Quotes by Bob Goff

Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. Its not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is Hes 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, Lets go do that together.

Living a life fully engaged and full of whimsy and the kind of things that love does is something most people plan to do, but along the way they just kind of forget. Their dreams become one of those well go there next time deferrals. The sad thing is, for many there is no next time because passing on the chance to cross over is an overall attitude toward life rather than a single decision.

Failure is just part of the process, and its not just okay; its better than okay. God doesnt want failure to shut us down. God didnt make it a three-strikes-and-youre-out sort of thing. Its more about how God helps us dust ourselves off so we can swing for the fences again. And all of this without keeping a meticulous record of our screw-ups.

Jesus lets us be real with our life and our faith.

...we need to stop plotting the course and instead just land the plane on our plans to make a difference by getting to the do part of faith.

I dont think anyone aims to be typical, really. Most people even vow to themselves some time in high school or college not to be typical. But still, they just kind of loop back to it somehow. Like the circular rails of a train at an amusement park, the scripts we know offer a brand of security, of predictability, of safety for us. But the problem is, they only take us where weve already been. They loop us back to places where everyone can easily go, not necessarily where we were made to go. Living a different kind of life takes some guts and grit and a new way of seeing things.

Grace works that way. Its a kind word from a gentle person with an impossible prayer. Its a force sometimes transmitted best hand to hand in a dark place.

When you trust someone, you dont need to know everything.

I learned that faith isn’t about knowing all of the right stuff or obeying a list of rules. It’s something more, something more costly because it being present and making a sacrifice. Perhaps that’s why Jesus is sometimes called Immanuel - “God with us.” I think that’s what God had in mind, for Jesus to be present, to just be with us. It’s also what He has in mind for us when it comes to other people.

Thinking about work as a day job has made a big difference in the way I approach what I do. It also helped me not to confuse who I am with what I do.

Thats one of those things about love. It always assumes it can find a way to express itself.

But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. Its a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright.

There is only one invitation it would kill me to refuse, yet Im tempted to turn it down all the time. I get the invitation every morning when I wake up to actually live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy, a life where love does. It doesnt come in an envelope. Its ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee drifting lazily from the kitchen. Its the invitation to actually live, to fully participate in this amazing life for one more day. Nobody turns down an invitation to the White House, but Ive seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live.Turning down this invitation comes in lots of flavors. It looks like numbing yourself or distracting yourself or seeing something really beautiful as normal. It can also look like refusing to forgive or not being grateful or getting wrapped around the axle with fear or envy. I think every day God sends us an invitation to live and sometimes we forget to show up or get head-faked into thinking we havent really been invited. But you see, we have been invited -- every day, all over again