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a Heaven is for Real Deluxe Edition: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
a Heaven is for Real Deluxe Edition: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
a Heaven is for Real Deluxe Edition: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
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a Heaven is for Real Deluxe Edition: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

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#1 New York Times bestseller with more than 11 million copies sold! When 4-year-old Colton Burpo emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven, his family doesn’t know what to believe. Heaven is For Real details what Colton saw and his family’s journey towards accepting their young son had visited the afterlife.

“Do you remember the hospital, Colton?” Sonja said. “Yes, mommy, I remember,” he said. “That’s where the angels sang to me.”

Colton told his parents he left his body during an emergency surgery–and proved that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital during his operation. He talked of visiting heaven and described events that happened before he was born and how he spoke with family members he’d never met. Colton also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, even though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton recounts his visit to heaven, describing:

  • Meeting long-departed family members
  • Jesus, the angels, how “really, really big” God is, and how much God loves us
  • How Jesus called Todd, Colton’s father, to be a pastor
  • The Battle of Armageddon

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.

Praise for Heaven is for Real:

“A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubt and thrill those who believe.” —Ron Hall, coauthor of Same Kind of Different as Me

LanguageEnglish
PublisherThomas Nelson
Release dateOct 31, 2011
ISBN9780849949203
a Heaven is for Real Deluxe Edition: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
Author

Todd Burpo

Todd Burpo is pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan and a volunteer fireman. He and his wife, Sonja, have four children: Colton is an active teenager; he has an older sister, Cassie; a younger brother, Colby; and a very special sister he met in heaven. Sonja Burpo is a busy mom and pastor's wife. A certified elementary teacher, Sonja is passionate about children's ministry and helping women work through the difficulty of miscarriage.

Read more from Todd Burpo

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is extraordinary. Read it. It will change your life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was very entertaining as well as informative. I enjoyed it immensely! It gives me hope of seeing my family again some day and to know that I am not alone and they are always with me.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I have mixed feelings about this one. It's been mega popular since it came out, so I had this idea that it offered more proof that Heaven exists. I don't really need proof, but I was curious. I didn't get the impression that any new evidence was offered, so that left me feeling disappointed.

    A little boy, barely 4 years old, experiences health issues and needs surgery and during surgery he said he went to Heaven and came back. He tells his parents what he experienced and they're questioning whether he truly experienced this. His father is a pastor at a church, so he's able to connect his son's experiences with scripture. The boy's descriptions of Heaven are typical - bright colors, nobody is old, God has a throne, etc. The boy said he met his sister in Heaven and asked his mother if she lost a baby. She's surprised by the question, because they never told him about it, but she tells him yes. The boy is also able to identify his grandfather in an old photo. I don't consider any of these facts as evidence that it happened, but it was still an interesting story.

    The storytelling is basic, nothing spectacular. At times, the father's reactions to his son's comments sound exaggerated. The father would say something like, "I was floored" or "I was stunned," but the situations didn't justify it.

    I don't want to be a skeptic or question whether somebody really experienced what happened in this book or if they made it up. The boy survived a surgery that he wasn't expected to survive so maybe that's all of the evidence that we need. I wouldn't put this at the top of your list, but it's still worth reading.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    How this book doesn't get 5 stars by everyone is beyond my understanding. Such an honest retelling of true events. This family is truly lucky to have lived this experience. Yes, very traumatic, though. I can't imagine facing the possibility of one of my children dying. BUT, wow, what they have all learned through this remarkable experience!!! The way that Colton explains some of his experiences in heaven have helped me understand certain aspects of death... How he describes the Holy Spirit simplifies all the difficulties we adults have when trying to understand these abstract concepts. If you want to be in touch with your spirituality, or if you want to renew your faith in God, pick up the book. What a breath of fresh air!!!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Listened to this book while working. A story about a 4 year old little boy who doesn't actually die in surgery, but ended up in heaven and recounting a completely biblical heaven, that only very serious theologians would know, as well as personal details about his family's life (and their lost ones) that he supposedly didn't know about. His father is a Wesleyan minister.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fun, light reading of a little boy’s awesome journey during his near death experience to the supernatural world beyond.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

    ★★★★

    At almost 4 years old, Colton Burpo goes in for a lifesaving surgery. He later claims that he entered Heaven during that time. His parents are reluctant to believe him until they hear him talking about his sister of whom they had never discussed (miscarriage early on) and a great-grandfather who had died decades before Colton was born.

