Book excerpts

By mid-September in Minnesota, the evenings begin to take on the first signs of winter’s approaching chill, and the temperatures begin to dip down and down. After dinner, we sit in a semi-circle around the wood stove in the old log cabin part of the house, our feet stretched toward it, catching the heat for the rest of our bodies, and there we make our plans—to chop more wood, to butcher the ducks, to cover the strawberry beds.

Outside, nature and all of the creatures of her dominion simply know to prepare. Take our horse, Shadow, for instance. His summer coat, so sleek and shining like fresh black licorice, begins to take on the gentle fuzzy down of a new duckling. Each morning he’s grown just a bit more furry, a touch more round with warm winter horse-plume. Or, the once lush green fields around us that were so rich with vegetation, at one time so hungry for full bloom, now begin to give way to autumn reaping. Fading golden stalks of corn stand like platoons of old soldiers, grown weary with standing at attention. They rustle through their ranks when fall breezes blow with the dry stiffness that announces harvest. Harvest is coming. Endings approach.

"God seeks to fill our hearts with hope for a future bigger than our past in this life . . . and for life with him in eternity. Liz Kelly has done a wonderful job of giving expression to that hope. In her own personable and inspiring style, she teaches us to hope for the best things of this world and the next." 
—Matthew Kelly, speaker and author of The Rhythm of Life; Rediscovering Catholicism; and The Dream Manager

"Liz Kelly is a beautiful writer. Drawing from the treasures of the saints and mystics, she stirs us to contemplate and wonder about the kingdom of heaven. She reminds us that God has set eternity in every heart and that heaven begins on earth if we can learn to follow Christ's way of love." 
—David Scott, author of The Catholic Passion

"A winsome, humane, sound, and spiritual book that feels like a wise mother's touch on the heart. This is heaven for ordinary, real people, not scholars and speculators."
—Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy, Boston College, and author of  Heaven: The Heart's Deepest Longing