Catch People on the Bounce

I like to read.

Actually, I LOVE to read!!!

I read to wind down.

I read if I have some down time.

I read waiting for appointments. 

I read at the beach.

I read before bed.

I read with my girls.

I have a very bad habit of reading on my kindle at night and will get so into a book that it will be WAY past my bedtime when 1) it runs out of battery life or 2) I look up to see what time it actually is.

I recently came across the book, Everybody Always, by Bob Goff.

And OMG!!!

THIS book!

This book is absolutely one I will be recommending for, well, EVER!

It's an easy read but simply filled with so much truth and insight.

24 chapters.

Each based on a unique experience that Bob has had in life and has somehow made it so easily applicable to the reader to put into perspective.

I'm just going to be completely transparent.

I thought I was a person who "loved well."

Reading this book has made me take a deeper look at my own self and the interactions I have on a daily basis...maybe not so much with the people I know, but for sure the ones I don't.

Being better together also means loving well.  

And I am determined to put into practice what is stirring in my heart after reading (and rereading) this book.

I want to live my life so the words below are 100% true at all times.

[I bet this is what Jesus meant when He told His friends that people would understand who He was by watching how we treated each other. Early on I thought big acts of generosity or great sermons or arenas full of people singing songs would help us understand God's love for us. He said it was none of these. Jesus told His friends that letting people see the way we love each other would be the best way to let people know about Him. It wouldn't be because we'd given them a lot of directions or instructions or because they memorized or studied all the right things. It would be because someone met you or me and felt as if they'd just meet Jesus.]

[[ It would be because someone met you or me and felt as if they'd just meet Jesus. ]]

A few of my favorite quotes:

And here's an excerpt from one of the chapters that stuck with me the first time and I want to share with you in closing.  

Catch people on the bonce:

[ ...There's one last thing the instructor told us in class. He said if the main parachute doesn't open up and the reserve parachute doesn't either, you've got about forty-five seconds before you hit the ground and make your mark. I was surprised and a little grossed out when the instructor said hitting the ground isn't what kills you. Every bone in your body will break, of course. But after you hit the ground, you'll bounce - and it's the second time you hit that kills you as the broken bones puncture all your organs. I know that is kind of graphic, but it's true.

I'm a lawyer, so with this information in mind I figured I needed a strategy. Here's mine: if none of the parachutes open up, when I hit the ground, I'm going to grab the grass and avoid the bounce. What is true in skydiving is true in our lives. It's usually not the initial failure that takes any of us out; it's the bounce. We've all hit the ground hard at work or in a relationship or with a big ambition. Whether we had a big, public failure or an even bigger private one, the initial failure won't crush our spirit or kill our faith; it's the second hit that does. The second hit is what follows when things go massively wrong or we fail big, and the people we thought would rush to us create distance instead. They express disapproval or treat us with polite indifference.

If we want to be like Jesus, here's our simple and courageous job: Catch people on the bounce. When they mess up, reach out to them with love and acceptance they way Jesus did. When they hit hard, run to them with your arms wide open to hug them even harder. God wants to be with them when they mess up, and He wants us to participate.

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Be with each other. Don't just gather information about people who have failed big or are in need - go be with them. When you get there, don't just be in proximity - be present. Catch them. Don't try to teach them. There's a big difference.

We don't need a plan to do these things. We don't need to wait for just the right moment. We just need to show up, grab a parachute, and when it's time, jump out of our shoes after people the way Jesus jumped out of heaven to be with us.

Sometimes we make loving people a lot more complicated than Jesus did...]

We are SO much Better Together my friends!

Do yourself a favor.
Read this.
And then read it again.

And simply LOVE.
Everybody, Always!



xox,
Jenny