Where Miracles Happen: True Stories of Heavenly Encounters [Hardcover]

Joan Wester Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

The exciting sequel to the author's runaway New York Times bestseller Where Angels Walk (over one year on the list -- more than 1.5 million copies sold). Unforgettable true stories of more than 100 everyday people whose lives have been touched -- and changed -- by God. A Literary Guild, Doubleday, and Crossings book club selection. A Publishers Weekly bestseller.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A 20-year feature journalist, Anderson won national attention with Where Angels Walk (Barton & Brett, 1992). Her visibility on TV and radio talk shows and on the lecture circuit and her requests for "miracle experiences" in a number of magazines brought Anderson the narratives on which her new book is based. The author reviews various religious ideas about heavenly intervention in human affairs and summarizes Americans' attitudes on the subject according to major polls; she then reports dozens of contributors' stories under five headings: "Miracles through Prayer," "Angel Miracles," "Miracles from Beyond," "Miraculous Healings," and "God's Special Miracles." It is not difficult to understand the appeal of the recent spate of books on angels and miracles: the best of them reaffirm believers' faith, and many nonbelievers find these heartwarming (if sentimental and undocumented) stories as hard to resist as a Frank Capra movie. To her credit, Anderson avoids most editorializing; she turns each person's experience into a brief, spiritual short story. Given past performance, expect requests. Mary Carroll

From Kirkus Reviews

The author of the bestselling Where Angels Walk (not reviewed) returns to bear testimony about the power of prayer and the existence of miracles. Anderson collects miracle tales: Her own engagement ring and wedding band are found (mirabile dictu) by a friend in a pile of raked leaves after a well-timed prayer; while being hauled out of the rough sea onto a boat, a man feels invisible hands pushing him up. As premonitions and visitations mount and prayers are answered in the most doggone ways, readers will either (1) write to Anderson's P.O. box, offering their miracle stories for use in her future books, as she asks them to, or (2) run, fighting the gag reflex, in the general direction of the nearest snake-oil salesman. (Literary Guild selection) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Brett Books; 1st edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963662015
• ISBN-13: 978-0963662019
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started writing when we bought a handyman-special house that didn't come with a handyman. We had four sons at that point (a daughter finally arrived a year after we moved) so I started magazine freelance-writing. Collected a lot of rejection slips but I also learned a lot about the industry. I was completely self-taught and have never taken a journalism course.

By lurches and mistakes, I added a second income to the family while staying at home. A friend and I, on a lark, did a book on household humor together, and we found a publisher right away. The first book led to a second, but then my co-writer went off to a real job at a university. I continued at home with the magazine articles, an occasional book (the books never sold very well) and a speaking sideline that got me out of the house occasionally.

In 1992, as I made plans to finish my career in writing, I did one last book, Where Angels Walk, which became a New York Times best seller, and is still on bookshelves and published in at least 18 languages lo! these past almost-20 years. I never did stop writing, and have just completed #8 in my angel/miracles series. I also have returned to my roots---with a humorous book on family life, Moms Go Where Angels Fear to Tread.

I'm very grateful to God for allowing me to do this kind of work. My father once said that a person who loves her job will never work a day in her life, and that is me. I hope you are a new reader. Please check my website (and many new angel stories) at http://joanwanderson.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, Uplifting, and Heavenly!!, May 30, 2002

By 

Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in Hawaii, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where Miracles Happen: True Stories of Heavenly Encounters (Paperback)

Where Miracles Happen is a wonderful book, which will warm your heart, bring tears to your eyes and leave you with such a warm feeling all over! Ms. Anderson has managed once again, to capture the essence of the miraculous in everyday life. With over 50 different accounts of true encounters with heavenly beings, one knows that God loves us, we are watched over, protected, and guided constantly throughout our lives. Sometimes, as shown by several of the stories, our deceased loved ones are with us and also watching over us.

Help is always available, one just has to ask for it, as the story illustrated of the mother who did not have enough money to feed her children and food miraculously appeared, or the child caught in the snowstorm and could not find her way home, yet was guided by a supposed neighbor, who was later found out to be sick that entire week, or the gentleman who was protected driving when his mother invoked safety prayers from him and avoided a collision where a dozen cars lost control, yet no one was injured.

There are also stories of healings and of our loved ones sending signs and messages to reassure us that they are indeed in a place of love and that they are indeed all right. It seems that their messages and signs bring such healing and release to those that they have left behind.

These stories will inspire you and lift you up if you are feeling blue. Sometimes we need gentle reminders from above, that we are loved and cherished and not forgotten, even though we ourselves may think so.

I love keeping Ms. Anderson's books near by and randomly opening them and reading passages after a long and particularly stressful day! I would also encourage anyone to check out Ms. Anderson's website, where one can subscribe to a true angel story of the week!

This book would be great comfort to anyone who has lost a loved one, as well as to those who are experiencing turmoil in their lives. The title of the book does indeed live up to its name and the miracles presented in this book are phenomenal!

Highly recommended!!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, September 3, 2005

By 

Shirley Priscilla Johnson "Author/Reviewer -... (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Where Miracles Happen: True Stories of Heavenly Encounters (Paperback)

Every so often you come upon a book that stirs within you emotions so deep that it almost takes your breath away; this is what happens in this outstanding work, "Where Miracles Happen."
Author Joan Wester Anderson shares the stories of people, like you and me, who were touched with the miraculous. Stories of healings, life's saved, changed and left knowing they were kissed by a God who loves them. Their stories will leave you with a feeling of complete awe, deep reverence and expected hope and will turn your eyes once again to the One who made you.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For the Believer it is an affirmation of their faith, a building block to draw upon and a salve for their soul. To the un-believer it should certainly be an eye-opener and if nothing more leave them with some thought provoking material. This is a must have, a book that should grace everyone's library; a book of faith and hope that can be read and enjoyed time and time again.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We are not alone and not on our own, March 19, 2006

By 

Steven N. Laux (Stayton, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where Miracles Happen: True Stories of Heavenly Encounters (Paperback)

This is a very inspiring book we can rely on when we need the reassurance we are not alone and that our life has special meaning. There are numerous, uplifting short stories covering a broad spectrum of situations where divine assistance seems to be the only logical explanation for the events. This read is potentially life-changing.