When the twins turned nine, they went to school with the rest of the children. They made friends and learned to read and write. Then one day, a terrible thing happened. Ellen’s father was out selling hats and her mother was at home, eager for her children to return from school. When school finished, Ellen, Elizabeth, and a friend were walking home hand-in-hand when an older girl began to shout and chase after them.

Ellen describe, “We were . . . running towards home, but the girl was following us with a stone in her hand. I turned to see how far she was behind me, and as I turned, the stone hit me on my nose. I fell senseless. When I revived, I found myself in a merchant’s store, the blood streaming from my nose, my garments covered with blood, and a large stream of blood on the floor. . . .

“I have no recollection of anything for some time after the accident. My mother says that I noticed nothing, but lay in a stupid state [a coma] for three weeks. No one thought I would live except my mother. For some reason she felt that I would not die” (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, pp. 7, 8).

So there was Ellen—no one knew whether she was going to live or die, but many now know that God had a plan for her. Fortunately, after three weeks, she began to open her eyes and look around but did not remember anything. She saw herself and was wondering why she was so thin. She had forgotten the whole accident, the stone, all the blood at the store, falling unconscious, and so forth. When her mother told her the whole story, she remembered, and then understood why she was so thin. No one recognized her. When her father came home, he hugged every single one of his children, but did not see Ellen. He asked about where she was, since he had not even recognized her. How heartbroken she felt by this! He was quick with comfort and reassurance once he realized this was his Ellen, but the reality was still there—her appearance had completely changed.

Days and months passed and soon Ellen was ready to start school again. But to her dismay, when she got to school, every time she tried to read or write, everything was blurry. She tried and tried but she could not study properly. The teacher even assigned someone to help her. When she saw who was going to help her, she saw that it was the same girl that had thrown the stone at her. Not once did Ellen try to remind the girl about the incident. The girl felt very sorry for her, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not help Ellen. Soon Ellen felt dizzy and the teacher sent her home saying, “Go home, Ellen, you may come back when you get better.” Ellen was very sad. Never would she be able to go to school again, but nonetheless God had a plan for her.

Ellen’s family were Christians. Her parents had been Methodist for forty years before joining the Millerite movement. The Millerites expected Jesus to come on October 22, 1844. They had conscientiously based this belief on specific Bible prophecies relating to time—these earnest believers had not just invented the idea; their conclusion was based on very thorough, well-documented research. They eagerly sold their homes, farms, lands, and animals in joyful expectation of their Lord’s soon return. Finally, when the great day arrived, Jesus did not appear after all. All were deeply frustrated and terribly sad. This event came to be known as the Great Disappointment. The believers did not understand why Jesus had not come and they prayed that someone would come and explain to them what had actually happened.

Meanwhile, young Ellen had grown more helpful and stronger. When she turned seventeen, a wonderful thing happened in her life. Ellen’s good friend, Elizabeth Haines, invited her and three other girls to her house to pray. When they were praying, Ellen received her first heavenly vision about the people of God traveling to the Eternal City.

“She saw a straight and narrow path cast up high above the world, on which the people of God were traveling to the Eternal City beyond. Behind them on the pathway a bright light shone which an angel told her was the ‘midnight cry’ of 1844. October 22, 1844, was called the Day of Disappointment, but in truth it was a Day of His Appointment. Those travelers on the path who kept their eyes on Jesus and walked in the light that was shed on their path went safely on, but those who grew discouraged and faint lost their footing and fell away. Soon they heard the voice of God, announcing Jesus’ coming, and then they saw the small black cloud, growing greater and brighter, until in the rainbow hues of heaven it revealed the Son of man coming in His glory.”—A. W. Spalding, Footprints of the Pioneers, pp. 65, 66.

Immediately following that first vision, Ellen told her friends about what she had seen. They were relieved to know that she was not dead. Why had they thought that? Because though Ellen’s eyes had been wide open during the vision, she had never blinked even once, and she had been totally oblivious to her surroundings. The most incredible thing was that she had completely stopped breathing! You will find that this amazing phenomenon occurred in similar experiences among prophets in the Bible. (See Numbers 12:6; 24:16; Daniel 10:14–17.)

Ellen did many things for God. The Lord gave her visions, she would tell the people what she had seen, and she preached in many churches. Even in her late teenage years her voice was only able to come out in whispers because she was still very weak. But as soon as she stood up to preach, her voice would boom out with a loud resonance. Then at the end of the sermon, her voice would revert back to whispers. This went on for a few months, and soon everyone knew about her and wanted her to visit his or her church. But, as God had told her straight, there would be some people who would not believe and would even hate her. Sometimes when people would come to the Harmons’ house for worship, Ellen would receive visions. One time when she went into vision, a man who couldn’t kneel because he had a pain in one knee was standing, when suddenly he saw a great ball of fire. When they finished praying, he was actually very happy because now he believed in the power of God working through Ellen. Two men also present were laughing because they had not believed in her visions. Then they were told to try to put Ellen’s hands down. (While in vision she would raise her hands and move them around.) The men went to her and tried to stop her hands and put them down beside her, but much to their amazement they could not do it!

When Ellen would come out of vision, she could not see anything for a while. To her this world was so dark compared to the heavenly view. But after a while she could see normally again. The people were eager to hear all the news that Jesus had given her.

