On Our Way Home: Reflections on Heaven in the Face of Death

Marvel at the true home Jesus has prepared for you and me.

Deep in our souls is a longing for a home--a place of beauty and goodness. A place where we--and the ones we love--are not touched by grief and sorrow. We long to live without the threat of disease or violence, a place where there is no shadow over our joy. But this isn’t that place. The home we long for is . . . heaven.

For the past three-and-a-half years, Colleen Chao has been living with a terminal diagnosis. In this precious time, she’s been pondering questions like:

What is heaven like?
What happens to me the moment I die?
Will I be able to see my loved ones from heaven?
Where have I been mistaken in my ideas about heaven?
How can I practically experience the hope of heaven in the face of death?

Including soul-sustaining comfort from the Scriptures and the testimonies of faithful saints, Colleen shows how our deepest desires--for beauty, wonder, peace, healing, happiness, power, worship, and belonging--are permanently (and increasingly!) fulfilled when we get Home. On Our Way Home draws deeply from God’s Word, infusing our hearts with hope, even in our darkest days. Come, and experience the comfort of our promised eternal Home.

Whether you’re facing a terminal diagnosis, or your loved one is--or suffering of another kind is causing you to desperately need the hope of heaven--I pray you will sense the God of all hope with you, holding your right hand, comforting you with his counsel, and preparing you for an eternity of glory.

COLLEEN CHAO has written extensively about finding God’s goodness in the unexpected chapters of her life, including singleness, chronic illness, and terminal cancer. She’s worked as an editor and writer for global organizations, and an English teacher to some of her favorite people on earth—teenagers. When she’s not wrangling words, she enjoys beautiful hikes, side-splitting laughter, and half-read books piled bedside. She makes her home just outside Boise, Idaho with her husband Eddie, their son Jeremy, and Willow the dog.