What do you see?

This week has been unusually cold for us. On Tuesday, the temperatures plummeted and it never really warmed up during the day. I was getting a cup of coffee at the church and looked outside as a man walked up to the front door. I invited him in for a cup of coffee. There are many things that are different in our lives. Clearly, he had spent a lot of time outside and he was cold and hungry. The differences in our lives do not stop there. I have a car with a heater. He would spend the day walking in the cold. As we sipped coffee together and he ate a snack, we started talking. It turns out that he had once visited the church I attended as a boy. We spent the next few minutes remembering the music, the pastor and a mutual friend who had brought him to church. We laughed and shared some great memories. Some of the same people who have touched my life have touched his. He thanked me for the coffee and food and told me he was ready to get on his way. After praying together and giving him a hug I watched as a man with a very different life and yet a very similar heart walked away.