This morning I told my mom and Jason that I was up all night with a headache and stomach ache and asked if I could stay home from school today. Mommy took my temperature and said it was 100.4, so she gave me some Children's Tylenol and I stayed home.

Things were pretty normal for being home sick. I slept off and on most of the day, I watched some television in my room. I didn't really feel very much like listening to my favorite CDs on my new CD player. I like the Dixie Chicks, though. I didn't play with Mikenna, my baby sister, either. My head hurt and so did my tummy. My mom and Jason said I have the flu.

I had some more Children's Tylenol before I was tucked into bed for the night around 8:30 pm. I woke up around 11 and went to the bathroom. I still felt pretty bad, but mommy and Jason said to try to get some sleep and maybe I would feel better in the morning.

After I went back to sleep, an Angel came into my dream and picked me up in her arms. My head and tummy stopped hurting. We floated away to a beautiful garden where we played and sang and had a wonderful time.

There were lots of other children of all colors and ages. It was like a rainbow of kids. My Angel, Elizabeth, told me stories about Jesus and about Heaven. She told me all about my grandpa Mike and many other people who loved me that I didn't remember ever meeting.

When she began to speak of my Grandpa Mike, I saw him in the distance, walking happily towards us on a flower-lined path in the garden. Elizabeth's voice was soft and sweet and she smelled like the Lilacs that were blooming in the garden. As she spoke, Grandpa Mike came closer and closer into view up the path until finally he reached the spot where Elizabeth and I were sitting. He smiled at me, took my hand in his, and sat down beside me and Elizabeth. Together we listened to her stories as we enjoyed the serenity of the wonderful garden. Grandpa Mike had twinkling eyes and a smile that I recognized in an instant. They were just like my Mommy's.

I couldn't see Elizabeth's wings, but I knew they were there. She was very beautiful, wearing robes that were a soft color of green I had never seen before. Her hair was long and flowing like her robes. Curly, like my Mom's, but it had a shine to it that framed her face with a soft light. Her smile warmed my heart and gave me incredible peace. In the garden were all kinds of pets, and many other Angels and children.

Over by a waterfall, sitting on a big boulder, was Jesus, who was telling stories to all the kids around him. He was holding a little girl with a puppy on his lap, and he nodded to me and smiled. I felt him hug me, but I saw him across the garden.. "How did he do that?" I wondered. Everyone was having such a wonderful time. This garden was a perfect place. Everyone was just plain happy. Time didn't exist the way we know it on earth. Elizabeth said the garden was a resting place between Heaven and Earth, and it was there especially for children.

My body was back on earth and was very sick, Elizabeth explained, so she had taken me out of it for a while so I would not feel any pain. I didn't even know what was happening to it at the time. By then, that little 8 year old body of mine had been taken in an ambulance to the same hospital where Mikenna had been when she was so sick right after she was born. That Alexis was hooked up to all kinds of tubes and wires and machines, but I wasn't in that body. I was here in the Garden.

The doctors and nurses at the hospital were giving me all kinds of medicine to try to heal my body, but they didn't know what was wrong with it, so nothing was working. My Mom and Jason were there right by my side, and they were being very strong for me, and for each other. Someone who loved me was with me all the time while I was in the hospital, but I didn't hear the things they said to me until later because I was in the garden listening to Elizabeth tell her stories.

All the words that are ever spoken to you on earth have a way of reaching you, though, and I heard them all later. Anything you say goes out into space and just keeps on echoing forever so the people who need to hear it will. And they can hear the nicest things over and over if they want to. Elizabeth said that I would be with her and my Grandpa Mike until it was determined whether I would go back into my body, or go back home to Heaven with God.

Elizabeth was very comforting and I loved her very much. We stayed in the beautiful garden for two Earth days and then she told me God had summoned me. We floated together, me, Elizabeth and Grandpa Mike, into a beautiful golden tunnel where there were other people I knew and loved. There was a bright light at the other end. The people I met in the tunnel were the people the Angel had been telling me about, and I knew them immediately and could feel their love. They were there to welcome me home.

