Skip to main content

Posts

“The words people say to us not only have shelf life but have the ability to shape life.”

A thought by Bob Goff, (2012-05-01) from his book, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World (p. 88). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition . (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) For half of my life at home our family traveled all over the US and Canada and held in churches meetings for them from Wednesday through two Sundays.   Dad would preach every night and Sunday morning and we as a family would sing.   I started singing in front of people when I was five.   That’s what I did.   I sang.   Well when I was a sophomore we moved to Owosso, Michigan where I went to Owosso High School.   And I tried out for the choir.   I was a tenor and every choir needed tenors and because of my experience in singing I was chosen for the top choir.   We had three different choirs in that school.   Now even though I had been singing for at least 10 years dad thought it would be a good thing if I would take voice lessons.   So I started taking lesson

“We could all stand to make some room and let God suck some terrific stuff into the space we create.”

A thought by Bob Goff, (2014-01-07) from his book with Barna Group, Multi-Careering: Do Work That Matters at Every Stage of Your Journey (Frames) (p. 49). Zondervan. Kindle Edition . (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We have so much to do.   And we have no time to create space for God to fill it with terrific stuff for into our life. Bob says, “It’s amazing how a little elbow room can give us clarity about our choices and fresh perspective on our priorities. We accumulate activities and obligations like we’re hoarders — because, actually, we are. We have stacks of things we keep doing just because they are familiar to us, not because they are meaningful for us.   It’s why so many of us (72%) feel stressed out and many of us admit to being overcommitted at work or even in our relationships.” Even the good things we do because of a feeling of responsibility and duty rob us of the potential to really live out the life God has for us. He continues,

“The people who slowly became typical have the greatest problem wrapping their minds around a dynamic friendship with an invisible, alive God.”

A thought by Bob Goff, (2014-01-07) from his book with Barna Group, Multi-Careering: Do Work That Matters at Every Stage of Your Journey (p. 15). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition . (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Do you really realize how unbelievable you are?   God says that you and I were wonderfully made.   Yes life has a way of bringing people into your life who feel that they are just typical and who will do all they can to bring you down to the level that they feel they are.   Oh they somehow try to come across that they are better than you but in themselves they think you are better.   That is why they have to pull you down.   But the truth is The Enemy is the one who is trying to get at God through us.   We just don’t need to accept his lies. Bob says, “There’s nothing wrong with being typical, I guess, but there is nothing fundamentally right about it either. I’ve never read in Genesis that God created “typical” and called it good. Instead, I t

“I think we were made to do many things. As our lives change, as we change, we will also change what we do.”

A thought by Bob Goff, (2014-01-07) from his book with Barna Group, Multi-Careering: Do Work That Matters at Every Stage of Your Journey (Frames) (p. 36). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This is a good thought to stop and see if it is true for you. Bob says, “Don’t be surprised if you need to quit a couple of jobs to find the right career — expect it. Some of us have careers that, at one time, served us and our ambitions. But over time those ambitions have changed and we’ve outgrown the career. When a career is no longer helping to shape who you’re becoming, but is instead tying you to who you used to be, there’s a fix. Quit.”   Now does that make you a quitter?   No it means you are growing and learning and becoming.   He continues, “I quit things all the time. To be precise, I quit something every Thursday. Each week I pick one thing in my life to send to the scrap heap and, on Thursday, out it goes. Sometimes wha

“It is the wisest among us who keep choosing to make a career out of raising our families, whether or not we have another job.”

A thought by Bob Goff, (2014-01-07) from his book with Barna Group, Multi-Careering: Do Work That Matters at Every Stage of Your Journey (Frames) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) There are so many thoughts that Bob shares that are so very meaningful.   I hope you click on the titles of his two book and buy them.   He is so refreshing. Now this thought touched me at a certain spot in my life.   I had gotten to the place that I was away from home all day and a big part of my night.   My family wasn’t close to being important to me and I came so close to losing out on their lives.   One day I came to the point that I needed to make a change so I quit my staff position at a large church, moved to another town and eventually started delivering pizzas and falling in love again with my family and my God.   I had gotten my priorities all out of whack.   I eventually got back into fulltime ministry but with my family having

“I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them.”

A thought by Bob Goff, (2012-05-01) from his book, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World (p. 1). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Do you want to fix people?   Maybe you went into your marriage with an “I can fix them” instead of just loving them attitude.   No one want that, they just want to be loved for who they are.   What that seems to be is an “I’m better than you” way of looking at people.   And that too many times is easy for those of us who are Christians to look at those who aren’t.   That is not a good thing. I love the story that Bob shares here in his book about his being accepted by his Young Life leader rather than giving him advice.   And that can really be tough to do.   I mean I know how to fix you but it isn’t what I know that makes the difference but it is what I do.   This is what love, acceptance and forgiveness is all about.   The New Testament talks a lot about fel

“How we identify ourselves is the thing we will become.”

A thought by Bob Goff, (2014-01-07) from his book with Barna Group, Multi-Careering: Do Work That Matters at Every Stage of Your Journey (Frames) (p. 38). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. How do you identify yourself?   I identified myself for many years as a church planter but one day I retired and in one sense I lost my identity at least I had to change it.   Bob also said, “As time has passed, I’ve come to think of my careers as a part of my legacy, but certainly not all of it. After we’re gone, those closest to us may appreciate the work we did, but they’re more likely to remember how we did it. They will remember us for our love and whimsy. Only strangers will remember us just for our jobs or titles.” And then he says, “I have learned to be very careful how I describe myself, because people do best at what they identify with most.” This has been a very soul searching thought for me today.   It is so easy to see what you do in your career as your identity and to give our li