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Thrift Store Saints: Meeting Jesus 25¢ at a Time
Thrift Store Saints is a collection of true stories based on Jane Knuth s experiences serving the poor at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in the inner city of Kalamazoo, Michigan. At the outset of the book, Knuth is a reluctant new volunteer at the store, sharing that her middle-class, suburban, church-going background has not prepared her well for this kind of work. By the end of the book, Knuth has undergone a transformation of sorts, and neither she nor we can ever view the poor in the same way again.
Knuth s transformation is rooted in the prevailing message of Thrift Store When we serve the poor, they end up helping us as much as we help them. Throughout the book we are introduced to new saints, as Knuth thoughtfully, at times humorously, describes how her encounters with the poorest people led her to the greatest riches of God s grace.
Knuth s transformation is rooted in the prevailing message of Thrift Store When we serve the poor, they end up helping us as much as we help them. Throughout the book we are introduced to new saints, as Knuth thoughtfully, at times humorously, describes how her encounters with the poorest people led her to the greatest riches of God s grace.
178 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
March 16, 2013
I love this book first because one of the main characters, Dorothy, is my grandma and Jane, the author captures her personality and spirit so perfectly. Second, this St. Vincent DePaul store is located behind my former elementary school and the book brings back a lot of good and funny memories. Finally, though, I think the author very accurately captures the challenges as well as the rewards of working in a social services organization. She demonstrates how you deal with the frustrations by finding the humor in various situations and highlights the dedication of the individuals who choose this line of work. It's a quick and rewarding read the will leave you smiling. Especially the parts about Dorothy (but I'm biased).
May 28, 2011
What I actually know about God might, on a good day, fit on a quarter of the head of a pin compared to the fullness of God's true hugeness.
That said, there are a couple of things about the Almighty that I'm pretty certain are true: God's grace is always staggering and often surprising. And God has a tremendous sense of humor.
Case in point: second-hand socks.
I happened upon this odd epiphany while reading -- inhaling, more accurately -- a simply beautiful (and beautifully funny) new book, Thrift Store Saints: Meeting Jesus 25 cents at a Time, by first-time author Jane Knuth.
Fifteen years ago, Knuth -- a Baby Boomer, cradle Catholic, teacher, wife and mother -- walked into the St. Vincent de Paul Society thrift shop in Kalamazoo, Mich., hoping to purchase a rosary for her daughter's First Communion. When she tried to pay with a credit card, she learned the store only took cash or checks.
"Everybody takes credit cards," she thinks to herself. "McDonalds takes credit cards!"
Knuth complains bitterly about the stores "lousy" hours and the inconvenience to Dorothy, the white-haired saint at the register, who tells her, sweetly: "Most of our customers don't have credit cards. So it's usually not a problem."
Dorothy's words and subsequent kindness toward not-so-gentle giant who suddenly appears at Knuth's elbow angrily demanding to be given new shoes to wear to church, shocks the author into realizing that she is not standing in a simple thrift store. She's in a sacred place.
Knuth has been volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul Society store ever since.
Recalling one of her earliest days at the shop, Knuth says: "Those three people standing outside [in the rain] aren't problems to be solved -- they are my teachers. They aren't going to mug me -- they're going to show me the way to God."
The St. Vincent de Paul Society is a worldwide Catholic organization founded in Paris in 1833 with the express purpose of meeting the physical needs of the poor by going to them and offering help.
"Don't make the poor ask for what God, their Father, wants them to have," St. Vincent said. "We should apologize if they have to ask for what they need."
Votaire said that God is a comedian who plays to an audience that is afraid to laugh. Happily for her readers, Knuth isn't afraid to laugh, sharing her God stories in breezy, eloquent prose with ample self-deprecation and great humor.
With that trajectory in mind, Knuth finds herself in many unexpected places and situations where she meets the living and loving God.
