Introduction

When her aunt shows up homeless on her doorstep, Sara suspects anything but a miracle.

Sara’s an artist with a supportive husband and a house that folks on her block admire outright. But she’s restless and bored with life.

Then her legendary Aunt Bel shows up, wearing a smile after years without a word.

Twenty years ago, fresh out of college, Bel left for a summer missions trip and never returned. Now she’s on Sara’s doorstep, looking for a place to crash. Sara can’t say no to family, even if she hasn’t seen Bel since she was a nine-year-old girl. But saying yes to Bel turns Sara’s whole precariously-balanced life upside down.

The enigmatic Bel gives Sara’s family and their community a jolt of fresh thinking and clarity.

But Bel is hiding something. Though she won’t talk about it, Sara soon learns that Bel has been through a hellish ordeal. And she has the burn marks to prove it.

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Happy Birthday to Me

I'm thirty years old and Istill believe in ghosts. I believe in ghosts because I have one. He's likean imaginary friend, only with a bit more heft. Unlike an imaginaryfriend, he doesn't go away when I don't need him anymore and surely, atmy age, I don't. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1) What preconceived notions do you have about what a missionary should look and act like? How did Bel reinforce those opinions or challenge them?
2) Finn apologizes to Sara for trying to heal her wounds and tells her “maybe I just need to walk alongside you, not try and drag you to safety.” What did Finn’s love do for Sara? Do you believe a person’s love can heal another’s wounds?
3) Bel says to Sara, “You may think you’re doing the right thing, and it’s so far off the mark. But yet, what else could you have done.” Do you think Bel did the right thing in taking the blame for Jason’s death? Was there a right or wrong thing to do in that situation? What were the consequences of that decision?
4) Describe the two sides of Bel and Sara.
5) How did concealing the truth of the accident impact Bel? Sara? Her mom? Her dad? Finn?
6) Finn tells Huey everything that comes apart can be put back together, but Sara says, “This is not true . . . Some places, when you bend or break them, will not mend.” Which philosophy do you think is true? What occurs in the story to support both these ideas?
7) Describe the different views the characters have of Jesus. How do you see him?
8) Describe the effect Bel’s painting of the flat, stern Byzantine Jesus had on Bel, Sara, Holly, and Finn.
9) Why do you think Bel felt compelled to paint Jesus? Why did she keep making the painting smaller?
10) When Sara learns the truth about her brother’s death and the accident, how does it change the way she views her parents?
11) How do the different characters view the role of suffering in a person’s life and God’s purpose for it? What do you believe about why God allows people to suffer?
12) How do each of the characters respond and relate to Bel’s mysteriousness? How do you think you would respond to her?
13) Why do you think Sara’s GOOD TASTE t-shirt was so important to her?
14) Do you think Sara will decide she wants to have a child?

Weblinks

»	Author Lisa Samson's web site
»	Publisher's Book Info

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