Heaven Changes Everything

I received this book by Todd Burpo from Thomas Nelson Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Since I read Heaven is For Real a year and a half ago, I was very interested in reading this next book, thinking it would be a sequel of sorts. Although there are some updates as to what the Burpo family has been doing, this is much more of a devotional than a sequel. But that is okay; it was great!

The Burpos share their losses and victories in this life and how they reconcile all of that with God's Word. They admit the difficulty in knowing their son survived his near-death experience when not everyone has that joy. They also tell of the difficulty and grief in the miscarriage they experienced and how hard (impossible) it is to explain to someone who has not gone through it. The Burpos travel around the country sharing the Hope they have; this book shares bits of that.

Here are some parts I highlighted in the book so I could remember them for myself:

• "You can always find a reason to give to God when you realize what He's done for you."
• "You see, God doesn't do anything without a bigger purpose than we can imagine. But because we can't even begin to imagine it, we sometimes end up stuck in feelings of hurt and confusion."
• "There are things God allows to happen because he knows the outcome is going to be greater than anything we could ever do on our own."

One other thing to note about this book: If you haven't read Heaven Is For Real, you may be a little lost. They did a good job filling in and explaining parts so that I could remember from eighteen months ago but I don't think it was enough for someone who has never read their first book.