A while ago, I learned of this book about a little boy who was in surgery for a ruptured appendix when he claims he went to Heaven and met Jesus and God and many others. "Heaven Is For Real". This book intrigued me from the moment I heard about it. I think I mainly wanted to read it out of curiosity. I am impatient to know what Heaven is like and this could be the only way to find out for now. But I do not spend much time in bookstores on a tight budget and most of my time in the library is spent following little ones around the picture book section. So over time the thought of the book slipped my mind until I heard a friend say last night that she had just finished it and I remembered I wanted to read it. Since I recently got a Nook, I went online and made a little impulse buy :) I knew if I didn't get it right then I would forget again.
I was raised in a religious family; not the go to church every Sunday, read the Bible every night type of religious family, but my mom taught me about God at a very young age. She prayed with me every night, just as I pray with my own kids now. I can remember going to Sunday School when I was about 4 or 5 and I remember going to the Baptist Church a few times with my mom and my Grandma, who would slip me candy from her purse. My dad was raised as a Catholic and I can remember going to the church with my Grandparents when they were visiting here or we were visiting them. Growing up I never doubted the existence of God or Jesus. It was what I was told and I just accepted it. As I became an adult I went thru a phase where I questioned it all. I was realizing that everyone is going to die eventually and that would include me. I started to wonder, what if they are wrong? What happens then?
As if to answer my questions, God pointed me to my husband. Now he was raised in a go to church on Sunday, read the bible at night home. He attended a Lutheran high school and was not ashamed to tell me right when we met that he is a firm believer and no one will change that. While we didn't begin attending church regularly right away, when we were expecting our 3rd child, we began going every Sunday we could. Over time and after many in depth talks with him, I felt alot more comfortable with religion. I started to really think about it, and I have come to the conclusion that, of course it is true. There really is no other explanation. I believe there is a God and He created us and the world around us. And I believe my life is on a path, everything I do is not because I choose to, it's how it's suppose to be. If I try to change it, I find myself back on the path in one way or another.
Many of my friends also have a deep rooted faith and I have had countless conversations with them about life, after life, moral decisions and what we are supposed to do, and not supposed to do with this life we are given.I also know many people who have no faith at all, and it breaks my heart. I have also had talks with them and I have been told I will convince them as easily as they could convince me of their beliefs. These are people that I love and hate to think of what will happen to them after they die. I wish there was more I could do for them, but I guess each person has to get there in their own time, and I have a little comfort knowing it is never to late; they could change their minds.....
Back to the book, when I first sat down the thought crossed my mind-is it truly a true story. Now I know a 3 year old would not have the capacity to make this entire thing up, so-did the dad make it up? That's a horrible thought to have about a pastor! Then I thought well maybe he let some of these ideas in without realizing it and the little boy thought it was a memory. Kids are, after all, very sponge-like. Finally I decided I had to read it with an open mind and not think too hard about it. I got very involved very quickly. When he first revealed the things the boy had seen, I thought it really does sound just like what we are told. There are many passages from the bible that I didn't know and I learned tonight and I finished the book feeling very amazed about what it will be like to go to Heaven. There are some pictures at the end of the book of this little boy and his family. I was looking thru them, thinking now that's a cutie, when I came to the picture that a little girl drew of Jesus. Now this girl has also seen Him and was blessed with the ability to show what she saw, besides tell it. The little boy from the story was shown the picture and said, that is Him. It took a second to realize that this was that picture, but it took my breath away beforeI realized what it was. Someone looking at it could say, well that's just a picture of a dark haired man, but this picture to me seemed different. I believe it and it is such an indescribable feeling to think about.
Kind of the same feeling I get when I think about God and Heaven. I am so glad for this time I have had to travel on this journey and discover who I am and where I came from. And, while I know the journey is not over yet, and it is not all "sunshine and roses" and sometimes life is hard and sometimes it just downright sucks, it's important to remember that there is a reason for everything that happens; that God does answer prayers(and not always in a straight-forward way); and that we all have a wonderful forever home where the front door is always open, we just have to walk inside.