There's the story of Knuth going after-hours to meet a client at the big box retail store where she works her second job as a greeter. The woman has no break so Knuth pulls out a pen and fills out the paperwork herself, lobbing questions at the harried single mom who answers dutifully without missing a beat.
"I'm going to need your landlord's name and phone number...the last four digits of your Social Security," Knuth begins.
"Have a nice day! His name is ______ and he lives on ____," the woman answers. (I picture her giving her personal data in a stage whisper while fiddling with the nametag on her uniform vest.) "Have a nice day! And my Social Security number is ______. Need a cart today, miss?"
On another occasion, a nurse from a local hospital calls the thrift shop. There is a patient, an older woman who's recovering from a debilitating illness and being released that day, who has no bed at home. The nurse has a bed to give the patient, but no way to get it to her. Can the Society help?
Knuth and her husband, Dean (a lovely soul), deliver the bedroom set, complete with floral linens, to the ailing woman's home in Kalamazoo's dodgiest neighborhood, meeting drug addicts and would-be thieves along the way. As they leave, the woman tells them she's never had a bed of her own.
In the chapter "Echoes of Christmas," Knuth recounts one Christmas season not to many years ago when sales at the St. Vincent de Paul store have been off and, as a result, the staff is faced with a dilemma: Should they use the limited funds they have to help clients with their rent and utilities or should they continue the shop's tradition of giving families who request them (sometimes year after year) Christmas gift baskets? Looking at the books, they don't have enough money to do both.
After much soul searching, Knuth and her fellow volunteers decide to step out in faith and do both, even if it looks like it'll take a miracle to do so. They assemble the gift baskets and hand them out. Several large monetary donations arrive at the last minute and the shop ends up having so many toys left over that they give them to a homeless shelter across the street.
As Knuth and the other volunteers are cleaning up a few minutes before closing shop for the holiday, a mother turns up in the shop office crying. She has two young children and is struggling to keep the lights in her home turned on. Three days before Christmas, she was forced to return the kids' gifts to Walmart. She needed the cash. Knuth and her cohorts assemble a sack full of gifts that would have made St. Nicholas proud.
"When Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fish and instructed his friends to share it with the crowd, it still looked like five loaves and two fish," Knuth writes. "They must have felt a bit foolish telling everyone to sit down and dig in. they couldn't have known that the miracle would occur after they gave the food away...Our worrying was such a waste of time."
In her charming book, Knuth indulges neither the twee nor the contrived. Her stories ring true precisely because they are full of the kind of imperfect details that make life what it is. Messy. Surprising. Maddening. Blessed.
Which brings me to second-hand socks.
Tim is a store regular. He's young, fresh-faced and rides his bike everywhere. Knuth first meets Tim the day he's standing at the register trying to decide between purchasing a plastic change purse or a pair of (used) socks. Each item costs 25 cents, but he doesn't have enough on him for both.
Refusing to take the socks with him and pay on his next visit, Tim pedals to his bank and comes back with a quarter.
"Blessed are you who are poor," Knuth writes, recalling one of the Beatitudes, "For the kingdom of God is yours."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathlee...
That said, there are a couple of things about the Almighty that I'm pretty certain are true: God's grace is always staggering and often surprising. And God has a tremendous sense of humor.
Case in point: second-hand socks.
I happened upon this odd epiphany while reading -- inhaling, more accurately -- a simply beautiful (and beautifully funny) new book, Thrift Store Saints: Meeting Jesus 25 cents at a Time, by first-time author Jane Knuth.
Fifteen years ago, Knuth -- a Baby Boomer, cradle Catholic, teacher, wife and mother -- walked into the St. Vincent de Paul Society thrift shop in Kalamazoo, Mich., hoping to purchase a rosary for her daughter's First Communion. When she tried to pay with a credit card, she learned the store only took cash or checks.
"Everybody takes credit cards," she thinks to herself. "McDonalds takes credit cards!"
Knuth complains bitterly about the stores "lousy" hours and the inconvenience to Dorothy, the white-haired saint at the register, who tells her, sweetly: "Most of our customers don't have credit cards. So it's usually not a problem."
