About this item
Highlights
- Suzette's uncommon yet joy-filled childhood in Haiti is disrupted by her mother's premature death.
- Author(s): Suzette Civil-Noel
- 80 Pages
- Religion + Beliefs, Christian Life
Description
About the Book
Join Suzette on this deeply personal sojourn. Find inspiration in her perseverance, insight in her revelations, and hope in her growth. See how she clings to the promise "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord..." (Jer. 29:11)
Book Synopsis
Suzette's uncommon yet joy-filled childhood in Haiti is disrupted by her mother's premature death. Raised with abundant love from older half-siblings, her caring father, and extended family, Suzette feels happy and secure. Her strong faith surfaces in her teens, sparked by vivid dreams from God showing His will for her life. Despite staunch objections, she joins the Seventh-day Adventist church.
Immigrating to the U.S. brings many changes, but Suzette finds community among fellow believers. She builds a new family, attends college, serves her neighborhood, and becomes an advocate for truth and justice. Throughout seasons of incredible blessing along with deep loss, Suzette's trust in God infuses her with resilience.
Intimate and lyrically crafted, this is Suzette's raw yet celebratory spiritual journey. With authentic vulnerability, she invites readers into her hopes, questions, mistakes, revelations, and passionate prayers. We walk beside her through life's joys and storms, witnessing her persistent surrender to God's guidance. Despite all uncertainty, Suzette's story resounds with the timeless promise: "I know the plans I have for you..."
Review Quotes
I enjoyed this book very much-an extremely compelling story of a young woman's life through tragedy and triumph, but ultimately being guided by her faith in God. Suzette Civil-Noel's Gratitude: My Blessings, From Bizoton to Virginia is a stark reminder that our voyage is shaped by our families and those whom we encounter. Mrs. Civil-Noel spares no details to pull her readers into her immigrant journey, sharing her encounters of all life's major transitions. What I enjoyed most were the biblical verses, anecdotes, and poems which bring the story to life.
Clarine S. Allen, Esq.
I began this book with no expectation of what was inside. What I found was a picture of a changed life. A life whose beginning could have ended in any number of forgotten ways but was transformed in a story that captivates and draws the reader into Suzette's personal and living life. I smiled, cried, and blushed as I read this story begging to be shared.
Lindsay Ikonne, Educator
The readers of Gratitude: My Blessings, From Bizoton to Virginia by Suzette Civil-Noel might experience a variety of emotions. They might be saddened by the story of a female child who lost her mother at the age of ten and whose father left for the United States in search of a better life. They might feel the pain of a young mother who was tormented by evil spirits and beaten by a voodoo priestess who was trying to exorcise them. Those who believe in gender equality might be angered by the fact that Suzette was forced to do all the domestic chores while her younger brother was left free to play with his friends. However, Suzette Civil-Noel's memoir is also a story of family love. She writes extensively about the warm affection of her siblings, their sense of sacrifice and their dedication to her welfare. Most of them were old enough to be her parents, and they were not her mother's children. However, one poignant reality seemed to have created among those half-siblings a bond that one can't help admiring: their mothers were no longer in this world. We appreciate that Suzette Civil-Noel has chosen to share with the world the story of her unusual family, a life experience that is likely to generate some original thoughts.
Jean Elie Barjon, Author, Poet, and Educator