Is Heaven for Real?
I just finished reading the book “Heaven is for Real.” I watched the movie made from the book as well. This book was given to me quite some time ago but in all honesty I was afraid to read it. Why? I knew that I would have a very hard time getting through the book because of experiences I have been through in life.
The book is about a four year old boy who is placed into a life threatening situation because of a burst appendix. His survives his brush with death and begins to tell his parents that he visited heaven while on the operating table. I won’t go into any more details as I highly recommend you read the book or see the movie.
As I said it was hard for me to get through this book. Ten years ago, on a day in July, I spent the afternoon holding my mother’s hand during her last hours on earth. This first of August will mark a year since my little sister passed away. Yet those aren’t the only reasons this book had such an effect on me. I can, in a small way, relate to what this boy experienced.
Let me first say that no, I have not visited heaven. At least I don’t think I did. Actually, I really don’t know what happened. I have a heart condition. Some time ago, my heart went out of rhythm and it would not go back on its own. I spent three days in the hospital hooked up to monitors and being fed drugs that were supposed to make the chambers of my heart work in a normal rhythm again. The cardiologist explained that a condition like this, as acute as it was for me, had to be rectified within 72 hours or there was a chance I was suffer permanent damage to the heart muscle and possibly even death. If the drugs did not “flip” the heart back into rhythm, they would have to stop my heart for fifteen to twenty seconds then resuscitate me with a defibrillator. I would be given a “cocktail” of drugs that would put me to sleep and stop my heart; essentially I would be placed in a state close to death. I was told I would not feel or remember anything. Well that didn’t happen.
For some reason, I have a resistance to anesthesia. I have woken up during surgery before (but that is another story). They gave me the shot to put me under. The next thing I remember is being in a place that was all white. I can’t say I was floating as it didn’t feel that way. I felt a more at peace than I have ever felt before. I can’t explain it any other way. It felt wonderful. I remember thinking I didn’t want this to end. Then I began to see these colors passing by and all of a sudden I was awake. I opened my eyes to see the nurse standing over me and I blurted out; “That was cool!” I explained what I had just experienced and she just looked at me like I was out of my mind. I haven’t told many people about this as I figure most people would have the same reaction as the nurse did that afternoon.
Is heaven for real? Since this experience, I truly believe heaven exists. This belief, or faith as some may call it, has gotten me through the experience of watching my mother slowly slide away before my eyes and the shock of my sisters passing. I miss them terribly but I know they are with God and their suffering is over. I am not an outwardly religious person. I keep that between God and myself; at least until now.
The book is “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo. I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it already.
Choosing Gratitude
Many months ago, I purchased a book entitled “Choosing Gratitude ~Your Journey To Joy.” That book has sat below my coffee table in my living room just waiting for me to fling open the cover and dive in, to allow the message to soak into my being and bring about a greater awareness of how we all need to have more gratitude in our lives.
I have tried to be more intentional and purposeful in my way of thinking. Likewise, I have tried to be careful of the words I allow to come out of my mouth. If I begin to think negative thoughts, I try to stop myself and redirect my thinking to something more positive. Is this always easy? NO! It’s not, especially if you are going through a very difficult time in your life. When you’re struggling, that is when you need to find gratitude and joy even more so than ever before. That is the hard part. How can you find gratitude and joy in the mist of a storm? Well, I’m here to tell you that as bad as it may be, it could always be worse. Count your blessings and consider yourself so incredibly blessed because you do not own all of the problems in the world! Yes, you may have it bad, but there is someone out there that has it worse. I’m not trying to minimize your pain or your suffering. I’m not trying to say that what you’re going through isn’t important because it IS! What I’m trying to get my readers and myself to realize is that there is always something to be thankful for.
Immediately upon picking up this book and reading the Foreword, I had a new found appreciation for the author of this book. When I purchased this book I did not know that Author Nancy Leigh DeMoss had been in a wheelchair the majority of her life. If she can be grateful for her quadriplegia (as she states in the Foreword), what in the world is our problem? We have it so good, and yet we complain so much! This lady has to have people do everything for her; help into and out of bed, getting her dressed, brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, blowing her nose, etc. And yet, she finds beauty in ashes. She finds something good to smile about and offer praises to God above with a grateful heart.
