Season 3 is all about relationships, the ways we navigate them, and practices that help relationships thrive. Today, we have Bob Goff, Maria Goff, and Jody Luke from Love Does Org! Bob and his team encourage us to create relationships that find joy in making a difference.
Episode Summary: Season 3 is all about relationships, the ways we navigate them and practices that help relationships thrive. Today, we have Bob Goff, Maria Goff, and Jody Luke from Love Does Org! Bob and his team encourage us to create relationships that find joy in making a difference.
Practice: See a Need, Meet It: Let’s put our faith into action as a community! Who can join you this week to serve someone in need? Find a person and meet a need together!
Show Notes:
“Love Does” Podcast
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Sometimes, at a really practical level, you might see and need me to need, and then you might see and need find a person, find somebody to go grab your shoulders,
and then you're grabbing the shoulders of somebody else, and then build this community of friends that are doing that. And don't operate like an organization, operate like a community of really good friends,
people that have some skin in the game. Hey yo,
Peoples. Hey yo, Peeps. Peeps isn't really a cool word anymore. Do you guys know that? Peeps? Like, that was kind of a big deal. Now it's, um, I don't even know what it is now,
but I just aged myself by saying Peeps. I'm the father of four teenagers. And they have a whole lingo that, I mean, mine was like rad, rad was like my language.
And now they have 49 words that were hip last week. And now this week, you're old school. You're basically saying peeps. Welcome to the 10 ,000 minute podcast,
Tim Timmons here. Once again, we've got my great friends, heroes, people that have. shaped me a whole bunch and have shaped so many of us, actually. Bob Goff,
Bob Goff and his wife, Maria, sweet Maria, and Jody Luke from lovedoes .org. This is a great conversation. There's stuff to learn here from work relationships to what's it look like to actually follow the way of Jesus,
which we think is like doing our Bible studies and stuff, but... it's just fascinating how God and all the Old Testament is kind of like, man, I don't really need your awesome songs and your awesomeness.
What I need for you to do is to love the vulnerable, to care for the widows, to care for the people that can't do it for themselves. And that's kind of what these guys are doing, you guys. So this is a podcast,
10 ,000 Minutes. There are 10 ,080 Minutes in a week. And 80 of those Minutes, we spend... maybe if you gather as the church somewhere, which is awesome in a building or in a home. But there are 10 ,000 minutes until we gather again,
and I'm awesome in those 80 minutes that we gather. But as I scatter, how are we looking more like Jesus? Not just looking like him, but actually representing him in our world. How are we like shalom and peace dispensers to the world?
Not judges, but peace and shalom dispensers in the world. And that's what we're looking for. Goff and Maria Goff and Jody Luke are doing. And I'll invite you guys in too as well,
because they're doing crazy things. If you've ever read Bob's book, Love Does, or any of his other books, they're just kind of mind blowing. So you're going to love this. Check out our show notes for any more information on Love Does.
They've been around for 20 years. I mean, guys, they're everywhere. They're in like conflict zones when I was in Israel with Bob and Maria. and Jody They had just started a new school in a Palestinian area I mean it's just crazy and they just go and do it so check out some of the show notes if you guys are loving season 3 I hope you are Subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss an episode and if you'd like to
join the 10 ,000 minute community Facebook or Instagram, please go and check us out there. It's also in the show notes But you can also give to 10 ,000 minutes 'cause we don't do a Patreon like most podcasts do.
We just have a nonprofit. And so you can give and give as much as you want. And you can also get a free text messages. All that stuff is in the show notes or go to 10 ,000minutes .com.
1 -0 -0 -0 -0 -minutes .com. Okay, you guys get ready. This is one of my favorites, actually three of my favorites. So, here we go. Hello everybody.
- Hi. - Hey. - Hey, Opa. Welcome to the 10 ,000 Minute Podcast. We've got a lot of great humans on this right now and a few people behind the scenes that aren't even gonna have microphones.
We've got Jody Luke over here, everybody. - Ah, it's so good to be with you, Tim. I miss your family, your wife, all of it. You know you have to-- whenever they pop up on your phone and it just gives you such great feelings and memories.
And really, I just almost like lift you up in prayer. I love you both. I just think you're fantastic. Thank you, Jody. We've got a guy named Bob Goff on here as well,
who is apparently flying in a jet at the moment. Yeah. I do. That's my afterburners I have those on. I carry a sound machine with me just to drown out my own voice.
It just becomes so monotonous over time. - That would be such a good bit. You just always have planes going on your sound machine. - It helps to maintain confidentiality in my conversations.
Could I have that sound going nobody can over here. Just CIA hack it just I hold over for my older job. Yeah, as a CIA agent lawyer. I can't talk about that.
And then we have a real special guest. We've got sweet Maria Goff on here. Thanks for letting me crash the party, you guys. Totally. This is like the joy of joys. This is a happy reunion right here.
So everybody, we got to go to Israel together. We got to experience so much beautiful rocks over there, but more we got to experience each other and love each other and learn about each other and be encouraged by each other.
That was such a huge gift. And then we were about to go on the seventh together or on the eighth and have everything happened in the holy land on the seventh. So sad about that.
We'll go again. Yeah. I was over there a week and a half ago and it was so interesting to be up there during this time. There's so much tension and the goal on and just give a little background like you just went with a few people and took a film crew,
right? Yeah, yeah. So we have a school, Jodi does everything with love does. And among the things she's does is she started a school in Canaan in Galilee. So we're with staff there and the kids.
And it's really neat. There's a Muslim kids and Jewish kids and Christian kids and Arab kids and Palestinian kids. And there's actually actually, we were celebrating the one year of when Jodi got this school kicked off.
And so our Muslim kids are observing Ramadan. And so they called in advance, the parents would say, we're going to have a cake. Would that be okay? And we can send it home in boxes and all that where you could eat it at night.
