It's a Miracle: Real-Life Inspirational Stories Based on the PAX TV Series "It's a Miracle"

The Great Depression hit Otto Sloan's family, like so many others, hard. When his parents separated, Otto was sent to live with grandparents in Colorado. But soon, economic hardships once again forced Otto to move.

"Back when I was, oh, ten or eleven years old, my grandparents sent me to live with and work for Mrs. Rowan and her husband. So I went there to help and worked there with them. And I did that for some time," recalls Otto.

It was while living there that he met Betty Jean Hodge, the daughter of a neighboring farmer.

"My earliest recollection," says Betty Jean, "was when I'd get on the school bus, and he'd be on the bus, already there. And then he would look up at me, with a kind of smile in his eyes."

"She was a very pretty girl, I thought," says Otto. "And I wanted to speak to her then. But I didn't. I was very bashful, you might say. I never would look at her direct, into her face or anything like that. I always cast my eyes down. I still do that to this day."

As the years passed, Otto's and Betty's paths continued to cross.

"There were occasions when Otto would come down with the horse and he would round up the cattle," says Betty Jean, "and I would always beg him to let me ride the horse."

Otto wasn't sure about that, however. "I said, 'No, the horse is a one-man horse, ' " recalls Otto. "I said, 'It'd be better if you didn't.' "

But Betty Jean persevered. "I had asked him and pleaded with him so much that Dad finally said, 'Otto, you might as well let her on it, because she won't give up until you do.' "

"So he was hoisting me up on the horse," says Betty Jean. "And he wasn't sure just how to go about doing that, because he was afraid he might touch me in an immodest place on my body. He was very careful of that," she remembers, laughing. "He wanted to be precise in getting me on the horse."

"So I finally ended up making a stirrup out of my hands, and had her put her foot in it," says Otto. "I raised her up that way--and the horse just flew, it seemed to me, full blast for home.

"I hollered at her, 'Drop the reins, drop the reins ' She wouldn't drop the reins," Otto says, laughing. "If she would've dropped them, the horse would've stopped."

The horse finally came to a stop at the end of the field.

"And I looked up at Betty, and you could see that there was fright in her eyes," recalls Otto.

"I kind of leaned over and he put his arms around my waist," adds Betty Jean. "And I think I was probably trembling a little bit. He said, 'It's all right, you're all right.' And then he took me back home," she laughs.

From that day on, Betty and Otto were inseparable.

"I thought our relationship at that time . . . he was kind of like a big brother to me. Then in 1941 we started dating. And our dating meant going to basketball games together, or roller-skating," says Betty Jean.

As their dates continued, Otto's and Betty Jean's feelings for each other deepened.

"We'd been roller-skating several times together, and a friend of mine then had a little Model A with a rumble seat in it," says Otto. "Well, B

If you’ve ever doubted, wished, or prayed for a miracle, here is the book to restore your faith and touch your soul. Richard Thomas, host of PAX TV’s successful series It’s a Miracle, has selected his favorite true stories of miracles that have happened in everyday life. You might call them astonishing coincidence, or answered prayers, or amazing acts of heroism...they’re all around us--and right here in these awe-inspiring pages.

Here are stories to celebrate: a man whose nightmares end after they help him save a woman’s life . . . a woman whose beloved dog was injured and lost during airline travel--and the psychic who brought them together again . . . orphaned best friends, separated in childhood, who rediscover each other years later when one walks into a restaurant and sits down at the counter--next to her long-lost friend.

From angel encounters to extraordinary animal stories, from amazing rescues to remarkable medical recoveries, these intriguing and inspiring true-life dramas will lift your spirits and give you hope and comfort when you need them most.