Dorothy's words and subsequent kindness toward not-so-gentle giant who suddenly appears at Knuth's elbow angrily demanding to be given new shoes to wear to church, shocks the author into realizing that she is not standing in a simple thrift store. She's in a sacred place.
Knuth has been volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul Society store ever since.
Recalling one of her earliest days at the shop, Knuth says: "Those three people standing outside [in the rain] aren't problems to be solved -- they are my teachers. They aren't going to mug me -- they're going to show me the way to God."
The St. Vincent de Paul Society is a worldwide Catholic organization founded in Paris in 1833 with the express purpose of meeting the physical needs of the poor by going to them and offering help.
"Don't make the poor ask for what God, their Father, wants them to have," St. Vincent said. "We should apologize if they have to ask for what they need."
Votaire said that God is a comedian who plays to an audience that is afraid to laugh. Happily for her readers, Knuth isn't afraid to laugh, sharing her God stories in breezy, eloquent prose with ample self-deprecation and great humor.
With that trajectory in mind, Knuth finds herself in many unexpected places and situations where she meets the living and loving God.
There's the story of Knuth going after-hours to meet a client at the big box retail store where she works her second job as a greeter. The woman has no break so Knuth pulls out a pen and fills out the paperwork herself, lobbing questions at the harried single mom who answers dutifully without missing a beat.
"I'm going to need your landlord's name and phone number...the last four digits of your Social Security," Knuth begins.
"Have a nice day! His name is ______ and he lives on ____," the woman answers. (I picture her giving her personal data in a stage whisper while fiddling with the nametag on her uniform vest.) "Have a nice day! And my Social Security number is ______. Need a cart today, miss?"
On another occasion, a nurse from a local hospital calls the thrift shop. There is a patient, an older woman who's recovering from a debilitating illness and being released that day, who has no bed at home. The nurse has a bed to give the patient, but no way to get it to her. Can the Society help?
Knuth and her husband, Dean (a lovely soul), deliver the bedroom set, complete with floral linens, to the ailing woman's home in Kalamazoo's dodgiest neighborhood, meeting drug addicts and would-be thieves along the way. As they leave, the woman tells them she's never had a bed of her own.
In the chapter "Echoes of Christmas," Knuth recounts one Christmas season not to many years ago when sales at the St. Vincent de Paul store have been off and, as a result, the staff is faced with a dilemma: Should they use the limited funds they have to help clients with their rent and utilities or should they continue the shop's tradition of giving families who request them (sometimes year after year) Christmas gift baskets? Looking at the books, they don't have enough money to do both.
After much soul searching, Knuth and her fellow volunteers decide to step out in faith and do both, even if it looks like it'll take a miracle to do so. They assemble the gift baskets and hand them out. Several large monetary donations arrive at the last minute and the shop ends up having so many toys left over that they give them to a homeless shelter across the street.
As Knuth and the other volunteers are cleaning up a few minutes before closing shop for the holiday, a mother turns up in the shop office crying. She has two young children and is struggling to keep the lights in her home turned on. Three days before Christmas, she was forced to return the kids' gifts to Walmart. She needed the cash. Knuth and her cohorts assemble a sack full of gifts that would have made St. Nicholas proud.
"When Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fish and instructed his friends to share it with the crowd, it still looked like five loaves and two fish," Knuth writes. "They must have felt a bit foolish telling everyone to sit down and dig in. they couldn't have known that the miracle would occur after they gave the food away...Our worrying was such a waste of time."
In her charming book, Knuth indulges neither the twee nor the contrived. Her stories ring true precisely because they are full of the kind of imperfect details that make life what it is. Messy. Surprising. Maddening. Blessed.
Which brings me to second-hand socks.
Tim is a store regular. He's young, fresh-faced and rides his bike everywhere. Knuth first meets Tim the day he's standing at the register trying to decide between purchasing a plastic change purse or a pair of (used) socks. Each item costs 25 cents, but he doesn't have enough on him for both.