And it was so cute that the kids, when they got there, they all called their parents and say, can we break the fast? And the parents are like, go ahead. Oh, that's cool. But it was just reminding me of the hope that is present even in very difficult,
challenging times. Yes. Okay. So love does, I love love does for so many reasons, partly just because I love what love does, does. And the other part is I just love you guys so much.
You three are just such beautiful humans. and your whole team, your whole crew are just beautiful humans actually putting the heart of Jesus into practice, into the world. I want you to give us just a little bit of a background on how love does came to be.
- Really actually came to be when Jodi took over. We were limping along before then. It started maybe 25 years ago in India.
Yeah, I would say a long time ago. I had applied to all these really neat organizations that are out there that are doing neat things. I said, I can volunteer,
I can do, how could I do something more useful than I'm doing just in the marketplace? And each of them wisely said, no, thanks, no,
thanks. So I get that. But it happens all the time, even with love deserts, people say. how can I help? We try our best to find ways to fit people in, to make things happen, because I remember how important that was to me.
But because I didn't have any takers, I just started. Sweet Maria and I just kind of stacked hands. We'd made a couple little people together, and then we just decided I was going to spend time elsewhere.
Can we talk about making little people? Yes, that was a great, great guess on here. We've had a few sex talks. So I think this would be a great talk. Yeah. I think we should have hoodies made out of this as make people.
So, um, the original landing place was India. Interestingly, the first hire, if you will, for love does is a guy who's still working for us in India 25 years later.
So people don't tend to leave. It's been so neat to let. people with their gifting just come. It's, this feels like this big, well engineered now conga line that's gotten together.
You can just grab the shoulders of the person in front of you and say, Oh, fun. Off to go. A book came out with that name. Love does. Right. Started a school in Uganda and under my leadership with four or 500 ,000 children out of school with.
managed to have nine children in my school. We now have 1 ,500 children in the school. And then, Jody, you know the story.
I started groveling, asking if you would come and take over this thing a long time ago. And credit to some other people that came in as executive directors and people in country directors.
These are all the heartbeat of these people and their fingerprint. have made this thing set the stage for the really neat things that are happening right now. But then Jodi really kind of took over after the Uganda piece.
And then I think the next one was Somalia and then Iraq and Afghanistan and Congo and Dominican. And yeah, I think there's 13 different countries.
Jodi, you know better than I do all the places where you're doing stuff. - Jodi, give it a little back. you like why are you on this? Why I get to be on this podcast So love does cares for the vulnerable fights for human rights and provides education and conflict zones And I knew Bob and Maria 20 plus years ago back in the 90s That's when you start to feel super old and now we're in four exactly Completely now
we're in 14 countries and we've done all this stuff domestically. But we're pretty aggressive on the doing part. And a lot of people can say what they believe, but it's really what you do that matters.
A lot of people talk about, it's the thought that counts. And I always want to say, is it really though? Because if you don't do anything with it, whoever knows. And we're not doing it to prove something to somebody or to earn anything.
I think and that love does can does community, there's a lot of people where faith is important to them and to have an opportunity to then put your faith in action and what that looks like. And there's really something special that happens there.
I think of in Timothy where it just talks about the Bible being God breathed and for teaching and for correcting and for encouraging, but it's so that it can enrich you to do good works.
And it's really been a privilege to see it. vast community come together to start schools and all over the world to safe houses, prison programs, food programs.
We have a single mom home. Maria's been integrally involved in that. And it's been a really cool number of years. It's been, I think, 12 or 13 years with Love Does and about three as executive director.
And we have just blown up. And I think the world is waiting for that. The world is waiting to find ways to practically work out their faith in a really beautiful way.
And it's happening. I love it. In some ways, I think of a lot of what we do, Tim, is like the concierge in the lobby of a hotel, that there's this community of people and some people that their heart beats for how do we help people?
How do we do that? And then if you go to the concierge and they say, "I'm hungry," then let's say, "Well, what do you want?" Like what hamburger creme brulee, like what is it that lights you up?
And so it's been so fun to be kind of the on post in the lobby. And then we come across these really delightful people that have a heart for doing things. And then we could say,
"How can we help you do that?" If you ever seen Bob speak, and then there's usually this really long line afterwards, and everybody wants to take a picture with Bob, and what does Bob do every single time?
Maria is laughing because she's been in those lines like, okay, what does Bob do? He raises his arms really big, right, on every picture if you've ever been with him. And it is a visual representation of an invitation to join the movement,
you know, to just-- He's saying, "All are welcome." are welcome and come on board, invite you into Love Does, invite you into what we're doing. And any picture you watch,
you'll see Bob with his big arms, you know, out like that. Right, Bob? - Yeah, I got hit straight in the face once. - Yeah. - And I'm still, and to be honest, I'm still hurt. - All these people that really know a lot more than I do about Love Does and the operation of it and how it's unfolded,
I'd hate to say it, I'd hate to say it, I'd hate to say it, I'd hate to say it. And I think it was when Bob was practicing law and he'd go to work and he was a successful attorney,
but he'd come home and still like be working on cases. And I think I saw the little light in him kind of go out because he wasn't doing what I think he knew in his heart that he could do or he wanted to do.
or to make a bigger impact in the world. And so I think that's what started to stir his heart a little bit toward India at first and going over there with international justice mission and documenting and dentured servants and,
you know, getting them free. And it was just like one thing after another built upon where love does is now. But nobody knew the formula in between. Bob's thinking I'm a lawyer,
but I think there's something else I could be doing to now when there's just so many people involved in individual countries doing really their own work. Like these are countries who people on the ground are helping their own people get ahead in the world.
And we just get to be the support around the outside. And I think that's really beautiful and a great description of what love is. which is the whole meaning behind the book and Bob's life and Jody's life and now yours and Hillary's.
Yeah, it's just so contagious. And Marie, you've seen this for you've watched this for a long time. So how has this affected you? I mean, Bob is Bob's Bob.
He is crazy and beautiful and all out there. And how does this affect you as like, what's your look? at this going, oh gosh, I wanna be a part of this. How are you a part of this?
