The Warrior Life With Justin Mirigliani
Does God speak with us? And if he does, how does God communicate with us? I had the pleasure of interviewing a man who quite literally has had communication with God. I met Dan Wheeler when I was hired by Dell Computers to present their computers on QVC. QVC, which stand for Quality, Value, Convenience, is a TV station based out of West Chester, Pennsylvania on which viewers can shop and purchase items from their homes. I was new to the television business and it took some time to get used to broadcasting to hundreds of millions of viewers. Dan, one of the most famous of the hosts on QVC, took time to give me pointers. He was kind and understanding when I did make mistakes. He was also always ready to give me a thumbs up for a job well done. I never forgot that!
Before and in between shows, Dan and I often had a chance to talk. Most of those conversations revolved around faith and family. Dan is one of the most devoted family men I have ever met. At the time, I was just married and had no kids, but through Dan I could feel the joy of being a daddy. He would gush over his children and share what was going on with his daughter’s college lacrosse team. He loved being a lacrosse dad! Now that I am a dad of two daughters I understand Dan’s feelings. I don’t think it is possible to know Dan without understanding how much he loved his wife, Beth. He was so proud of the family they had built together, as well he should have been.
Eventually I parted ways with Dell and was no longer on QVC. Although I was no longer a part of QVC, I was still a member and did a lot of shopping on the channel. I was still recovering from the surgery to remove my entire large intestine when I turned on QVC on the night of the Super Bowl. I was curious to see what kinds of Super Bowl merchandise they were selling, after the Broncos beat the Panthers. That is when I heard Dan say something about his “late wife Beth.” I sat there stunned. I was hoping I had heard him wrong, so I jumped online hoping to see that I would be unable to confirm his words. Sadly, I heard correctly. Beth had passed away after a battle with cancer. I immediately ached for Dan and sent him my condolences. I also felt a closeness with both Dan and Beth, because while they were going through their terrible time, I was in the middle of my severe health crisis. Even though I did not have colon cancer, yet, I was on the verge of it and because of that I was now living with a permanent ileostomy bag. Cancer had done damage to both the Wheeler and the Mirigliani families.
While I continued to pray for Dan, Beth and the rest of the Wheeler family, we didn’t have any more contact for months. That would change, however. One night I had a very vivid dream. I dreamt that I was sitting in the QVC cafeteria eating my lunch when Dan walked in. I immediately got up from my lunch and gave him a big hug and told him how sorry I was for the loss of Beth. I knew then, that I wanted, or maybe need, to contact Dan.
Because of what I have been through, I knew I wanted to give hope to others. My podcasts and blogs are meant to be positive messages and highlight people who are doing good things for this world. I was very sure that I wanted Dan to be one of my initial guests on my program. Here is some of the letter I wrote him back in July of 2016.
“I grew up Catholic and still attend Catholic Church, but I certainly would not be considered an institutional Catholic. To me, the church I attend is much less important than my relationship with God the Father and with Christ. I don’t believe God is a magician who does tricks on command for us, but I do believe he gives us signs, if only we are open to them. I have had many, unmistakable, signs over my lifetime. I will give you just one to explain what I mean. Amy and I were coming home from a consultation with surgeon, Dr. Michael Harris. I had just been told that I may have colon cancer and that it was 99% likely that I would need my entire large intestine removed and be fitted with a permanent ileostomy bag. You can imagine how devastating that felt. On the way home we were discussing my options. One of which was deciding if I should have Dr. Harris do the surgery, way up near NYC, or have it done closer to home. Dr. Harris is the preeminent colorectal surgeon in the world, but the thought of having massive surgery done so far from home was not something that made me feel comfortable. I was agonizing over the decision, in my mind. Finally, I asked Amy what she thought I should do. No sooner did the words leave my lips when a truck with the name “Harris Trucking” pulled right up besides our car, on the NJ Turnpike. As if that was not enough, not 5 minutes later we got a call from my in-laws telling us that my youngest daughter hit her head on a counter and had to be taken to the pediatrician. Her normal pediatrician was not there. The on-call doctor’s name? Dr. Harris! Of course I was not happy about my daughter being injured, but I made the decision right then and there that Dr. Harris would be my surgeon. To me, the signs are not the truck being there or Rebecca being injured and being treated by Dr. Harris. The signs are that I was keenly aware of finding God’s message in those circumstances. This is just one example of many signs I have received from God. God has spoken to me after the deaths of people I love. He has also spoken to me at times in my life, where I was lost and had to make life altering decisions. There is more to that than meets the eye. I can easily tell people of my Ulcerative Colitis and my ileostomy, but what I have always kept guarded is my mental illness. I was born with clinical depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, an anxiety disorder and ADHD (although they did not diagnose that when I was a child). My whole life I have been fearful that people would think I was a freak or strange because I suffer with these mental disorders. In my case, I was doomed from birth. Depression runs rampant on both sides of my family. When I say doomed, I don’t mean that I have had a bad life, what I am saying is that my issues were not learned, they were inherited. I really believe that God knows my struggles and has given me a gift of receiving messages from Him with an awareness that, perhaps, not all people have. I don’t hear voices or commands, but I do feel His loving hand guiding me. It sounds like you have similar feelings.”
During time of Beth’s transition to Heaven, Dan had created a blog. To read it, here is the link. There are many heartbreaking stories that Dan shares along with many heartwarming stories that he shares on his blog. Out of all of the incredible miracles Dan shares on his blog this one is my favorite.
“Here is an amazing miracle. On Saturday, October 24th one of my best friends, Brian, flew in from California. I had John, the lead singer from Blue Sky Band, pick up Brian who is also a musician. John, his wife Joey and Brian arrived late at night and I went out to meet them in the driveway. As we talked, I noticed that John wasn’t saying much. He had a rather odd expression on his face. After they left I mentioned something about it to Brian and he said John had been very talkative on the way from the airport. I didn’t give it another thought until the next morning.
When I came out to get coffee on Sunday, October 25th, my sister, Mary Jane told me that I needed to talk to John. I called John and he came over the next night and told me that he didn’t want me to think that he was weird but while I was talking with him in the driveway the night before he saw a large being standing about 8-9 feet tall right behind me. He said there was bright, shimmering light coming off of the being and it appeared to be wearing a cloak and robe. The light was so bright that he had to look away. He said when he looked back at me it was gone but as I kept talking it appeared again and he had to look away once more because it was so bright. I said, “John, what do you think you saw?” He said, “I think I saw an angel!” I said, “I did too!” (Miracle #16) I was so comforted to know angels were surrounding us all during such an extremely difficult time.”
There is no doubt in my mind that this was a direct sign from God! Dan and his family had been suffering so badly and God wanted them to know that He was right there with them. I don’t believe that God takes suffering away from us, but I do believe that He is right there during the suffering.
Obviously, I wish that Beth had recovered from her cancer. Obviously Dan and his family wish the same thing. But if there is any positive to come from such a terrible situation, it is that God’s love has shone through the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening to Dan discuss his incredible faith and his signs directly from his Father!
By Justin Mirigliani
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