Did you see Oprah??

Yes, I record Oprah everyday. I watch it strictly for entertainment purposes, and if she has a topic, and many times she does, that I feel is crossing some boundaries and contradicts any of my personal beliefs or my faith, I immediately erase that episode without watching it. All that being said, if you missed yesterdays episode, you should try to find it online somewhere, or wait for it to rerun in the summer.

Her guests for the day were 2 families whose daughters were in car accident together. Thru a number of strange circumstances, the girls identities were mixed up. 1 girl lived and 1 girl died. The family of the girl who really died ended up caring for a girl who wasn't their daughter for 5 weeks in the hospital before the mix up was cleared up. I know that sounds REALLY confusing. Ultimately the girl who survived the accident and her family were reunited and the family of the girl who died had to come to grips with the reality that their little girl was gone.

The great thing about the story is that both families are Christians, and because of their faith in the Lord, they are friends and have seen the glory of GOD in the whole thing. The families met on the 1 year anniversary of the accident and the mother of the girl who survived told the other family that she felt guilty because they got the "happy ending" and the father of the girl who died replied "so did we, we just haven't seen it all, yet." It is a WONDERFUL story of faith and mercy. The best part of the show was when Oprah asked the father of the girl who survived why he thought they have been able to make it thru and he TOTALLY preached the gospel of Jesus on Oprah's stage!!! He said that because of the forgiveness that we have been given thru Christ on the cross, they have been able to forgive and heal. It was so great!! I love it when God chooses to use such a secular forum to have the Truth spoken. When Oprah asked the father of the girl who died why they didn't file a lawsuit, here was his reply:
Don says his family was not interested in filing a lawsuit then or now. "I just didn't see what that would gain for us. Over the years, I've learned that forgiveness and love is healthier than bitterness and vengeance," he says. "One of my favorite verses in the Bible says, 'What has the Lord required of you? To act justly. To love mercy. And to walk humbly with your God.' That one phrase—'to love mercy'—you don't see a lot of that today." ( from Oprah.com)

So if you have a chance to catch the show, do. If you are totally, 100% against anything that Oprah Winfrey says or does, then the families have written a book together about their story called "Mistaken Identity." It really is a bittersweet story, but I think worth reading.