Like you talked about being a part of the women's home. - Yeah, yeah. - Like how does this hit all of you? - I think for me, I'm comfortable with who I am. I'm not really an upfront person.
I'd rather work behind the scenes. So for me, it's that dance of how much I can do with Bob while he's upfront doing what he does. So I feel like I'm a part of this. encourager has been pretty big in the whole evolution of love does.
We've been going through our house and just getting rid of things and organizing things. And I came across this document that I'd handwritten to Bob before he left on that India trip. And I was a young mom with little kids and I wanted to be supportive of Bob doing something that I knew he knew he was.
meant to do. But the reality of that is that it scared me. I was fearful that my husband might not come back. And here I am at home, happy to be behind the scenes raising our little kids.
I'm like, if something happened for you, can you please do these 10 things? Or more if you need to, so that I'm equipped to carry on?
Should you not go back? I mean, that was my bottom line in the... fear of that I had is how do I continue on if he's not here to do it? So we found that and laugh of some legit requests like,
you know Like what I don't know if I go into it like financial stuff like all of our bank accounts All of the savings accounts disputes. He was involved in right Who's supposed to get what how would you handle this if this goes down the law firm the least the mortgages?
Yeah, everything that everybody has in their life just living life You know just aside from doing other things out in the world You just there's those basic things and I wanted to make sure that I was equipped to carry on but Tim It's been beautiful to watch the partnership of Bob and Maria as they support each other in becoming who they were meant to be You know for Bob to go on that trip And it is fearful
sometimes some of the places that he's gone to because they're conflict zones. And he's not normal. Like he goes in and he's like, "Hi, you've got a gun. Can I be your friend?" Yeah, that's kind of Bob.
Yeah. I remember being in Mogadishu when we were trying to get stuff started there and we walked into this hotel and there's, you know, eating place down to the bottom floor and was kind of like,
you know, in. in Star Wars, the bar where all the crazy people were at, and I'm sitting down there all alone in the sky, sits at the table. And he says,
you're not from around here. I'm like, how'd you guess? So, uh, so we're talking, he's like, what did you do? And I asked him, like, what do you do? And he says, Oh, I'm in charge of Somalia's Navy.
And then I was thinking about that. And he said that. I'm like, he's in charge of the pirates. I mean, if there's somebody you want to un -meet, I'm like, it's that guy.
Yeah, that's vintage Bob. Okay, Jody, you were saying something, you were bragging on them for a second. What I love about Bob is that he's a tremendous communicator, but the secret sauce to me is his injection of winsomeness and wonder into what he does.
You know, here we're starting again. northern Uganda on the side of this school that was at ground zero for the Lord's Resistance Army that now has, went from nine to 1500 students.
And we're gonna create a university, which is kind of a big deal. It's like a thousand steps. It could kind of feel overwhelming. And I think, oh, I'll just do the next step. And then Bob comes in and says, but I wanna build a zoo next door,
which is really a giraffe enclosure. refuge. So it just adds to it, and you kind of go, I mean, in Somalia,
we have the Only Girls Leadership Academy in Mogadishu and outside of Mogadishu. There's a large part of that country that is in famine. And so to think that we put some resources towards building a basketball court,
which is guarded by people with machine guns, like you hope that there's not an errant rebound on the back. to hit the machine gun. But what that's done is those girls,
it's communicated, we see you, teamwork, all sorts of just joy. In some of these places, there's not a whole bunch of joy and Bob has been that incarnate and it has made all the difference.
- Okay, so question. There are so many needs out there. I love Bob. You're saying under my leadership. There were not nine You say nine that was rounding up And again 10 ,000 minutes,
we're trying to figure out how do we and this is a series on relationships I'm looking at you guys and I've been able to watch you now I'm a little bit more intimately than just reading your book even though I just did read your book and I thought it was amazing again Right for the second time.
Love does But I'm curious, how do you know when to say yes to things? And this is to all three of you. So there are so many needs all over the place. What's this look like to say yes to needs?
I mean, you see needs everywhere. How does that work? I've had an initial thought on that. I think about viability and just drilling down at a really practical level. Is this something that can be viable?
And how long would it take to get there? And then you have to define viability. So there's some countries that will never be able to balance the budget, but we'll have to continue to resource it.
And then there's other countries that actually can. You offer, I think, Jodi's school in the North now is like number one in all of the North. So there's 2 ,000 kids, for instance, that apply for 200 spots.
Wow. And so their number of kids gets scholarshiped in. We start them in villages in huts, and then they go to pre kindergarten so that they can assimilate into the elementary school.
So they have a shot at the high school. So they have a shot at college because if they graduate high school with the good grades, and then Jody pays for them to go to college. So it's pretty cool.
I'll like it. give them ATM cards, it's an abstinence till marriage. (laughing) - That's what that means. - Yeah, so to have a strategy and the strategies towards viability and wearing dual roles as we are concierge for other people,
say, how can we take, it's their generosity, it's their benevolence, it's their passions. And then we could say, these are something we have in terms of infrastructure and detail and,
you know, how somebody, Jodi could be, you know, a Chicago CPA, big four accounting firm, like she's that person. So she would bring hopefully that combination of faith and then the kind of people that are really stingy about spending money.
And then the kind of like, let's go get a draft that we can do that. And we could print it. is how we'll make it viable. This is how it will work and carry its own weight over time.
That it's easy to say yes, if you use that as your filter for everything. And then there's times, Tim, where we're trying to teach Bob how to say no. Yeah. I mean, that, that's honestly one of my questions and I'm so happy.
Maria, you're on here and Jodi, you're on here because that's, you know, Bob put his number in the back of his. book. I mean, who does that? I know, right? He says yes to everything.
Seriously. He really does. He really does. I mean, we and I could both attest to that where we hear him go, yeah. That was a softball question to him. Tim, now do you want to know the real deal? I'm cutting his whole part out.