We are so blessed, ladies and gentlemen! We truly are! And what do we do with the gifts we have been given? Life is not all doom and gloom, but yet the majority of our time is spent focusing on negative thoughts. We vent to others, and instead of it making us feel better, we feel worse by having re-lived those moments and things that pained us right when it happened. Now we walk around in a bad frame of mind with the corner of our mouths pulled downward in a frown with our foreheads wrinkled because we’re mad at the world. At that moment especially, search your heart for the good – because there is always good – search your heart for something that you can be thankful for – because there is always something to be thankful for. Look up to Heaven and thank God that as bad as it seems right now, it’s not any worse! Thank Him for the plan He has for your life because He assures us in His word that He does not have plans to harm us but to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite bible verses and is the “hope” part of our name: Light Love Hope).
The below poem was within the first few pages of the book, even before the Foreword. Read it and allow it to speak to you:
Gratefulnesse
Thou that has given so much to me,
Give me one thing more — a grateful heart …
… I cry, and cry again:
And in a quiet canst Thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of thee.
Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.
~George Herbert (1593 – 1633)
There’s a beautiful flower on the front cover of her book. She’s unable to plant a garden or even walk through a meadow filled with wildflowers. Yet, I can imagine that she still appreciates the beauty of the flowers and the Creator of all things. So then should we!
Will you take this journey with me? Will you join me in being more intentional on choosing gratitude on our journey to finding joy?
When We Are The Bully
I saw a quote this week that really struck me.
The worst bullies you will ever encounter in your life are your own thoughts. ~Bryant McGill
Wow. Think about that for a moment. Really let it sink in as to exactly what that one little sentence has to offer. Consider the powerful punch within those few words.
It’s the truth, though, isn’t it?
You wouldn’t speak those words to a valued friend, now would you? Why, then, do you put yourself through this torture? Why do you mentally assault your own self while looking in the mirror? Why do you play a situation from the past over repeatedly in your mind as you beat yourself up over things you “shoulda, coulda, woulda” done differently? The past is the past, dear heart. There is no “do-over” or “un-do” button in real life. BUT, there is forgiveness and grace! You so freely extend this to others. Why won’t you consider extending it to yourself?!
You don’t deserve the harsh words spoken over you – not from any one on the outside – and not from yourself. We ALL make mistakes. Some make huge mistakes, some little ones, but they are all an opportunity to learn and grow.
Don’t use the past as a weapon! Use it as a lesson, instead.
Ask yourself what you gained from that experience? Focus on the positives … and yes, there are positives in every situation, you just have to search long and hard for them at times.
But go gently on yourselves. That’s the hard part, I know.
When we are the bully, we have a negative internal dialogue going with words such as these (and worse!):
Why did you have to be so stupid?
You’re an idiot!
You always mess things up!
How could you do something like that?
You are a horrible person!
Consider going to the mirror after reading this and looking yourself in the eyes. Take a good, long look at yourself but not with condemning eyes. Instead, look at yourself as if you were looking at a child … because YOU ARE!
You, my dear one, you are a child of GOD!
You are so hard on yourself and beat yourself up constantly, but you know what? God has already forgiven you! Now you have the hard task of forgiving yourself. It is possible, although I know it’s not an easy task. You’re filled with remorse and the all too familiar and overwhelming feelings of guilt, shame, and regret.
It’s time to let it go, friend. Let it go.
Is it easy? No.
Is it possible? Yes!!!!
With God’s help, anything is possible.
Will you consider going to God in prayer and asking Him to release you from the burden that you carry around with you? Will you ask Him for strength so that you do not make the same mistakes again in life? Will you honor Him, your family, friends, and yourself by learning from your mistakes and by extending the same grace you would to others now to yourself? He will help you. He will walk beside you every step of the way reassuring you that you are His creation, His child, and you are loved so deeply, so unconditionally – more than you will ever know in this lifetime!
If you will only forgive yourself …
Are you ready to begin again?
Put an end to bulling today. Start with the person you see every day when you look in the mirror.
