During the pandemic, listening to books on audio has become a lifeline for me. I am not usually a big reader. I consider Pinterest as my favorite “picture book” (haha!). Watching the news and reading all the hatred people spew on social media is a big NO for me. I even took a break from Facebook for a little bit just to see how my attitude would change. Guess what? I learned that I actually liked my time unplugged. I would say give it a try and let me know what you think.
While I was unplugged, my amazing friend John recommended the most awesome books for me to read (listen to) - ” Love Does" by Bob Goff . I can tell you that this book (and several others by the same author) have changed my entire perspective on many things. I am a Jesus lover, but Church has not been my jam in 20 plus years. I know churches are full of broken and hurt people, reinforcing the saying “hurt people hurt people”. My hubby Randy is fond of reminding me of something he heard in a sermon many years ago - If you find the perfect church, don’t join it because you will screw it up!
By no means am I a saint, however, by nature I am a “fix it” person. If you have a problem, I want naturally to help you fix whatever you are dealing with. Admittedly, I use my more than my share of colorful verbiage and I don’t want my imperfections to cause someone else to have an issue or struggle. So, I figured it was safer for all of you if I just stayed away from church (LOL)!
After reading "Everybody Always", I realized there are things that each of us have the ability to do. I discovered within the pages of this book that the answer is as simple as just loving someone else. What does that look like? It could be just stopping for a moment to look and see what struggles a person may be dealing with. The book talks about how our culture has gotten so comfortable judging each other that we cannot appreciate our differences because we are far more different than we are the same. Also, we remember the wrongs that people do instead of the ‘rights’. We all hit a few bumpy dirt roads on the path of life however, the important part is to keep driving! The pages of Mr. Goff’s books encourage us to take a risk by loving people even if we don’t understand why. I wanted to highlight some of my favorite quotes and ideas from a few of his books as he tells his story and leads by example:
Spend more time loving people instead of trying to change them.
Perhaps our plan should just be to love each other. Beautiful people, fun people AND difficult people. What fills you with meaning and purpose? Do the things that fill your spirit. Be a movement
All opportunities come with expiration dates – Step toward the thing you want to do. Make your move.
Hard to understand people or people who live differently than us can creep us out. See the beauty in others. Love everybody always. After all, we probably creep them out as much they creep us out!
There is a HUGE difference in using good judgement and living in judgement.
Love the people we don’t get along with.
God knows that without risk we can't grow. He didn't promise us a safe life. He said He would give us a dangerous, engaged and courageous one.
Through these books, Bob has motivated me to be brave and love hard, even when I may not want to. Take the risk, do the thing, call the person and set the goals!
When I grow up, I want to have an office at Disneyland…and be Bob Goff!