Author: Don Piper
# of Pages: 256
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
On his long drive home from work one day, priest Don Piper is struck by a semi truck and flung from his vehicle. Not being able to recall this happening, his story begins with him standing in a bright white florescent room with his long deceased grandfather. As he becomes a little more aware of his surroundings, he is told by his grandfather the he had been in a terrible car accident and that he was in fact in Heaven. Starstruck and confused, Don is faced with the new realization that this is all very real. Stepping towards the pearly gates and into God's warm and loving arms, Don is very suddenly woken up to wailing sirens in the back of an ambulance.
With the thoughts of seeing his grandfather and the knowledge that the story he had told him was true, he knew without a doubt that he had just spent over 90 minutes in heaven. Coming to this realization, he is brought into the hospital and told that he will most likely be handicapped for the rest of his life. Finding all of this out at once, as you can imagine, is a lot to take in and is very hard for Don to wrap his head around. Why would God not want him in heaven? Why would he send him back to earth knowing that he is to be disabled?
Depression overwhelms Don as he realizes the amount of pain and recovery time it will take it to feel at least okay again. Deciding that since he is bed ridden anyway, Don begins to write a very detailed and uplifting book about his journey. Coming across many people who he never knew needed his help, he is finally aware of his new purpose. Don sets off to tell his story and offer his positive advice about, not only the accident, but about believing in and asking God for his help and guidance in the hardest of times.
There will always be controversy as to whether there actually is a God or if there is anything after death, but we will never truly know until we are faced with a situation like Don Piper went through. Whether it's a brief moment in heaven to be sent back down to earth for a bigger purpose, or if it is actually your time to go, all we have now is the amazing and inspiring stories that are brought to us from people like Don.
In my most honest opinion, this was definitely a challenging and involved read. Don has a way of pulling the reader in and it 100% hooked me in and made me want to keep reading until the very last page. I found it hard to put this book down as it was a read that really hit close to home. If you are looking for a book to maybe help you through hard times or even one to really get you thinking, this is a great reminder to always cherish and be thankful for what you have.
This book looks like a good read. It gives me chills to think of what he went through.For true believers in God, there is no controversy. When people such as Don have faith in God, they may not know why their life is the way it is, but they trust in God to help them along the way. I think knowing and believing there is God waiting after death makes death seem much less scary.
ReplyDelete