He's actually not even in the podcast. It's learning now to say no. He does, but he often talks about you know, you unleash 10 ponies in the race and only a couple will cross the finish line.
So he really does cast a wide net and that has been the privilege and the opportunity to work alongside both of them. I mean, I look at Maria with her oaks sweatshirt on,
you know, I mean, yeah, you are, I mean, but they built this entire retreat center out of San Diego and I remember Bob walking to my office and saying, Hey, you know, we're going to do that. And I was like, all right,
is it? - Yeah. - Like, okay, we'll see. Cause there's lots of, and then across the finish line and it's become this really remarkable place for all sorts of people to go and be encouraged in their faith, heal,
dream. - Yeah, I got to bring my cancer survivor retreat there. - Right. - So beautiful. - So that's just another idea that happened, yes.
And it's just one of them that went out where they're. are 20 other ones that went out as well. Any other ideas and thoughts? Yeah, there's, uh, and there's ideas that didn't work out great. Sometimes you can get this impression that you just go from one lily pad and you then you fall into a bunch of forward leaf clovers and then something else happened.
And I think you have a really practical. I was just thinking back just recently with this trip that we were all going to go on to the Holy Land and it was. unfortunately cancelled. And you know,
probably the thing that I saw Bob do on the front lines is pivoting and saying, well, okay, well, if we can't bring 200 people there, how could we bring the Holy Land to them?
And so he gathered all of the right people together to go over and film in really beautiful places and saying yes is just like if you're born with that ability to do that.
a filter or a fear of failing, then you can get a lot accomplished. But if something doesn't go right, like it doesn't always go right, then you need to know, I think I've seen Bob not let that take him out from doing the next great thing,
but pivoting maybe and adjusting what the dream was. Bob, do you have fear? Are you one of those guys that climbs? Oh, Capitan. Yeah, I think maybe the metrics that I use.
to measure success are perhaps skewed and a bias towards trying. So that idea of fail, try and don't fail watching. No matter who's listening to this,
God has dropped people into your life and you need to have your head on a swivel and identify a Jodi or a Stephanie who's like out of the camera, but making everything literally making all the levers work.
to do. So you find these really capable go -forward people and then say, how can we accomplish this together? And among the capable go -forward people aren't just people that are blown sunshine at you,
that they'll just say really realistically, great. And if they hear me say it, you know, three times, then they'll say, it must be for real. I think if you asked Jodi, you'd say, is this just Bob musing about something,
but about the fourth or fifth time, she's like, "Oh, you actually wanna do this, "then let's get serious about it." - I think I heard Maria say the fear of failure. Bob has talked about fear being the thief of joy.
There is not a huge fear of failure with Bob, but even more so, those that have failed are sometimes some of the most potential filled people. And we see that nowhere more powerfully.
than at San Quentin, which is this prison in Northern California. Those are all people that have failed, right? And yet we've seen some absolutely jaw -dropping, meaningful,
emotional, touching things that the guys have done there. - I was so moved by both of you, Jody, watching your passion for these guys.
I mean, this group of guys, sorry, I couldn't, in there, I'm just the dork with a guitar that walks in and gets to sing and do stuff, but Jodi and her team, you're sponsoring them to go back to school, you're like giving them books.
So through Love Does, Love Does is paying for them to what? - We have a scholarship application and they can be a part of that. So we award four scholarships every year so that they can further their education.
- An AA is free, but a bachelor's is cost prohibitive. And some of these guys are gonna get out. And what I love about our dream big program that we've been doing now for a number of years is that we have a 0 % recidivism rate.
So-- - Which, that's a big word, I know what it means, but-- - It means that they're not re -offending, which is huge and part of that is having education, part of that is having purpose, part of that is really thinking through some of the reasons and whys of how they got to where they are.
And there's some really unique programs that are happening at San Quentin specifically that are allowing that to happen. And so then you come in and you bless them with your music. And yeah, again, I get to go in and be kind of like rock star guy and do the thing,
but these guys are in there. I mean, how many times are you there every few weeks? Yeah, every couple of months. Well, you know, it was so cool, too, is probably remember we got to cater a meal. And I think we we've done subway,
which then they were like, 'cause you're, I got to be there for that. And we had ribs one time. And I think you said, Hey, when was the last time somebody had subway? It was like five years, 10 years, 20 years.
One guy was what, it was like 30, 40 years. I was like, was subway even around? And it was. - Yeah, I think he got the first foot long from subways. And then to see these guys light up,
it was like that scene in Shawshank. Redemption where they're putting the new roof on the building and then somebody gets some, you know, a six pack of suds and they were just, in that moment they were free.
There's a guy named Kevin that was released from San Quentin that had been in the class and he moved to Los Angeles when you are an offender, then you're released back to the place where the offense occurred.
So you don't want to like, moderate it. want you to ship them there. If they don't have a connection to it. And so he's back there and he's decided just to serve the poor. So every day he makes sandwiches and with his wife,
they go down and they serve people in skid row and he's just this beautiful guy. But when I met him in one of these breakout groups, the first time we were talking, I was seeing the guys like bench pressing picnic tables in the yard and.
all that. I was saying, you know, if I had somebody put a bar on me, I thought, what would be on my chest would be the bar. And I, the question was, we went around is what's on your chest,
like, what do you need to get off your chest? And so each person went around and said something. I remember Kevin saying, you know, I've been in here for 20 years and telling people I didn't do it. And then he took a half a breath and he said,
like, I did it. Mm hmm. that moment, he was the freest guy I've ever experienced. And there's something beautiful about seeing what Jody and the team are doing there in that just freeing people up to just be who they are and experience love and acceptance and then watch them go do grand things.
Yeah, I mean, you're teaching dreaming big to inmates to encourage. community. That's just absolutely bonkers. And I'm trying to get to this idea for us 'cause there are a bunch of us listening who are going,
okay, Bob, you're crazy. You're literally like just a nut job. And I don't, nobody understands how you are able to do all the things you do. Partly it's because of the at human on the other side of you who has been so supportive and just said,
yes, Bob, go. go be who God made you to be, which is so beautiful. So that's just number one encouragement. Like, who are we Maria's to in this world? And Bob, you do that for her.
