Ann Dunn - A Wonderful Place

A
Wonderful
Place

ANN DUNN

Copyright 2016 Ann Dunn.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-1553-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1554-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015916744

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/28/2016

After a busy day at church, it was bedtime at the Williams house. Mr. Williams first said goodnight to his daughters who were already in bed waiting for him.

Goodnight, Audrey. Goodnight, Alice.

Night, Daddy.

When he went to his sons room, Mr. Williams found him sitting on the bed, looking out the window.

Bedtime, Cole. Son, what are you doing?

Without turning his head, Cole replied, Looking for heaven.

Looking for heaven? his dad asked.

Uh Huh! The song at church tonight said heaven came down, so I want to see where it is.

Mr. Williams smiled and said, Cole, the song didnt mean that heaven actually came down here. It meant that Jesus came to earth to give us salvation by dying on the cross for our sins.

Oh. OK, replied Cole, sadly.

You seem disappointed. Whats wrong? Mr. Williams asked.

Nothing. I just wanted to see what it looked like, thats all. Cole started to get into bed.

Mr. Williams smiled as he walked towards Coles bed. Well, the Bible does tell us what heaven looks like.

Cole became very excited; he could hardly believe it! Really? With pictures? he asked.

Mr. Williams chuckled. No, no pictures. But if we read what Gods Word says about heaven and use our imagination, I bet you could get a pretty good picture of heaven, he said.

Cole was so excited; he didnt want to wait another minute. Could you tell me now? I really want to know what heaven looks like.

Sure, his dad replied. And we could probably use your toys to help us.

Mr. Williams took Coles hand and they both sat down on the floor so Mr. Williams could reach the toys. Mr. Williams took some blocks and began to stack them.

First, well use the blocks. Now, the Bible says that heaven has a great wall around it and the wall has twelve gates, three gates on each side of the city (Revelation 21:12-13).

Like the gate at school? Cole asked.

Not really, his dad said. These gates are special because the Bible tells us that the gates are large pearls and each gate is guarded by an angel (Revelation 21:12, 21).

Pearls? Like on Mommys necklace? Cole seemed a little confused because the pearls on his moms necklace were too small to be gates.

Yes, Mr. Williams replied, only these pearls are much bigger. Very soon Mr. Williams had built several walls using the blocks. Next he used some of Coles balls to be the giant pearl gates. For the angels guarding the gates, Mr. Williams used some of the toy army men. Finally the walls and the gates were done. Next, said Mr. Williams, I need one of your train tracks.

Why? Cole asked as he was reaching for the track.

Well, said his dad, we have a road in front of our house, right? Cole nodded. Heaven has a road, too; only heavens road is made of pure gold. So pure, that the road actually looks like glass (Revelation 21:21). Mr. Williams placed the train track inside the walls he had built.

Cole couldnt believe it. A road of pure gold!! Heaven sounded so wonderful! Is that all? he asked.

No, but those things would be enough! his dad exclaimed. There are other wonderful things in heaven. Gods throne is in the city because God Himself is there, and those people who have asked Jesus to be their Savior will get to see Him face to face and live with Him forever (Revelation 22:1,4). To represent Gods throne, Mr. Williams took one of Coles miniature toy chairs and placed the chair inside the wall.

Next, Mr. Williams took a shoelace out of one of Coles shoes and placed it under the small chair. Coming out of the throne is a beautiful river that is clear as crystal (Revelation 22:1). And, near the river is a very special tree called the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:2). Mr. Williams took a small toy tree to represent the Tree of Life and placed it inside the walls.

Cole was so excited to hear all these wonderful things about heaven. But as he looked at what his dad had made, Cole remembered that there were people in heaven, too. So, he asked his dad, What are the people in heaven doing right now?

Well, his dad answered, besides the angels at the gates, other angels are busy serving and praising God. And, those people who have died and are already in heaven are serving and worshipping God, too (Revelation 4:8; 10-11; 5:11-13; Isaiah 6:2-3). The songs that they are singing are not the songs that we sing at church; the words and music for their songs are all new and different (Revelation 14:2-3; 15:3-4).

While his dad was talking about the people in heaven, Cole also remembered hearing about mansions in heaven. What about mansions? he asked. I remember Mrs. Parker talking about mansions in Sunday School class.