Heaven Heals (By Understanding Abraham’s Covenant) is the first book of the Heaven Heals series. It is the story of Sarah & Abraham, the covenant God made with them, and how their covenant benefits every one of us. It describes the promises He guaranteed them and guarantees everyone who commits to walk with him. It is valuable in introducing Christ's gospel of love for all, the reality of the everlasting family, and the hope and healing that comes from the knowledge gained in understanding Sarah & Abraham's covenant with God. Also, the book explains the universality of all religions united in their goals to serve and love each of God’s children.
The second book in the series is, Heaven Heals (Finding Hope in the Reunion with Your Lost Loved One.) It is due to release in late 2020.
Kristy Landgren was born in Rockford, Illinois, where she began her piano education at age 4. She won the” best poet” award in first grade and has “run with it” ever since. She took part in school and garage bands, sang and provided accompaniments for A Capella choir, participated in musicals, community Corrales, and began playing the organ in church at age 16.
Through music, performance and writing, she affirms the ideals of hope and optimism, faith and love, and incorporates her lessons learned among the wild rides of life. Importantly, she is a dedicated student of the Bible and finds comfort and peace in the study of the scriptures.
Kristy graduated from Chicago’s Loyola University – School of Dentistry/Dental Hygiene Program and is licensed to practice Dental Hygiene in California, Illinois, and Arizona. In 1995, she was appointed by then-Governor, Pete Wilson, to serve on the California State Dental Board’s Committee on Dental Auxiliaries. She served the citizens of California for nine years, completing two terms of service and a grace year, in 2004. She enjoys juggling the world of science, art and religion, practicing dental hygiene by day, moonlighting as musician by night, and attending study or worship sessions amidst the free time, in pursuit of the latest enlightenment that will inspire a blog, poem, lyric, song or book.
Author Interview with Kristin Landgren
If you had 3 wishes, what would they be? 1) I would love to be a writer full time; 2) I remember back in Oprah’s early days, she was becoming so successful, she was able to help a lot of people one-on-one, individually in their personal & financial situations. She said she had to stop because she just couldn’t keep up with all the heartbreaking requests of assistance from people in need. Now she focuses on contributions to all her favorite charities. Since I am not as famous and in demand as Oprah, I would love to be able to work individually with people to help them financially and personally, especially in their professional & vocational educations and in their spiritual development.; 3) I love to swim so I would wish for a heated pool in back yard so I could swim year-round 🙂!
Given unlimited resources, what would be your ideal work/writing environment? The ideal working environment is sitting on the beach, working to the inspiration of the sun, the waves, the ocean, and the skies.
Where do you actually work/write? I actually write, working at a desk or at the piano/keyboard, at home, with my little pouch usually right at my feet. It’s not the beach but it is quite ideal.
Describe yourself in 50 words or less. I am an eternal optimist. Of course, I have days of discouragement and moments of frustration, just like everyone else, but I am a big believer in “everything will work out.” Sometimes, it works out quickly but other times, it seems to be taking forever ☹. Still, I believe that, in the end, it just will!
What inspired your book? I suffered my own loss in life. I spent years of searching the world for answers, angry at God for my loss and not finding solutions. Eventually, I realized that, since God is the source of all answers, I’d better get back on track and begin a search of the Bible, in hopes of finding what I was looking for. After many years of scouring the scattered pieces of biblical truths, (with a lot of Providential guidance,) I was finally able to put the puzzle together by coming to an understanding of the covenant God made with Sarah & Abraham and its benefit to all of us. God gave them many guarantees, if they would commit to walk with him, and he wants to make their same covenant with everyone. One of their promises was that of an everlasting posterity or, in other words, an everlasting family. I finally realized I didn’t need to feel angry or resentful any longer at losing my brother to schizophrenia. Thanks to Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection, my brother would be healed and he would restored to that adorable sibling I once knew. I believe God wants all of us to walk with him, receive the same promises as Sarah & Abraham, and return, with our families, to Him. I hope that the Biblical truths revealed in the book will provide a shortcut for others who are searching for their own hope, happiness, and healing.
How do you spend your free time? I love books & music, visiting friends & family, outings to concerts, theatre, hockey games, amusement parks, and historic or music museums.
What do you love most in the world? I mostly love my relationship that I have developed with the Savior, and I love my family and friends.
What do you fear most? I’m afraid I will drop dead before I have finished everything I am suppose to do. It’s crazy, I know. They say we all go when it’s our time but I get overwhelmed and feel a sense of urgency to get everything completed before my number is up!