    As many of my friends know, I’m not particularly religious. In fact, if you were to ask me I would say “I have no religion. End of story.” But after the recent loss of my son on January 24, 2013 and the loss of my daddy from cancer on March 22, 2013 - I was grasping for meaning, for comfort that my daddy and my son (and my grandparents and my friends, etc etc) were safe and together…somewhere. My therapist recommended this book to me stating that even if I wasn’t religious, I might find some reassurance in it all. And I did.

    I’m not saying that this book suddenly changed all my views but it did what it was supposed to. It gave comfort. Reading Colton’s visions of Heaven – how people are young and happy there, that the children are embraced in loving arms, and that the ones you love most are waiting and watching over you. I don’t know if all Colton states is true or the overactive imagination of a young child as only time can prove if it is, but it had the effect I needed in this time of great mourning. A quick and heartfelt read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book came to me highly recommended, so I read it. I want so much to believe all that this says, but sometimes, I'm just not sure. I find myself thinking about my own son, who is now 23, but who at Colton's age had an active imagination that was quite detailed. I could almost hear him make up stories about what he thought Heaven was like. If it's true, however, that he didn't know about the miscarriage and could identify the grandfather he'd never seen when he saw a picture, then maybe there is some truth to it. I want it all to be true, and the book did make me think, but I just don't know. It's a quick read - let each reader judge for him/herself.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have to admit that when I first picked out this book at the library, which I put on hold and had to wait quite a long time for, I was skeptical. I opened it right to the middle and starting reading which is totally out of character for me because I wanted to skip the technical stuff and get right to the little boy's comments about Heaven. I was immediately charmed by his simple way of describing what it was like in Heaven. So I started back at the beginning.Todd and Sonja Burpo are on a family vacation when their 3-year old son Colton becomes violently ill. They rush him to the hospital and soon after find out that he has an erupted appendix which requires emergency surgery. After much prayer by Todd, a pastor, and his congregation, Colton recovers from surgery and all is well.Shortly after they are home from the hospital Colton tells his parents that during the surgery he had actually died and that his soul astrally traveled to Heaven. He tells his parents of things he learned that he couldn't possibly have known about such as relatives he met who had passed before he was born and a sister who had been miscarried. He said that he had wings and that he sat on Jesus' lap. He saw the throne of God and the gates of Heaven. This book is a fast read and I enjoyed it very much. I do feel like I have a sense of renewed faith after reading it because I don't think it is possible for little kids to make up stuff like that. It is possible that the parents read more into his visions than he proposed but all in all I believe his story.Heaven is for Real was published in November 2010 by Thomas Nelson and was on the New York Times Bestseller list.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What an amazing story! Little Colton Burpo gets very sick, and during an operation "dies" and goes to Heaven. It's a heart-wrenching story as Todd Burpo tells us of the family anguish of not knowing whether Colton would get better. He did, and he came out of surgery with an amazing story to tell. Whether you believe in Heaven or not, this story tugs at your heartstrings and serves to bring all of us hope and a bit better understanding of what Heaven will be like.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great book! I saw the author in person last year. He autographed my copy. It's an amazing story. Some will probably doubt this, but I can't see how. How does a 4-year-old know about any of this? Todd (his dad) says that no one in Imperial, NE has ever said it wasn't true. This supposedly is going to be made into a movie, although I have no more details than that. He also has police protection wherever he goes, because some people want to attack him for this.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    There are a number of other reviewers I concur with so I can be short. It is a captivating story, and for that reason you power through it. Not every book published is supposed to be of great literary value, some are destined to set their hooks in you and hold on. I enjoyed the informal conversational style. In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter to me if it is true or not, others can debate that. I am happy that it makes me think and question and wonder. I think that is enough. I will be asking my 15 year old son to read it. We don't take him to church because I was raised as a Catholic and I don't believe it is ok to pick and choose what aspects I follow. Recently he told me he doesn't believe in God because of the preponderance of scientific info, including but not limited evolution. I guess I need to challenge him to think too!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fascinating story told in a personal and compelling manner. Thanks for the inspiration!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Fact or fiction, it is a good story. If, indeed, a four year old boy went to heaven while being operated on after a ruptured appendix, this book is an incredible affirmation of heaven's existence. It was interesting to read about the events this family went through and the offhand comments and interpretations about the boy's heavenly experience. However, without supporting evidence from other sources, it is impossible to verify any of it. For many Christians, I'm sure it is very comforting so it is useful to reasure them in times of grief.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A big thank you to Christi Ticer for loaning me this one. A very moving story about a 4 year old boy who has a near death experience and the story his father put together from all the different things the child told him. Things there is no way he could have known. A very inspiring book. A good book for anyone to read who has lost a loved one. This book will give you hope and make you realize that death really is not such a bad thing. Go ahead, pick it up and read it...you will be glad you did.