Refusing to take the socks with him and pay on his next visit, Tim pedals to his bank and comes back with a quarter.
"Blessed are you who are poor," Knuth writes, recalling one of the Beatitudes, "For the kingdom of God is yours."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathlee...
November 19, 2013
Thrift Store Saints: Meeting Jesus 25 Cents at a Time by Jane F. Knuth is a book I would recommend to those who enjoy reading fiction books that really relate to the everyday life of normal people. I'm only saying this because this book is about a normal middle-aged woman who's life is changed by a little thrift store. Saint Vincent De Paul thrift store was the only place Jane, the main character, could purchase a rosary for her daughter's first communion. During the purchase of the rosary, Jane was asked to volunteer there at the thrift store. She first turned down the offer of helping the poor and less fortunate but her decision was turned around when she was recognized by the woman who would later become her best friend and a drunken man barged into the store demanding things that couldn't be provided and she was forced into defending herself and the other volunteer. This book will truly change the reader's outlook on life. We all take things for granted and when reading about Jane's experiences at the thrift store. Many little events that Jane goes through with her customers while working at Saint Vincent De Paul thrift store change her as a person. Many less fortunate people come across Jane and she realizes that she should be thankful for everything she has because some people don't have much. I think the reader will feel the same way and the same lesson will come across to them. There are many small parts to this book and each part portrays a lesson to the reader. Each person Jane comes across has a heartbreaking story and Jane always finds ways to help these people. I can almost guarantee that you will be changed as a person for the better while reading this book.
November 14, 2013
Thrift Store Saints an e pretty well written book filled with heartwarming, depressing, and thrilling stories about an amazing lady Jane Knuth’s days working at the Saint Vincent De Paul thrift store. This book takes place in Kalamazoo, Michigan in a thrift store that Jane works at. You learn many things about Jane for example how she came to actually work at the store. You also learn all about the amazing people she meets on her dynamic journey working at the store. Jane helps people out every day from giving away clothes to some families that are less fortunate and can’t afford things for Christmas, and she even saves someone’s life (not directly) but just by giving away money to people for food to put on their families tables.
Something that you should know about this book is that every chapter is usually a new story about a new person or something new that you learn about Jane. Another thing you should know about this book is that it is a Christian book. Most people think that if it’s a book about God and how he can communicate to you that it’s going to be a bad book… you are wrong. This actually was a very good book and I would defiantly recommend it to anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2011
This is a short, moving book about a woman's experiences working for the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. The author becomes an unwilling volunteer at a SVdP thrift store, and ends up growing in her faith as she enters into the lives of the very poor and desperate people whom she serves. I liked the author's voice: she was self-depreciating and quite honest about her fears, her prejudices, and her tendency to over think the problems of the world while being unwilling to address the problems right in front of her face (a condition I have some familiarity with). Her best line was "Theology is how we talk about God when he isn't in the room."
I read this book in about an hour and a half. I enjoyed it tremendously.
I read this book in about an hour and a half. I enjoyed it tremendously.
March 2, 2013
This is the best book I've read in recent months, and I've read a LOT of amazing books.
This book is written by a woman local to Kalamazoo, and very well done. She's a volunteer at a local non-profit store. I thank her with my whole heart for her inspiring words and gracious stories. I recommend EVERYONE to read this humorous, touching, and heart-felt book.
Working at the Kalamazoo Free Store once or twice a month, also once-a-month at Loaves and Fishes, I completely relate to her stories. These people seeking a much needed service show me Christ.
This book is written by a woman local to Kalamazoo, and very well done. She's a volunteer at a local non-profit store. I thank her with my whole heart for her inspiring words and gracious stories. I recommend EVERYONE to read this humorous, touching, and heart-felt book.
Working at the Kalamazoo Free Store once or twice a month, also once-a-month at Loaves and Fishes, I completely relate to her stories. These people seeking a much needed service show me Christ.