Grandpa Mike, who by now I knew well enough to let carry me through the tunnel, went back to Heaven from his earthly life in 1977, way before I was ever born. But even though I didn't know him on Earth, I knew I had known him forever. We went quickly through the tunnel, as if we were propelled by the light. The light was as bright as a million suns but it didn't hurt my eyes. Elizabeth was still with us and I could feel her wings around us. I knew I was going home again. Not my earthly home with Mommy and Jason and my baby sister, Mikenna, but my Heavenly home where I had lived before I came to earth.

As we actually entered the light, it's warmth and love embraced me as a child who had returned from a long journey. I instantly knew God was pleased with what I had done on Earth. My purpose had been fulfilled. The light enveloping me was the heart and soul and being of the Lord God, the Highest. I was being cradled in unconditional love in its purest form. I knew immediately that His light shines for, and welcomes, all who love Him. His light is the center, the heartbeat of all life.

At that moment, I knew my purpose in the 8 years, 1 month and 2 days that I had been a human being on earth was to teach the people in my life about God's unconditional love. I did that by simply loving them for who they were, not for what they gave me. And they loved me back, just because I was me. God told me he was proud of my work.

I asked God about Mommy and Jason, my dad, Shaun, Meme and Papa, grandma Kris, Anita and Jim Peters, and of course, my baby sister, Mikenna and all the other friends and family members who loved me on earth. There were so many of them!

I was surprised when He told me there would be many people who would come to the visitation and funeral, and I would know how many lives I had changed when I saw it for myself. I hadn't thought about attending my wake and my funeral, but I hadn't really thought much about the fact that I had left my earthly life behind. It was like I had simply stepped into a different room. I told God I knew how much they would all miss me. I was worried that they were so sad, but God told me they would be okay and he had purposely picked my family on earth because they were strong and wise. He said that because of what I had taught them, many would change their paths and also be able to fulfill meaningful purposes. He said Mommy and Daddy and everyone else I loved would be here with me again someday.

I had forgotten how many souls were already in Heaven that I had loved so much before my journey to earth. I had lived here for a long time before He sent me to earth as Alexis Knapton. After Mommy married Jason, and Mikenna was born, I wanted my name to be the same as theirs. Mommy said that since my real dad was Shaun, I had to keep his name because he loved me a lot and it would hurt him if I changed my name. She said that she and Jason would give Mikenna my middle name, Nicole, so we would be able to share a name. I liked that idea because I didn't know anybody could love another person as much as I loved Mikenna until she was born. She was born very sick, and they took me to the hospital so I could see her and love her. I helped her get well with my love.

Love is a good healer, and after almost two weeks, she was home and very healthy. We played together a lot. I knew how to feed her, change her and help with her bath, and even though I could hold her, Mommy still didn't let me carry her around because I wasn't big enough yet. I was pretty strong, but Mommy was afraid I might accidentally trip or something… you know how mommies are sometimes!

I was pretty small for my age, I guess, because all the other kids in my class and at gymnastics were way bigger than I was. I was, however, pretty opinionated for an 8 year old, and I used the name Alexis Peters whenever
I wanted to… even if it wasn't my real name. It was my real name to me.
We were a family and I wanted to have the same last name as the rest of them, so that's what I used whenever I could get away with it. That didn't mean I didn't love my dad, or my Meme Pam or Papa Jack. It just meant I wanted to have the same name as my family that I lived with. So, Alexis Peters it was.

My earthly mom, Kelly, was still in high school when God sent me to be her child. My grandma Kris seemed to take it all in stride. She never got upset about it, and stuck by my mom all the way. She was glad mommy was going to have me, and so was mommy. The only thing Grandma Kris said was that Mommy and Shaun had to take the responsibilities that went along with being a parent. They had to pay for the diapers and formula and baby food. And, they had to finish school. Mommy was a Senior when I was born, and her high school had child care, so mommy would go off to school with me, her books, and the diaper bag. Since Kelly was my mom and Kris was my grandma, that meant I would be connected to them, and be a part of them, for all eternity.

