Heaven

As you know I've been thinking a lot on this topic. Today I want to share with you my mom's vision into heaven five days before she left her pain-ridden body to enter into it's glories. I wrote this and read it at her memorial service.


The Sunday evening before Mom died, four of us surrounded her bed. My sister, Kathy, and I were holding her hands. My daughter, Kathy, and my stepsister, Deb, were there, too.

Mom turned to me and said she was so tired. When would she be released from her body? I reminded her that soon she would be with the Lord in heaven. She replied, “Really? I’ll be going soon?”

Then she turned her gaze to the upper corner of her room as she had done several times over the previous two days. Only this time her big, beautiful smile, broke out, and her face was radiant. I asked her what she saw.

“Oh, it is so much more than I ever thought it could be.”

“What is, Mom?”

“Heaven.” Her voice sounded a little impatient, like she couldn’t understand why we couldn’t see it, too. “It’s so much more.”

“Can you describe it for us?”

She shook her head. “There just aren’t words to do that.”

I reminded her of the verse in 1 Corinthians that says, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.”

She said, “Oh, yes, that. I couldn’t have ever imagined what it is really like.”

She continued to gaze into heaven as she lay in her bed, quietly taking it all in. The four of us watched her and cried, tears amidst the laughter. She was so joyful, and heaven was so real right then.

I remembered what Mom’s second husband, Jim, said just before he died. He described the music he heard and the colors he saw. So I asked Mom what colors, if any, she could see.

“Only one,” she said. “A real clear, bright blue—more vibrant than any blue you can imagine.”

“What about people? Do you see any?”

“Oh, yes. They are on the periphery. Lots of them. So many. . .and I know them all!” She said this with wonder in her voice.

“Do you see your parents?”

She nodded. “Oh, yes.”

“Your grandparents?”

“Yes, they’re there, too.”

“What about our daddy?” I asked this question for both my sister and me. He'd committed suicide 26 years before.

Her eyes moved as she looked for those I asked about.

“Yes, he’s there.”

“What are they doing, Mom?”

“They’re standing there waiting for me to come so they can shout, ‘Hallelujah!’”

She was so excited she practically shouted the last word.

Then I asked if she could see Jesus.

“Oh, no. No. Not until Richard gets here.”

All during this time several nurses and one of the social workers came in, checking on Mom. Some, when they realized what was going on, stayed to hear some of what she was saying, but they all left with tears in their eyes. Ron, Deb's husband, and Roger joined us, too. Only Mom’s eyes were dry all during the two hours and more that she looked into heaven.

After one of her short rests, she told me, “My eyes are dancing.”

When I asked what she meant, she said, “There’s so much to see, my eyes are dancing trying to take it all in.”

At one point she said she could feel God’s presence. It permeated everything. She said heaven was so full of God that He overflowed the space and wrapped around her. At this point she said she was no longer afraid of the final journey because of God’s presence surrounding her and wrapping her in His love.

About 8:30 Richard called for final directions to the hospice center. When Mom roused shortly after, I told he would be there in just a few minutes. At that point, Mom sat up in bed, raised her arms in the air, and shouted, “Praise the Lord, oh, praise the Lord.”

Then when Richard arrived, she reached her arms out for a hug, gave him a big smile, and said, “Richard, I get to go to heaven now!”

Richard says that when Mom woke the next morning and realized she was still in her room at the hospice center, she was very disappointed. But she remembered what she’d seen the evening before, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she would see her Savior.


How I have clung to these moments with Mom, because I believe the Lord allowed her to have this glimpse before she went not only to encourage her for her final journey but also to comfort those of us left behind. It certainly has made me long for heaven that much more.


Daily Bible reading: Isaiah 9–10, Mark 3:20–35
Saturday's Bible reading: Isaiah 11–13, Mark 4:1–20
Sunday's Bible reading: Isaiah 14–16, Mark 4:21–41


Have a wonderfully blessed weekend!