Absolutely. And then you've got Jody, who is then taking of all these things and making them actually happen. I'm trying to get down to what's it look like for us to see a need and meet a need.
I was thinking about this young guy named Drew. We bought a truck. It says Love Does Mobile Food Pantry on it. And we tossed the keys of the truck to Drew and he assembles a whole bunch of people and Jody as well.
And they go out and then they take on the Afghan community and the Ukrainian refugee community and all that. And so sometimes at a really practical level, is that you might see a need meet a need.
And then you might see a need find a person, find somebody, to go grab your shoulders, and then you're grabbing the shoulders of somebody else, Stephanie, Maria,
whatever, and then build this community of friends that are doing that and don't operate like an organization, operate like a community of really good friends, who are really stingy about where they spend the money,
but they're going to get it to the poor and the needy and the people that have some skin in the game, you know. emotional, financial, time, whatever. But there's a whole community of people.
So when you go down the line, there's all these people. And so sometimes there'll be things you can do yourself. Sometimes you find a really go for it person and say, want to go do this together. Okay,
so here's a bit of a take from this. One could say, man, Bob Goff is doing big things with Lovedez. But I think in reality we're saying Bob and Jody and Maria and their whole team are doing beautiful things with Jesus with Lovedez.
Needs all around the world are being met because they've chosen to work as a team, as a community ready to like take action. It's not just the one person doing something. And often I think... about seeing a need and meeting it,
which is so important, we need to do that. But what I love about this is the relational necessity. It's like community at work doing something instead of just me. So what would it look like for us to join other people as we see a need and we meet it?
I love that Bob is inviting us into a new way of serving others. So you see a need, you meet it with the help of others. Find a person who is your Jody. Who's your Maria?
Who are you Jody to? Who are you Maria to? Who are you Bob to? I've mentioned this before, but these practices we share every week are meant to be practiced and experienced with others.
So we can do them ourselves. That's great. But remember the whole point, actually the biblical point of us practicing the way of Jesus is not for our benefit, but it's for the benefit of others. Again,
if you guys wanna look into that or if you disagree with that, that's totally fine, but as you look at all the use in the New Testament, there are only a few of them that are too a specific person. All of them are for the whole group.
The fruit of the Spirit is not for me, it's being made in me through the Spirit as I walk and step with the Spirit, but it's for the sake of the others. Love God and love others. That's one whole group.
put together. So, what does this look like to do this with other people? My ultimate hope is that we would all become this community who practices the love of God with God for the sake of the other.
So, who else can you partner with besides Jesus to dream big this week? I mean, why not? What's the harm?
The upside is crazy. Start small and let us know how that goes, by the way. I just love that idea that the ripples go out and each person listening will know what they're thinking.
is, but you don't need to start with a big thing across the ocean, go across the street and love your neighbor and make them a pie. And if they don't want a pie, I do. And so just have them forwarded to me,
yeah. - Don't underestimate the power of encouragement. We have a great deal over at our single mom home. We have a boutique that is baby supplies and clothes. and we have this Amazon wish list.
And every week, if you are a single mom, you can come and shop for free there. And in our Love Does community, if you want to purchase something on our Amazon wish list that you can find on our website,
you can also, on the gift message, you can write a note of encouragement to any single mom that's out there. It doesn't have to be a super expensive item, but it's a really practical way to say, Hey, what's on my heart?
I want to make sure that gets to somebody who really wants to feel seen, and this could really encourage them. And it's a really easy way to do it. So sometimes it's hard to say those things in real life,
in person, maybe to a neighbor, even though I love the pie idea, but this is a great way to encourage a single mom out there who's doing her best, and we actually take those messages and we tape them onto the back of a binky or a bottle.
or a jacket or a blanket. And so when those moms are walking through, they collect a whole bunch of goods and have a whole bunch of messages that they feel like they're being seen and encouraged.
I remember Maria describing what she does and she said that she curates our family. And so I think if you're listening to this, if there's something that Jody or Tim said that made sense to say,
how could I keep my life more? And then as you curate those things to say, you know what? I think there's some room where there's this person that I want to include in that or very much like concierge to say,
how can I help? And then there's these amazing people that have either succeeded in business or some other way they want to share and to say, is there a way I could be helpful? Can I carry your bags?
I love that. Yeah. Okay. Another question that begs to be answered is there are a bunch of people too, that feel like they are so tired because all they do is serve everybody else.
What does a no look like as we're looking for and seeing needs everywhere? Bob, when you're getting a call, do you answer it every time? When is there like the,
I can't answer it right now when somebody calls calls and says I really want to start something You're like no, this is not the time or When you see a need somewhere is there a no is there a I can't do that right now just to Protect me into my people.
How does that work? Yeah? I think I'm learning a lot from Maria and other knowledgeable people about some self -care and some we actually had in the backyard a little mini intervention where everybody in the room here is laughing because they were part of the intervention.
And we, they got out the big board and then said, yeah, so if you have people that love you, they can say, hey, I know you love doing everything and I know you love your family.
So how can we do both? How can we say yes to the right things? And I found then personally to say, I don't have as much time as I wish I had to,
whatever. So if I get an email or an invitation to just be grateful that you even came to mind. I got something even thought about including you. And then to just say,
I just don't have as much time as I wish I had to, because I do like saying yes to things, but then you might not be any good to anybody or I'd let down Maria because remember there was one point that was so hard that Maria is working so tirelessly with all these little kiddos and everything we've tried to create and trying to support all that.
And then I realized that, do you remember that time where you said they just don't feel picked right now? I get that just makes me sad to even say that, but sometimes you can be yippy -skippy and the balloon dude and all that.
but if you do that in a way that doesn't make the people that you love feel picked, then it's good to just slow it down, have some trusted people around you to come around, did you say it's attainable like you can pick lots of great things and pick your family and your kids and your grandkids.