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Colton Burpo, a four-year old son of a pastor, becomes seriously ill and nearly dies. His account, as related by his father, is the premise of this book. As a pastor's son, he certainly has some religious background, which may or may not have affected his belief of what he was seeing when he was "in heaven."His account is not what my belief is of what may be on "the other side" Specific ally, that everyone has wings. A quick read, and a little glimpse of heaven through a child's eyes.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great book to be search by parents with their kids.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Just finished reading the book Heaven is real. The story about the little boy that visits heaven and then comes back. It's a quick read and it's good. It will make you think. The page at the end, the note from Pastor Todd touched me the very most. I guess maybe at that moment I needed it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Over all it was a good read. I am not sure I believe it as being true because the author was a pastor and his son supposedly knew all the fine details of the bible without ever hearing those things. But I believe children are always listening even when you think they aren't. How many times has he heard certain sermons that you didn't think he was old enough to comprehend. It was inspiring to think that it is possible that he went to heaven but I am still not convinced totally.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It was a nice story, inspirational, and a quick read. Best thing about it, for me, was that it was set in Nebraska.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I absolutely loved this book! This story is about a little boy who survived an illness. After his recovery, he started telling little things that he seen while hospitalized. During his operation, he was able to see his mother praying on the phone in another room and he saw his father get very angry with God. Throughout the story his parents question where the information is coming from. His Father was a preacher, but he never went in depth about God with the little boy because of his age. This was an amazing story!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Todd Burpo is the narrator of this story about his son, Colton, who suffered a life-threatening illness when he was three-years-old. Many months later, Colton began revealing insights about what he experienced while his body was on the operating table, but he was spending time in Heaven with Jesus, God, and a great-grandfather he never met. Todd details the emotions that he and his wife experienced as they struggled through Colton's dire illness, and then later as Colton's story began to unfold. At times I laughed, other times I cried, many times I rejoiced. This book should be required reading for every Christian (and if we can get a few atheists to read it as well, that would be great). Please read this. You won't regret it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a child's eye view of a trip to Heaven following a ruptured appendix. Told in the simple words of a child, matter of fact, lighthearted and filled with love. Colton comes "back" from the other side knowing where people were during his surgery, what long-dead relatives looked like, and that "Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses" in heaven. An uplifting tale.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is such a wonderful little book. I believe in heaven, but this book made me wonder exactly what heaven really is. It is a place that is the same for all of us or it is a place where our own belief system determines our experience? Even though I read this some time ago, it still makes me question myself. Maybe that's why I was drawn to read it!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was amazing. I am not one hundred percent sure that he really visited Heaven, but I hope that he did.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Awesome, moving, spooky, and extremely uplifting. This book was so good I basically read it in one sitting (plus it was sort of short). The little boy's journey to heaven and back during a near-death experience will leave an impression on your mind that you will visit again and again. I recommend this book for anyone.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is an easy, quick read with a likeable child who purportedly visited heaven and spoke about what heaven is like. The book is well written and there are some nice black and white photos of the family in the middle of the book. I decided to read this book because it was written by a pastor, and I thought it would be an account that would be an honest and thoughtful story. Unfortunately, in order to believe this story your have to make some choices in what you want to believe. Either Colton visited heaven while still alive or he died on the table and the surgeon, anesthetist, and nurses didn’t notice. There was no mention by the doctors in talking with the parents or in medical records that Colton died on the surgical table. Also, there is a time problem. Colton talked about seeing God shoot power down to his dad while preaching. This means either Colton’s father was preaching while the child was in surgery (he was not) or there was some time traveling going on. His father explains this away by saying he was in “God’s time”, which really doesn’t make sense. The author’s strongest evidence is that the child talks about a deceased family member and a miscarriage his mother suffered, both of which he supposedly had no knowledge. I find it hard to believe that at no time was this child away from the parents and in the care of another family member who could have mentioned these events or even just overheard his parents talking about it. Other events mentioned by Colton sound more like Sunday School 101.I really wanted to like this book because I am a believer, but I think this child’s parents are reading way too much into his precocious and creative behavior.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very well done.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    :-) :-) :-) !
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    its amazing

