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Thrift Store Graces: Finding God's Gifts in the Midst of the Mess
This “ridiculous” religious thinking—that when we help the poor, they end up helping us—is at the heart of the 30 stories that Jane Knuth shares in Thrift Store Graces , the sequel to her popular Thrift Store Saints . Similar to the first book, Thrift Store Graces contains personal accounts of Knuth’s experiences serving as a once reluctant, now enthusiastic volunteer at a thrift store in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
What sets Thrift Store Graces apart from her first book is that Knuth introduces us to some far more challenging personal situations that emerge as a result of her volunteer work. Additionally, she invites us to join her as she hesitantly embarks on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in war-ravaged Bosnia. Through it all, her delightful sense of humor keeps her going, along with her conviction that some of God’s greatest gifts come disguised as difficulties.
Witty, inspiring, and thought-provoking all at once, the stories in Thrift Store Graces subtly compel us to redefine what it means to volunteer and to rethink why it is that we volunteer in the first place.
What sets Thrift Store Graces apart from her first book is that Knuth introduces us to some far more challenging personal situations that emerge as a result of her volunteer work. Additionally, she invites us to join her as she hesitantly embarks on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in war-ravaged Bosnia. Through it all, her delightful sense of humor keeps her going, along with her conviction that some of God’s greatest gifts come disguised as difficulties.
Witty, inspiring, and thought-provoking all at once, the stories in Thrift Store Graces subtly compel us to redefine what it means to volunteer and to rethink why it is that we volunteer in the first place.
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 30, 2024
There were certainly some valuable nuggets in these pages, and I did appreciate how the author wove some continuity through selected stories. She also had a tendency to stop abruptly and leave some thoughts hanging. It was neat, though, that the book was mostly based in Kalamazoo.
March 9, 2019
In this follow-up to Knuth's book Thrift Store Saints: Meeting Jesus 25¢ at a Time, the author speaks a lot more about Mary than I could get behind. There are more mentions of her praying to Mary and receiving from Mary than about Jesus.
Knuth weaves the story of having her wallet stolen at the thrift shop into many of the other stories in the book, which I liked. It helped to center the book. She also jumped back and forth between thrift store stories and her journey to Medjugorje, which I didn't care for. The trip seemed completely unrelated and it made the book feel disjointed.
(In case any readers are sensitive to profanity, please note that there are a couple of swear words included in dialogue.)
"The balance of power [between volunteer and the people served in the thrift store] is so skewed that it is an immediate barrier to friendship. I am the seemingly rich person giving the money away, and they are the seemingly needy people asking for help. This is not a good basis for friendship... Maybe this is why our patron, St. Vincent, tells us to help as quickly as possible, to drop everything, even our rosary beads, when someone asks for our assistance. Our quick response is a sign of our sincere concern for them, and it takes some of the power out of our hands and puts it in theirs. If we delay our help to fit our own schedule, we control not only the money but also their time and add to their anxiety." p 156
"Take care not to spoil God's work by trying to hurry them too much. Take good time and know how to wait. Too often we spoil good works by going too fast, because we are acting according to our own inclinations which makes us think what we want to do is practical and timely. What God wishes done is accomplished almost by itself, without our thinking about it." St. Vincent dePaul, as quoted on p 51
Knuth weaves the story of having her wallet stolen at the thrift shop into many of the other stories in the book, which I liked. It helped to center the book. She also jumped back and forth between thrift store stories and her journey to Medjugorje, which I didn't care for. The trip seemed completely unrelated and it made the book feel disjointed.
(In case any readers are sensitive to profanity, please note that there are a couple of swear words included in dialogue.)
"The balance of power [between volunteer and the people served in the thrift store] is so skewed that it is an immediate barrier to friendship. I am the seemingly rich person giving the money away, and they are the seemingly needy people asking for help. This is not a good basis for friendship... Maybe this is why our patron, St. Vincent, tells us to help as quickly as possible, to drop everything, even our rosary beads, when someone asks for our assistance. Our quick response is a sign of our sincere concern for them, and it takes some of the power out of our hands and puts it in theirs. If we delay our help to fit our own schedule, we control not only the money but also their time and add to their anxiety." p 156
"Take care not to spoil God's work by trying to hurry them too much. Take good time and know how to wait. Too often we spoil good works by going too fast, because we are acting according to our own inclinations which makes us think what we want to do is practical and timely. What God wishes done is accomplished almost by itself, without our thinking about it." St. Vincent dePaul, as quoted on p 51
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March 26, 2020Very good reflection and wisdom for an uncertain age.
May 11, 2022
Charming, not a professional author but well done.
June 6, 2012
In this book and in her first, Thrift Store Saints, Jane Knuth writes about her volunteer work with the poor through the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She has volunteered at a thrift store in Kalamazoo, Michigan, run by this Catholic charitable organization for almost 20 years.
In Ms. Knuth's books are tales of her encounters with customers at the store and in the surrounding neighborhood. The refreshing thing about her point of view is that she doesn't consider herself to be serving the poor, or teaching the poor, or in any way condescending to a class of people not her own. She has wholeheartedly assumed the Society's position that the people she helps are her teachers, and she their student. That simple, yet profound, shift in thinking informs Ms. Knuth's every interaction. It produces a curiosity and humility that makes her storytelling so very touching.
Yet Ms. Knuth is no saint! She is honest about her struggles to help people who might be lying to her, people who don't smell good or who are drunk and abusive, people who -- as one of the ongoing stories in this book reveals -- rob her while brazenly turning an innocent face to the world.