Sometimes it was a little confusing figuring out who, exactly, was in charge at Grandma's house. Mommy and Grandma Kris were more like sisters with a big age difference than mother and daughter. They took turns being the parent with each other, but they were both really good at taking care of me. Grandma Kris would rock me and sing to me. She would make up songs just to make me smile. And I'm glad God picked Kelly to be my mom on earth. I knew her before I was born, and I always loved her. I had a really great life right from the start.

The human spirit is something that is always alive. Eternal means forever. No beginning and no end. In Heaven time doesn't exist the same way it does on Earth, and everyone on Earth has been here before. A very long lifetime, as you know it on earth, is only the blink of an eye in eternity. There are no clocks here. There is no sickness, no pain, no age, and nothing bad. There are also no bodies as we know them on Earth, so we never get old. We only become aware of age when we are born into a body on Earth. Here we continue to grow, and learn from many sources of knowledge. We communicate through thoughts and touch. Yes, spirits touch one another.

On Earth, we celebrated birthdays with parties and cakes and presents. In Heaven, we are in spirit form so we can ride with the wind and travel at the speed of thought. We continue to celebrate eternal life. We remember all the things about our earthly lives that we loved. Especially the birthday parties, and holidays like Christmas. But in Heaven we don't need material things.

One of the gifts God gives each of us is the chance to experience life on Earth as a human being. He chooses the time and place, assigns us a purpose based on our special talents, and sends us to Earth to experience life in a materialized state. That is so our souls can experience living in a body and all that goes with it. During life on earth, He expects us to make some sort of significant contribution to mankind. Hopefully, a good one.

As the months and years go by, we meet and travel with people that come into our lives. Most were sent by God to be our friends or associates. Some come for a while, others stay forever, even after we leave Earth.
Each one brings something for us to learn from our association. Not all of the people who come in and out of our lives on Earth are good souls, though, and not all are sent from God. We have choices that we must make about whether we do good deeds or bad. We have choices on how we live our lives and what we make of our time on earth, and there are lots of temptations along the way that aren't really good for us, so we have to learn the difference between what's right and wrong. We find the answers inside our souls.

We learn on earth how much we like chocolate and ice cream, and that a home-cooked meal is one of the most special gifts you can give sometimes. We learn that having a job and assuming responsibility builds character. We learn what pain feels like and how to get through it. Most of life is wonderful and exciting. Our souls become stronger as we overcome difficulties. We learn through trial and error how important our choices are, and that they can change not only our own lives, but the lives of those around us.

We learn to be humble. We learn to be proud. We learn about fighting evil and standing up for what we believe is right. We learn to turn away from fear and evil because faith and hope can light the way in the darkness. Our tears teach us that sadness, like love, comes from the heart, and our own tears teach us how to help others. We learn that Love, in time, can heal even the deepest wounds.

Life on earth is a time for us to learn all the things we don't learn in Heaven. That's why it is so important for us not to waste life on earth. That's why I want you to know that whatever life gives you, it is worth the struggle to experience it. In the end, only the happy memories are carried with you into eternity. And there are usually many happy memories. What really counts the most is what affect your life had on those you leave behind, even if you were only there a short time...

I know that everybody from my Earth life misses me and is sad that I have died. I've only left Earth. When God decides it's time to summon you, you will see me again. Only He can decide when that time will be. But I will be there to help you through the tunnel into the light, just like Grandpa Mike helped me. I'm very much still alive. Nobody ever really dies. There's no such thing as an end for a soul. You can think about Heaven in your mind a lot, but until you have experienced it, you really don't understand. In a blink of an eye my-time, Heaven-time, you will all be here again with me, but your lives on earth are just beginning.