Book preview

a Heaven is for Real Deluxe Edition - Todd Burpo

A SPECIAL GIFT

For ____________________________

From __________________________

Date ___________________________

Heaven Is for Real

Heaven Is for Real

A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

Todd Burpo

with Lynn Vincent

9780849946158_INT_0007_001

© 2010, 2011 by HIFR Ministries, Inc.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Author is represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from Holy Bible, New Living Translation. © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

ISBN 978-1-4041-7542-6 (TBN)

ISBN 978-0-8499-4836-7 (DE)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Burpo, Todd.

      Heaven is for real : a little boy’s astounding story of his trip to heaven and back / Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent.

          p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references (REFLECTING ON HEAVEN).

      ISBN 978-0-8499-4615-8 (pbk.)

      1. Heaven—Christianity. 2. Burpo, Colton, 1999– 3. Near-death experiences—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Vincent, Lynn. II. Title.

BT846.3.B87 2010

133.901'3092—dc22

2010023391

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 QG 5 4 3 2 1

I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

—JESUS OF NAZARETH

CONTENTS

Prologue: Angels at Arby’s

1. The Crawl-A-See-Um

2. Pastor Job

3. Colton Toughs It Out

4. Smoke Signals

5. Shadow of Death

6. North Platte

7. I Think This Is It

8. Raging at God

9. Minutes Like Glaciers

10. Prayers of a Most Unusual Kind

11. Colton Burpo, Collection Agent

12. Eyewitness to Heaven

13. Lights and Wings

14. On Heaven Time

15. Confession

16. Pop

17. Two Sisters

18. The Throne Room of God

19. Jesus Really Loves the Children

20. Dying and Living

21. The First Person You’ll See

22. No One Is Old in Heaven

23. Power from Above

24. Ali’s Moment

25. Swords of the Angels

26. The Coming War

27. Someday We’ll See

Epilogue

Timeline of Events

Reflecting on Heaven

Notes

Acknowledgments

About the Burpos

About Lynn Vincent

Photos

PROLOGUE

Angels at Arby’s

The Fourth of July holiday calls up memories of patriotic parades, the savory scents of smoky barbecue, sweet corn, and night skies bursting with showers of light. But for my family, the July Fourth weekend of 2003 was a big deal for other reasons.

My wife, Sonja, and I had planned to take the kids to visit Sonja’s brother, Steve, and his family in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It would be our first chance to meet our nephew, Bennett, born two months earlier. Plus, our kids, Cassie and Colton, had never been to the falls before. (Yes, there really is a Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls.) But the biggest deal of all was this: this trip would be the first time we’d left our hometown of Imperial, Nebraska, since a family trip to Greeley, Colorado, in March had turned into the worst nightmare of our lives.

To put it bluntly, the last time we had taken a family trip, one of our children almost died. Call us crazy, but we were a little apprehensive this time, almost to the point of not wanting to go. Now, as a pastor, I’m not a believer in superstition. Still, some weird, unsettled part of me felt that if we just hunkered down close to home, we’d be safe. Finally, though, reason—and the lure of meeting little Bennett, whom Steve had told us was the world’s cutest baby—won out. So we packed up a weekend’s worth of paraphernalia in our blue Ford Expedition and got our family ready to head north.

Sonja and I decided the best plan would be to get most of the driving done at night. That way, even though Colton would be strapped into his car seat against his four-year-old, I’m-a-big-kid will, at least he’d sleep for most of the trip. So it was a little after 8 p.m. when I backed the Expedition out of our driveway, steered past Crossroads Wesleyan Church, my pastorate, and hit Highway 61.

The night spread clear and bright across the plains, a half moon white against a velvet sky. Imperial is a small farming town tucked just inside the western border of Nebraska. With only two thousand souls and zero traffic lights, it’s the kind of town with more churches than banks, where farmers stream straight off the fields into the family-owned café at lunchtime, wearing Wolverine work boots, John Deere ball caps, and a pair of pliers for fence-mending hanging off their hips. So Cassie, age six, and Colton were excited to be on the road to the big city of Sioux Falls to meet their newborn cousin.

The kids chattered for ninety miles to the city of North Platte, with Colton fighting action-figure superhero battles and saving the world several times on the way. It wasn’t quite 10 p.m. when we pulled into the town of about twenty-four thousand, whose greatest claim to fame is that it was the hometown of the famous Wild West showman, Buffalo Bill Cody. North Platte would be about the last civilized stop—or at least the last open stop—we’d pass that night as we headed northeast across vast stretches of cornfields empty of everything but deer, pheasant, and an occasional farmhouse. We had planned in advance to stop there to top off both the gas tank and our bellies.

After a fill-up at a Sinclair gas station, we pulled out onto Jeffers Street, and I noticed we were passing through the traffic light where, if we turned left, we’d wind up at the Great Plains Regional Medical Center. That was where we’d spent fifteen nightmarish days in March, much of it on our knees, praying for God to spare Colton’s life. God did, but Sonja and I joke that the experience shaved years off our own lives.

