Heaven is for Real

So I've been on reading kick lately. Which is a good thing because now that Tony's spring travel season has begun for work, I have a lot more time to myself in the evenings! So while he's away throughout the week, the company of a book will have to suffice!



That's actually only sometimes true... I sort of like medium sized books.

I bet I got that tune stuck in your head now. Soooo sorry. 

So I just finished a book a few days ago called, "Heaven is for Real", by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. This book was recommended by my roommate, Cristina, who is an avid reader, and also suggested it would be a great read for Lenten Season.

Boy was she was right! Not only was it was a great read for Lenten Season. (Which P.S. has only 12 more days left of no sweets and soda!!!!! WAHOO!!) but it also was a book that for once, not only made me think, but really lead me to just believe.

                                                    Introducing to the new me.

hahaha just kidding.

The book is based on a true story about a family who learns the ins and outs about heaven through their four year old son, Colton. It is written by the father, but focuses on Colton's experiences and persepetive, and rightfully so... since a four year old cannot write a best seller book.

I probably spoke to soon. I'm sure there is a prodigy child out there somewhere creating a mind blowing book on where Waldo really is.

                                                    Well that was easy.

Anyways... let's get serious and back to the book...

As the book's synopsis says:

"When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren't expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed --- A story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy's trip to heaven and back.

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery --- and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relaying stories told to him by the people he met there whom he had never met in his life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read."

This book tells a compelling and astonishing story of Colton's heaven, and out of body, experience.

Now typically, whenever there are shows/interviews on TV regarding people having "out-of-body" experiences, I immediately switch the channel. 

1. Because media has portrayed what an "out-of-body" experience should look like, so people will just tend to mock that by saying they saw "the light".

2. Because people mainly just want their 5 minutes of fame and will testify to anything to get it. 

To me, and this is just in my opinion, heaven is no joke and is definitely not something worth lying about just to get your five minutes of fame. Being on the verge of death is really no laughing matter, which is why when I see adults describing their "I've been to heaven and back stories", I just have a hard time believing them due to the reasons I've listed above. So when I read this book, I had a lot of doubt at first. It wasn't my doubt in a heaven, it was just a doubt on whether or not this story really is true. But since the story was being told through the perspective of a four-year-old boy's experience with heaven, I will admit that I was intrigued and wanted to read the book.

Try to remember when you were four. What do you remember? You probably don't remember much besides big family vacations, major family occasions, or really just having an imagination as big as the moon.

                                            Yeah, I remember those days...

Hold on Joanna, rewind, you just said so yourself, at the age of four, kids typically have an imagination as big as the moon. So wouldn't that lead you to believe that Colton was just playing "pretend" and letting his imagination run wild?

Typically, that would be a normal skeptical person's view on this situation. But as you read the book, there are so many encounters that Colton experienced that he can describe in such detail that you would think, "there is no way a typical four year old kid could EVER know this if he truly didn't encounter something great".

At least that's what I thought.

Now I hate to be controversial, but hey, isn't that what the Internet is for? ;-)

Some of you may believe in God and in a heaven, and some of you may not. That's ok. I am not here to preach. I just wanted to express the amount of impact this book had on me and how it just sort of sets into your mind that "alright, if Colton really didn't go to Heaven, then how on earth would this little kid know all of this stuff that he could have never known before?"

To me, Heaven is for Real changed the way I think of eternity and sort of just helped me to believe, even more so than I do now, that yes, there is something greater out there then here on earth. And although the majority of us won't see it till it's our time, you just have to believe it. Which is a hard thing to do since we live in a tangible world.

Now you're probably like "Joanna, you keep saying that Colton has all these descriptive details about what and who he saw in Heaven. Give me an example".

Touche. If I gave them away, however, it would completely ruin the book.

But Jo(W)anna know what? I will leave you with one passage from the book. This is the part of the book that Cristina sold me on when deciding whether or not to read it.

"I heard Colton's footsteps padding up the hallway and caught a glimpse of him circling the couch, where he then planted himself directly in front of Sonja.

"Mommy, I have two sisters," Colton said.

I put down my pen. Sonja didn't. She kept on working.

Colton repeated himself, "Mommy, I have two sisters."

Sonja looked up from her paperwork and shook her head slightly. "No, you have your sister, Cassie, and... do you mean your cousin, Traci?"

"No." Colton clipped off the word adamantly. "I have two sisters. You had a baby die in your tummy, didn't you?"

At that moment, time stopped in the Burpo household, and Sonja's eyes grew wide.

"Who told you I had a baby die in my tummy?" Sonja said, her tone serious.

"She did, Mommy. She said she died in your tummy."

"It's ok, Mommy," he said. "She's okay. God adopted her."

A sensitive topic like this is not something a parent would just blurt out and try to explain to their toddler. The fact that a four-year-old kid could ever know this, just blows me away.

So for all you book lovers, especially those of you who just got done with Hunger Games and don't know what to do with yourself, I suggest this book. Or if you are just a regular person who wants to challenge your way of thinking about life after death, this book is definitely for you. Check it out... I guarentee you won't be disappointed.

If you are worried that this book is going to be too religious or too pushy on the subject of religion, I am very pleased to tell you that it's not. Yes, the book is about Colton's experience with God and heaven, but it in no way pushes you to question your faith and steer you to Christianity. I am just like you when it comes to the religion pushers. It is simply a turn off. But I would be lying if I said it didn't make you think. This book is simply just a story about a boy and his experience when he was faced with death.

And now that I am done with this book... to answer your question, yes... I just started Hunger Games last night and yes, I will admit, I have become hooked already.

So READ! It does the brain good! :-)