Heaven is for Real tells the story of a family who almost lost their son Colton, but ended up surviving and getting a glimpse of Heaven. A story of hope. Every dark night have a bright day. Todd Burpo, the father of the family, is a pastor who installs garage doors on the side as an add-on to the church income. One year, he battled cancer and suffered through a leg break. After his recovery, he and his wife decided to spend time in a little family vacation.
Right before Sonja drives her kids to meet their father on vacation, their son, Colton began showing signs of illness. However, Colton quickly recovered and so the family traveled. Unfortunately, during the trip, he got ill again and he won't stop vomiting. The family rushed back home to take him to the emergency room. After being evaluated by multiple doctors, they determined that Colton's appendix had bursted and the toxins are all over his system and he is rushed off for surgery.
After the operation, Colton's body is filled with infection and does not functions as its supposed to do. A few months later after his recovery, the Burpo family are driving to visit some relatives. Colton began talking things about Heaven and Jesus, it's there where his family realized that their son caught a glimpse of Heaven while he was in surgery.
At first they didn't believe him, but as years went on, he began talking things about Heaven, God and Jesus, things that a four-year-old child should not know about. He then tells them that he met a sister he never knew he had, referring to the child Sonja had miscarried. He also talked to them about his grandfather, who died before he was even born.
Todd was amazed at how accurately his son's descriptions were close to the text found in the Holy Bible, a book he has never read. He even pointed out the accuracy of a painting drawn by a little girl about Jesus. This little girl has been having dreams or visions about heaven ever since she was four.
The story ends with the Burpo family sharing Colton's story, since they found that it helped people. Currently, Colton is eleven-years-old. He would talk about Heaven once in a while, but he hasn't had an experience similar to when he was three-years-old.
