Little Bee

I finished Little Bee on the way to the Cape yesterday. The story behind this book is amazing and eye opening. It makes you think about what it means to be born as a citizen of a country. I believe being born in a free country, where we have a functioning government, is not something that some people are entitled to and others are not. Those of us who can sleep at night without fear of "the men coming" (a line which is a binding tie throughout the storyline of the book) should thank God for that privilege and pray for protection of those who are without.

I want to protect women like Little Bee. I want to protect their families, their villages, and their innocent way of life. I want stop the men, who were only boys when they were taken from their villages, and brainwashed to do the unthinkable. And while they are still boys, I want to give them a baseball bat instead of a machete. I want to hug them and ask them what they want to be when they grow up. I can guarantee, none of them would say murderer.

Little Bee magnified the voice inside my head that says "don't get too comfortable with your comfortable life." When we step outside our comfort zone, amazing things happen. I have friends back in Memphis who are in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. Her name is Abigail. Read their story here.

I do not want to ruin the book for you, but I will say, it leaves you feeling a bit helpless. And I was a little disappointed and then I realized, that's how it really is. I want to save the world, but I can't. And you will have to read the book to understand this, but it's not about saving the world. It's about being willing to cut off one finger.