Excerpt from The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven

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Excerpt from The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven By Kevin Malarkey Alex’s First Mention of Heaven As nurses came in and out of the room, Beth changed Alex’s trach tube, with myriad details swirling in her already overburdened mind. Alex waited until Beth finished and then indicated that he wanted to be alone with Mommy and baby Ryan. The hospital staff respectfully left the room and shut the door. What is on Alex’s mind? Beth wondered as she cuddled with him. Alex was at the stage when he could only form words with his mouth and make a faint whisper. Beth leaned in and listened. Alex mouthed, “I want to tell you about the accident.” “Okay, honey, what do you want to tell me?” Beth’s voice was even, but her spirit was startled. This was the last topic she expected Alex to talk about in the moments prior to going home. And it was the first time Alex had spoken to us about the day of the accident. “Jesus came and got me from the car and kept me close to Him the whole time. I was above my body, watching everyone work on me. I was safe. Jesus kept talking to me, telling me I was going to be okay, so I was never afraid.” At this, a radiant smile bathed Alex’s face. He had wanted so long to share his experience and was now gaining the ability to form the words with his mouth, even if he couldn’t get much sound out of his lips. “What else did you see?” “I saw Daddy taken out of the car. The angels set him down in the ditch.” Beth understood what Alex meant by “taken out.” He was saying that his daddy was never thrown from the car, nor had he wandered out in a daze. Angels had literally carried his body to a safe place. “Then I saw Daddy yelling my name: ‘Alex! Alex! Alex!’ Daddy didn’t know where I was, and he was worried about me.” “Did that make you sad, honey?” “No. I wasn’t sad. I was with Jesus. Then lots more firemen came. One fireman brought Daddy his phone, and I saw him make a call.” Beth’s mind raced back to the moment of that call. Humanly speaking, Alex had no way of knowing about it. “Another fireman put something in my mouth to help me breathe. A nurse helped me in the car. The firemen took me out of the car and put me on a flat board. They cut my shirt off. It was my plaid shirt. They took off my shoes, too. Daddy went over to the helicopter to talk with the man in the blue suit.” “Alex, do you mean an orange suit? I think that’s what he may have been wearing.” “No, Mommy. It was a blue suit!”

This would have been the man from MedFlight, the air medical transport group that had provided the helicopter. Later Beth asked me about the uniform, because when Dave had spoken to her at the hospital, she was sure he was in an orange suit. But I told her that Alex was right on the money—it was indeed blue. “I saw the helicopter man bend over me and pray for me. Then they also put Daddy on a flat board before they put him in the ambulance. They cut off his clothes, too.” All of this was true, and he had no way to know any of it. He had been unconscious from soon after the accident, and by the time the medical personnel were tending to me, he was already in the helicopter, heading to Children’s Hospital. “Honey, tell me where you went,” Beth continued. “Mommy, I was with Jesus, but my body, down under me, was not breathing. But Jesus said, ‘You shouldn’t worry. You are going to breathe again.’” “Did He say when?” “No, He didn’t.” “What about angels?” “They were there too.” “Do you remember anything else, honey?” “My Barneys were everywhere!” Beth laughed. We had almost forgotten about the old cloths he carried around instead of a security blanket. Just as he said, the Barneys had been spread across the scene. “And I remember the room where they worked on me when I got to the hospital. There were many people. Maybe . . . twenty people? They were all helping to work on me. They all said how bad I was hurt. They were very sad.” “Did that make you afraid?” “No. I was never afraid as long as Jesus was with me. Jesus told me I should tell you all about it. ” “Thanks, honey. I’m really glad you did.” Beth took a moment to reflect on this amazing conversation and what had led up to it. With too much to do at home, she had not intended to come to the meeting today. She was already at the end of her rope in every conceivable way, and with Alex coming home, life was not going to grow simpler. The plan was for her to stay home and for me to come to the meeting, but we changed our minds at the last minute . . . or, rather, God changed the plan. Jesus had wanted Beth there. Jesus had a message for her through her son Alex. Okay, Lord, she thought. You have my attention. I’m listening. She had begun that morning feeling overwhelmed, wondering how she could keep going. Now it was revealed so clearly through the mouthed words of a child that God was still in control. His grace was sufficient. Alex had never been afraid because he had been sitting with Jesus. Shouldn’t she be resting in Jesus too? The message couldn’t be more direct. In the quietness of that room, Beth gave silent thanks to God. And as in this moment with Alex, we have found over and over that when we are desperate for God, He is everywhere to be found. ©2010 Tyndale House. The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Kevin Malarkey. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.