March 5, 2012
I'm sure I would never have crossed paths with this book if it had not been selected by my book club. The experiences of the author as a St VdeP volunteer are thought provoking as well as heartwarming. Even as a 'fallen away Catholic", I was interested to look up some of the historical references, St Dymphna and the Benedictine rule for example, so I learned something in more ways than one ;)
August 18, 2025
Easy read, inspiring with some deep gems of truth sprinkled throughout. Will probably read again sometime.
March 28, 2012
This is the book that I was reading for the Creighton University Lenten Reading Blog, in which twenty-five people from around the world (including yours truly) read the book gradually during Lent and commented on it at http://blogs.creighton.edu/lentenread.... I have now finished the book, on schedule (before Holy Week, next week), and will make my final comments on Friday, March 29, 2012. As to the book, I am very glad I read it; it’s a simple little book, but one that makes one think about one’s religion in action.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is an international Roman Catholic voluntary organization dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need; addressing social and material needs in all its many forms. (I cribbed that sentence off of Wikipedia.) In 1997 the author stopped at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in search of a First Communion rosary for her daughter. Something nudged her to volunteer her time at the store (which also gives out money to indigent people), and this episodal book is a compilation of her experiences over thirteen years of volunteering.
At the beginning, she is not arrogant, but she does know where her talents lie. However, God does not call the equipped, He equips the called – and so the author finds that what God apparently wants of her is not what she had envisioned. (It’s also been said, if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.) Working face to face with the poor is a humbling experience, no matter where one starts, because so often there are as many responses from helping the poor as there are poor people.
Many families have two adults working two jobs to pay for a mortgage, car note, school or college tuition, and the like; if one or the other adult (or both adults) looses his or her job, or falls victim to accident or serious illness. the carefully constructed plans of financial stability (or at least financial viability) can go right out of the window. It would not take a whole lot of easily envision-able problems to put any of us haves into the shelters with the have-nots. But while we are among the haves, we have an obligation to help our brothers and sisters who are the have-nots. God gave the world plenty of stuff, but He put it in different places to see if we would share it or keep it to ourselves; and may God give us the grace to share of what we have with others.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is an international Roman Catholic voluntary organization dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need; addressing social and material needs in all its many forms. (I cribbed that sentence off of Wikipedia.) In 1997 the author stopped at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in search of a First Communion rosary for her daughter. Something nudged her to volunteer her time at the store (which also gives out money to indigent people), and this episodal book is a compilation of her experiences over thirteen years of volunteering.
At the beginning, she is not arrogant, but she does know where her talents lie. However, God does not call the equipped, He equips the called – and so the author finds that what God apparently wants of her is not what she had envisioned. (It’s also been said, if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.) Working face to face with the poor is a humbling experience, no matter where one starts, because so often there are as many responses from helping the poor as there are poor people.
Many families have two adults working two jobs to pay for a mortgage, car note, school or college tuition, and the like; if one or the other adult (or both adults) looses his or her job, or falls victim to accident or serious illness. the carefully constructed plans of financial stability (or at least financial viability) can go right out of the window. It would not take a whole lot of easily envision-able problems to put any of us haves into the shelters with the have-nots. But while we are among the haves, we have an obligation to help our brothers and sisters who are the have-nots. God gave the world plenty of stuff, but He put it in different places to see if we would share it or keep it to ourselves; and may God give us the grace to share of what we have with others.
August 25, 2011
Knuth lives in the Kalamazoo, MI area and is an eighth-grade math teacher. Fifteen years ago, she stopped into the St Vincent de Paul thrift store, to buy a rosary, and somehow came away as a new volunteer.
At her first meeting with the others who ran the store, she suggested that she could organize the paperwork with a computer system, to use "for inventory control, paying bills, client files, and make it possible for customers to use credit cards for purchases" (She had been shocked to learn that she couldn't pay for the rosary with her credit card). The other volunteers rolled their eyes, and one octogenarian said "What we could really use is someone who would take out the trash every night and clean the bathroom."