Clocks sometimes have a way of dragging time out to make one day seem like an eternity, especially when you're grieving. You need to grieve and feel your pain from my departure, as painful as that is for you. Death, as you know it on Earth, is something that is part of your life there. And you must mourn the loss you feel when someone you love passes away from you. You must experience the sadness and shed the tears in order to heal and become stronger. If it helps you to know…we have no death in heaven. Only perfect life. You will never experience the loss of a loved one here. Only reunions. My death is only a temporary physical separation for us. Our souls are still connected. And sometimes it seems like there's so much bad stuff down there on earth to sort through, that it's hard to look at the bright side of what you have. The blessings. Look for them because they are all around you. You always have more blessings than hardships.

Some of you will mourn for me for the rest of your natural lives. That's not what God has intended for you. Please open your hearts and allow yourself to mourn freely and feel the sadness. That will allow the light of God to begin filling the hole in your heart. The dark clouds will begin to blow away, and you will start to find the rainbows within you. And you will be a different person than you were before I died. You will be changed, and you will see things from a different prospective.

I want you to be happy while you are on earth and remember all the good times we had. I sure do. If you miss me, all you have to do is think about me and I'm there with you. I know you can't see me, but I'm still there. And the best thing is that I can be with everyone at the same time.

It's important to share, so make sure you share your time with others who loved me. That was one of the lessons I learned with all of you. Everybody shared whatever they had with me. I already knew about sharing before I came to earth, but I didn't know about sharing material things or earthly events. I experienced that during my life there. It's harder for some people to share than others. I shared my toys most of the time, and always I shared whatever I was eating with my pets or my friends. It was nice to share. It gave me a good feeling.

Once when my grandma Kris and I were swimming at the pool by her house, another little girl came up to me and said she would share her water toys with me if I played with her. I would have played with her whether she had toys or not. We had fun together until some other kids that I smiled at wanted to come and play with us too. I said "sure, you can play with us". The little girl who had shared her water toys with me didn't want me to play with anyone but her, so she swam over to me and took her goggles off of me. She said I couldn't play with her toys if I was going to play with other kids.

Then she made a face at me. grabbed the inflated raft that was floating in the pool, and got out of the water. I looked over at my grandma Kris, who was sitting on the edge of the pool watching me. She was dangling her feet in the water, and I looked at her, rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders. She looked over at the little girl, who was sitting next to her grandma with a sour look on her face. Grandma Kris smiled at me, shrugged back, and blew me a kiss. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with all those other kids. Without water toys. We had such a good time. Later she told me she was proud of me for not giving in to the little girl with the toys.

To this day, grandma Kris still can't believe I got her in a swimming suit that day. She said she thought she would look bad because she hadn't been in a swimming suit since she had gained 30 pounds. I told her she looked just as good as anybody else, and besides…it was what was on the inside that was important. Unless she had a swimming suit on, she couldn't get in the water with me. She looked at me, smiled, and said I was right. So she put on her swimming suit and that was that. After we got back to her house, she told me thanks. We had a good day together, and I know she had as much fun in the water swimming with me and carrying me around on her back as I had splashing her and getting her hair all wet.

Thanks for the wonderful funeral. God was right when he said I would be surprised how many lives I had touched. At the funeral, my teacher talked about a typical day in my life. I was there, by the way. Remember?

I'm always where people are thinking of me. I heard every word of what she said and I knew what every person there was feeling. I kissed every tear that fell from your hearts, and they turned into glittering stars as I blew them softly into the Heavens. They will stay there forever as a token of my love for you. Tell my teacher I said thank you for making all of you feel better. Now that she has told you about one of my typical days in school, I'd like to tell you about one of my typical days in Heaven.

I spent this morning jumping from cloud to cloud with some of my other friends here…just like I did on my trampoline at my house in Parkville, Missouri. Not to take away from the trampoline, but this is pretty cool. I can jump as high as I want to and don't have to worry about falling off and hurting myself. If I fall, another cloud catches me. Without my body, there is no weight so I can walk on clouds and float through the blue skies, or travel the brightly colored galaxy searching for more knowledge. It's way better than books, and it's part of my continuing education to explore.

