What's the Difference?

When I worked as a copy editor for a large in-house agency at a corporation that will remain nameless, we had loads of scintillating conversation at our staff meetings. While your work team meeting might focus on action steps, brainstorming or implementation, ours focused on word usage: How do you decide if it's "which" or "that"? If the CEO wants "over" to be used only when its meaning is "above your head," does that make "more than" a superior phrase or simply a managerial quirk? And which is correct: "different from" or "different than"?

I still can't remember the answer to that last one. If I am editing something with one of them in it, I look it up. If I am about to use it in my speaking, I either say something else entirely or say both.

So when I finally got around to reading Same Kind of Different as Me I was really confused by the addition of "different as." But soon the book (by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, with Lynn Vincent) made me not care about the grammar. The true story centers on how Ron Hall, an international art dealer, allows his wife to convince him of their need to minister at a homeless shelter. There they meet Denver, a homeless man who is none too happy to make their acquaintance.

God had bigger plans and wove the lives of these two men together in a way they never dreamed possible. Watch the video to hear more about their unique friendship, and then consider reading the book.


Who do you perceive as different? (Notice how I avoided the whole different from/different than conundrum?) How might you approach a friendship or, at least, an understanding? One thing this book taught me is not to be so quick to see a slight.

Denver eventually tells Ron that those at the homeless shelter figured Ron and his wife were with the CIA because they were asking everyone their name and birthdate; apparently on the street, no one asks your name. The Halls could have perceived reverse prejudice in Denver's not revealing his name; instead they simply persisted in loving. I am often so quick to judge the motives of another, when I might be totally off base. I am asking God to help me accept that there may be valid reasons for the behavior of another that I think is odd or even rude.

No matter how different you think someone is, recognize they are a person cherished by God. Reach out in love. You may just discover an amazing friendship that will carry you through the hard times.

Hunter's Heart

"I'm not going to school," my 6-year-old grandson insisted last Friday. Our daughter Joy was confused because Hunter loves school.

"Hunter, get on the bus."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I am taking the money I was saving for vacation to God's Warehouse [a local thrift store] and buying clothes and toys for the kids that don't have them."

A tornado had hit a section of their northeast Tennessee county and wiped out a community of houses. Hunter insisted that the children who had been affected couldn't wait another day for clothes while he went to school.

Hunter won. Joy loaded Hunter, his vacation change jar and a 4-year-old friend in the pickup and off they went to God's Warehouse. When Hunter asked the person in charge how much he could buy for the $38 in his jar, they told him he could fill the back of his momma's truck.

Because they knew some of the children whose homes had been destroyed, Joy had gotten a list of clothing sizes needed. She set up baskets on the floor labeled by size, and the boys carefully went through the clothing, selecting two outfits for each child. Toys and other items were added to the piles.

Hunter also tried to buy the eight bags of donations an elderly man was dropping off. "You don't want these clothes, Son, they're for old people," the man said.

"Well, there were old people whose homes were destroyed. Please, can I buy them?" The man apologized to the store clerk and placed the bags in Joy's truck instead.

When the truck was full, Joy and the kids took the donations over to those affected. The devastation hit them hard, and Joy worried about its effect on the boys. But there was satisfaction, too, in delivering the things they had picked out and that Hunter had personally paid for.

I'm proud of my grandson. He's been saving that money for months in anticipation of a trip to the beach this summer. And yet he was willing to give it up for what he saw as a greater need.

Yesterday, I got irritated about a very small kindness someone asked me to do. It cost me almost nothing, but my selfish nature protested. I need God to soften my heart like he has Hunter's to the needs of those around me and to help me put those needs before my wants.

What needs do you see today? Maybe you're called, like Hunter, to help those dealing with the tornado aftermath. Maybe it's someone at church that needs a hand. Maybe it's a family member who simply needs us to listen. Whatever it is, act quickly as Hunter did. Don't delay like I did. Allow God to bless others through you.

Whatcha Buyin'?

I was at the mall just before Easter to pick up my new glasses at LensCrafters. The prescription was very different, so I wanted to walk around a bit to get used to it before I turned my car into a weapon on the road. As I took a few steps, looking at a few signs, I felt the tug. I wanted to shop.

My friend Cyndi and I, who worked at Bamberger's (now Macy's) together, used to be Olympic shoppers. We could open and close the mall, all on our day off from jobs where we were around merchandise all day long. I was the queen of bargains. (Cyndi was the queen of quirky, but that's another story.) I went broke saving money more times than I could count.

When I get near the mall, I am transported back to those days. I may no longer have the stamina for a 12-hour shopping spree, but I can still smell a bargain.

And yet those bargains aren't really a bargain for anyone, including me. For me, it means less money in my bank account or that I can be generous with and more money spent on one more thing I don't need in my closet or cabinet. And for the person who manufactured it, that bargain for me likely means pitiful wages for him or her. (How else can those stores afford to sell those "bargains"?)

May 14 is a World Fair Trade Day, a reminder that if I really do need to purchase something, there is a way to do it that at least eliminates the second poor consequence. While the price of the item I need or the gift I wish to purchase might not scream "bargain" like those sale signs at the mall, it will ensure that the worker who made it is paid fairly. That's priceless.

We're fortunate enough to live around the corner from Ten Thousand Villages, and in honor of World Fair Trade Day, they're hosting an "interactive food experience," called "World Kitchen Saturday." If it involves food, Les and I are sure to love it! So I hope we'll be heading over to enjoy the interaction.

If you want to have some fun, the World Fair Trade Day site has some links to events, maybe one in your community.

Oh, and just so you know, as the smell of the bargain hunt filled my nostrils, I ran for the doors. Better to brave the roads with the new glasses than to bag an item I just didn't need.