My DaddyIs In Heaven

With Jesus

My DaddyIs In Heaven

With Jesus

MASCOT BOOKS

™

© 2012 Rebecca Crownover. All Rights Reserved.

Rebecca

Crow

nover

Rebecca CrownoverIllustrated by Elisa Moriconi

I S BN -10 1-620860-72-4 $14.95I S BN -13 978-1-62086-072-4

9 7 8 1 6 2 0 8 6 0 7 2 4

5 1 4 9 5

Acie and her mother experience a great loss. Through their faith and love for each other, they find strength. This journey to

acceptance is not an easy one, but because of this tragedy Acie and her mother are able

to show the true meaning of family.

My D

addy Is In H

eaven W

ith Jesus

Foreword from the author

We don’t know why tragic situations occur in our lives. It just doesn’t seem fair when it happens to you. It’s very hard to have the strength to step away from the situation and look at it from God’s perspective. It takes faith to accept, move forward, and be positive. At the end of Adam’s funeral, I addressed the over 500 people attending, “I don’t know why this happened to our family, but I cannot spend too much time trying to understand why and miss out on God’s blessings that he has for this situation. And I don’t want any of you to either.” Since that day, I have put my faith to work to find the good out of such a tragic situation and allow it to shape me into a better person. This book is one of those good things … a true blessing to share some of our story from a child’s perspective. My hope is that it inspires many of you to persevere through whatever challenging situation you have experienced in your life.

- Rebecca Crownover

In memory of Adam Crownover...We will forever miss you until we see you again.

— Love, B and Acie

It was July 4th! My mommy, daddy, and I went to a ranch for a party.

I played and went swimming with my best friend, BB. We all ate a good dinner and then it was dark.

The grown-ups started shooting off fireworks and they were beautiful! I loved the fireworks, that rainbow of colors, sparkling in the sky.

Then it happened - and my life was never going to be the same.

My daddy got on an ATV – that’s like a four-wheeler but bigger, with two seats – and was riding around the ranch in the dark. Suddenly, he had an accident and fell out of the ATV, hurting his head. The ambulance came to take him to the hospital.

The doctors tried and tried to help my daddy in the hospital, but six days later he died and went to Heaven to be with Jesus.

My two-and-a-half-year-old mind was confused. I asked my mommy over and over, “Mommy, where’s Daddy?” But Mommy always said, “Acie, your daddy is in Heaven with Jesus.”

One day, as we were eating dinner I asked, “Mommy, is Daddy ever coming home?” She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “No, honey, we will not see him again here. But someday, when we go to Heaven, we will see him again.” It made me very sad that I would not see my daddy again until I get to Heaven.

After my daddy went to Heaven, I slept every night with my mommy. We both missed my daddy and we wanted to be near each other at night.

But after a few months, Mommy said that we were big girls and needed to start sleeping in our own beds.

I did not like that at first, but I got used to it after a while. Now, I love sleeping in my own bed!

I miss my daddy. I remember how he called me “Shorty,” and how I would run to him when he got home from work. I would shout, “Daddy!” because I was always excited to see him.

I remember how Daddy used to take me by the hand and dance with me. He was such a fun daddy!

I’ve been telling my mommy that I want a new daddy. She keeps telling me that I have to pray and ask God to bring the right person for both of us.

I pray every night for a new daddy who will love me and my mommy very much. I pray that he will come soon. I also pray that he will have two dogs.

Mommy reads a verse from the Bible to me every night. It is Jeremiah 29:11:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I know that God wasn’t being mean to my family by taking my daddy to Heaven. My daddy is in Heaven with Jesus because God has another plan for me and my mommy. I have faith in God’s plan for our future and can’t wait to see the path he takes us on!

Special Thanks

To my mom, dad, Sister Deborah, the Crownover family, the Ehlert family and friends, LeeAnn, and Grace for all of the support you’ve had for Acie and I. We have all taken a great journey together and I appreciate each and every one of you for being an important part of our lives. Additional thanks and appreciation goes my counselor, Tom Harris, for listening and ultimately getting me through the hardest time of my life.