And so the last thing I'll say on that is if you change the assumptions people are making about you, then you'll change your approach to life. So the assumption that people made about me,
that were closest to me, is that I was gone and I was on my way back. And I've changed the assumption now that I'm home and I might be going somewhere. And I remember getting a call from one of the kids and they said,
"Oh, what are you doing?" I'm like, "I'm just on the back porch." He said, "Yeah, I assumed you'd be home." And I was like, he couldn't see me like this pumping. I'm like, "I've changed the assumption, at least, for real." time.
I love that concept. I'm trying to think of what other ways that that would look like. Yeah, maybe the assumption is that I'll say no to these really neat opportunities that come my way where my default setting is yes.
Well, I was just saying if your default setting is yes, then I think the thing that you've learned over the years is to get people around you to be able to help whisper no into your ear and to trust that.
And then for me to be able to say to you that maybe that might not be something that's in line with all of your other goals, let's get more information or let's pass on it, something else will come along.
I didn't always know how to say that gracefully. I remember a time when it was really, really hard. It felt like he was gone a lot. Yeah. And I was with. three kids, like they're like two,
four and six or, you know, they were just very close in age. And I went to a store and they had sold all kinds of commercial signs like bathroom, no parking, whatever. They had a help wanted sign,
which they used back in the days. Now it's like all online, but they had like a traditional help wanted sign. And I bought it and brought it home because I thought, man, isn't that the truth?
I need help around here. Maybe if I put this sign in the window and Bob comes home and sees it, maybe he'll like get a clue. But he thought I was telling him he needed help.
I was saying I needed help. The thing that was really good about that exercise for me is that while it was literally in my window and I was waiting for Bob to come home, I was realizing that I didn't know how to say exactly what I needed.
And so in that time, I figured it out. I boiled it down in just a couple hours that I needed somebody to come on Friday night so we could have a date night, or somebody during the day to come for a couple hours during the week so that I could run errands.
And then that would take the pressure off of him to meet all of those needs. - Right, you guys have seemed to have done that really well, meaning that you've had to go through a lot of error, error, error, error,
this didn't work, this isn't working, this isn't working, this isn't working, - Yeah. To have the curiosity and the intentionality to actually push through and get to a place where it's like, okay, we're in the process still of making this work.
Yeah. And then find some trusted friendships that are transcendent. You can actually talk about the things that matter a lot and the difficulties and rub, and then you can invite everybody in like the people that I get the privilege of working with are the people that are brilliant.
closest with. And so there's just something really beautiful about doing that and having a shared experience. But that idea of being one doesn't mean being the same. Like oneness doesn't mean sameness.
So Jodi, very different gift set than me, thankfully. Stephanie, different gift set, Maria, different gift set. And that somehow we've found a way to harmonize those. - What's this somehow?
I mean, this could be a whole nother podcast, but... that somehow is a very special somehow. - I know, what do you think, Jodi, you're the conductor. - Well, I think to the point of, do you say no to anything?
I think sometimes it's not, no, it's just not yet. And that's okay. There are seasons, you know, I remember I have three kids too and having young kids and Bob called.
I mean, we knew each other way back when and then I was like, to accounting, and I'm a CPA, and was working in public accounting, and then started my own fractional CFO business,
and Bob called and said, "Hey, could you come help?" And everything I wanted to do was like, "Yes !" And I think it was, my youngest was six months old. I remember he sent me over a huge list of something,
and I remember calling. I don't even talk about this much, Bob. And I was like, "I don't think I could do it." Like, it was too... much. Sometimes you have to hope that that comes back around. And it did. It was about two years later,
called again and said, hey, I need help. And I was like, yes, this is it. So sometimes it's a no. And sometimes it's just a not yet. I really wanted to be in the space of helping.
And so I reached out to the Red Cross. And I said, I'm going to do disaster relief. And I'm going to go when there's a tornado and just be in that space. And they said-- "Great, when can you do orientation?" And I was like, "Oh,
I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't do that." And they said, just respectfully, it just seems like this might not be the time. If you can't deal with like an orientation, you probably can't go away for three weeks to help in disaster relief,
which then they were right. And so it's not that that was a no forever, it was just a not yet. So to find people that instead of saying, "Here's five reasons why it's not happening." to say,
"Here are some perceived impediments." In other words, we're not even going to dignify them by calling them actual impediments, but my perception is this might be an impediment, and then you either overcome them or you don't.
But what I found is assembling a group of people being married to one that says, "I think we could make that happen," and then I'm thinking, "How is that viable?" Some people think they're being helpful by always popping the balloon.
And other people think they're helpful by always like kind of helping you blow up more balloons and reenailed it. She said, you're the balloon. I'm the string. So find people that identify what's their role and what's their desired role and then live into that.
Yeah. I used to think too, when we got married or we're going to get married, I kept hearing the two will become one. kept thinking, great, like we'll become me then. Like I know how to do that. I thought we'd become me,
but of course that's not the plan, that's not marriage. And so as far as what is it like here with the team of people, it's just like that we're not all one person,
we're not all Bob or Jodi or Stephanie or whoever. We get to be more like Jesus, like making that a personal commitment for ourselves. that we don't need to be exactly like each other But if we just focus every day on how do we grow closer to Jesus or be more like Jesus then we can Celebrate each other's strengths and weaknesses We were laughing this morning about Maria walking down to the dock with me I got on a
35 foot boat and I was gonna sail to Hawaii with a couple other guys that didn't know how to sail and And, uh, she's like, this is just stupid. It was the smallest boat in the whole fleet.
I was like, are you sure you want to get on that boat? It's a sail across the ocean. But that idea to believe in people's ideas to say, is this something you really,
really want and how can I pull behind you? And I think that's very much the heartbeat with these people who are concierge that to say, how can I pull behind your idea and not every idea?
