From the Cover:
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 of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed
stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in 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.
With
disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of
meeting long-departed family members. He
describes Jesus, the angels, how “really, really
big” God is, and how much he loves us.
Retold by his father, but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, Heaven is for Real offers a glimpse of
the world that awaits us, where, as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobody
wears glasses.”
Heaven is for Real will forever change
the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a
child.
Andrea’s Take:
I have a
confession. I approached this book with what I considered “healthy skepticism.”
I was determined not to be swept away by the drama of an amazing story. At the
same time, I would keep my mind and heart open. I’m no Bible scholar, by any
means. I am familiar enough with Scripture and
secure enough in my own relationship with God to “try the spirits” as the Bible
encourages. I intended to do exactly that.
As I read,
I learned something wonderful. The Burpos have no desire whatever to convince
anyone of any radical idea about God. It seemed to me that, prior to the
experiences recounted in this book, Todd Burpo and his wife would have
approached similar stories with the same “healthy skepticism” with which I approached their story (Of course, I could be wrong).
When faced
with a seemingly unbelievable tale, I ask two questions. Do I have a reason not to believe the person telling the story? And Can I point to anything in the story
that I know is wrong (either
uninformed or simply untrue)?
When I applied this test to the
tale in Heaven is for Real, I found no
reason to suspect this man’s honesty. And I found nothing in the story went
against my knowledge of the Bible. Some things challenged my opinions, but there was no account I
could point to and say, “I know that
is wrong because the Bible says otherwise.”
This story
covers comforting things like God’s amazing love for us. It deals with painful
things like the loss of loved ones or unborn children. It even touches very briefly
on scary things we can’t fully understand about the end of time. Little Colton’s
story (though he’s not so little anymore) touches on many issues, big and
small, that Christians think about in passing, ponder at length, and spend
lifetimes studying an writing books about. Everything he says at least makes
sense, and much of it seems to hit the nail right on the head.
I can’t
tell you all the accounts I love in this book because I don’t want to spoil it
for you. But I do want to share a short excerpt that deals simply with the
admonition “Ask and ye shall receive.”
During that time, Colton had also become
obsessed with rainbows….
So when, in the spring of 2004, the
most brilliant rainbow we’d ever seen appeared over [our hometown], we called
him outside to take a look.
Sonia was the first to see it…. “Hey,
you guys, come see this!” she called.
From the kitchen, I crossed the
dining room to the front door and was astonished to see a rainbow so bright, so
vivid that it looked like an artist’s painting of the Perfect Rainbow. Or a kid
with a brand-new box of crayons illustrating his science lesson: ROY G BIV.
Every color sharply divided from the next, and the whole arc blazing against a
perfectly blue sky.
“Did it rain and I missed it?” I
asked Sonja.
She laughed. “I don’t think so.”
Colton was down the hall in the
playroom. “Hey, Colton,” I called. “Come out and take a look at this.”
He emerged from the playroom and
joined us on the front stoop.
“Look at that rainbow, Colton,”
Sonja said. “There definitely should be a big pot of gold at the end of that
thing.”
Colton squinted at the colors
pouring across the sky.
“Cool,” he said with a nonchalant
smile. “I prayed for that yesterday.”
Then he turned on his heel and went
back to play.
Sonja and I looked at each other
like, What just happened?...
Colton Burpo hadn’t seen a rainbow in
a while, so he asked his heavenly Father to send one. Faith like a child. Maybe,
Sonja and I thought, we had a lot to learn from our son.
~ ~ ~
Some might
say the idea of God suspending the laws of nature because a
little boy wanted to see a rainbow is far-fetched. To that I say, what is far-fetched? That he
could do so? Or that he would do so? I believe my God is more
than powerful enough to create a rainless rainbow. And I believe he loves each
of us enough to do that and more for us if we ask him. (Andrea is stepping down from her soapbox now)
This book
is an excellent reminder to sometimes forget everything I think I understand about the world around me and just let God show
me what he wants me to see.
Definitely 5 stars on this one.
