The following text is excerpted from the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. This book is about Todd's son Colton and his experiences in Heaven while being operated on a the age of three from a ruptured appendix.
...One evening in October, I was sitting at the kitchen table, working on a sermon. Sonja was around the corner in the living room, working on the business books, processing job tickets, and sorting through payables. Cassie played Barbie dolls at her feet. I heard Colton's footsteps padding up the hallway and caught a glimpse of him circling the couch, where he then planted himself directly in front of Sonja.
"Mommy, I have two sisters," Colton said.
I put down my pen. Sonja didn't. She kept working.
Colton repeated himself. "Mommy, I have two sisters."
Sonja looked up from her paperwork and shook her head slightly. "No, you have a sister, Cassie, and ... do you mean your cousin, Traci?"
"No." Colton clipped off the word adamantly. "I have two sisters. You had a baby in your tummy, didn't you?"
At that moment time stopped at the Burpo household, and Sonja's eyes grew wide. Just a few seconds before, Colton had been unsuccessfully to get his mom to listen to him. Now, even from the kitchen table, I could see that he had her undivided attention.
"Who told you I had a baby die in my tummy?" Sonja said, her tone serious.
"She did, Mommy. She said she died in your tummy."
...I knew what my wife had to be feeling. Losing a baby was the most painful event of her life. We had explained it to Cassie; she was older. But we hadn't told Colton, judging the topic a bit beyond a four-year-old's capacity to understand. From the table, I watched quietly as emotions rioted across Sonja's face.
"It's okay Mommy," he said. "She's okay, God adopted her."
Sonja slid off the couch and knelt down in front of Coltonso that she could look him in the eyes. "Don't you mean Jesus adopted her?" she said.
"No, Mommy. His Dad did!"
Sonja turned and looked at me. In that moment, she later told me, she was trying to stay calm, but she was overwhelmed....
Sonja's eyes lit up and she asked, "What was her name? What was the little girl's name?"
..."She doesn't have a name. You guys didn't name her."
... "You're right, Colton," Sonja said. "We didn't even know she was a she."
Then Colton said something that still rings in my ears: "Yeah, she can't wait for you and Daddy to get to heaven."...
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Losing a baby during pregnancy is an event surrounded by emotion and often loved ones do not know the "right" things to say. This illustration does not negate the pain of loss, but it gives an illustration of how my little one is safe, loved and most of all alive. This story gives me hope. As I read the account of this 4 year old little boy meeting his sister, I was able to feel myself holding my own child for the first time. I hope it gives you the same healing moment it did me. :)
If you liked this excerpt, consider getting and reading the rest of Heaven is for Real. (If you'd like to help support this blog with your purchase use the search box below and type "Heaven is for Real") Colton's account of his experience is nothing short of miraculous. It also gives you a glimpse of what heaven looks like, and makes the thought of going to be with lost loved ones an exciting reunion instead of a solemn judgement. It will challenge your beliefs and bring hope for those who know Him.
