Yesterday we talked about finding a way to love those we serve, and how we can't serve someone well if we don't find something to love about them. For this week's book review, I chose the book Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff. I was immediately intrigued by the title, because who doesn't want a secretly incredible life in an ordinary world?
Bob Goff is a guy who has every reason in the world to toot his own horn; he has done incredible things in his life. But the cool thing is, his book comes across more like Forest Gump. Remember the Tom Hanks movie? Forest Gump had these amazing experiences because he found himself in the right place at the right time. Bob Goff puts himself in the right places at the right times and is a world changer because of it.
Before you tune out and think this is just a pretentious guy reeling off a laundry list of his accomplishments, think again. This is book is seriously laugh out loud funny. ROFL for those of you who do FB shorthand. And then, while you are wiping tears of laughter, he hits you with a heavy dose of truth and puts a spin on it that takes the whole thing to a different plane.
Each chapter starts with a blurb that reads: I used to think________________, but I know I know that_________________. Some of my favorites: I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes. Here's another: I used to think knowing God was like going on a business trip with Him, but now I know He's inviting me on an adventure instead.
In the chapter I read tonight, he talks about letting his kids choose an adventure when they turned ten. Nothing was off limits. After sharing some of their adventures, this is what he writes:
"Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It's not a trip where He sends us with a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He's made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, "Let's go and do that together.""What a beautiful word picture of God's invitation to live an adventure, whatever that looks like for you. In the coming weeks I'll share what that means to me, but let me close with some more wisdom from Bob. (I feel like he's the kind of guy who would say "Call me Bob.")
"What's your next step? I don't know for sure, because everyone's different, but I bet it involves choosing something that already lights you up...Pick something you aren't just able to do; pick something you feel like you were made to do and then do lots of that."
You get a bonus track today...Brandon Heath wrote a tribute song to Bob Goff, called, appropriately enough, Love Does. It rocks...I hope you enjoy it.
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