Home to Heaven

This is a revision of my story. I changed the names back to our children's actual names because this is our story. This story doesn't dwell on the tragedy of her death and the loud mournful sounds, but it dwells on what Maria may have experienced that night.

Written by Todd Gabrielson

Maria was glad to be  home. It had been a long week in the hospital with the surgery on her left leg,hip
and left foot.. She was told that the surgery would help her walk so much better and even keep her out of a wheelchair. She loved walking and certainly didn't  relish the thought of being pushed in wheel chair. She loved her independence.

Somewhere between  birth and coming to Minnesota Maria had developed  a condition called cerebral palsy which for her effected the way she walked.   She remembers asking her dad one time that if " I worked super hard in physical therapy can I not have the surgery?" Her dad looked at her with moist eyes and reminded her that the surgery would help her walk so much better". She knew that her dad loved her very much much and wanted her to experience life to it's fullest.

 Although she didn't mind if  her older brother James waited on her hand and foot and got her what she needed every time she rang the bell, she enjoyed her independance. She and James were just two years apart. They had both been adopted and so were not biological siblings, but they grew to enjoy each other as siblings.  Maria  remembers the bible stories about how through Christ we are all adopted into the family of God and so she knew that adoption was a very good thing.  She remembers her adopted mom telling her how she traveled just before Christmas time to bring her home to her new family and that she was our Christmas gift.  She remembers mom telling her how all of her co-worker's at Meadow Creek Christian School praying for her adoption and even praying for her health problems.

She remembers her dad telling her how he and her brother James would  pray that the adoption process would go smooth when mom was in Guatemala. She was spell bound listening to dad tell the story about how long it took him to finally locate mom's luggage which sat in the wrong airport in the wrong country. She even remembered how James, who was only 4 at the time was so thirsty and  unable to get dad's attention had actually climbed up the stairs, pushed a chair up to the kitchen sink, climbed up and got his own drink of water by putting his mouth under the faucet.She remembered James embellishing the story by saying how he almost fell into the sink.


She and her brother attended the same Christian school where mom was the school librarian. She and her brother would often meet down at the library after school where they would pass the time reading books while waiting for mom to finished her work for the day. In some ways she wished mom had been the art teacher because she loved to draw and that would mean she would have a never ending supply of art supplies to make little cards for her class mates. Maria loved to draw! Maria remembers how she would get in trouble with her teachers for drawing when she should had been doing her homework. It really didn't matter what her teachers thought because she knew that God would rather see her encourage her class mates.

Maria was in her pink bedroom and she loved that feeling. To be in a room with all of her stuffed animals, her books, and her doll house in the corner was a comforting thought. She never liked the hospital room she had to share with a screaming child the  last night she was there.  She just couldn't get to sleep that last night and as her dad reminded her when he came in her room that night for bedtime prayers, " I suppose you are as tired as I am ?".  Maria looked at her dad and exclaimed, " yes, I am tired."  Tonight she could fall asleep immediately because she was home in a place she loved. She was home with her mom, dad, James, and her uncle Bill.  The only one that wasn't there was their dog, Princess, who had died just 3 months before.

She was excited that uncle Bill was going to stay with them for a month to help her get better.  She loved his funny voices as he read to her.  She loved the way he made exercise fun.  She was looking forward to waking up every morning hearing the laughter of her family and having meals with them.  She was glad to be rid of the hospital food delivered by people who were in a hurry and didn't have time to at least talk to her.

Maria felt pain from her hips down. She knew that she would be in pain for a little while, but that she would gradually get better until there would be no more pain.  As long as she could have her family nearby she could endure anything. Maria  was told that if she needed relief from her pain there would be  pain medication she could have. Tonight, the love of her family was keeping the pain at bay which meant she didn't need her dose of medication.

 Maria knew she had a very high tolerance for pain. She remembers when dad brought her to see the doctor for the botox injections  she would decline the anesthetic shot just so she could get back to school to be with her friends. She knew that her brother would never be able to tolerate not having something for the pain. After all, if James couldn't handle being tickled he certainly wouldn't be able to handle the the pain without some kind of shot to deaden the pain.

After the light to the room went out Maria drifted off to sleep. Unlike her brother and her mom she and her dad could immediately fall asleep. It seemed that just moments after the light went off in her bedroom she felt this warmth enter her room. She opened her eyes and saw someone very familiar that she knew  from her bible stories and Sunday school classes. This man had a glow of light and the warmth she felt from him told her that she didn't have to worry.

 Then she remembered immediately who he was! It was Jesus, the one she often prayed to every night at bed rime. The one she prayed to every time she went to the Kid's Prayer team at her church. The one she prayed to for healing a special friend who fell off his ladder and almost died.  Maria felt a smile form on her face as she saw Jesus. "Do not fear Maria  for I am with you".  Maria no longer felt pain. She could move her legs freely without the stiffness she often felt from the cerebral palsy. As strange as it seemed she didn't feel any sadness going with Jesus and leaving her mom, dad,  her brother and her favorite Uncle Bill. She did  ask Jesus  about what will happen to her family. Jesus looked at little Maria and assured her that he would send a helper to each of them.  Jesus knew that where Maria was now going there would be no more sickness, no more death, and no more sadness or sorrow, but he also knew that Maria's family will need his help to get through the coming months of wondering what went wrong. Jesus knew that Marisa's family would be dealing with grief in very different ways and he would make sure that each of them are helped in individual ways.

Maria felt safe as she flew with Jesus to this place that she has only heard stories about from her bible and she looked forward to this new adventure. She remembered all of the times she prayed with her school teachers, her kid's prayer team from church and with her family and she knew that when her life on earth ended she would be going to this new place. Being with Jesus gave her the assurance that every thing was going to be ok. It  felt surreal because she felt no pain from the surgery and she felt no sadness leaving her family behind.  Jesus reminded her that in this new place there would be no more sadness and no more sorrow.

Almost in an instant she was standing in what appeared to be the throne room of God. It was huge! It didn't feel like a strange place because she felt the warmth and light coming from God.  It was as though she was being covered in God's love.  Maria looked all around, moving freely as she inspected  this place.  She remembers her parents had this Thomas Kincaid painting with all of it's rich, vivid colors and thinking how that painting didn't  even come close to describing the beauty of this place. She looked beyond the throne through an open arch where she could see this beautiful landscape of trees, birds, and in the distance she saw a large pristine lake.  She saw lions and lambs playing together in the grass.  Maria was growing in love with this place with each moment of time.

In that room she saw familiar faces. She saw Nana.  The last time she saw her grandma she was in a wheelchair, unable to talk much.. This time though Nana was standing  and with open arms she watched as Maria ran to her.    Nana did not have a disability, but then again neither did Maria. She remembered hearing the story about how Jesus came back from the dead and when he came back he had a new body.

 There were others she saw in that room. Some faces she knew and others who had passed away many years before. She saw biological family she never met who she learned had prayed that she would be adopted by a Christian family in America.  She knew that she was going to enjoy this new adventure and she could not wait to share this adventure when her mom, dad and her brother James join her in this place! She would love everyone to know Jesus so they can all join her! She was already making plans on how to surprise her family when they came home to heaven!