Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
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Then, when we began to share with others what had happened, many people told us, “You should write a book!” to which Sonja and I responded, “Us? Write a book? Yeah, right.”
For one thing, we couldn’t get our head around the idea that anyone would want to read about us. Then there was the whole writing-a-book thing itself. That sounded to us about a notch lower on the huge-undertaking scale than flying to the moon. Sure, I edited my college newspaper, and Sonja wrote a lot in pursuit of her master’s degree. But we both had jobs we loved, young children to raise, and a church to care for. And you have to sleep sometime. It was only after Phil McCallum, a pastor friend, offered to make some introductions and get the right publishing people around us that we thought we might actually be able to make a book happen. Even that, though, was a matter of timing.
See, as parents we were concerned about Colton. A lot of people love his story because of all the details about heaven. We like that too. But then there’s that hospital part when we all walked through terror and misery for what seemed an eternity. That was still tender territory and we weren’t sure how reliving it all would affect Colton. Also, how would he handle the attention? We were concerned about that. We’re still concerned. We’re from small towns, small schools, small churches. “Small” is something Colton knows, but the spotlight? We’re not so sure.
But now, of course, the book is written. Sonja said to me the other day, laughing, “Well, I guess we’ll have to write ‘become author’ on our bucket lists just so we can cross it off.”
People have asked us other questions as well. Kids, especially, want to know whether Colton saw any animals in heaven. The answer is yes! Besides Jesus’ horse, he told us he saw dogs, birds, even a lion—and the lion was friendly, not fierce.
A lot of our Catholic friends have asked whether Colton saw Mary, the mother of Jesus. The answer to that is also yes. He saw Mary kneeling before the throne of God and at other times, standing beside Jesus. “She still loves him like a mom,” Colton said.
Another question people ask all the time is how Colton’s experience has changed us. The first thing Sonja will tell you is that it absolutely broke us. See, pastors and their families are usually most comfortable in the role of “helper,” not “helpee.” Sonja and I had always been the ones who visited the sick, brought the meals, cared for others’ kids, in times of need. We were adamantly self-reliant—maybe, in retrospect, to the point of being prideful. But that grueling stint in the hospital snapped our pride like a dry twig and taught us how to be humble enough to accept help from other people, physically, emotionally, and financially.
It’s good to be strong and able to bless others, yes. But we learned the value of being vulnerable enough to let others be strong for us, to let others bless us. That, it turned out, was a blessing to them as well.
Another way Colton’s story has changed us is this: we are bolder. We live in a day and time when people question the existence of God. As a pastor, I was always comfortable talking about my faith, but now, in addition, I talk about what happened to my son. It’s the truth and I talk about it, no apologies.
Meanwhile, here in Imperial, the business of living goes on just the same as it does for families all across small-town America. Cassie is thirteen and headed for high school in the fall. Last night was a big night for her: she tried out for the high school show choir. Our youngest, Colby, is also reaching a milestone: He’s starting kindergarten this year, which is a good thing because he was starting to drive his preschool teacher nuts.
As for Colton, he’ll turn eleven this month and in September will enter the sixth grade. He’s a regular kid in every way. He wrestles and plays baseball. He plays the piano and the trumpet, but isn’t too wild about school and says his favorite subject is recess. He still talks about heaven occasionally, but he hasn’t claimed to have gone on any more trips or to have any kind of special, ongoing connection with eternity. And despite his supernatural journey, his relationships with his siblings are as natural as can be. Colby follows Colton around little-brother-style, and they fight over who stole whose action figures. Cassie, meanwhile, is the long-suffering older sister. This was demonstrated perfectly when we were all trying to think up a good title for this book.
I suggested Heaven by Four.
Sonja suggested Heaven, According to Colton.
Cassie suggested He’s Back, but He’s No Angel.
In the end, though, it was Colton who inadvertently came up with the title. Around Christmastime in 2009, we had taken a family trip down to Texas and were sitting with our editor at a Starbucks in Dallas, discussing the book. She looked across the table at our oldest son and said, “Colton, what do you want people to know from your story?”
Without hesitation, he looked her in the eye and said, “I want them to know that heaven is for real.”
Todd Burpo
Imperial, Nebraska
May 2010
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
July 1976—Todd Burpo’s grandpa, whom he calls “Pop” (Lawrence Edelbert Barber), dies in a car accident between Ulysses and Liberal, Kansas.
1982—Todd as a thirteen-year-old hears and accepts Christ’s call into ministry as a preacher of the gospel.
December 29, 1990—Todd and Sonja Burpo are married.
August 16, 1996—Cassie Burpo, Colton’s older sister, is born.
July 1997—Pastor Todd and Sonja Burpo accept a call to the Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska.
June 20, 1998—Sonja Burpo miscarries their second child. She is two months along.
May 19, 1999—Colton Burpo is born.
August 2002—Todd shatters his leg in a coed softball tournament game.
October 2002—Todd develops kidney stones.
November 2002—Todd feels a lump in his chest that is diagnosed as hyperplasia.
February 27, 2003—Colton complains of stomach pain and has a high fever that is misdiagnosed as stomach flu.
February 28, 2003—Colton’s fever breaks. His parents rejoice, thinking that Colton is well, when in fact this is a sign of the rupturing of his appendix.
March 1, 2003—The Burpo family visits the Denver Butterfly Pavilion to celebrate Todd’s recovery. That night Colton begins vomiting uncontrollably.
March 3, 2003—Colton is examined by a doctor in Imperial, Nebraska, who dismisses suggestions of appendicitis.
March 5, 2003—Todd and Sonja personally check Colton out of the Imperial, Nebraska, hospital and take their son by car to North Platte, Nebraska’s Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Dr. Timothy O’Holleran prepares for surgery.