On one occasion, Ellen decided to go with a family, Bill Jordan, and his sister, Sarah, to Orrington, Maine. It was very cold then and they only had sleighs, so Ellen had to be wrapped up in thick blankets. While on this trip, the family told Ellen about the preacher named James White. When they got there, James met them to pick up his sleigh. He met Ellen, and decided to stay and hear her preach that night. When he heard her preaching, he was amazed and immediately believed that her gift was directly from God. When she finished preaching, he went up to her and told her that every other Adventist in that city needed to hear her preaching. For almost three months, he drove them around to every group and house in the area, telling people the good news. They had to meet all sorts of people. Unfortunately, some whom they visited were fanatics. For example, when Ellen told them to humble themselves and be childlike, they responded in a foolish way by sucking their thumbs and crawling on their knees, and playing hide-and-seek. But Ellen never gave up her work of patiently teaching the people.

After three months, the snow melted and James could not use his sleigh anymore. So they went back to Orrington. But when they arrived at the house of a friend, a lady quickly jerked them into the house. They were wondering what was wrong. She told them that the police were blaming Ellen for all the noise that some of the fanatics had been making and they had made a law that no more Adventist meetings could be held anymore. When Ellen heard what the hostess of the house told them, she felt bad for the people and sent out secret messages that they would meet secretly that night.

That evening Ellen told the people about the visions that God had showed her—about the wonders in heaven and in the new earth. She also made everyone understand that God still loved them and would lead them. Everyone was happy and felt blessed by God. Then, all of a sudden, Ellen got a vision saying that she must leave Orrington the next morning because a group of men planned to harm her. When James knew what would happen, he thought of a way for her to escape. If he could borrow a rowboat and find two men strong enough to row, they could row Ellen and the Jordan family to the seaport town of Belfast, then put them on a steamship headed for their home in Portland, Maine. As Ellen stood on the dock, waving her thanks to the man she had grown to admire—James, the young man God had sent to protect her while she traveled, he in turn stood on the shore waving as if he could not stop.

A few weeks after Ellen returned to Portland, she was called to preach at an Adventist church. When James heard she had arrived, he immediately came to find her. After that they began to work together and grew fond of each other. But since Jesus was coming that very year (so they thought), they decided not to marry. But God read their thoughts and sent Ellen a vision saying that the Lord would not be coming quite so soon. So they talked about the possibility some more and decided to pray about it for two weeks. After two weeks, James went to their house and spoke with Ellen about a few things until he could not hold it any longer. He asked her to marry him and she accepted. So on August 30, 1846, 25-year-old James and 18-year-old Ellen were married in Portland, Maine. They promised to love and protect each other for the rest of their life.

Nearly one year after they were married, they had their first baby. On August 26, 1847, Henry was born. (Unfortunately, when he was sixteen years old, he died of pneumonia.) Two years later, on July 29, 1849, they had their second child. His name was James Edson. Five years later, on August 29, 1854, their third son was born. His name was William (Willie for short). In 1860 they had a fourth son, Herbert, who died three months after birth.

Even though Ellen G. White was a prophet of the Lord, she never claimed to be one. “‘I have no claim to make,’ wrote Ellen G. White in 1906, ‘only that I am instructed that I am the Lord’s messenger; that He called me in my youth to be His messenger, to receive His word, and to give a clear and decided message in the name of the Lord Jesus.’” (Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White, Messenger to the Remnant, p. 125).

One way in which people saw Ellen White was as a counselor. Whenever people had to make decisions, they sometimes came to her because they knew that God was with her. Although sometimes she was given no definite message for the one seeking light, she could, nevertheless, lay down certain general principles. She never told people to come to her for counsel. She pointed them to Christ. Mrs. White, as an individual, held personal opinions and used her reasoning powers. She and her husband were also known to be good neighbors to others.

“When the neighbors and friends were ill, Elder and Mrs. White were frequently called upon to assist with advice and help in giving treatments.

“As an illustration, we find in the records of 1868 that Elder and Mrs. White, while residing at Greenville, Michigan, learned of a certain sister who, in making a business trip, was detained by severe illness in a Greenville hotel. They looked her up and took her to their home, where she remained until they were satisfied that she should be sent to the health institute in Battle Creek. They took the children of this afflicted woman into their own home. It was five months before the mother could resume her work and the care of her family again. Although she was often unable to provide the help necessary, she did what she could to bring relief.

“In the neighborhood about Avondale she discovered many destitute families, and even though her own resources were limited, she could not pass them by without sharing with them. Food was provided; sometimes she herself drove long distances to deliver it; and at other times clothing was supplied. There were times in the White home when all literary work was laid aside, and every member of the family joined in providing help for the unfortunate.”—Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White, Messenger to the Remnant, p. 107.

James died in 1881, which left Ellen very sad, but no matter how many sorrows she had she still kept on working. She was a widow for nearly 34 years. She spent the last 15 years of her life at Elmshaven, California. Unfortunately, on February 13, 1915, she fell and broke her hip in her home. Five months later on July 16, 1915, she died. She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Battle Creek, Michigan. There were 3,500 people inside the chapel and a thousand more outside.

“On Mrs. White’s death there was wide editorial comment across the United States. The Independent, a weekly journal of the time, published in New York City, devoted a little more than a full column in noticing her life and death. But she yet speaks to us in the nearly 100 books available in English, and many foreign translations.”—Ibid., p. 126.