What is your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it? I dream that all religious folks in the world would not dwell on their minimal differences but would focus on everything they have in common. There is so much strength and power in a united conglomerate of God’s people. I am in hopes that the Heaven Heals books will contribute to my unfulfilled dream.
What is the hardest thing you've ever done? Losing my brother was hard, then losing both my parents, in their old ages, was still hard, too. I think losing all loved ones is the hardest thing in life because, emotionally, the separation feels so permanent, even though I know, intellectually & spiritually, it’s only temporary.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? I learned I could write a book! Who knew?
What is your favorite part of writing? I love the inspiration that flows when you get into the quiet places of the mind.
Do you have any advice for other writers? Kary Oberbrunner, the Chief Author, Entrepreneur, Coach, & all-around amazing mentor of the Igniting Souls organization, says that 81% of the world has a book in side of them but 99% never publish their story. I would recommend all to tell their stories or spread their life’s messages because there is a treasure trove of resources to help them broadcast what’s in their hearts. We may not necessarily think we are accomplished enough to become successful writers but there are fabulous authors, ghostwriters, editors, and publishers/marketers who can help us bring our visions to life!
What was the hardest part of writing your book, and how did you overcome it? I think my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t have enough content to fill up a whole book. But I just took the first action steps to write. My fear dissipated quickly because inspiration flowed. One chapter just led to the next and eventually I had 10 chapters of a small book. So, the moral of the story is to just start, try, power on, never give up, and --- voila, mission accomplished!
Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story? Once upon a time there was a little girl who was afraid of her music shadow. She loved to sing and play the piano so her mother officially enrolled her in lessons. But she use to cry whenever her teacher insisted she perform in the inevitable recital. She was emphatic that she loved to sing and play but she just couldn’t do it in front of people. She only wanted to entertain herself with the music. She felt like a worm for thinking that way – selfish & inadequate – but the pain of brain-freeze, mistaken notes & miserable failure was too debilitating. For a while, she even dug her heels in the sand and refused to participate in any more recitals.
Fortunately for the little girl-turned-early teen, her Church encouraged the acceptance of amateur callings, where talents and skills could be developed, and performance fears could be managed (if not completely overcome.) She agreed to accompany the children’s singing. Her music shadow continued to taunt her, though, because there were plenty of mistakes and she always felt that sickening pit at the bottom of her stomach, whenever she would go home to obsess over and relive every one of them. She was certain all the onlookers were mocking her minimal music abilities and ridiculous competency imaginations. But, she enjoyed playing and listening to the children sing about Jesus, so she persisted in her commitment. Oddly, there was a tiny flickering glow inside that seemed to increase as each week passed. She began to acquire a minimal amount of confidence and, eventually, ventured out to accompany other soloists, choirs, bands, and high school theater productions. She even volunteered to learn the organ and substitute for the frequent vacationers. Although she never quite shook the shadow, she noticed its stature shortened, as the flicker began to flare.
Then one evening she was invited to a professional concert – it was magnificent! How on earth did those musicians perform so brilliantly, she wondered? They were just ordinary human beings, who put on their pants (or stockings) one leg at a time, as did she. Didn’t they have a fearsome shadow or a pit at the bottom of their stomachs? It was all very intriguing, but thrilling, so more performances followed until she became somewhat of a consistent concert-goer. Every one of them was absolutely splendid – the lights, the music, the enjoyment filled the hall! But in one performance, she abruptly noticed that the singer seemed to lose his place in the song. Oh, no! She felt the music shadow overcome her, as that big pit fell to the bottom of her stomach, and she was embarrassed for the performer. She froze momentarily, then finally regained control and looked to the left, then to the right, up to the front, and finally behind. The audience just sat there! They were smiling in their seats – some singing and swaying to the music. Didn’t they notice that’s not the way the song goes? Weren’t they worried the shadow would paralyze the singer? Surprisingly, the orchestra followed along. She wondered, were they all just so brilliant at effortlessly camouflaging the flaw? Suddenly, the thunderbolt of reason struck! No one even cared about any flaw because no one was looking for perfection, and no enjoyment was interrupted by any error. The audience was simply delighted by the enchanting ambience and the entertaining atmosphere. It turned out to be a marvelous evening for all, in spite of the dreaded mistake.
So it was; that was the evening she said goodbye to the shadow. Of course, she still felt nervous and anxious before performances. But she gave it no more power to immobilize her. She finally realized the gifts and talents of humanity shouldn’t be buried. At that moment, she learned the music of life is to be shared, spread around to benefit others. It should glorify the Giver because darkness and fear feed the shadow, while light and love feed the flame. That way, there can be lots of happy tales that lead to…
The End