March 5, 2003—Colton undergoes his first surgery, an appendectomy. He has both a ruptured appendix and an abscess.
March 13, 2003—Colton is discharged from the hospital. But as Todd and Sonja wheel him into the elevator, Dr. O’Holleran shouts down the hallway for them to return. Blood tests reveal Colton’s white blood cell count has spiked. A CT scan reveals two more abscesses in his abdomen.
March 13, 2003—Colton undergoes a second surgery—a celiotomy—to drain the abscess. During surgery a total of three abscesses are found.
March 17, 2003—Dr. O’Holleran advises Todd and Sonja that there is nothing more he can do for Colton. He recommends that Colton be transferred to the Denver Children’s Hospital. A blizzard blocks all exits with two feet of snow. Back home in Imperial, their congregation gathers for a prayer meeting.
March 18, 2003—The next morning, Colton shows amazing signs of recovery and is soon playing like a normal kid. He skips to his CT scan, which shows no more obstruction.
March 19, 2003—After seventeen harrowing days, Colton’s family returns to Imperial.
July 3, 2003—While en route to visit his cousin in South Dakota, Colton tells the first of many accounts of heaven while parked in an Arby’s parking lot in North Platte, Nebraska. Colton progressively tells more stories of his adventures in heaven.
October 4, 2004—Colby Burpo, Colt
on’s younger brother, is born.
May 19, 2010—Colton Burpo turns eleven. He remains physically healthy.
NOTES
Chapter 2: Pastor Job
1. Matthew 10:24.
Chapter 6: North Platte
1. 2 Samuel 12:13–14, paraphrased.
2. 2 Samuel 12:21–23, paraphrased.
Chapter 9: Minutes Like Glaciers
1. Matthew 9:6.
Chapter 12: Eyewitness to Heaven
1. Mark 9:3.
2. Revelation 21:19–20.
Chapter 13: Lights and Wings
1. Acts 1:9–11.
2. Matthew 28:3.
3. Acts 6:15 NLT.
4. Revelation 10:1 NLT.
5. Matthew 18:3–4.
6. Daniel 10:4–6.
Chapter 14: On Heaven Time
1. 2 Peter 3:8.
2. 2 Corinthians 12:2–4.
3. Revelation 4:1–3.
Chapter 18: The Throne Room of God
1. Hebrews 4:16.
2. Hebrews 12:2.
3. Revelation 21:2–5a, 22–23.
4. Hebrews 12:2.
5. Luke 1:13–15a, 18–19.
6. Hebrews 12:1.
7. Revelation 21:23.
Chapter 19: Jesus Really Loves the Children
1. Revelation 4:3.
2. Revelation 21:18–20 ESV.
3. Matthew 7:7, 9–11.
Chapter 25: Swords of the Angels
1. Luke 10:18.
2. Daniel 10:13.
Chapter 26: The Coming War
1. Revelation 9:6–10 NKJV.
2. Revelation 20:1–3, 7–10 KJV.
Chapter 27: Someday We’ll See
1. John 20:24–29.
2. Akiane Kramarik, Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006).
3. Mark 10:14.
ABOUT THE BURPOS
TODD BURPO is the pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska (Population: 1,762 in 2008), where his sermons are broadcast locally every Sunday via the local radio station. He also works at Chase County Public Schools as a wrestling coach for junior and high school students, as well as serving as a member of the school board. In emergencies Todd can be found working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department as a fire fighter. He is also the chaplain for the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighter’s Association. To support his family, Todd also operates a company called Overhead Door Specialists. Todd graduated from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in 1991 summa cum laude with a BA in Theology. He was ordained in 1994.
SONJA BURPO is a busy mom to Cassie, Colton, and Colby and works at Moreland Realty as Office Manager. With a BS in Elementary Education from Oklahoma Wesleyan University and a Masters in Library and Information Science, Sonja is a certified teacher in the state of Nebraska. She has taught in the public school system both in Oklahoma as well as in Imperial. Sonja is passionate about children’s ministry and also works side by side with Todd as administrator for his garage door company.
ABOUT LYNN VINCENT
LYNN VINCENT is the New York Times best-selling writer of Same Kind of Different as Me, the story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy white art dealer and a homeless African-American man; and Going Rogue: An American Life, the memoir of former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
The author or coauthor of nine books, Vincent worked for eleven years as senior writer, then features editor, at the national news biweekly WORLD Magazine where she covered politics, culture, and current events. A U. S. Navy veteran, Lynn is also a lecturer in writing at the World Journalism Institute and at The King’s College in New York City. She lives in San Diego, California.
Colton’s three-year-old preschool photo, October 2002
Doc’s Dodgers, Todd and Sonja’s coed softball team
Todd, Sonja, and Colton at the Denver Butterfly Pavilion, March 1, 2003
Colton holding Rosie the tarantula with older sister Cassie watching
Photo from the Imperial Republican newspaper, Colton and Todd one week after Colton’s hospital release
Colton’s 4th birthday party, a real celebration! May 19, 2003
Colton, Todd, Sonja, and Cassie at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, July 2003
Colton’s first day of second year preschool, September 2003
Todd and Colton, November 2003
Colton at age seven and Colby at eighteen months playing swords, Spring 2006
Colton, aka The Flash, October 2007
Lawrence Barber, “Pop,” at age 29 with Grandma Ellen, Uncle Bill, and Todd’s mom, Kay, 1943
Lawrence Barber, “Pop,” at age 61
Prince of Peace by Akiane Kramarik
Cassie, Todd, Colby, Sonja, and Colton at Todd’s cowboy-themed 40th birthday party, August 2008
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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