It might be to Jodi's point, not yet, but there's a whole bunch of them that can be like right now. - So good. - And to sort that out and then know your role. Everybody wants to be involved, but we just decided who was going to be in charge and it's Jodi.
- Yeah. - And so as soon as we decided that, and there wasn't a big lift together that was easy to be like, I want me in charge. (laughing) you want to find somebody who really knows what they're doing.
It's so simple. And in leadership, to do those things, find people that you trust and then say, "Hey, listen, you just, you point the direction, we're going that direction." I love that.
And I think the other piece of it is that working with somebody as extraordinary as Bob or as off -the -charts kind and talented as Maria can feel sometimes intimidating,
quite honestly. But I think it's leaning into who Jesus made me to be, and keeping my eyes on my own paper there all the time. Because it can be easy to feel like,
"Ugh, but I'm not as good at Bob at this, I'm not as good at Maria at this," so then all of a sudden you start spiraling, but keeping your eyes where it's supposed to be is really helpful.
And we're not all the same, you know, and I'm really grateful for that. I think for people who work alongside extraordinary people, that's a real thing that you have to think through and always be disciplined in your mind in terms of just leaning into who Jesus made me to be and being confident in that.
- Yeah, so good. You guys, thank you. We could literally do this for the next four hours and I have so many more questions. I didn't get it. - Oh, so fun. - But it's gonna be a real quick thing right now.
It's 10 ,000 Thoughts. Okay, Jody, you're first. Favorite place to visit? - Hawaii. - Ooh, specifically?
- Hawaii. - Ooh, Kauai. All right, Bob. - Same question? - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. I think it would be a place where I don't have any control of the circumstances. There we go.
be like care where and because yeah, Mogadishu never gone and not gotten shot at. It's just they're not aiming at you. It's just a very violent hello. Yeah. Yeah. Maria home,
home, wherever that is. And home doesn't need to be like the place that, you know, we are right now, that address, but wherever the people I really care about are gathered. That's my favorite place.
Okay. Hidden talent, Maria. Go. Go. Bob is very proud of the fact that I can tie a cherry stem in my mind. Isn't that right?
Bob, what's yours? Okay. Yeah. I can play the banjo. Can you really? I can't play the banjo. Yeah. Bob, when we're at at St. Quentin, I know, right? Let's do it. Yeah.
Come on. I'm bringing the banjo. next time. - Let's do this, oh my gosh. - Yeah. - Okay, that's already, that's done. Okay, Jodi, go. - I think I really am a world -class multi -tasker.
I think that's really it. - That's not hidden, Jodi. We all know this about you. - Come on, what's the hidden part? - Yeah. - I feel like you have to play a part of this too.
- Yeah, I mean, I'm just, doi, favorite place to visit. gonna say the Hawaii's. Oh, I'm gonna hang out with you, Jody. - Yeah. - I mean, we can. That would actually be a great time to get our families together. - Yeah.
- Hidden talent. Cooking? Cooking's probably my-- - Oh. - If I could do anything in the world, I'd probably, I'd write songs and cook. - I like it as you're poaching pears through thinking of lyrics.
- Oh, don't even, don't get me started. - 'Cause it'll be an hour. from done. Okay pet peeve Jody go I Cannot stand When people slurp their cereal or the pop I really I'm one of those I know there's like an official word for it Yeah,
I hate it so yeah Whatever I don't care. Yeah, I hate it. Yeah I'm so with you. Okay Bob pet peeve Okay,
big room full of people and people and the guy in the front row is Doing that sewing machine thing with their leg Twitching. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it just it'll get as you're talking you just distracted.
Yeah Yeah, so people will see me they'll always see a music stand and they assume that there's notes on it Nothing on it. I just put that in between me and whatever's distracting me and he's not the guy with the problem I'm the guy with the problem like he just got to go to the bathroom or he's happy or whatever,
but I just get super easily distracted. So I've learned to put something in between me and whatever's distracting. - I can't wait to do that in front of you when you're speaking. I'm for sure gonna do that.
- Yeah, get the whole row to participate. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's funny. - No matter where I go. - No, that's funny, that's funny. - Okay, Maria, pet peeve.
'Cause when... I'm following behind somebody and the light turns yellow and they stop. Instead of coasting through the intersection, for the given seconds that you have,
you clearly don't appreciate that we have a green light and you don't have to stop the students. - Maria, what do you say to them? What do you say to them in the car? - Thank you, that's the next question. - Just go,
go. - Yeah, yeah. yeah. That's so sweet. That's a sweet thing to say. That's sweet Maria. Is there other word to say? That's about as close to the cuss word as you'll hear from her.
Is it? Yeah, sometimes she'll say, like, if she's really annoyed, be like, rats. Oh, gosh. Tim, what's yours? Yeah, what's yours? I've got to change my ways.
Because a rat doesn't come out of me. Oh, you wanted those? No, no, no, I don't. No, actually, I'm really nice. really nice to people, but it's all what goes on in my heart. I have things to say about you in my heart if you stop early or you don't let us all go through,
'cause I'm in a hurry and it's like, you're an idiot is what I say in my brain. I'm like, I'm way better than you and you're an idiot. But I'll wave by, I'm like, oh my gosh, no problem at all. It's great, just stop right there.
That's a perfect place to stop. It's called contempt and Jesus is working on that one. - Yeah, good. - What was it, pet peeve? Oh, I guess chewing, I mean, ice chewing, really,
like carrot chewing, like my family does it, and I'm like, you guys, I love you. It's not you, like Bob said, it's me. So don't chew ice, or, and when people do,
I just, I just, I'm like, that's great. And I have the same smile like I would if you cut me off. (laughing) guys, that's it. That's all, that's all we got.
That's so good to be with you. And we're going to get back into some more adventures and for the people listening, find a little mischief, find the right kind of mischief, but find a whole bunch of it. And in that ambiguity,
if you want to like, you want more faith, you just got to do more stuff against his backdrop that Jesus doesn't need our help. He just wants our hearts. I find that just so for - What are ways that people can support love does?
