God Gave Us Heaven

by: Lisa Tawn Bergren; Art by Laura J. Bryant

Published by: Waterbrook Press

Reviewed by Patty Inglish, MS

The dedication for this book is to a child that died at the age of six, bringing a wistful pause before the book begins. This is a special story dedicated to the hope Christians have in an assurance of a future in Heaven. The story states that while physical death is unavoidable in a fallen world, God offers Christians the Hope of a bridge to Him through Jesus.

This is the kind of hope that sooths the parents of a deceased child or the small child left behind by the death of pets or relatives. It can even comfort the polar bear tribe, an endangered species facing extinction amid disappearing sea ice. Even in this danger, the polar bears show joy to their cubs, because all creation will sing His Name in Heaven, where ice is unnecessary.

A polar bear father teaches his she-cub about Heaven by using scriptural tenets. For instance, polar bears do not become angels when they die, because angels and polar bears have their own unique, much-needed purposes in God’s plan. The circle of family can be unbroken in Heaven, if all have used God’s bridge. There, sorrows are left behind and Heaven is full of joy and smiles. Thus, Jesus is a real gift from God, but we have to accept, believe, and use Him as the bridge to Heaven.

The polar bears go fishing, but don’t catch any fish. The fish are wearing bibs, ready for the “all-day dinner” in Heaven that is sung and preached quite often. The bears delight in the thought of such a buffet and the undercurrent in the story it that while a lack of resources plagues the earth, such lack is nowhere in Heaven. The bears return home in the story, the little cub content that Heaven is real.

God Gave Us Heaven is a good resource for the Christian home for comforting young children about human and animal deaths.

Armchair Interviews says: Children from pre-school to mid-elementary ages will enjoy it.

Author’s Web site: http://www.LisaTawnBergren.com