Contagious Faith

When, in the spring of 2004, the most brilliant rainbow we’d ever seen appeared over Imperial, we called him outside to take a look. . . .

Colton was down the hall in the playroom. “Hey, Colton,” I called. “Come out and take a look at this.”

He emerged from the playroom and joined us on the front stoop.

“Look at that rainbow, Colton,” Sonja said. “There definitely should be a big pot of gold at the end of that thing.”

Colton squinted, peering up at colors pouring across the sky.

“Cool,” he said with a nonchalant smile. “I prayed for that yesterday.”

Then he turned on his heel and went back to play.

—HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, 108–109

Sonja

When Colton prayed for a rainbow and wasn’t at all surprised when one appeared the next day in spectacular fashion, his siblings (and his parents) were watching—and learning. Now Colton’s little brother Colby fully expects his specific prayers to be answered too. Obviously, Colton’s attitude has rubbed off on his little brother—and on a lot of other people too.

Colby is a typical little brother to Colton and Cassie: fiercely loyal one minute and an annoying pest the next. It’s normal in our house to hear Colton and Colby arguing over some injustice one of them committed (at least in the other brother’s eyes). Usually it’s that one of them has “borrowed” the other one’s something-or-other without asking.

But despite their occasional spats and the differences in their ages and personalities, one of the things that’s become most apparent to us as Colby gets older is that he has “caught” his big brother’s childlike faith.

What we saw happening in Colby, we wanted to see happen in other kids as well. We asked ourselves, what if other kids, not only Colby, could catch Colton’s simple, childlike faith? That’s how the children’s book Heaven Is for Real for Kids came about. As we started writing it, our goal was that children would learn what Colton already understands and that they would “catch” his contagious faith and then pass it on.

We worked hard to put Colton’s experience into a story that was appealing and understandable to children. The book was published, and we began hearing from many families that it had become a favorite with their kids. But nothing prepared us for a video the Thudium family sent us of their seven-year-old son, Graham, “reading” Heaven Is for Real for Kids to his church congregation, something he had asked to do. (Actually, Graham’s dad said Graham had memorized the book, so we don’t know if he was actually reading the words as the pages were turned or reciting it from memory.)

Graham was in the end stages of his battle against an inoperable brain tumor, so his speech was distorted. His dad repeated each line after Graham said it first. It seems impossible that anyone could watch the video without tears—or without being fully convinced that Graham “caught” Colton’s faith and was eager to pass it on. I can’t imagine anyone watching the video (youtube.com/watch?v=8UcJk9DQuZg) without tears, and without being inspired about the truth that heaven is for real. Graham’s faith is contagious too.

Two days after Todd watched this video, he contacted Graham’s family, only to learn that Graham had entered heaven just moments earlier. Todd wept with his dad at the loss of their child, but at the same time we are all comforted that Graham and his family faced Graham’s death knowing exactly where he would be the moment he sighed out that last breath. And we rejoice to imagine that day when Graham’s parents will see their boy again in heaven, healthy, whole, and cancer-free. We plan to see him there too!

A kid’s faith is contagious. Not only do kids “catch” the gift of personal faith from each other, including their siblings, they also spread it to the adults who are fortunate enough to hear them.

Don’t ever forget: some contagious things, like faith, are worth catching.

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.

—Galatians 3:26 NIV