I was reading "Heaven is for Real" excited to see what this little boy had to say about his divine appointment with the creator of the universe. Not many people can say they met Jesus face to face in this life, much less actually visit heaven so I was pretty amped up for the read. I however, wasn't anticipating that this book might actually change the entire course of my life!
As I was reading the book it mentioned while they were trying for their second baby they became pregnant. Unfortunately 2 months later they suffered from a miscarriage. It was only briefly mentioned at the beginning of the book so I didn't think to much of it until later.
This little boy, Colton, was technically their third child. At the same age as my son he suffered from appendicitis so badly that it poisened his system and nearly died. In the weeks, months, and years later he began to share with his parents that he had seen heaven while in his life saving surgery. Not only had he seen heaven, but he met God the father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
As the book explains it, one day the boy went to his mother and said, "I have two sisters." Well he had an older sister and younger brother but his mom couldn't make sense of what he was saying at first. They had never told their son about losing their second child, and they were never aware of the sex of the baby as the child was too tiny to have ever known.
Colton went on to tell his mother that he had two sisters and he met his other sister in heaven. She came right up to him and just hugged him for a long time at first. He described her as looking very similar to his older sister Cassie, except having dark hair. He asked her what her name was to which she responded that her parents had never named her, but God had adopted her and she was excited for her parents to make it to heaven to be with her. For a three year old, turning four little boy to simply "make up" the things he was saying much less even know a good portion of the things he was describing was simply impossible.... unless he had actually been to heaven and experienced it for himself.
I was visiting my family in North Dakota when my Aunt approached me asking if I had ever read this book. Of course I hadn't so she urged me to read it while I was here. I'm not much of a reader but after hearing what the book was about I was excited to read about our future home.
As I read about Colton's experience with his older sister in heaven, I began to cry. I began to cry, because just a couple weeks ago I was in my 7th week and almost 2 whole months pregnant when we also lost our second child. I wrestled with God as to why he allowed this to happen and whether or not we would meet our child in heaven. I even wrote a poem talking about this baby as our Angel baby always believing our baby was truly in heaven.
God gave me an amazing gift... the gift of knowing that our second child is indeed in heaven and is patiently awaiting our arrival in heaven. I could not imagine a gift any greater... to know that we have a beautiful child in heaven looking down on us.
Thank you Jesus!
