Each month, you’ll hear from one of us on what we’re reading and a little bit about the book. Enjoy!
Okay, friends. Come close, because I have a huge secret to share with you …
I have never read Bob Goff’s Love Does.
How can I call myself an avid reader and work in Christian Publishing and still not have read it? That’s a good question. I even interned for the team that published Love Does during college and was surrounded by copies in our office, but I never opened one. I’ve heard I’m missing out big time!
So, when I saw how excited everyone was about his wife Maria Goff’s book Love Lives Here, I knew I couldn’t make the same mistake twice. After reading the back cover, I realized that it didn’t matter if I knew the story of Love Does or was a Bob Goff super fan. While Bob has made a career of traveling, speaking, and writing, Maria has made it her career to love those near her. This book was pure Sweet Maria—her story and her thoughts and her lessons learned about family, relationships, and purpose told her way.
From the outside, Maria’s life seems to be all fun and games with an endless supply of balloons (how fun!). While Maria does tell stories that are fun and lighthearted, she also shares difficult and raw moments in Love Lives Here to show us that life is meant to be lived with intentionality, passionate purpose, and a little planning—all which make a life rich in legacy.
Leaving a legacy of love for her family is kind of Maria’s thing. Throughout Love Lives Here and personal stories ranging from her cute first date with Bob to the deeply personal feelings she experienced after 9/11, we walk with Maria through these markers that helped her discover what she really needed in order to live the beautiful life God wanted for her. And she often notes that He not only wants it for her but for us, too!
Bob and Maria choose to navigate their family life their way, which means that it isn’t always about a rigid schedule or predictable outcomes. Life for them is and has been both meaningful and whimsical, and they share with us how they created a space for their family to grow together while also reaching outward. Isn’t that what we all want for our lives?
Each chapter shares a story that is meant to stand alone. So whether you are the busy mom on the go, the college kid trying to find time between classes, or the recent empty nester, you can pick it up and read as you have the time. Love Lives Here is meant to be flipped through as your life grows, dog-eared to mark the places you want to come back to, and shared as the impressions the words make on your heart grow and change you.
Maria’s bio on the back cover states that she has made a career out of loving her family, serving her neighbors, and turning houses into homes. This book is a personification of that from a woman who has made it her mission to guide everyone she meets in hospitality, parenting, and loving people well. There’s no checklist, no to-dos. This is simply Maria telling you that your story, like hers, matters. Your life has a purpose and can be a picture of obedience to God.
“In reading Love Lives Here, I hope that people will find that where they are is where love lives.” —Maria Goff
Chaselynn Beard is on the marketing team for B&H Publishing, a division of Lifeway. Born and raised in Nashville, she is a graduate of Lipscomb University with a degree in Public and Leadership Communication. She loves drinking peppermint coffee while snuggling up with a good book—good thing that’s her job! She also enjoys dancing with her friends at the Y, watching Gilmore Girls, and learning how to plan her upcoming wedding.