Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy by Stephanie Neilson

Stephanie Neilson had a perfect life.  She was raised in a large, loving family.  She married her ideal man at a young age and promptly had four beautiful children.  Her life was exactly as she dreamed it would be.  She wrote and published pictures of her idyllic life on one of the original “Mormon Mommy Blogs” The Nienie Dialogues. 

One day in August 2008, she and her husband Christian were in a near fatal airplane crash (the one other man in the plane did die).  Christian was burned over 20% of his body and had a broken back.  Stephanie was burned over 80% of her body.  She was in a medically induced coma for 3 months. 

This book is her story.  It is one of devout faith, devastating injuries, great hope and true love.  She details her memories of the accident and how she escaped the airplane with help from the other side of the veil.  She tells of waking up in the hospital with, initially, no memory of what happened and her horror of coming to grips with what happened to her and what that meant to her and her precious children (who were being cared for by her sisters). She explains the excruciating details of what her body had to go through to heal. She shares with the reader her underlying, undoubting, unshakeable faith in her Father in Heaven and how He helped her through this terrifying time.

There were passages that made me weep, but overall she taught me about extraordinary courage and faith.

5 Stars (Rated PG for disturbing description of the accident and injuries)