Kathryn and I recently finished reading Tell Me About Heaven by Randy Alcorn. We absolutely loved the gorgeous illustrations by Ron DiCianni. I'd heard of this book, and I love what I've previously read from Randy Alcorn, so I was glad to find this in the library at our church. We checked it out the Sunday after my grandfather passed away, and took our time reading through it that week.
The story is of a little boy who goes to stay for a visit with his grandfather not long after his grandmother has passed away. The boy, Joel, has many questions about heaven, and what has happened to his grandmother, and if he'll ever see her again. His grandfather gently helps him through those questions. It's a beautiful, sweet story, with scripture throughout. The only criticism I have heard of this book is that it may not be 100% accurate in it's use of scripture. But I don't think that at all; every time there is something open to interpretation, the grandfather says something like, "Well, I think that means..." or "The Bible says [such and such], so maybe..." The author never claims to know everything about heaven, and I think he's careful to show that. I made a point of explaining to Kathryn that the only things we can know for sure are what the Bible specifically tells us, and we won't know the rest until we get there, but this gives us a great idea of what heaven might be like.
Knowing what a strong man my Grandaddy always was, and how feeble he had become, particularly this past year, I was very touched by the part of the story when the grandfather tells Joel this: "If I ever can't get out of bed or can't think straight... that's just a temporary condition. Don't ever think I'm past my peak. I'll never pass my peak, Jake. The strongest and healthiest I've ever felt is just a hint of what I'll be in the resurrected body on the New Earth. The best is yet to come..."
In Grandaddy's last days, he said there was a man standing in the corner of his room, and we believe it was an angel. Grandaddy kept reaching towards heaven asking my aunts to help him "open that door." Kathryn and I liked the part of this story where the grandfather says that Joel's grandmother was probably taken to heaven by angels, like the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16:22: "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side." We like to think about that angel in Grandaddy's room opening that door to heaven and carrying him to meet Jesus face to face.
We loved this beautiful book and would both recommend reading it with your children. I think reading it aloud together is a good idea, so you can explain to them that this may not be exactly how everything is in heaven, but it could be. I love that it also opens discussion about how we can be sure we're saved, and that we should be living for the Lord now while we're on earth so that we can someday stand before Him and hear,
The story is of a little boy who goes to stay for a visit with his grandfather not long after his grandmother has passed away. The boy, Joel, has many questions about heaven, and what has happened to his grandmother, and if he'll ever see her again. His grandfather gently helps him through those questions. It's a beautiful, sweet story, with scripture throughout. The only criticism I have heard of this book is that it may not be 100% accurate in it's use of scripture. But I don't think that at all; every time there is something open to interpretation, the grandfather says something like, "Well, I think that means..." or "The Bible says [such and such], so maybe..." The author never claims to know everything about heaven, and I think he's careful to show that. I made a point of explaining to Kathryn that the only things we can know for sure are what the Bible specifically tells us, and we won't know the rest until we get there, but this gives us a great idea of what heaven might be like.
Knowing what a strong man my Grandaddy always was, and how feeble he had become, particularly this past year, I was very touched by the part of the story when the grandfather tells Joel this: "If I ever can't get out of bed or can't think straight... that's just a temporary condition. Don't ever think I'm past my peak. I'll never pass my peak, Jake. The strongest and healthiest I've ever felt is just a hint of what I'll be in the resurrected body on the New Earth. The best is yet to come..."
In Grandaddy's last days, he said there was a man standing in the corner of his room, and we believe it was an angel. Grandaddy kept reaching towards heaven asking my aunts to help him "open that door." Kathryn and I liked the part of this story where the grandfather says that Joel's grandmother was probably taken to heaven by angels, like the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16:22: "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side." We like to think about that angel in Grandaddy's room opening that door to heaven and carrying him to meet Jesus face to face.
We loved this beautiful book and would both recommend reading it with your children. I think reading it aloud together is a good idea, so you can explain to them that this may not be exactly how everything is in heaven, but it could be. I love that it also opens discussion about how we can be sure we're saved, and that we should be living for the Lord now while we're on earth so that we can someday stand before Him and hear,
"Well done, my good and faithful servant; enter into your master's joy."What a joy it is for me to know that my Grandaddy heard those beautiful words from his Saviour. I know the Lord has saved me and that I will be with Him one day, and I'm trying to live in a way that pleases Him. I pray that you, too, will someday hear those wonderful words.
