Stand with Him

Every morning while I am getting ready I try to listen to audio scriptures or general conference talk. I listened to this today....and it really touched my heart.

Heaven Is For Real

Heaven Is For Real
By Todd Burpo

I have absolutely been loving my vacation from school. I have been reading at the pool, any free moment I have during the day and into the wee hours of the morning. And it is wonderful. I love getting to read what I want for fun instead of cramming in hundreds of pages of text books. So I have a few book reviews I will be posting today and in the very near future.

This book is the account of a 4 year old boy who dies during an emergency surgery and then later recalls what his experience in "heaven" was like. I have always been fascinated with "Near Death Experiences." I have read a few over the years - some seemingly pure and some not so much...

This book was a quick read - I read it in one evening and it was a fascinating account of heaven from a little child's perspective. I would love to discuss this with someone...so if you've read it pipe up!!
What did you think?  Was there anything that you believed? Didn't believe?

Overall, days later I am still thinking about it...which is a telltale sign for me that it was a worthwhile read. I hope you hurry up and read it so we can discuss!!

Amazon Description:

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

Unearthly

Unearthly, by Cynthia Hand, came recommended by a high school English teacher, who said the teenage girls would like it. We got it in at school and I had several students read it, getting their reactions. They all loved it. This meant I should probably see what it was all about. If you were a fan of Twilight (it was okay), you will enjoy this. One of the enjoyable parts is that the bulk of the story takes place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They even venture into Idaho to shop at the Grand Teton Mall. I am not a fast reader, but made it through in a day, as it's a quick read, big print, fast moving story, lots of white space. Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on the earth to do. Figuring out what that is though isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place--and out of place at the same time, because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side (Okay similar to the Twilight love triangle). \

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understand, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil.

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following you heart. This is just book one of a trilogy.

Over and Out

This will have to do until my graduation next Friday. Anyway, I can always use an excuse to put this picture up. Isn't he adorable!!

 Today I finished my undergraduate career. It was a big deal when I submitted that last exam. Bigger than I thought it would be.

There were a lot of years where I didn't think this would happen. I was knee deep in life and kids and babysitting and although I ALWAYS had this dream of doing this - Always wanted it -Just wasn't sure it would happen.

And then it did. I finished. And got all my final grades today. So its official. Nothing can stop it now. I kept thinking I was going to get this call telling me there was a big mistake and I was a credit short. But its really happening.

I get a whole three weeks off before my Masters program starts. I am going to really "live it up" these three weeks. Doing crazy things like sleeping in(well until I have to take the boys to school :) and refinishing dressers and baking - you know crazy things like that...we single moms really know how to have a good time.


Tyler will be graduating here soon. And I want to get a picture with me and the boys in our caps and gowns. The boys will not like this idea. This is the kind of thing that puts them in very GRUMPY moods. But this is the kind of thing that makes moms very happy. So be looking for that. A picture with me in my cap and gown smiling ear to ear - while Ty and Ethan are in their caps and gowns looking very very annoyed.