Book Two

Left to Tell is a story of survival, faith, the power of prayer, and forgiveness. Immaculee Ilibagiza is a young Rwandan woman fighting for her life inside the confines of a small bathroom during the holocaust that took nearly a million lives. She along with seven other women hid in a local pastor's bathroom for 91 days while others were tortured and murdered all around them.

This happened when I was twelve. Twelve. Sometimes I just can't get over that. Thousands were dying while Americans (and numerous other powerful countries) were too preoccupied with a fornicating president.

Her story is a way of telling the world about her path to God. And it didn't come without conflict. She found herself fighting negative thoughts (the devil) and at times she felt defeated. But it is how she handled those moments that conveyed the message in this book.

Her story, no matter your religion (she is Catholic), is relatable. Which at times made me feel incredibly small. Who am I to pray for a night of no babies crying while others may be praying for their lives? But that is exactly the message I got from the book. No matter our circumstances in life, rich, poverty stricken, church goers or not, we all have the ability to call on Him and we all have the right to pray during good times and bad.

Along with her ability to forgive, what I appreciated the most in this book was the relationship/combination of prayer and the power of positive thinking. One of my favorite passages.....

Someone had once told me that it was important to visualize what you want to happen in the future, because doing so could actually help make it come true. Well, thanks to God, I’d become a big believer in that philosophy.

[ . . . ] I knew that whatever I envisioned would come to pass if I had faith and visualized it with a pure heart and good intentions, and if it were something God thought was right for me. It was then that I realized I could dream and visualize my destiny. I vowed that I’d always dare to dream for what I wanted. And I would only dream for beautiful things like love, health, and peace, because that is the kind of beauty God wants for all His children.

I like this idea. And I need this idea, especially through these long winter months. I didn't want to read this book in the winter merely for the fact that I didn't want to contribute to any winter blues that may lurking around the corner. But I am glad I read it now because it helped to clear my mind and focus on what I want, a good, fun life. No matter if the wind chill is -11 and I haven't been out of the house for days!

My recommendation: Read. It is horrifying to get through particular pages, but thankfully certain incidents are told in short. I felt as though she was writing as if she were speaking and I like that when I am reading autobiographies. Feels like they are letting you in on their life, not just telling you what happened and how you should feel about it. Wonderful, eye opening story. I bet you look more into the Rwandan Holocaust after reading this one.