'Cause I am a huge fan. - Yeah, loving your neighbor, like-- - I love that answer. I absolutely love that answer. - That would be the one-- - That's one way,
that's the best way. - Yeah, we're like turning this into a franchise. Everybody is just love their neighbor, and then you're in. (laughing) And then the second way is if you-- hear something that Jodi's doing,
do what I do, which is to say, how can I be helpful? Like is there something that I can do? Can I show up and build a house in Mexico? Like if she's building the next school, if she's got five in the Dominican or you gotta say what you're doing next week in Mexico,
opening up. How many kids are you starting with Jodi? - Well, 180, there's 1800. It's a refugee camp right up there. other side of the border between San Diego and Mexico. There's 1800 families.
It's an asylum camp. It's the largest one in the Americas. And we evidently have the only official school at a refugee camp. And so we did a soft launch last week.
We're officially opening next month, but there's all this Mexican media there because what happens is that these are families that are trying to seek asylum and then they'll cry.
over to the US. Quite a few of them have never had formal education or have had quite a few breaks. A lot of them have come through the Darien gap, they've come through 10 countries to get there,
and so they've been off of school for a while. So having some formal education which translates more than just ABCs and 123s, but also says, "Hey, you're seeing and you're worthy and there's hope," and so many things you can communicate through education.
And so we have a school that's... officially starting and that's really exciting. That's gonna launch next month, but that'll be our 14th country. And it's been wild, Bob. It's been a wild ride. And I love how Bob ends the Love Does podcast.
So if you wanna know more about some of the countries and hear some of the people that are trusted on the ground, you can hear about them there or even Bob's podcast at Dream Big. Don't just agree with what you've heard,
but go do something. I'm just gonna be that guy. guy. Are there any financial ways that people can support Lovedas? Yes, you can write Lovedas a check and go build a wing of a university that he's doing.
That's what we're planning on doing. I love that because I have that kind of money. Yeah, but think of the practical things. Again, we just think small, medium, or large. And if you start perceiving yourself as we do,
as the concierge to say, if we can help you, to put some wheels on. of the things you're doing, but this isn't a pitch for money. We have a fundraiser once every 20 years. Yeah.
We literally, we did it in 2003 and we did it in 2023. We're going to do the next one when I'm 85. So it'll be just this group things here need me to need be that the person that's in need.
Let people know if you're in need. I don't keep that a secret either. It didn't, uh, fundraising thing. It's acts two and four. They break bread together. They pound the carbs and they have things in common.
So we're doing just, this is the people you're assembling, Tim, just saying, like, we've got needs. We've got things like, how do we just get all those resources freed up? I mean,
I still have not gotten an answer. You can also go to our website, love does .org or follow us at Instagram and all the social media. And there you can kind of see the latest of what we're doing. There's our greatest needs are on the website.
Or reach out to me, jodi @lovedoes .org. I'm happy to talk and share and all that. - And what's your phone number, Jodi? - Hey. - Sure. - My cryptic email is bobgolf @bobgolf .com.
See what I did there? - Yeah. - We love you, buddy. - Yeah. - Thanks for having us on. - So much. - This is great fun. I hope that was encouraging for you like it was for me.
That just, these people are doing it. Most of us talk about it and say, ooh, that'd be cool. And, you know, our theological idea of that, in the Greek, it means this. It's like, who cares unless we're found living as though something is true? Which is the definition of the word to believe.
So when we say we believe in Jesus, that means to be found living as though this is true. (upbeat music) have this in us. And now this is our invitation to be the representatives of Jesus.
I love it. So some of my bullet points, just as I went back through this and I'm going, gosh, that is so profound. I could say this all day long, but to actually say it with them in mind is beautiful.
So putting faith into action is a key focus of love does. I mean, it's literally like putting it into action. It's not just. talking about it, so I love that and I'm challenged by that. Another one is championing each other in relationships is a beautiful thing that can bring encouragement and support.
How are we coming around each other if somebody else has this dream? How are we encouraging each other to do good things in the world? I mean, if we are shalom and hope dispensers, this is what we get to do together.
It's way more fun to do it together than by ourselves. The third thing was dreaming. big and taking small steps can lead to significant impact and positive change. I think I see these things and I see what Bob does and I know him so well and I'm always like,
"How does one do this?" But it's really these small steps, just a little seed of something and he's kind of saying, "Jesus, what do you want to do?" And letting Jesus open doors and then he's just walking through them.
So these things don't have to start off huge. It can just be small and it can end small. I love it so much So the practice this week is to see a need and meet it Let's just be aware this week Jesus would you help us just be aware this week of needs and then let's meet those needs No strings attached and let's put our faith into action as a community.
So part of this is also Who can you join this week to serve someone in need? So I want to look in that and be aware of that this week and see what that would look like for me to practice that this week.
So find a person and meet a need together. Hey, let us know how that goes. We just kind of put these things out and we wait to hear, does this make any difference at all to people or are we just kind of wasting our breath?
And we don't think we are because we get notes from some of you, but if you guys have other thoughts and you've made it this far, then you are like true all the way in 10K people. So let us know how the practices are going.
That would be so helpful. You can go to our Facebook group and just chime in there. I love hearing stories and chime in with you there. The links on the show notes as everything is. And let's practice this stuff as a community.
If this is helpful for people, would you share it to people? Let us know how it's going. So subscribe to our podcast, please share it with friends. Like it if you liked it. That's super helpful for us.
And then sign up for our weekly encouraging text messages just [AUDIO OUT] number dial nobody dials, but just put the number of five nine nine two five five nine nine two five Do the five nine nine two five new song old song and then put in the subject just put ten K one zero K So five nine nine two five put ten K So thanks for listening.
I really am honored that you guys would listen to this. Love you guys Appreciate it. Get ready for next week It's going to be great. See and need. Meet it. And find somebody to do it with you.