**Books received for consideration. This is a paid post for Frontgate Media. All opinions are my own. #sponsored
Do you ever finish reading a book and just don't know how to go about explaining it?
This is the exact feeling that I have after reading the On Earth As It Is In Heaven two-volume series by Jill Willcox. Here's a little bit about the book:
Two Volumes, One Journey The story is told across two volumes and is meant to be read as one continuous account.
One cold winter morning, a young mother stands at a crossroads on a city sidewalk, her daughter’s small hand clasped in hers. She stares at the closed door of their Boston brownstone. Her husband is gone. Her world is collapsing.
What begins as a desperate search for answers and truth turns into something wholly unexpected: a three-day encounter that changes everything.
In the On Earth As It Is In Heaven two-volume series, the veil between the seen and unseen is lifted, drawing a bruised and weary soul into a transcendent journey through fear and darkness, grace, and astonishing beauty. With poignant honesty, a contrite heart, and illuminating prose, this spiritual odyssey explores what happens when, at our lowest point, Love Himself appears—not to fix everything, but to become everything.
This story will ignite faith and awaken hope. You are not alone—He is here.
I was recently given the chance to experience this one for myself. It is so uniquely different than anything I think I've ever read that I truly do not know how to explain it. Before I try to sort out my thoughts though, let's hear more about what inspired this series.
So, what exactly does the author, Jill Willcox, say about On Earth As It Is In Heaven and the experience that led her to write it?
“This 2 Volume Book Series is based on a 3-day transcendent, spiritual experience that I had as a 30-year-old, fallen-away Catholic Christian who the Lord saw fit to live to tell my story, my testimony if you will. I have spent the past nearly 40 years of my life trying to put into words what happened to me, and that story is now a published work that I am finally able to share.
Since this experience, I have returned to church where I have been an active, full-time Parishioner blessed and happy to serve The Lord, His church, and His people and now able to spread the love and good news of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ through the writing of this 2 Volume Book Series, as well as through numerous other ministry opportunities that I have been blessed and honored to share in with other like-minded individuals.
In addition to being a wife, mom, grandmom, and Realtor (or as I like to think of it as ‘helping people find their earthly home, while on their way to their heavenly home’), I can now add Author of 2 published works entitled: On Earth As It Is In Heaven: My Transcendent Spiritual Odyssey Volume 1 and On Earth As It Is In Heaven: My Transcendent Spiritual Odyssey Volume 2 to the list (thus hoping to help people find the pathway to their ‘heavenly home’ as well).”
From the very first page, I found myself absolutely drawn into Jill's testimony and the vivid imagery she uses to tell her story. While this is really one story, it is broken into two books, and I think that these two books do have a very distinct tone... though you definitely want to read both to get the full picture of this spiritual experience.
Book one opens with this young mother whose world is falling apart with the realization that her husband is having an affair. She then stumbles upon what she believes to be a movie set for a movie about Heaven coming to earth with angels and Jesus and such. She is told that she is supposed to be taking part and is confused what about her makes her qualified to take part. There is a lot of confusion throughout, and we as readers can feel her confusion right along with her as we are taken along for this supernatural journey. But for those of us familiar with Biblical teachings, we can also see the parallels there even before she comes to these realizations herself. I really thought book one offered a beautiful message of God's ability to use absolutely any of us, no matter what we have done in our pasts or how unqualified we think we are, to do big things for him. It was beautifully told and kept me captivated to the finish.
Book two picks up right where the previous left off but does take a bit of a deeper tone with a focus on a near death experience and life after death. We see spiritual warfare, hell and the devil come to life in a really vivid way. This one definitely felt a little heavier to me, which is understandable all things considered. I thought this is where we see a lot more of the author's history with the Catholic church come into play. I am not Catholic myself, so admittedly there were some moments throughout that didn't quite match my own theology. On her website, I love that the author said her 'testimony is not offered as doctrine, but as witness' and I love that. Even if we don't agree on all of the doctrine, I think there is much we can still learn from the experiences she shares in these books. More importantly though, I loved that it so richly steeped in scripture with an appendix at the end of each volume so we can go and read the scriptures for ourselves. This is something I greatly appreciate in any kind of Christian book. I think the most evident thing through the course of both books is that the author truly has such a heart for seeing others coming to Jesus before it is too late.
These books truly were quite the experience to read. You may not agree with every single thing in either book, and that's okay. But regardless, I do think that you will walk away with much to think about... and this is true for Christians of all stages in life. It's certainly one that's going to stick with me for some time.
You can learn more and purchase your copy of the series here: https://bit.ly/OnEarthAsItIsInHeavenBlog
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