Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

Heaven is for Real is a thought provoking book about a little boy who during the course of an emergency surgery, goes to heaven and comes back. The father is the author and tells of his family and their life before the miraculous event, their struggles during that time, and then after when the story of their son’s experiences begins to come out. You see a family struggle with loss and fear, and then see how God worked in their lives through those things.

You can choose to believe this families story or not to believe it. After reading it, I choose to believe it. This family was being bombarded with injury and illness and then their son’s gravely ill state, and God spoke to them through their son and showed them that He was there and that He had not left them or forsaken them through that time. Yes, it showed them a glimpse of heaven, but it also showed them Christ’s love for us. I loved that their son repeatedly told them how much Jesus really loves the children. I believe that this book can especially minister to someone who has gone through a miscarriage, as it greatly ministered to me. You don’t have to be a big reader to get through this book. It is not long and the message is simple. This is a must read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Pascal

My friend Anna's daughter, Stella, turned three a couple of weeks ago. She loves the movie Tangled. I happened to have a pattern for a chameleon in one of my knitted toys book, so I made Stella a Pascal from the movie. I put a little note with him that said "Rapunzel wants you to take care of him for her". Anna said that she liked him and even had to take him to bed with her. Yeah!

My Evening with Amy Grant

A couple of weeks before my birthday back in August, Tish emailed me and asked what I had going on the weekend of the 14th of October. Ummm, nothing that I know of considering that is two months away, I said. She couldn't wait until my birthday, so she proceeded to send me an email that explained her inquiry. Tish had bought us two FRONT ROW, CENTER STAGE seats to see AMY GRANT in concert at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas!!! For those who don't know, I LOVE Amy Grant! I have since middle school. It all started when my parents my parents started letting me listen to Contemporary Christian music. Every since I could remember, I was only allowed to listen to children's type music, "elevator" music, and Southern Gospel. Now, I am not bashing Southern Gospel because I love it to this day. Kevin can even testify to how I light up when they occasionally sing a good ol' timey, foot tappin' Southern Gospel tune at church. It's just good stuff. Anyway, I remember mom taking me to the Christian bookstore where I bought Amy Grant, The Collection. I loved it and I proceeded to buy most every older and new Amy Grant cassette tape over the years (until I finally got a CD player and started buying CD's). Who doesn't like El Shaddai, Sing Your Praise to the Lord, and Angels? In fact, this is my all time favorite album of hers and always will be. Not only is it just good music, it also takes me back to the church youth group during my middle and high school years and so many fond memories. I wasn't allowed to listen to New Kids on the Block and such like others my age. There weren't any bands or artists that I idolized back in my pre-teen/teen years. Just let me blast some Amy Grant out of the boom box.

So now you know why I was so excited. I'm not a big concert goer. I was able to attend quite a few Christian concerts while I was working for KVNE in Tyler. It was great, but I've really never had much of a desire to attend another concert, except for one of Amy's concerts. I have always said that I wanted to see Amy Grant in concert; if I could go to any concert, that would be the one. Tish loves Amy Grant also and she made my dream come true! A friend of mine at work said, " You have a great friend." I know, she's the best!!! Thank you dear friend for making my dream come true!

Here is the view from our FRONT ROW seats. Sorry, but I still cannot get over this. We were literally a few feet from her. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra accompanied about half of the songs she sang and it was quite beautiful. The Meyerson itself is gorgeous. I can see why Tish and Shane love to go often.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures once it had started. Bummer. Tish did manage to sneak one picture with her iPhone. When I get the picture from her I will post it.

It was an amazing concert and Amy sounds just the same in person and she does on her CD's. I've always loved her unique voice. She sang some of her older tunes such as Sing Your Praise to the Lord, El Shaddai, and Stay for a While, and she also sang quite a few of her newer songs. We all stood for an encore at the end. Everyone started to sit down when Amy came out to sing "I Will Remember You". She said we could stand and sway to the music if we wanted. There were only a few people well over to the left side of us who remained standing. Tish leaned over to say that she was standing too. After all, she paid good money for the tickets, and Amy said we could stand. So we did. We stood and swayed to the music and Amy looked us right in the eyes and smiled.

Weeding the Jackson Way

This is what happens when you let a weed get completely out of control. You have to use a truck and chains to get it out. We don't mess around with weeds.