah, I feel like for me, I've been also able to change to the health route and the fitness and um, just the wellness because of the things I went through.
And you, and you also, hi Hailey with stuff, so thank you so much. Anyways, they were just thoughts that were coming through my mind.
JoAnna Oblander: No, I appreciate you sharing that 'cause um, you know, everybody does have a mission and everybody is here to learn as well. And sometimes those lessons are so hard and so challenging.
I mean, even when you've had a near death experience and you understand how profound this life is. And, a little over, I guess it's been three years now, my oldest daughter lost her husband and was [00:50:00] left to raise her six children all by herself.
Haley Freeman: Oh.
JoAnna Oblander: And it was, completely unexpected and,
I remember , she lives outside of Great Falls. When we left for St. Louis, she stayed behind and met her husband. And I just thought, oh, why? Yeah. You know, why does she have to be alone without him? Why does she have to raise these six children now all by herself? And, and sometimes those answers, they just don't come.
Right, right. You know, you just don't know what that big picture looks like. But I know there is a big picture. I just know that sometimes we just have to have those days where the the most profound thing we do is just put another foot in front of the other. And we all [00:51:00] have those days, and yet when we get through those difficult, difficult, trials and experiences, I, I know for myself, and I see it with others too, we innately know that we're here to learn and not a single one of us would give up those experiences because we know we have to give up what we learned from going through that experience.
You know, how many cancer survivors do we know that it's like, I never would've guessed that cancer would be one of the biggest blessings of my life. It's like, right, yeah. You know, that's. That's not what you're thinking when you're given that diagnosis. Right? Or at least I, I've never been given that diagnosis.
Right. You know, I know that's not what I would think. It's like, oh, great. What is, you know? Mm-hmm. Hooray. What do I get to learn from this? It's like, oh my gosh, [00:52:00] what? How am I going to get through this? And then whatever that looks like on the other side, you see what you gained. You see, sometimes I think it's even just being taught what you can do and what you can get through.
Haley Freeman: Yeah. That's why I'm so thankful for stories like yours and people who are willing to share them because it does help remind us of that eternal perspective, and we just need that reminder through these trials. So thank you so much for being here today and for sharing these. Do you have one last final takeaway that you want people to remember?
JoAnna Oblander: I guess I just would want everybody to remember that we all have been given personal power. We all have the ability to choose doesn't make our lives easy or make the difficulties go away. But [00:53:00] we have the power to choose and we have the power to choose God and let Him help us. And that's what I would
want everybody to do is to know He's there to know, He's real, to know He's never gonna take away our choice.
But He's always going to be there with us. And that's one of the things He reminded me of when He reminded me to always remember Him, is that He would never, ever leave me.
Haley Freeman: Wow.
JoAnna Oblander: He would always be there and He would never, ever leave me.
And He hasn't. It has felt like that at times. There have been times where I have not been able to feel Him, the severe depression being one of them. But as I've looked back on my life, it's clear He has always been there and He always will be. And I feel like the same can apply to everyone [00:54:00] as long as we remember Him.
As long as we seek His guidance and His assistance, which we have to ask for, right? We will get through our challenges and we will be assisted and we will accomplish everything He has entrusted us to accomplish.
Haley Freeman: Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you again for sharing your story and for spending your time with us today.
You're welcome.
Outro: Thank you for joining us on Latter-day Miracles. If you have a miracle story that you feel inspired to share, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us on our website at latterdaymiracles.net or message us on social media. Until next time, keep your heart open to the miraculous and may you feel the presence of angels in your everyday life.