Sometimes laughter is the only way to process tough times, so as we passed the turnoff, I decided to rib Colton a little.

Hey, Colton, if we turn here, we can go back to the hospital, I said. Do you wanna go back to the hospital?

Our preschooler giggled in the dark. No, Daddy, don’t send me! Send Cassie . . . Cassie can go to the hospital!

Sitting next to him, his sister laughed. "Nuh-uh! I don’t wanna go either!"

In the passenger seat, Sonja turned so that she could see our son, whose car seat was parked behind mine. I pictured his blond crew cut and his sky-blue eyes shining in the dark. Do you remember the hospital, Colton? Sonja said.

Yes, Mommy, I remember, he said. That’s where the angels sang to me.

Inside the Expedition, time froze. Sonja and I looked at each other, passing a silent message: Did he just say what I think he said?

Sonja leaned over and whispered, Has he talked to you about angels before?

I shook my head. You?

She shook her head.

I spotted an Arby’s, pulled into the parking lot, and switched off the engine. White light from a street lamp filtered into the Expedition. Twisting in my seat, I peered back at Colton. In that moment, I was struck by his smallness, his little boyness. He was really just a little guy who still spoke with an endearing (and sometimes embarrassing) call-it-like-you-see-it innocence. If you’re a parent, you know what I mean: the age where a kid might point to a pregnant woman and ask (very loudly), Daddy, why is that lady so fat? Colton was in that narrow window of life where he hadn’t yet learned either tact or guile.

All these thoughts flashed through my mind as I tried to figure how to respond to my four-year-old’s simple proclamation that angels had sung to him. Finally, I plunged in: Colton, you said that angels sang to you while you were at the hospital?

He nodded his head vigorously.

What did they sing to you?

Colton turned his eyes up and to the right, the attitude of remembering. Well, they sang ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and ‘Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,’ he said earnestly. I asked them to sing ‘We Will, We Will Rock You,’ but they wouldn’t sing that.

As Cassie giggled softly, I noticed that Colton’s answer had been quick and matter-of-fact, without a hint of hesitation.

Sonja and I exchanged glances again. What’s going on? Did he have a dream in the hospital?

And one more unspoken question: What do we say now?

A natural question popped into my head: Colton, what did the angels look like?

He chuckled at what seemed to be a memory. Well, one of them looked like Grandpa Dennis, but it wasn’t him, ’cause Grandpa Dennis has glasses.

Then he grew serious. Dad, Jesus had the angels sing to me because I was so scared. They made me feel better.

Jesus?

I glanced at Sonja again and saw that her mouth had dropped open. I turned back to Colton. You mean Jesus was there?

My little boy nodded as though reporting nothing more remarkable than seeing a ladybug in the front yard. Yeah, Jesus was there.

Well, where was Jesus?

Colton looked me right in the eye. I was sitting in Jesus’ lap.

If there are Stop buttons on conversations, that was one of them right there. Astonished into speechlessness, Sonja and I looked at each other and passed another silent telegram: Okay, we really need to talk about this.

We all piled out of the Expedition and trooped into Arby’s, emerging a few minutes later with a bag of grub. In between, Sonja and I exchanged whispers.

Do you think he really saw angels?

"And Jesus?!"

I don’t know.

Was it a dream?

I don’t know—he seems so sure.

Back in the SUV, Sonja passed out roast beef sandwiches and potato cakes, and I ventured another question.

Colton, where were you when you saw Jesus?

He looked at me as if to say, Didn’t we just talk about this?

At the hospital. You know, when Dr. O’Holleran was working on me.

Well, Dr. O’Holleran worked on you a couple of times, remember? I said. Colton had both an emergency appendectomy and then an abdominal clean-out in the hospital, and later we had taken Colton to have some keloid scarring removed, but that was at Dr. O’Holleran’s office. Are you sure it was at the hospital?

Colton nodded. Yeah, at the hospital. When I was with Jesus, you were praying, and Mommy was talking on the phone.

What?

That definitely meant he was talking about the hospital. But how in the world did he know where we had been?

But you were in the operating room, Colton, I said. How could you know what we were doing?

’Cause I could see you, Colton said matter-of-factly. I went up out of my body and I was looking down and I could see the doctor working on my body. And I saw you and Mommy. You were in a little room by yourself, praying; and Mommy was in a different room, and she was praying and talking on the phone.

Colton’s words rocked me to my core. Sonja’s eyes were wider than ever, but she said nothing, just stared at me and absently bit into her sandwich.

That was all the information I could handle at that point. I started the engine, steered the Expedition

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