Same Kind of Different As Me

Last June, as we headed out for Israel, my sweet friend Sarah let me borrow the book Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. The trip ended up being MUCH more exhausting than I originally expected, so I didn't read... well.... anything. 

After we got home, the book sat on my bedside table, beckoning me to read it. 

Only, I wasn't  interested.

It wasn't that I thought it would be a bad book- several people in our Sunday School class had read it and talked about crying over it, men and women alike. It was just the fact that I couldn't find the time to make it a priority. In retrospect, it was really God preparing my heart for it.

This fall, our good friends Rob and Jared started working with a ministry called Urban Purpose. This ministry was started by a man in our church who had a heart for the homeless. As he was driving to work one morning, he stopped to help a homeless man. The man made a comment that he was just like the others- it would be the last time he saw him. This sparked an opportunity to serve differently. Since then, he has been working with Urban Trek to provide meals for the homeless each Sunday. Sunday school classes provide the food while different men (and women), like Rob and Jared, meet the people and build relationships.

Lucky for Brian and me, Rob and Jared are Brian's accountability group members. After several weeks of going to serve, Brian started to join them. He changed. The men on the street were no longer people who deserved it or people who made bad choices, now they were real people with real personalities. They were people with a story and people who needed Jesus.

Enter me. 

As Brian was going every Sunday afternoon to build relationships with these men, I was making excuses. Grad school was too much. I had just finished with the Women's Ministry event and needed a break. I needed to focus on my job. Excuse, excuse excuse.

At this point, my good friends Ashley and Jennifer had been going to The Village to lead Bible study with some of the women in the ministry since August. But my excuses kept me away. It was outside of my comfort zone. Then some things started happening with my family and the Lord began to draw me in. He began changing my heart and my desires. I started going to the Village and building relationships with the women and my life has been changing. Praise the Lord.

After going to the Village for a couple of weeks and hearing awesome stories from Brian, I looked at my nightstand and saw Same Kind of Different as Me. This time, I was excited about it.

I read the book and got a whole new perspective. God has changed my heart. The book is eye-opening, heart changing, and tear drawing. 

Check it out. Your will love it.

Have a blessed Tuesday my friends!