“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.” – Bob Goff

What are you filling your bucket of life with?

Wow! Have I got a story and some great gifts for you today.

This morning I was wondering what God wanted me to write about for this week’s Sunday Inspiration. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks – Love Does: Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World.

How did this happen? Well, two Sundays ago I went to a “hymn sing” at Mountain View Community Church (MVCC), really more to honor Elmer Mehl, the guy who was leading it, than because I was interested in singing hymns. After the singing was over, I spoke with Jim Ammons, another one of the church elders.

Somehow during our discussion, we ended up talking about webinars and my need to improve the background and lighting for the webcam videos. I discovered Jim is the owner of Visions II Productions, a professional video production business. I asked Jim to send me a follow up email, which he did. The next Sunday when I saw Jim at MVCC, he asked if I received his email. After saying yes and apologizing for not replying yet, Jim invited me to come to his home to see his video studio.

So two days ago (Friday October 9), I went to Jim’s home to glean from a video expert. Wow! What an amazing experience and wonderful time of fellowship. Jim poured his knowledge and expertise richly into my life.

Last night, I chose to go to bed early so I could get up early this morning, which I did. While journaling on the computer and reviewing my journal entries from the previous few days, I was let to visit Jim’s business website. From there I was led to watch several videos that Jim had created including:

• Mountain View Community Church South American Mission Trip
• Manna Thank You
• Camp Shenandoah Springs 2014 Quick Look
• Easter at Mountain View Community Church (2015)

Mark Jenkins’ sermon for Easter 2015 really struck home with me. He told the story of Bob Goff, the NY Times bestselling author of Love Does and the founder of Restore International.

But Bob’s life wasn’t all so rosy. He struggled in high school and dropped out to move to Yosemite National Park and try to find a job. Fortunately for Bob, a Young Life leader named Randy had reached out to Bob to be a friend and show the love of God. When Bob decided to go to Yosemite National Park, Randy dropped everything he was doing to support and love Bob in his decision. That story has an incredible ending. I encourage you to watch it.

 
Anyhow, while listening this morning to Mark Jenkins’ Easter message, I was led to learn more about Bob Goff, Restore International, and his best-selling book.

Restore International’s goal is to try to change a few lives for the better. We fight for freedom and human rights, work to improve educational opportunities, and try to be helpful to those in need of a voice and a friend. Restore was founded in 2003 by Bob Goff, after a trip to India, where he witnessed extreme human rights violations. Restore India started with efforts to free those in bonded labor, sex trafficking, or otherwise exploited. In 2006 we began working in Uganda in human rights and education. We continue to work in both India and Uganda with a variety of programs. Countries Restore International is currently working with: Uganda, India, Somalia, Iraq, and Nepal

Not only did I purchase Bob’s book “Love Does”, but I also watched numerous videos of Bob. He has a great sense of humor and will inspire you to be more and do more.

Blessings to enjoy these other short extraordinary videos!

 
As Bob says, “Don’t just put your toe in the water, do a cannonball with your life.”

Blessings to do a cannonball with your life!