This book is true story about a trio of unlikely friends. Ron, the author, and his wife begin volunteering at a local homeless shelter. During one of their first weeks at the shelter, Ron's wife gets the strong and unreasonable feeling that her husband needs to befriends of the unruly clients. Through several attempts, and many more errors than successes, Denver (the client) begins to warm up to Ron. I think that the reason this story struck a chord with me is because of my work teaching GED classes. Many of the students I work with are temporarily homeless or highly at-risk. Reading a story about someone that I never knew existed, but seeing in him so many of the people that have become very close to me, pulled at my heartstrings. The struggles and challenges of individuals that find themselves homeless are terrifying and heartbreaking. It makes me greatly question the system that we live in. At the same time, I also see the work that I do with my GED students as the beginning of a way out of a terribly vicious cycle.
This story has very deep roots in the religious beliefs of Ron and his wife, and how their faith helped them through some very difficult times and relationships. At first I was worried that I would be too distracted by this to dive into the story, but it was completely the opposite. I was shocked at the honesty and transparency that their faith gave them. Read this now!!
