Little Pieces of Heaven

There's plenty of stuff in my life to write about, but I can't write about any of it yet, because we're in the middle of it all and it involves people and circumstances that are not mine to write about.  Since I've been consumed with it all, I couldn't think of anything else to write about, until yesterday while I was reading a book called, "Heaven is For Real," by Todd and Soyna Burpo.  It's about their four year old son who gets very sick and goes to heaven during surgery.  I'm a little skeptical of adult accounts of heaven.  I want to believe them, but people have so much to gain with a heavenly story and books have to sell, so I worry about editors shifting the story for profit.  I'm also skeptical because I have had the rug pulled out from underneath me enough times that I don't let myself get too excited about anything.  This story is told by Todd, who is the father, and he's very careful how he explains his son's experience.  Of course, the whole thing could be made up, but I'm trusting that it's not.  People might start writing a story in hopes of making money, but by the time you go through all the work to write and rewrite and edit and re edit and find a publisher and rewrite some more, it is way too much work if you're not already some kind of celebrity and you know there will be money at the end of the rainbow.  When you're a nobody, it doesn't take long to find that your chances of actually profiting from this are next to nothing, so you write the story simply to write the story.

I don't want to ruin the story for anyone, but I will say that four year old Colton is very believable and what he tells his mom and dad in bits and pieces are gems that have shifted my perspective on my current struggles.  I've had prayers answered before and I've felt God's presence, but sometimes I don't feel like anyone is listening while I'm praying.  In the story Todd asks his son how he got back from heaven. Colton says that Jesus told him it was time to go back home because He's answering his dad's prayer.  It makes praying so much easier when I can picture Jesus actually listening to me. 

My friends can tell when I'm having trouble with life, because they don't hear from me.  It's their red flag.  My natural tendency is to crawl into a cave and wait for the pain and the problem to go away.  I don't particularly like being alone, but I'm not very good at expressing my feelings, so I'm more comfortable being alone.  In another instance in the story Colton talks about sitting on Jesus' lap because he's scared and Jesus has the angels sing for him.  After reading this story I don't feel so alone in my little cave.  I still don't feel like talking, but I don't feel so alone and I don't feel so hopeless.  I think Todd Burpo was right when he realized Colton's story wasn't just for Colton and their family, but it was a story that needed to be shared.  I'm glad he did.