The stories in "Thrift Store Saints" illustrate Knuth's changing perspective, as she focuses on the people who come into the store, listens to them, and learns from them about Jesus, and about serving others.
At her first meeting with the others who ran the store, she suggested that she could organize the paperwork with a computer system, to use "for inventory control, paying bills, client files, and make it possible for customers to use credit cards for purchases" (She had been shocked to learn that she couldn't pay for the rosary with her credit card). The other volunteers rolled their eyes, and one octogenarian said "What we could really use is someone who would take out the trash every night and clean the bathroom."
The stories in "Thrift Store Saints" illustrate Knuth's changing perspective, as she focuses on the people who come into the store, listens to them, and learns from them about Jesus, and about serving others.
April 21, 2013
In this book, Jane describes her experiences volunteering at a St. Vincent De Paul Society thrift shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I think she does an excellent job of portraying all of the realities of serving in such an environment. She captures the sometimes funny, occasionally heart breaking, usually very fulfilling moments that come along with the territory. Jane is very open and honest regarding her initial thoughts on feeling like she was not “holy” enough to be called into such a role and the frustration she experienced when her comments and suggestions given to the long time volunteers seemed to fall upon deaf ears. I appreciated also the excerpts she included regarding the college students that began to help out at the shop. I would recommend this book to anybody that feels the slightest call toward service in any capacity; regardless of their religious affiliation. I think you will find it to be inspiring.
April 1, 2011
I found this in the New Books section of the library. I grabbed it to read last night after a rough day with crabby children, the forecast of another week of rain and a new recipe that didn't go quite as planned. Reading about some of the people Jane encounters at the thrift store reminds me that my difficulties in life are NOTHING compared to ordeals so many people face daily. This book is well written and engaging. Jane tells us how she volunteered at the Thrift Store to serve the community, but ended up finding teachers in the people she met there, and finding God in the unexpected.
February 21, 2011
I started reading this partly to humor my mother, who knows the author and gave me an autographed copy. I finished it for its own sake.
Jane is a gifted writer who tells the stories from her fifteen years of volunteer work with the St. Vincent De Paul Society simply, sweetly, and in such a way that, without being preachy, reveals the profound spiritual lessons lurking beneath her seemingly mundane encounters. An uplifting, pleasant weekend read.
Jane is a gifted writer who tells the stories from her fifteen years of volunteer work with the St. Vincent De Paul Society simply, sweetly, and in such a way that, without being preachy, reveals the profound spiritual lessons lurking beneath her seemingly mundane encounters. An uplifting, pleasant weekend read.
March 13, 2021
This book touched me in ways I did not expect. It is not a great piece of literature, but there are little nuggets in every chapter that pull at you. However, it is the final third of the book that I really responded to. I am thankful it wasn't preachy, and that it was written in a simple, straightforward style. Sometimes in order to really get the message, it needs to be soft-pedaled, and Jane Knuth's light touch was exactly right for the subject matter. I am grateful to have read it.
April 26, 2011
This book was so much more than I hoped for. I opened it thinking it was a book club selection that I had to read and within the few hours I read it, it became a beautiful statement of what Christianity strives to be. Of humanity's weaknesses and strengths, our fears and hopes. I cried on a couple different occasions at the love and acceptance offered and reminded me of why I not only love to be a Christian, but specifically a Catholic.
Read
July 28, 2011Written by local first-time author, Jane Knuth, this is a lovely book about one middle-class woman's transformation over 15 years of working with the poor. Knuth began volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul society, a local thrift store, fifteen years ago. Her stories seem really honest. Both poor and middle class people are fully human - sometimes virtuous and sometimes not. Her transformation from reluctant volunteer to fully engaged community member is nicely portrayed.
