it’s not fun to talk about how we got there. Recalling those terrifying days
when we watched Colton cling to life still brings tears for Sonja and me. To
this day, the miraculous story of his visit to heaven and the story of almost
losing our son are one and the same event to us.
When I was a kid, I always wondered why the cross, Jesus’ crucifixion,
was such a big deal. If God the Father knew he was going to raise his Son
from the dead, how was that a sacrifice? But now I understand why God
doesn’t view Easter as just the endgame, just the empty tomb. I understand
completely. I would’ve done anything, anything, to stop Colton’s suffering,
including trading places with him.
The Scripture says that as Jesus gave up his spirit, as he sagged there,
lifeless on that Roman cross, God the Father turned his back. I am
convinced that he did that because if he had kept on watching, he couldn’t
have gone through with it.
Sometimes people ask, “Why Colton? Why do you think this happened
to your family?” I’ve had to say on more than one occasion, “Hey, we’re just
ordinary people from a one-horse town in Nebraska. The best we can do is
tell you what happened to us, and hope that you find it encouraging, like the
nurse in North Platte who maybe needed to see a miracle to believe there
is Someone greater than ourselves. Or the woman at Mountain View
Wesleyan who needed a glimmer of hope to help her cope with her grief.
Or Sonja, who needed salve on her own maternal wounds. Or like my
mother, Kay, who after twenty-eight years of wondering, finally knows she
will one day meet her father again.”
When you look at the book of Revelation and other biblical teachings
about heaven, it’s kind of fragmented. As a pastor, I’ve always been very
conscious about what I share about heaven from the pulpit, and I still am. I
teach what I find in Scripture.
Because I had a lot of questions that I didn’t have answers for, I didn’t
spend much time thinking about heaven on a personal level. But I do now.
Sonja and I both do, and we’ve heard from a lot of people that Colton’s
story has them thinking more about heaven too. We still don’t have all the
answers—not even close. But now we have a picture in our minds, a
picture we can look at and say, “Wow.”
I love the way my mom sums it up: “Ever since this happened,” she told