One of my favorite books I've read recently is entitled "Love Does" by Bob Goff. If you've never had the privilege of hearing or reading this man's words, I HIGHLY recommend checking him out! Bob's mission is simply to love the people around him extravagantly - and not just the people who make it easy to love them, but the people who are tough to love - the people who annoy us, get under our skin, make us want to bang our head against a wall - you catch my drift. Anyways, while reading this book, I came across a story that totally blew me away.
One teeny tiny important detail you have to know about Bob Goff is that he is the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Uganda, and that his book "Love Does" is actually the name of his nonprofit that starts schools in areas of the world that are in unrest - like Uganda, Iraq, Iran, etc. One of the stories in his book details the first time he started one of these schools with his friend. They sent out, like a bajillion letters, telling parents and families that they were going to open a school for their kids, and only a few came. I think the number was between three and five (it's been a while since I read this book!) But really, it's not the exact numbers that matter in this case, just the HUGE difference between how many flyers they had sent out and how many kids had actually showed up.
What do you think his and his friend's response would have been? If it were me, I probably would've sulked. Why the heck did only three people show up! All those flyers with such little payoff. How do I know that would be my response? Because, truthfully, I was tempted to feel that way with these mini sessions, which were halfway booked. My immediate response was to be annoyed. Upset. To let myself feel like I had failed. But then I remembered this story, and I was challenged when I remembered that that was NOT Bob's response:
Bob had a freakin' field day. I remember him saying something in the book like they were too busy fist bumping and shouting for joy that they got ANY kids to come to even think about being disappointed that more hadn't shown up. This man decided that those kids were the exact kids that God had wanted he and his friend to love that day. And you know what's really awesome? God blessed their faithfulness with what they were given and grew that school over the years into hundreds. And now there are multiple schools in multiple countries just like that first one.
Who are we to think that what we've been given isn't enough? Maybe it's actually exactly what God wants us to have. Maybe it's what we're supposed to have. And maybe we're just called to love the people that God puts in front of us - whether it's one person or one hundred people.
So, what does this long introduction have to do with this mini session post? I'm glad you asked 😉
When not a ton of people jumped on these sessions, I was a little bummed - slightly disappointed. I was tempted to feel like I had failed because these time slots weren't overflowing with people. But then - I remembered Bob's response, and I realized how incredibly BLESSED I was to be able to serve and love on these three families who were trusting me with the honor of photographing the people they loved most. And I don't say that just to say it - I truly feel that God brought exactly who he wanted to be here to these sessions!
To the families who I had the honor of working with - THANK YOU! I was blessed by each one of you and am SO thankful to be able to continue loving on you all!
And if you're interested in reading the book that inspired this post, click here! My husband, also an avid Bob Goff fan, wrote a bit about Bob's content and it's awesome! Check it here!
