Todd Burpo is a pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan, serves as a volunteer fireman, and works with a garage door  company. His wife, Sonja, is a children’s minister, busy pastor’s wife, and mom. Colton, now an active twelve-year-old, has an older sister Cassie, and a younger brother, Colby. The family lives in Imperial, Nebraska.

This story is about Colton, at age 3, goes through appendicitis. He goes through 5 days of his insides being poisoned. While being operated on, he leaves his body and goes to Heaven. He could tell his Dad what room he was praying in, and where his mom was when he was in his “out of body” experience. While he was in heaven, he got to talk to people he has never meet in life. They even talk about events that have happened before Colton was even born. He got to meet his sister, which his mom miscarried within of two months of being pregnant. He also got to meet his great-grandfather, which passed away about 30 years before Colton was born. Colton never knew about his sister, or his Great-Grandfather. When he came back from Heaven, he got to tell his mom and dad about his experience and everything that happened. His mom and dad didn’t pry information out of him, but what he knew matched up to the Bible. He knew things that normal 3 year olds (almost 4 years old) would never be able to understand.

I actually loved this book. It only took me about two days to read it, and I would suggest it to anyone. If you have kids you can relate to the emotional pull the parents are in. You gain insight on what Heaven is like, and how it can be real. Do I fully trust their judgment? Well, maybe, but I am human and I wouldn’t fully believe till I saw it for myself, which I am sure you would be the same. It was hard for me to grasp that the little boy had such interesting details, even I have an almost four year old and her way of words is not that of Colton. So, could possibly Todd added more when they wrote the book, possibly, who knows right? However, I would say hands down this is one of the best books I have read this year. I can also say that this book is very insightful, interesting, encouraging and difficult to stop once you start.