Forever... Amen

Danny Schmidt can't wait to be a big brother - his dad has already promised him years of teaching little Billie to climb trees, skip rocks, and hit a baseball. Then a grouchy boy named Harvey warns him that babies ruin everything: they take your room, your toys, and all of your parents' time. By the drive home, Danny is muttering that he wishes the baby weren't coming at all... and that very night, his mother loses the baby. Danny is sure his jealous wish is what made Billie die, and that everyone will hate him forever. Whit takes him in, tells him it isn't his fault, and helps him pray from his heart. In a dream, Danny meets Billie at last - a little sister, not a brother - who smacks his pitch out of the park, forgives him, and promises he'll always be her big brother, forever and ever.

Found on On Earth as it is in Heaven Album 17 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0235 Forgive Us as We Forgive When Ernie Myers comes home after two years in prison, his family throws a joyful welcome - but his son Eric is finding it far harder to open his heart than to hang a banner.

0236 Into Temptation Jimmy's birthday-money showdown over a coveted video game leads him into Whit's newest invention - a room that shows not the past, but the consequences of the choices you're about to make.

0237 Deliver us from Evil When Whit's Bible research machine breaks down, Bernard and Eugene form an unlikely storytelling duo to help Marsha with her report on one of history's most fantastic rescues.

0238 For Thine is the Kingdom A young ballerina's dreams are put to the test when a moment of carelessness on her bike changes everything she thought her future would be.

0239 The Power A student's suspicion about impossibly perfect test scores uncovers a classmate's secret grip on the entire school.

0240 And the Glory When Odyssey's star pitcher is sidelined during the playoffs, he must coach a terrified nobody into a hero - while a pair of kid broadcasters learn that the spotlight can be a dangerous thing to share.

0241 Forever... Amen A boy eagerly awaiting the birth of his baby brother has his excitement poisoned by doubt just before his family's world is turned upside down.

0242 Hymn Writers A live-from-church Kids Radio broadcast sends time-traveling microphones back to meet three hymn writers whose faith, courage, and trials gave the church its songs.

0243 Family Values When his son's joke essay lands the family in the finals for Family of the Year, a scheming father tries to fake strong family values in a single weekend.

1 of 2 0244 The Mysterious Stranger A young stranger walks into Whit's End claiming it was once his childhood home - and he knows secrets about the building that no outsider possibly could.

2 of 2 0245 The Mysterious Stranger A troubled stranger's impossible claim about Whit's End leads Whit and Lucy into the ashes of a decades-old fire - and a family secret someone will do anything to keep buried.

0246 My Fair Bernard When rival Bart Rathbone starts stealing his janitorial customers with slick radio ads, Bernard Walton turns to theatrical impresario Edwin Blackgaard - who has his own hidden reasons for putting the window washer's life story on stage.

0247 Why Don't You Grow Up? Tired of waiting to grow up, a schoolgirl gets the chance to skip ahead and live a week of adult life - and discovers what it actually costs.

Featured characters

John Whittaker Hal Smith

Minor characters & crew 8 more roles

1 featured character

Jesus Christ Brad McMurray

7 supporting roles

Doc Morton Diane Michelle Laura Schmidt Pamela McIntosh Danny Schmidt Danny Schmittler Steven Schmidt Brad McMurray Harvey Casey Carmichael Harvey's mother Actor Unknown Billie Schmidt Courtney Sinclair

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Paul McCusker Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Young Danny Schmidt can hardly wait to be a big brother. At the doctor's office he listens to the new baby's heartbeat, which sounds to him like a little drum, and Doc Morton says the baby - a boy, everyone believes, already named Billie after Danny's grandfather - will arrive in about five months. Danny's dad, Steven, paints a wonderful picture of all the things Danny will teach his little brother: climbing trees, skipping rocks, tying shoes, digging for fishing worms, picking apples, and of course how to hit a baseball. Billie will follow Danny everywhere, Steven says, and think he is the best big brother in the whole world - forever and ever.

But while waiting in the hospital play area, Danny meets a boy named Harvey, a grumbling big brother who warns him that babies ruin everything. You lose your privileges, you have to share your room and your toys, your parents give all their time to the baby, and you stop being just Danny and become one of "the boys." By the time Harvey's mother collects him, Danny's excitement has curdled into worry. On the drive home, when his parents talk about rearranging his room and maybe giving away some of his toys, Danny mutters that he wishes the baby weren't coming at all. Moments later his mother, Laura, feels a sharp pain, and Steven races back to the hospital.

Doc Morton brings hard news: Laura will be fine, but the baby has died. Whit, who has already agreed to watch Danny, takes him home for the night. Danny wakes from a nightmare sobbing that he is the one who made Billie die - he got jealous, he wished the baby wouldn't come, and now his parents and Billie will hate him forever. Whit gently tells him it is not his fault, that Billie is safe with Jesus, where there is no room for hate, and helps Danny pray, saying simply what is in his heart.

That night Danny dreams again. His parents are driving him home when they stop at a park, where a cheerful girl he has never met asks him to teach her to hit a baseball. She knocks his pitch out of the park, then tells him everything a little sister would want from a big brother - his father's list, word for word - and reveals that she is Billie. She never was a boy after all. Billie tells Danny it wasn't his fault and she doesn't hate him; with Jesus there's no room for hate. A voice calls her away, and she promises Danny will always be her big brother, forever and ever.

Whit wakes Danny, who joyfully reports that Billie is a girl, that she forgave him, and that a voice called her at the end - and since Billie is with Jesus, he wonders whose voice it was. Whit tells him his prayer has been answered in a very big way, and that one day Danny will stay with his little sister forever and ever. Then they go to see his mom.