Routed To Heaven | Julie Bonn Blank
A Book Review
I believe in Heaven with my whole heart, the same way I believe in Christ—you kinda have to, seeing as how they go hand in hand. On my own faith journey, and losing my sweet Mom in 2024, my dear aunt just weeks ago, a cousin recently admitted to hospice and died there less than 24 hours, and even being there when another cousin died in the ICU, I’ve grown intimate with death in ways I never thought I could.
I spent a big chunk of my adult life terrified of death, but with my mom’s passing and being with her when it happened, the fear left me. Now, I am obsessed with reading, listening, and watching everything I can get my hands on about death, the afterlife, NDEs, and extraordinary experiences with God and Heaven beyond our earthly lives.
So, when I found out Julie Bonn Blank—someone who has also died, gone to Heaven, and been sent back—was writing a book like this, with many Heaven experiences, I knew I had to have it.
And it did not disappoint.
Some of the stories really hit me in the gut, but I’m grateful they had the courage to tell them. I think it’s so important that we all tell our stories, no matter how dark or deep they go, so that not only can others relate and see themselves in their own darkness, but so that God’s light can shine on them and through them.
In Julie’s book, Routed to Heaven, we get to see just that—how God uses our pain for good, how He rescues us time and time again from the world and from ourselves. And how He sends so many back because they’re still needed here to fulfill a purpose. I’ve heard this in nearly every NDE account I’ve read—among many other similarities—that it leaves no doubt in my mind that every single one of us who are still here has a purpose to fulfill.
But I realized something new by reading a few of the stories in this book—I began to wonder how many of us might have died and not known it because we didn’t “wake up” in the back of an ambulance, or surrounded by doctors in an emergency room; we weren’t given the proof of death from a documented stopped heart or spent weeks in a coma with little brain activity. I know it sounds wild, but think about it. God can do literally anything He wants, even bringing us back to life when there are no doctors around with life-saving equipment. Many people who have experienced vivid, lifelike NDEs like those with documentation of death may have also died and come back just as the others did. And equally as fascinating, who exactly made up the rule about us having to die to see Heaven? Remember—God can do anything He wants.
One thing I do know for sure—because it happened to me—is that God allows us glimpses of Heaven even when we are fully awake and undoubtedly alive.
Of course, all of this is another rabbit hole altogether!
So, back to the point.
This is an inspirational, eye-opening book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who might be questioning the purpose of their own life, or even the existence of God. I also enjoyed Julie’s candid warmth and joyful moments when speaking of—and to—Jesus.
Oh! And I appreciate how she made me feel less guilty about falling asleep before reaching “amen”.
Thumbnail photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash