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If You Want to Make God Laugh



“Some signs have saved my life while others reminded me that I had a life worth saving.  Reading them hasn’t always been easy; a precious few are unambiguous; the rest are as ephemeral as smoke and as clear as mud.  None has been quite as definitive as a baby left on my doorstep.” Bianca Marais, If You Want To Make God Laugh
 
What a tremendous start to 2020.  Finishing this book believing it might be the best book I read all year.  The story that takes place entirely in South Africa and encompasses family, regret, love, loss, violence, disease, reconciliation and forgiveness.  From beginning to end this story took my breath away.  Sometimes for the dusty, hot surroundings and other time for the depth of loss these characters endured.  It filled me with hope, and with the promise of faith.  The title didn’t come into full focus until I closed the book upon completion and held it close.  This I do believe.  We do not know God’s plans.  We do not control others, only ourselves in our beliefs, words, actions, and reactions.  I prefer not to know the future.  To allow life to unfold and have the ability to take notice of all that is around me. Some is painful and others beautiful.  Yet each experience is necessary, enabling us to appreciate it all.  This beautiful story will stay with me a long time.  I’m so grateful to now know.

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