The colors here are indescribable. There aren't enough crayons or watercolors in the entire world to portray the variety of breathtaking colors and sights that God created up here. Every day is an adventure because the Universe is endless and timeless.

It's quiet when I want it to be quiet. I can lay down on a cloud or lay in Heaven's grass and look at the stars. When I need to feel more peace or want to rest, I go into God's Light where he holds me in his arms. There are plenty of things to do and countless good souls to play with or talk to. We communicate through telepathy, so we know our soul mates, or kindred spirits, right away. I still go to school, but it's different here. I am not 8 years old here, but I can be whenever I want to be.

I became ageless the minute I went through the tunnel and walked into God's light again, so I am all ages or any age at the same time. I can explore the Universe, or stay in Heaven for the day. I have many teachers because we never want to stop learning and growing. Jesus is my favorite teacher and being with him is very special. He has many stories. He's there whenever I want him to be. Since everyone in the spiritual world is summoned by thought, all I have to do is think "Jesus" and he's right there with me. You might remember that, because whenever you think "Jesus", he's right there with you, too.

The mind I had on Earth is only a part of the expanded one I have here. I don't need a brain or a body to make it work. The mind is part of the soul, or spirit. It helps you make choices. It stores your knowledge and your memories. There is a difference between a brain and a mind. The brain is what keeps the body functioning on earth. The mind always continues to live and is part of the soul. I still have a heart, but it's also different than the one
I had on earth. It is full of light.

You can feel the heart of your soul in the center of your body. It's not the same heart that keeps the blood pumping to your other organs. The heart of your soul is what makes you good or bad, and it also keeps on living forever. The heart of your soul is the center of your existence, just like the light of the Lord is the center of the Universe. When the soul is born into a body, it becomes the life force, but when a human body dies. the soul must be free again. Like a butterfly leaving behind a cocoon.

Even though human beings come in so many different colors, once you are free from the body, souls have no difference in color or language. None at all. It's what's inside us that makes us unique and separate souls, not what's on the outside. That's totally opposite of what most people on earth seem to think. I wonder why so many of the people on earth don't seem to know that? The different colors and cultures and lifestyles are the things that make human beings so beautiful. People could learn so much from each other if more of them only understood that one thing.

The music here in Heaven is really cool. There are no CDs or radios because you don't need them. We hear the music whenever we want to…and without headsets. Like everything else, all you have to do is think about music and you have it. Only you are in the music instead of just listening to it. You actually have become part of it, or it has become part of you. You are musical notes dancing and jumping around, making beautiful music in Heaven.

There are no words to describe the wonderful sounds we make, and I think it is different to every soul here because we each hear our own music. We can share it with anyone who wants to listen to our music. There are many souls up here who make beautiful music I like to listen to, some of which were famous for their musical talents during their lives on earth.

Angels. Well, I probably don't need to tell you that there are Angels everywhere. They don't have wings that you can easily see, but you can always tell who they are. They are very tall compared to the rest of us. In this realm, all of us wear long, flowing robes, so there are no real fashion statements except we can choose our favorite colors and fragrances by creating them ourselves at will. We invent new colors for our robes that are very beautiful. Not just the usual things you are used to seeing.

The Angels are very gentle and they all have the same kind of light on their faces from the soft glow around their hair. We never see their feet because they don't show coming out from under their robes. They sort of just float above the ground. They all have special jobs and many of them are assigned to watch over people on earth. They are usually in a hurry when they swish past you, but they always take time to say hello and smile. They all know my name. When one goes past, there is a sound that reminds me of the wind chimes on Grandma's front porch, and they leave behind a fragrance like marigold, roses, an ocean breeze or sweet wild flowers that grow in a great meadow.

