Out of the Blue

By Priscilla Burchell

Would you ever believe that God would speak to you as HE spoke to Abraham and Moses? It can happen to you as it happened to Priscilla while she was going through a divorce and breast cancer. Priscilla describes this time in her life as being in the "twilight zone" with God. She believe the main purpose for her God experience is so she could share her experience with the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385007332

Priscilla Burchell

Priscilla Burchell, author of Out of the Blue, was raised in the scenic hills of the Appalachian mountains. She grew up in a Christian home which revolved around church activities. Education was also highly valued in her home and she became a college administrator utilizing both her helping spirit and love of education. In Out of the Blue, she documents her spiritual journey during a difficult divorce and bout with breast cancer. In her retirement, she enjoys walking, biking, baking and her grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2023 Priscilla Burchell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0734-9 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0735-6 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0733-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023917467

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/11/2023

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 In the Beginning

Chapter 2 Heartache

Chapter 3 Seeking

Chapter 4 Decisions

Chapter 5 God Speaks

Chapter 6 Separation

Chapter 7 Spiritual Awakening

Chapter 8 In the Twilight Zone

Chapter 9 The Prodigal Husband Returns

Chapter 10 Breast Cancer with No Fear

Chapter 11 An Unbelieving World

Chapter 12 Joy and Radiation

Chapter 13 Achievements

Chapter 14 Endings and New Beginnings

Small Group Discussion Questions

INTRODUCTION

This is my God story, and to claim anything different would be to deny the very existence of the God who has cared for me all my life: the God who gave His son, Jesus Christ, for my life; and the God who has been so merciful and touched my life so deeply.

When I was going through this experience with God, I felt He was telling me that one of the purposes for my experience with Him was to tell others of how He can speak and strengthen us when we open our hearts and minds to Him.

I believe it is important to note two of my truths.

First, twenty years ago, if I had heard my story from someone else as his or her story, I would have thought that person was touched in the head—crazy. I did not believe that God talked to people today the way He does in the Old and New Testaments. I believed that God talked to us through the Bible but not to us by the Holy Spirit.

Second, I do not hear voices. I have learned in the past few years that He has spoken orally to some people, but not me. As my story unfolds, I believe you will understand why God chose not to speak to me in that way.

In an effort to help the book be as practical as possible, I have included lessons I learned (takeaways) with scripture to support them. I also include some questions that I thought you could think about and journal about in the book.

My story was very emotional for all of my immediate family, especially my children, so the names of people involved have been changed to protect their privacy and the privacy of others involved. Honesty is important to me, so I have tried to be fair and as close to the story as my memory allows, but as in all stories, it is told from my point of view, or perspective.

I believe God wants me to tell of my experience with Him, both orally and in writing. As I went through this experience, He led me to believe that I would write a book about it. I was to title the book Out of the Blue because so many events happen as if from out of the blue. I hate to write, so writing this book has been a real challenge for me, but God saw me through it.

My prayer, and I believe God’s will for you in the reading of my story, is that your faith in the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be strengthened.

Dream with purpose, choose wisely, and love always!

—Priscilla Burchell

Chapter 1

IN THE BEGINNING

For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

—Psalm 117:2 NIV

It all began in the winter of 1999, late January or early February. I don’t remember the exact date, but I will never forget that Sunday evening when my world seemed to fall apart. Luke, my former husband, and I had arrived home around 8:00 p.m. after a short weekend visit to his parents. We often took our two girls—Victoria, age eleven; and Madeleine, eight—down to see them. The drive was about three hours from our home, and their town was much larger than ours. We were able to enjoy amenities there that we didn’t have in our town. Our tiny Midwestern town is surrounded by cornfields and has no stop lights. Everyone knows everyone else’s business, and gossip is prevalent.

On the drive home, the girls had fallen asleep in our Ford conversion van. After my husband and I carried them inside and placed them in bed, he said, I need to go down to the business and finish some work. He left, and I proceeded to unpack our road trip essentials.

Luke was a small business owner. The business was located only four blocks from our home. He often went down after hours or on weekends to work, so I didn’t think much about him leaving. Both of our jobs required us to occasionally work at night. After about an hour, I began to wonder why he had not returned home. I called the business and got no answer. Cell phones were just becoming available and were commonly stored in small bags. In addition, they were expensive to use. We had only one, which we used when traveling. I waited, thinking that he would be home within minutes, but still no husband. As I waited, I tried to keep busy doing odd jobs around the house. I became worried and called the business again. When I again got no answer, I started to feel nauseated. I got into my car, left my children, and went in search of him.

I first went to the business and found it dark. I drove down Main Street, checking the empty lanes and sidewalks to no avail. At the end of Main Street is the police department. I decided to stop and inquire about my