Waking Up in Heaven

Waking Up in Heaven by Crystal McVea

In 2009 Crystal McVea went into the hospital for a routine procedure and died.  For nine minutes she was in Heaven with God.  This is the story of God's leading in her life all along the way and the most important lesson she learned:

God is real, and we are all worthy of His love ans salvation because He finds us worthy. page 233

Here is what was convicting to me, Mrs. McVea shared a story about going to a pizza place with her daughter, when she was paying the bill she felt a "nudge" from God to tip the waitress $100.  She talked to God about it and she felt that He was telling her it would be OK to tip her $50 instead.  Finally after speaking with her husband by phone, she was obedient.  Later she found out that the waitress was praying that she'd make $100 in tips that night, she already had $50 and with the tip Mrs. McVea gave her she made her $100.  Here's what she said:

God even used me to answer someone else's prayers, and instead of acknowledging that, I gave myself a nice little pat on the back for my good deed - when in fact it had nothing to do with me.  Truth be told, I wasn't even completely obedient to God when I left that tip.  The Pizza Hut waitress had prayed to make $100 that day, and in the end she did, and she praised God for answering her prayer.  But, God didn't want me to just match her $50 that day.  He had asked me to give her the entire $100.  He wanted to go above and beyond for the child He loved.  He wanted to give her more than what she'd asked for.  I believe that sometimes God wants to bless us beyond whatever blessing we pray for.  And sometimes what stops that from happening is us.  pages 136, 137

I am still wondering how many times I've blocked God's blessing in my own life or someone else's because of fear or flat out disobedience?

This was an engaging read.  There was enough detail to make her account understandable, but she didn't go overboard in her sharing.  She went through some pretty difficult circumstances in her life which could have made for unpleasant reading, but she took care not to share unnecessary information.  

I hope you enjoy this book!

Until next time...