Book Review: We Lived in Heaven

I've been laying low with book reviews lately, though I'm always honored to be asked. But when this one came my way a month or so ago, I thought it was serendipitous timing. For one, I was on break from nursing school, so I had time to read a book for review. For another, I recognized the author's name and love her topic.

When I was newly married (the first time) I worked at First Interstate Bank on Brown Road in Mesa, Arizona. Sarah Hinze, the author of We Lived in Heaven, was a customer at that branch. She had recently written a book called Life Before Life, and I remember her telling me about it at the teller window. I went to Deseret Book that afternoon and picked it up, and later, I brought it in for her to sign for me. I know she doesn't remember me, that would be crazy, all these years later to remember your bank teller, but I remember her because of her book. This book recounts more pre-birth experiences, or experiences that mothers or other family members have had with the spirits of their unborn children or siblings.

The third lovely coincidence was that when I received the book in the mail, Sarah had written just a short note on a piece of paper slid inside the front cover that she used to live in the same town that I now live in, many years ago. If you know the town I live in, that's pretty strange!

I believe in a pre-existence. I love that it is part of the doctrine of my Church. It makes beautiful sense to me that we existed before we were born, just as we continue to exist after this life. This book tells accounts of families who have had the opportunity to meet the souls of their sons and daughters before they made the journey to earth. The stories are faith-affirming, hopeful, and uplifting. Sarah shares her own experiences in the book as well.

A few teasers from the back cover:

* A kidnapped child who survived her ordeal by the guiding hand of the baby sister who would be born years later.

* A little boy's memory of being brought to earth by his grandfather--a man he never knew.

* A woman's vision of a child in a garden, and the powerful certainty that he was her son, waiting his turn to come into this world.

This is a heartwarming read. Sarah has done a fantastic job of carefully compiling these sacred accounts from people of all faiths. I also loved that Richard Paul Evans (one of my faves!) has given it a shining endorsement on the front cover. It's a feel-good book, and a book that will make you appreciate the gift that this life is to us, this one stage of our eternal existence.

You can buy We Lived in Heaven here, or visit Sarah Hinze's website to learn more about her work.