Love Does {Book Review}

“Bob who?” 

When Bob Goff visited a local church recently, and facebook exploded with excitement over his appearance, I was a little embarrassed that I had no idea who he was.

So I figured I’d better get with the times and read his book. One of the first stories in it was of him making a phone call to Washington DC and leaving his name for a return call. The secretary replied, “Bob who?” I had to laugh. I’m glad I wasn’t the only person on earth who didn’t know who this dude was.

Love Does, now a NY Times Bestseller, is a humorous collection of stories from Goff’s life, stories that highlight and celebrate engaging life, taking risk, and loving people with reckless, enthusiastic, “whimsy” love. It’s a quick read, but very fun, as his stories leave you shaking your head wondering if this guy is for real. He is. It was a great for a poolside read on our vacation. It was also a great book to shake me out of my stupor a little bit and remind me to lighten up, risk, laugh, and enjoy living out God’s love and compassion for people instead of stressing about whether or not I’m doing it right. 

The great nuggets gleaned from Goff’s stories included:

• Saying yes to opportunities rather than fretting and fussing in indecision
• Embracing and engaging each day rather than looking ahead for the “next thing”
• Dreaming big and attempting ridiculously audacious things for God’s glory rather than just always opting for the safe option
• Believing God for what I believe He wants me to do rather than giving up
• Embracing failure as a beautiful, acceptable, and even beneficial part of life rather than fearing it and avoiding it at all cost
• Just loving people NOW rather than sitting around creating mission statements and plans for doing great things

My only other frustration with the book was that all the examples and stories felt so far removed from my life. That’s not a criticism–the author is simply writing from his own life experience and I’m sure the distance I feel is my own fault, my own limited perception of what I’m “able” to do. But stories of a man, with plenty of money, traveling around the world and letting people use his sailing boat and vacation home on the water, made me feel even more limited in my being a woman, a stay-at-home mom with two little kids who need me all the time, living on 1/3 of a normal salary (not complaining, these are choices we’ve made!). I know that I can still embrace the nuggets listed above, but as I read the stories I admit I struggled with feeling like the life described was just so far removed from my own. Maybe we’ve all struggled with that as we look up to and admire people in different life-circumstances than our own.

But please don’t get me wrong, great book!  And it made me think–wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a book about embracing life, giving extravagantly, and living out God’s crazy-love mission on this earth as a woman, even as a stay-at-home-mom? What if there was a book about embracing this amazing sacred existence in the midst of the mundane. Maybe Goff’s wife, Sweet Maria, will write one.

Or maybe I will. Hey, why not?

I’m learning how to dream. 🙂

Thanks so much to Bob Goff for writing this great book and shaking me up a little. I hope this didn’t come off too critical, as it was a great read and I’m thankful for it. And I’m glad I finally know who he is now! Thanks to all of you, for reading.