Who

Bob Goff is a self-proclaimed recovering lawyer, Honorary Consul to Uganda, speaker, writer, and bestselling author. He's a lover of balloons, cake pops, and helping people pursue their big dreams.

What

Catching Whimsy is a 365-day devotional offering a daily tap on the shoulder to remind you how over the moon God is about you and your beautiful, often complicated life.

Why

Bob Goff said Catching Whimsy was, “a really fun book to write and I hope it’s one that you’ll enjoy. Whimsy’s this idea that you could see beyond what is apparent, to what is possible.”

“Whimsy’s the thing that makes you take that next step to see what’s around a corner. Whimsy is laden with anticipation. The whole idea of faith is to live in constant anticipation, having your head on a swivel for what it is that God might be doing.”

& We

...chose Catching Whimsy as our Get Lit pick because every single day is a gift deserving of whimsy. Enjoy!

Here’s Your Exclusive Excerpt

Why a devotional called Catching Whimsy? A couple of reasons. First, we can’t catch what we don’t chase. I want to provide you with some daily thoughts to help you chase after a more meaningful life, experience a more engaged faith, and approach the challenges that will likely come your way with greater intention and confidence than perhaps you have experienced in the past.

Next, I want to give you a daily tap on the shoulder to remind you that God is over the moon about you and your beautiful, often complicated life. He is not looking for the easiest path forward for you but the most purposeful and lasting one.

Finally, I want to whisper some truth, hope, and whimsy into as many of your days as you will allow me to, with the hope that some truths you find in these pages will turn out to be louder than all the other noise competing for your heart and attention every day.

Whimsy isn’t something we just stumble into, happen upon, or that sticks to us unnoticed like a dryer sheet. It is something we need to chase after every day with intention, resolve, and tenacity, not unlike a child trying to catch a bubble as it floats in the air. It’s not easy to do, but you can spot someone who has caught up to whimsy a mile away. It shows up as joy and hope and generosity and selflessness and endless amounts of curiosity.

In the past few years, the idea of catching something has gotten a well-deserved bad rap. I want to reclaim the phrase and suggest that some things, like whimsy and wonder and passion and the ability to give and receive extravagant love, are worth catching. The truth is each of us are only one or two decisions away from a more beautiful and winsome life; we just need to decide to access it through a door God leaves ajar for us each day.

A while back, I wanted to find a book that emphasized the love and radical acceptance Jesus demonstrated in His life, but I couldn’t find one that spoke about it using plain and simple language and that offered the message in a relatable context. I couldn’t relate to twenty-dollar words and the theologically complicated and lengthy explanations I found. I didn’t want to know what the words in the Scriptures meant in Greek or Aramaic or Hebrew about dealing with the lovely people I encountered on Sunday mornings; I wanted something that would help me live out the impossible demands of Jesus on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening with the difficult, sometimes prickly people I assume are just as insecure as I am, but maybe less adept than me at hiding it. So I decided to write what I couldn’t find.

For the past decade and a half, I have been writing books about loving people the way Jesus did and I have attempted to communicate Jesus’ messages the way He did - with stories. The Scriptures say Jesus never spoke to anyone without telling them a story or two, and I think I know why. We remember the stories we are told much longer than all the information that comes our way. For this reason alone, I have organized this daily devotional around telling stories that connect to faith rather than merely giving information about faith.

I have also written these devotional passages and the stories they are wrapped in to point you toward certain questions to consider. When I have written in the past about how to move from merely thinking about doing big things to acting on those ambitions, I have asked my readers to tease out answers for themselves to questions like these: What do you want? Why do you want it? And what are you going to do about it?

My hope is that the passages in this book will help you not only ask these questions of yourself but also find a more courageous and authentic path forward, as well as unlock answers to the questions that have snagged you and kept you stuck in place.

But don’t stop at simply finding answers. Finding answers might lead you to a more informed life, but not necessarily a better or more obedient one. It is what we do with the information we amass that says the most about who we really are. When we stop at finding the answers instead of actually doing something with them, we run the risk of getting stuck in an endless cycle of planning that doesn’t lead to action.

My hope is that when you turn each page of this book, you will not merely agree with the words I have written but replace that endless cycle of planning with doing something about what you believe. I hope you will entertain the possibility that God does not want us to spend our lives caught up in figuring out His will for us but instead wants us to find a new gear to access a more loving and adventurous relationship with Him, one full of connection and wonder and possibility.

Hear me when I write that despite all the Bible verses you will find in these pages, this is not a religious book. Instead, these pages are filled to the brim with ideas drawn from the many books and letters that make up the Bible. C.S. Lewis famously wrote, “One road leads home and a thousand lead into the wilderness.” For some of you, the verses you will find in these pages might be familiar; for others, they may be new. 

Whatever your background and experience with faith, both good and bad, I hope you will find both comfort and acceptance in God’s words to us in the Bible and in the application of them to your life, because words without application are merely more noise in an already loud room. I hope these words will lead you to a quiet place, a deep level of gratitude, and perhaps even lead you home to a renewed sense of whimsy.

Let’s go catch a couple of bubbles of truth together. Let the chase begin. 

CALL IN THE COURAGE, BRING THE LOVE, DISCIPLINE YOUR MIND, AND GET READY FOR BLASTOFF!

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 TIMOTHY 1:7-8

What does it look like to launch something? Snowboarders might interpret “launching” as hitting the half-pipe at a whopping forty miles an hour and blowing everyone’s minds with some aerials. That's not the launch I'm referring to here. Let’s talk about what it would take for a successful, purposeful launch of your dreams and ambitions.

Before every launch is a reset from the last one with loads of intention. Learn the lessons from what you’ve tried previously before you roll your new ambitions out onto the tarmac. Think of rocket ships. They don’t just shoot into the sky; they are aiming for an altitude, an orbit, and eventually a landing. A launch without direction is just a lot of smoke and flames. We've all experienced those kinds of launches, and that’s definitely not what we’re going for.

Launching something successfully also requires preparation and prioritization. Astronauts don't just hop into the capsule and press the Go button. There is a lot of planning, and then, eventually, someone lights the fuse and there is liftoff. But some of us get hung up with never-ending planning. We think talking about doing something is the same as doing something but, sadly, it's not. Certainly, plan and meet and discuss if that is helpful for you and gives you clarity, but at some point, we need to roll out the idea, turn on the engines, and see where it goes.

Paul reminded his young friend Timothy that living the big life Jesus talked about is not for the weak-kneed and promised that God would give us the spirit of courage we need to get the job done. Be humble today as you learn and incorporate the lessons from previous launches, but don’t be timid. Be filled with hope but even more filled with love, and cultivate the self-discipline Paul said was ours for the taking if we wanted it.

What is it that is holding you back from shooting for the stars today? Call in the courage, bring the love, and discipline your mind.

Excerpt adapted from Catching Whimsy: 365 Days of Possibility by Bob Goff. Copyright © 2024 by Bob Goff. Published by Thomas Nelson. Available wherever books are sold.