February 24, 2016
This collection of stories about a middle-aged suburban woman's volunteer experience at a St. Vincent DePaul thrift shop was touching, funny and honest. Author Jane Knuth is blunt about her own expectations as a volunteer and how her preconceptions were continuously confounded by the people whom she served and with whom she worked. My favorite story: Chapter 3, "A Street Theologian."
This book sat on my wish list for a long time, and I wish I'd gotten around to reading it sooner.
This book sat on my wish list for a long time, and I wish I'd gotten around to reading it sooner.
July 21, 2011
This was a quick and easy read. Includes some great, insightful nuggets gleaned by the author, who started volunteering in a St. Vincent de Paul store in inner-city Kalamazoo. Church book club selection, good one to share with people who like inspirational, but light, reading. Good online resources available at publisher's website.
December 23, 2011
This is a sweet, quiet little book that carries the perfect Christmas message. The St. Vincent de Paul Society believes not only in serving the poor, but learning the Gospel from the poor. This book is a testament to the mindfulness and clarity others help us achieve when we get out of our problems and into theirs.
January 10, 2012
Quick read, intriguing and timely given St. Vincent de Paul's recent news in Lansing re: the fire. Appreciated this "volunteer" perspective and all that she learned and continues to learn about herself, her faith and the meaning of life:) Compassionate, humorous and enlightening..worht the read and glad my mom put it in my stocking last Christmas (2010).
March 3, 2012
This is a great book. She offers insightful commentary on poverty, generosity, and Christian behavior in a little book that never veers into preachy or even religious (if I can read it and enjoy it, you know it steers clear of those topics!). Humorous and pleasant. That said, if you're looking for a new book for your Bible discussion group, this one should stir up some lively discussion.
March 11, 2016
Oh, I can't oversell this book. It's honestly hard to describe. At its heart, this book is about how giving can change you. It's about how the poor can teach you. It's about finding Jesus in the most unexpected of places. It's about generosity and grace and compassion and how the giving of those things will change you forever. It's about love - 25 cents at a time.
June 6, 2012
I found out about this book on the Creighton University website during Lent this year; it was their book for Lent. Loved it; taught me about St. Vincent De Paul, their mission, etc... I donate all my 'gently used' things there now. Read it; see what a difference you can make, just a little bit at a time!
February 11, 2013
Now this is a book that is labeled as Christian, and actually describes what it truly means to be Christian. A great book about the joys and pitfalls of volunteering to help those less fortunate. I was surprised to find I liked this book so much as it is not my normal genre, but it was great. Thanks for the gift, Wendy!! (Not that you are reading this review since you are not on Goodreads.)
March 2, 2013
Loved this book! I even presented it at book review for a meeting. I read this because Creighton University had encouraged its alumni to read it for Lent. It is sort of an overview of the people the author meets at the thrift store she volunteers at - the people who cross our paths everyday and can show us Jesus in themselves or just teach us life lessons. Would read it AGAIN!
April 5, 2011
If you ever work/volunteer in your church's thrift shop, this book will sound all too familiar to you. A quick read with short stories on several of the author's encounters with those whom she meets while working in her church's thrift store.
March 27, 2011
Good Book. I got this as a birthday gift with a $25 gift card to my local fave thrift store! The book was a little heavy on the Catholicism, but the stories and the overall message is GREAT! Very easy and fast read.
December 29, 2012
Stories about a lady who volunteered at a Kalamazoo thrift store….heartwarming.
I am involved in the organization St. Vincent de Paul, and this gave me a much broader picture of the people needing help.
I am involved in the organization St. Vincent de Paul, and this gave me a much broader picture of the people needing help.
January 14, 2014
Made me miss volunteering and helping with the Alzheimer's patients and the people in the diabetic amputee unit. We all need opportunities to meet people others see as poor, and see that they are still people--often, wiser and more patient than the not poor.
December 27, 2011
This was a wonderful book. I work in an office where we have a St Vincent de Paul food pantry in our building and I can really relate to the stories in this book. It is just a great book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews