Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Ann Voskamp in her book,  WayMaker ,   (p. 34). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is a good thing, yes it is. Ann says, "Expect nothing but expect hesed . Expect God to knock at your door, expect God to rise on your horizon, expect hope and mercy and miracles and a glass of cold water, but just don’t expect God to come looking any way you expect. Expect nothing but hesed , the lovingkindness of God—just not in the kinds of ways you’d ever dreamed. Pain will come, but name it a mystery, and find manna in it, and taste bits of miracle even in what you can hardly stand and don’t understand." She continues her story, " 'You okay?' Farm Boy had turned around that snow-globe December night, laughed a bit nervously, making another U-turn at the end of the street. 'I know we’re now kinda late—or actually really late.' "But maybe, if we’ve already connected, we’ve already arrived. W...

A thought by Ann Voskamp in her book, WayMaker ,   (p. 30). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That's not exactly what we usually want, is it? Ann continues, "I think I’ve always expected . . . more ." She says, "I mean, maybe that’s always been the story, right from our collective beginning. The whole of the rest of the garden of Eden wasn’t enough; we wanted—expected—more. Though we were chosen to bask in the bliss, we weren’t satisfied until we could choose our own way, pick our own dreams, take a bite out of our own choosing, and have all of it. But to be dangerously frank, the way God chose for us in the garden can seem misguided at best, and foolishly illogical at worst: Don’t eat this fruit. Why in the name of all things holy does He choose to forbid . . . fruit ? What in the world is immoral about savoring a bit of the proverbial apple? Why obey a commandment not to sink your teeth into the sweet, an edic...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 40). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now that is good to know. Bob continues, "It’s true, and the only ones who can’t see this are usually the unhappy ones." He goes on, "If you choose happiness and joy, then kindness and empathy and engagement are the outcomes. If joy is going on inside of us, everyone will know because it will be expressed outwardly as kindness and caring and action in your life. You’ll be nicer, and trust me when I say this is what the earth needs more of. Why am I telling you to be nice in a book about distraction? The primary reason is because people who aren’t nice distract everyone around them. You know it’s true, and if you are one of the not-nice people, you are in fact banking on this cause and effect. We are not going to get to the important, courageous, purposeful work of being the most priceless versions of ourselves if we aren’t ...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 38). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now, that is a great way to put it. Bob continues, "If you fill your days with trivial stuff, you will look up one day and a year or a decade or a half-century will have passed. Don’t wait until you are old to ask yourself: What have I done with all that time? Why not ask yourself right now? What am I going to do with all the time ahead of me? What do you want your answer to be? Once you decide what you want the future to look like, make a couple of moves like your life is actually yours to live—because it is. Quit the job, call the friend, make the apology, launch the dream, take the shot . . . heaven is just hoping we will." He says, "I’ve spent some time exploring the branches on my family tree, and it turns out that most Goff men come from the factory like a windup toy with only a certain number of turns. We’re Energi...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 36). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now that is interesting but maybe not surprising. Bob continues, "I bet most of us think 'happy' is a result of other choices, but that’s not all of it. Sure, circumstances can be truly awful, but feeling happy is a choice just like any other. It’s not that we don’t want to be happy; we just get distracted by so many unhappy things that we never get back around to happiness. Perhaps we think we need an invitation or permission to be happy. And what if we want happy feelings to transition into a deep and abiding joy with a longer shelf life? He says, "Consider this. In stark contrast to our complicated decision tree, a child makes less than 10 percent of the decisions adults make each day. Maybe one of the benefits of the childlike faith Jesus said we need is that there are fewer decisions to make, and hence, fewer distra...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 31). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Very good idea. Bob continues his thought, "Modern-day cynics don’t roll this way. It seems like they always wake up on the wrong side of the bed. They are like snipers, but they are far from courageous. They elevate themselves, then camouflage their positions. They hide in the lofty places they construct, then take potshots at the people they want to exert control over. If you don’t agree with them or don’t yield to their opinions, you become a target yourself.  . . If you play the cynic, please stop, for your sake and ours. I know you think you are being helpful, but the hard truth is, you are not. You may not realize it, but you are a distraction." Bob says, "I don’t think this is an overstatement: Modern-day cynicism has likely cost the world hearts, lives, cures for diseases, and trillions of dollars. It has also ruine...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 27). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Is that true of you? Bob says, "We construct walls and put up our bulletproof glass so nothing can hurt us. Sadly, we can spend our entire lives constructing a façade of security and safety, when inside we are just scared people in need of a friend." He continues, "Do you need the courage to admit, even now, that you have been pretending to be something you are not? Are you a prisoner needing space to get real? Have you been distracted by your need to never seem weak or afraid or vulnerable? Are you spending weird amounts of time trying to control the people around you because your life on the inside is out of control? How much energy is that taking out of you—energy you could pour into something bigger and more beautiful than your insecurities?" He goes on, "We’re all inwardly insecure to some degree. What shroud...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 20). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) This is so important to realize. Bob says, "Socrates said an unexamined life isn’t worth living. I don’t agree that such a life is not worth living, but I would concede we are prone to forgetting about self-reflection. If you have young kids or a stressful job, you especially know how hard life can be. Some days you crash into bed exhausted, just to get up and do it again . . . and again . . . and again. String together enough days like that, and you’ll look up someday wondering where the years have gone. Don’t get sucked into that trap. Write down all of the lessons you learned from each day. A life without reflection is like a vapor." He continues, "James, the brother of Jesus, said in one of his letters that none of us knows what will happen tomorrow. He said our lives are like a mist that appears for a little while and ...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 18). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is so true, so true. Bob continues that thought, "Take notes while you read this or any other book. Write down how you are going to apply the parts that make sense to you. If you don’t net those butterflies immediately, I promise they will fly away. Do this, then study and refine those notes, and you will find connections between the ideas you have scribbled down in the middle of the conversation and ones you had in other conversations. You will capture meaningful, partially developed, and applicable ideas you can incorporate into your life. As you use what you have written down, they will create a feedback loop as they evolve into fuller, more complete ideas. If you don’t take the time to capture and process your interior world, you will miss the opportunity to discover something bigger and more beautiful in your heart." ...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 17). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is important to him, and it really makes a difference in people's lives. He continues, "That’s why I put my cell phone number in the back of more than a million of my books. From the outside looking in, that probably looks like a move that would wreck any kind of productivity in my life. That’s true, I suppose, if you’re only trying to live an efficient, productive life. But I’m not, and here’s why. We will be known for our opinions but remembered for the love we gave to everyone around us. If I have my head down over a project and can’t be bothered to shift focus, I’ll miss a good chance to show love and grace to the person next to me—and that’s not the life I want to live. Receiving a truly ridiculous number of telephone calls each day is a great reminder of who I want to be. These don’t feel like interruptions; they are r...

  A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 13). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) It's hard to believe but it's true. Bob continues this thought, "The cold hard truth is most people don’t. We settle for the safe and distracted life we know rather than the one God has promised is available to us. Sure, we can agree that Jesus wants us to be new creations, but if we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ve got to admit there’s nothing new about it. A total reset isn’t easy, and it involves risk. Maybe an enormous tragedy or loss causes us to reset. Or a reset might be the result of making time to clear our minds in the morning. Find a new rhythm for your heart. Here is my simple suggestion: Decide in advance that you will do whatever it takes to get your heart right, and then do it—even if it will kill all previous versions of you." He says, "You need to ask yourself what makes your heart beat in...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 6). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And we don't really like second best, do we? Bob says, "Let’s be honest with each other. There is a lot of second-best available to all of us. If we aren’t aware of the alternatives, we won’t realize we are settling for less than what is accessible to us. This book won’t tell you what to think or what to do, but I hope it reminds you about who you already are. You are someone who has permission to live with an unreasonable, unthinkable, totally absurd amount of focus, purpose, joy, and fulfillment." He continues, "Here are a few questions I have for you as we begin this journey. Are you willing to do what it takes to uncover the wonder that already surrounds your life? Will you do the courageous work to identify what is distracting you from the better things? And finally, are you willing to do the difficult and selfless...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) He says, "We arrive as babies, placed in the arms of parents who are complete amateurs with no owner’s manual and usually no clue how to raise us. Most of us start broke or broken, and some of us stay that way. Some strike it rich but then accumulate a distorted view of their wealth; still others never find healing in their search for wholeness. Add to this that we’re following a God we can’t see, for a lifetime we can’t measure, to a heaven we can’t comprehend, because of grace we didn’t earn. Again, is it any wonder we’re all a little muddled?" He continues, " In truth, we are all trying to build the airplane while flying it—figuring it out as we go. This means more off-ramps than on-ramps, more chances for confusion than certainty, and more ambiguity than clarity. In a word, much of life can leave us feeling completely, ...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book, Undistracted   (p. 2). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is possibly true. Bob continues, "While we might notice our minds wandering, we also need to look at the meandering nature of our activities. Rather than making decisions consistent with who God says we are, we might be acting like the person someone else wants us to be. Perhaps comparison is leading you away from yourself. Maybe it is financial pressures or deep-seated insecurities or past failures that are overly influencing your present decisions. We need to recognize these things in our lives before we can begin the courageous work of moving forward." He says, "Try this: Take some notes for an entire day on how you are spending time between the big projects or commitments in your life. Don’t just write down 'I worked on writing my paper today' or 'I spent the day preparing for my weekend trip.' Write ...