The scenery in Heaven is more beautiful than the most beautiful places on Earth. We have mountains and streams, lush magical forests filled with beautiful creatures and breathtaking waterfalls, and beautiful secluded white beaches with rolling waves. There are prairies and meadows where horses who have wings and can speak run with the wind. If we feel like it, we summon them and we can ride off into the sunset or anywhere else we wish them to take us. I've already had many adventures that way.

We spend a lot of time meditating. Meditating is good. It is a way to gain more knowledge. Thoughts are sent to us through God's Spirit, the Holy spirit that continues to fill us with peace, love, spiritual growth and wisdom. Rainbows appear at will. The gardens are spectacular. Many of the people who live in Heaven like to tend the gardens here. They continually plant new and unique varieties of blooming flowers that can only grow in Heaven. The seeds for those flowers come from the love the heavenly gardeners gave and received during life on earth, and they take permanent root in the rich soil of the gardens of Heaven. They continue to grow and blossom with the warmth that comes from God's Light, and the nourishment of the gentle rain of His daily Blessings.

We all have our own houses here. Our homes are decorated with memories and accomplishments, so each soul's home is different. No two are alike. There are many rooms in some, and one or two rooms in others. It all depends on how many special memories you created when you lived on Earth. Some rooms are shared by husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, and other family members or friends. It is fun to visit the homes of our kindred spirits to see what their lives were like when they were on Earth, and what memories and lessons they took with them when they left their earthly existence. It is another part of our own growth. Learning from others.

There is nothing bad in Heaven. No evil spirits are allowed here. Once you have entered the Kingdom of Heaven, life is…well…very Heavenly. The evil souls go to a place where it is dark. There is no light there. There is no sound there. There is no beauty. It is the absence of all light, and the absence of all love. There is no peace, no rest, no compassion, no comfort. Without the ability to open the heart of your soul and give the same kind of love that you receive from God, it is impossible to receive love. It is impossible to come into that light if you don't believe in its existence in your heart. We don't talk much about the dark place here because it makes us sad to think about the lost souls who have chosen to live there. Every soul is basically good because we are created by the awesome Love of God, but every soul has a mind and a heart, and every soul has a choice.

God gave me a project to do today. He asked if I'd like to paint a sunrise for my family and friends back on Earth. He said it would be a wonderful way for them to start their day. I thought that was a pretty big project, but I jumped at the chance. I wanted to make it very special, so I started a long time before it would be light, Earth time, and created a lot of different colors that could probably never be duplicated again. Then I began painting.

There was a special brush that made the clouds so they will change as the wind blows them into different formations all over the world. There was another special brush for each color I created as I layered them carefully. They will change colors continuously for many hours throughout the Earth when they are illuminated by the sun as it comes up on the horizon. He said my sunrise will be seen by everyone on Earth who chooses to watch it, and as the planet rotates over a period of 24 hours, it will be seen even in the most remote places. God said that since I like to paint, he will let me create a sunset soon. I really like that I can still make the world a more beautiful place. Even from up here.

A special message from Alexis to all
Parents, Grandparents, Uncles & Aunts

The people who loved me so much on Earth really miss me. My baby sister, Mikenna, will probably not remember me, but I will always be thankful for the time I got to spend with her. God said I wouldn't have had to leave them to come to Heaven so young if they had known I had MCAD. I could have been hooked up to an IV with glucose or dextrose when I got sick and couldn't eat… and I would still be going to gymnastics and playing with my baby sister right now.

I can never come back to Earth. It's too late to save me, but it's not too late for other children to be diagnosed and saved from this silent killer.

You can Help. Help us get mandatory testing at birth for MCAD in your state. Get your children tested for MCAD if they haven't already been screened. It's just $25.00 and only takes a few drops of blood. If they have it, it's easily controllable… it's just an enzyme deficiency that means they can't skip meals, and if they get sick, they just need to have an IV. If your child has MCAD, you need to know about it.

Please read the stories on my website… and share this information with everyone you know.

For more information on MCAD visit www.savebabies.org