Messages from Heaven – 101 Stories Miraculous Stories of Signs from Beyond, Amazing Connections, and Love that Doesn’t Die

When our loved ones leave this world, our connection with them does not end. Death takes away their physical presence, but not their spirits, and we often sense them after they have gone. Sometimes when we see or hear from them, they give us signs and messages. Sometimes they speak to us in dreams or they appear in different forms. The stories in this book, both religious and secular, will amaze you, giving you new knowledge, insight and awareness about the connection and communication we have with those who have passed on or those who have experienced dying and coming back.

My Thoughts

When I first opened this Chicken Soup for the Soul Book (with its compilation of people’s stories about their visits to Heaven and interactions with/ dreams about those who had already died), I was intrigued. I thought it would be similarly-themed to other books where people experience a quick visit to Heaven as they are dying, or end up dying briefly but then getting revived.

However, this book’s compilation of stories had a different feel than I was expecting. One of the main themes of a lot of these stories had to do with communicating with those that had already died and passed on. In one story, that was through channeling a person’s spirit. In other stories, people heard loved ones’ voices warning or directing them to do something specific.

While I don’t doubt the authenticity of a lot of these people’s encounters, my belief system caused me to filter some of these stories in a different light. I believe in a God who supernaturally communicates with people in different ways—whether that be a still, small voice, the Bible, or even a message in a dream. So when I read stories where loved ones whispered a warning or directed a person to tell a doctor something specific, I interpreted that to be the Holy Spirit’s voice speaking. I believe the Holy Spirit could speak in a voice that would be familiar to a specific person, so that he/she would heed the instructions. God has supernaturally intervened in people’s lives for thousands of years.

The dream stories were probably my favorites in this compilation. I was enthralled in the stories when people had loved ones appear to them in dreams, telling them specific things about Heaven or speaking words of comfort to pass onto other family members. God has given me direction through dreams myself and so the truth of some of the dream stories rang true.

Though I didn’t care for all of the stories, certain ones touched my heart immensely—such as the boy in “An Escort to Heaven”, who escorted his brother to Heaven (after an accident) yet wouldn’t tell his mother any details because Heaven was a “secret”. Or in “Granny’s Quilt”, where a grandmother’s words lived on past her death to comfort her granddaughter (during her battle with cancer) that: “Everything will be all right. God is watching over you.”

A lot of these stories were incredibly sad and brought me to tears, so I found that I was not able to read more than one to two at a time, which is different than my past reading encounters with the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Usually they are very uplifting and inspiring.

I did walk away from reading this compilation with a renewed “carpe diem” attitude. Remembering to love and cherish the people in our lives is so important, because life can be short. We should always appreciate it

Kristin
Review Crew