If you want to see the gospel played out in the lives of ordinary (and extraordinary) folks, get this book. It’s life-changing. It’s one of the few books I’ve read this year that I cried through, loving the prose, reveling in the beauty of the story.

I don’t want to give away the farm here by restating the story, but suffice to say it’s about an unusual friendship forged by a woman with an ability to see beyond a homeless man’s facade. And it’s about the woman’s husband who tentatively steps toward a relationship with the same man.

Although it’s a true story (which makes for amazing heart impact as you read), it reads like a novel. I will never look at people the same. And as I’ve prayed this year that I’d be receptive to God’s still small voice, I hope I can reach out to the hurting the way these people did.

Because I know my life is only as rich as the people I allow in. If I’m too busy or too into my agenda, I’ll miss God’s best. Keeping messy people at arm’s length does that to my soul, stagnating it.

So, get this book. Devour it. And determine, by God’s grace, to never be the same.