In this book, Ms. Knuth's stories at the shop are intertwined with tales of her reluctant pilgrimage to Medjugorje in the war-ravaged country of Bosnia, where the Mother Mary has been said to appear every day since 1981 to a group of six young people. Her gentle humor reveals her growing appreciation of the pilgrimage: "One of the first things Our Blessed Mother told the visionaries when she arrived in their town was that everyone needed to go to Mass more often," she writes. "This is one of the most convincing elements of the whole apparition story for me. The visionaries were teenagers when all this started... and teenagers would not make this part up."
Perhaps what I most appreciated about Ms. Knuth's books is that her spiritual insights are nuanced and thought-provoking. She resists easy answers and pat endings. She fully explores ambiguous feelings, and lets herself off the hook for being woefully human. That's a grace more of us could use.
In Ms. Knuth's books are tales of her encounters with customers at the store and in the surrounding neighborhood. The refreshing thing about her point of view is that she doesn't consider herself to be serving the poor, or teaching the poor, or in any way condescending to a class of people not her own. She has wholeheartedly assumed the Society's position that the people she helps are her teachers, and she their student. That simple, yet profound, shift in thinking informs Ms. Knuth's every interaction. It produces a curiosity and humility that makes her storytelling so very touching.
Yet Ms. Knuth is no saint! She is honest about her struggles to help people who might be lying to her, people who don't smell good or who are drunk and abusive, people who -- as one of the ongoing stories in this book reveals -- rob her while brazenly turning an innocent face to the world.
In this book, Ms. Knuth's stories at the shop are intertwined with tales of her reluctant pilgrimage to Medjugorje in the war-ravaged country of Bosnia, where the Mother Mary has been said to appear every day since 1981 to a group of six young people. Her gentle humor reveals her growing appreciation of the pilgrimage: "One of the first things Our Blessed Mother told the visionaries when she arrived in their town was that everyone needed to go to Mass more often," she writes. "This is one of the most convincing elements of the whole apparition story for me. The visionaries were teenagers when all this started... and teenagers would not make this part up."
Perhaps what I most appreciated about Ms. Knuth's books is that her spiritual insights are nuanced and thought-provoking. She resists easy answers and pat endings. She fully explores ambiguous feelings, and lets herself off the hook for being woefully human. That's a grace more of us could use.
April 19, 2014
In many respects, Jane Knuth's "Thrift Store Graces" is a continuation to her first book "Thrift Store Saints". Although the general themes and style are very much the same, Knuth explores new facets of serving her community and growing in her Catholic faith by way of her volunteerism at the St. Vincent's Thrift Store in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She gives an honest perspective of serving; sometimes being taken advantage of by the people she serves; wondering if on occasion she is being lied to; and always recognizing that the true challenge is to serve everybody equally anyway. Knuth highlights the struggles that accompany volunteering, fighting back the urge to judge, and trying to not let logic dictate her actions. Her story "The Family With Six Last Names" is worth the purchase price of the book in and of itself. As someone who has spent many years working with youth and campus ministries, I appreciate how Knuth shares stories of the young volunteers that she works with side-by-side, and the perspective that their involvement can bring to her service work. Interwoven throughout her accounts from the thrift store, Knuth also shares her experiences of traveling to Medjugorje on a religious pilgrimage. Despite describing some miserable traveling conditions, she somehow manages to sell the concept of attending such a pilgrimage as a powerful experience that compliments her service work. Whether you have read "Thrift Store Graces" predecessor or not, I would recommend the follow-up as a thought provoking journey for both seasoned volunteers and those seeking inspiration to become more involved in their communities.
August 11, 2012
Talking to Mary makes more sense now that the author has explained it. I'm not Catholic so never understood this.
I worked for the dept of human services for 28 years, so learning about another agency, St Vincent de Pauls, was so, so interesting! We referred people there, but I never took the time to learn their philosophy or methods. This was an alternate view of a universe I used to inhabit.
I worked for the dept of human services for 28 years, so learning about another agency, St Vincent de Pauls, was so, so interesting! We referred people there, but I never took the time to learn their philosophy or methods. This was an alternate view of a universe I used to inhabit.
October 10, 2012
This lovely little book is filled with heart warming stories of a woman working in a thrift store. There are two threads interwoven within,encounters and lessons learned from her clients at the thrift store and her pilgrimage to Croatia where visions of Mary are reported. The stories left me pondering the graces present in my life what my stories might be.
May 24, 2013
I loved this book. Jane reacts so much the way I would in the same situation. It gives you so much to think about and now I wish I had a connection to a great group of Christians that are doing so much good---and learning along the way. Keep up the good work Jane.
December 20, 2014
I enjoyed meeting the author's fellow workers at St. Vincent de Paul and it gave me a pilgrim's look inside the Catholic faith that I've never had the opportunity to view. I'll definitely look for her first title "Thrift Store Saints".
June 17, 2012
Uplifting and entertaining. I will share a few of her stories with my team.
December 31, 2012
A good book to end the year on. 'Finding God's gifts in the midst of the mess' is a good credo for the new year.
April 4, 2014
Inspiring, enjoyable, while still a light read.
March 13, 2014
This is an intimate sharing of the author’s relationship to God which I find deeply profound. She describes hardscrabble spiritual struggles and true miracles.
January 1, 2015
Sincere, searching, never pious and often quite funny, these stories of finding God's presence in the St. Vincent de Paul Society thrift store resonated strongly for me.
August 13, 2016
The author works at a Catholic thrift store. She is told to love, listen and forgive people, and don't try to save them. Salvation is God's work. Lots of Catholic beliefs included in the book.
August 21, 2012
Thrift store behind-the-scenes personal, heartwarming, uplifting, educational.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews