Heaven is a Real Place

heavenAlmost 7 years ago, my adorable son sat beside me while I worked on my computer.

With both hands planted firmly on my cheeks, he asked, “Where is Heaven? Are the clouds heaven?”

Unsure of the answer, I mustered to say something based on what I learned from my Grade school Religion subject…

“I’m not sure if the clouds are heaven, but it’s somewhere up there and hell is down there,” I said, kissing his fat cheeks.

Luijoe asked all of these questions two weeks before his untimely death.

What a lame answer! I wish I knew more what heaven is like.

Luijoe never tired of asking the same questions over and over again, as though reassuring himself that there were angels that protected him and that heaven was a beautiful place to go when someone died.

As I wrote in the book , Fallen Cradle, it seemed that my son was preparing himself for heaven even fearful he would go to hell because like any little boy, he could also be naughty.

“I don’t want to go to hell,” he hugged me.

I hugged him back, said he was a good boy, and promised that he would never go to hell.

Reflecting back on his death, I firmly believe that Heaven is a real place. It is impossible for us to envision what heaven will be like. Of course , no one from the dead came back to say that “Heaven is beautiful…Heaven is full of Joy…Heaven isn’t boring….Heaven is a real place”. Being humans, we only understand the here and now.

I imagine heaven to be a wonderful reunion of sorts with my loved ones. Only God knows if I deserve to be in heaven . But for the sake of discussion, let’s just assume I will end up in heaven ( I know I have to deserve this). I imagine myself entering Heaven’s gate, with my son, my mother, my dad, my brothers Oscar and Ruben with their arms wide open. I know my body will not be like this. It will be an eternal body and our loved ones will surely know who I am even in this form. Heaven will be more beautiful than we can comprehend and conceive.

Upon entering heaven, we will find the absence of evil, ruin, decay or sorrow.
Upon entering heaven, we will find God’s presence.
Upon entering heaven, we will find worship as a lifestyle.
Upon entering heaven, we shall find our Father’s house and inheritance.

Everytime I pass by the lovely house that Luijoe promised to buy me one day, I imagine that this house might be what he is preparing for me right now in heaven. And I need to deserve it.

In the meantime, I continue to work on my faith in God through my mission and advocacy. I want to go to heaven to be reunited with my son and loved ones who went ahead of me. My life here on Earth is only temporary.

Heaven is where we belong one day. Forever.

And as tears cascade once again….

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away

Revelation 21:4

Technorati Tags: , ,

Filed under: Grief Education, Spiritual



You can also get Email Updates of any new posts by adding your email address below:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed.

The comments posted on my blog are moderated. I reserve the right to remove comments, words or phrases that are defamatory, abusive, incite hatred and advertise an email address or commercial services or just plain spammy. I also reserve the right to remove posts that to my opinion are off-topic, irrelevant, ad-hominem, personal attacks and or just plain rude. (January 16, 2009)

RSS feed

15 Comments »

Comment by Mark McManus
2007-03-04 19:14:12

Wow that’s touching. You are a great writer too. Thanks for this article, puts things into perspective. I hope you reach a lot of people with your work. I’m subscribing to your feed.
Mark McManus

 
Comment by Noemi
2007-03-04 22:04:30

@Mark- My son inspires me. yes, hopefully I can reach out to a lot of people who need help.

 
Comment by sexy mom
2007-03-05 01:17:04

Noemi, i am really touched. i would like to imagine heaven as the promised land, where there is eternal happiness, where we are united with our beloved departed, the eternal garden where your dear Luijoe frolics…

 
Comment by fruityoaty
2007-03-05 04:22:22

Heaven is a real place. God is real. I have to believe that as sometimes, it’s the only thing that gets me through the misery, through a hard day, a hard year.

Your son was loved on earth, but your son is loved and cared for more in heaven.

Inspiring entry.

 
Comment by Noemi
2007-03-05 07:19:48

@sexy mom- Yes, a beautiful place

@fruityoaty- It’s my son’s death that inspires me that there is eternal life. Forever loved and cared for

 
Comment by Sam
2007-03-05 08:03:00

Hi Noemi. What a beautiful and touching entry. Thank you for sharing. Wishing you and your loved ones blessings and happiness.

 
Comment by jun
2007-03-05 09:41:00

Luijoe is still with you.

 
Comment by Noemi
2007-03-05 18:31:41

@sam- thanks. Hope you get as much blessings

@jun- yes always in my heart

 
Comment by annamanila
2007-03-05 21:11:29

What a beautiful and touching piece!

Oh, my the sense of loss never goes, does it? Sabi nila, grief it’s not a vertical but a circular
staircase. But it’s now a kind of a dull pain isn’t — it is for me. With “what might have beens” sprinkled in.

Thanks Noems for sharing your vision of what heaven might be like. Sabi nila, God is so generous He gives us what we expect — and more.

 
Comment by James A. Karlock Subscribed to comments via email
2009-01-02 07:11:15

Heaven is any place away from Christians and that butt poker Jesus Christ!

 
Comment by Guia Gomez
2009-01-06 00:22:39

Heaven is real…. but it always starts in one’s heart.

Guia Gomezs last blog post..Blogs are Definitely the New Media

 
Comment by Mayan
2009-04-29 14:30:52

I cried reading your entry. I feel the same way too. When my father, whom I love so much, died, my fear of death has somehow faded. It somehow made me believe in heaven all the more. The thoughts of seeing my loved ones, especially my father, and spending every minute of my eternal life praising my Creator made me anticipate the day when I will be called to spend eternity in heaven.

 
Comment by inna
2009-06-02 13:03:29

i love ur blogs. it inspires me. i hope i’ll get to meet you up someday. :) i hope u’l keep on blogging these things.

 
Comment by Jackie J.
2009-07-02 13:25:02

Hi Noemi,

I really dont know how I got into your page, but it is not a coincidence… I was touched by your story and I hope to know you personally. I am a newbie at blogging and intend to reach Filipina bloggers to be able to share my own journey of death, just like you. Although mine is a little different as I was recently diagnosed with stage 3 cancer which later methasthesized to stage 4 ca … and at that time I already had a hard time walking because of all the pain.

But now almost 5 months after, I am enjoying life and blogging about it. All because of a natural product that was given to me by a priest. To know more please check out my journey at

http://www.heliumasia.com/2009/06/frank-cure-for-cancer-reliable-evidence.html.
http://urbanretreatmla.blogspot.com/
or you can email me at noniche_blogher@yahoo.com

I look forward to more of your posts. I hope you dont mind that I will post a link in my blog to this page. Hope to get to know more of you personally soon.

With love and grace,

Jackie
Jackie J.´s last blog ..Tweeting your way around the world My ComLuv Profile

 
Comment by Stephanie
2009-08-15 16:17:36

I am reading your blog searching on google for Heaven as my mother lays in her last hours not responding to us much now. She is 58. I don’t know how old your little boy was but I know God sees children who are too young to believe for themselves as special cases like with David’s little son in the Bible who went straight to Heaven. My Mom is going to Heaven because she believed in Jesus on the cross paying for her sins. i couldn’t help but notice that you hoped and believed you were good enough. In reality none of us are, but by trusting in Jesus’ paying the penalty for our sin, we are granted eternal life.

 
Name (required)
E-mail (required - never shown publicly)
URI
Subscribe to comments via email
Your Comment (smaller size | larger size)
You may use <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> in your comment.
CommentLuv Enabled

Trackback responses to this post



My Advocacy


grief support after the death of a child
Grief Support in the Philippines
After the Death of a Child

filipina
FilipinaImages.com is a collaborative effort of all the bloggers who believe that The Filipina of the Future deserves a more empowered, diverse image online. Join the Filipina Image Online Campaign

suicide
Suicide prevention is everybody's business. Educate our community that suicide is a preventable public health problem in the Philippines. Suicide should no longer be considered a taboo topic, and that through raising awareness and educating the public, we can SAVE lives.