FOREWORD / BOB GOFF

Jeff doesn’t just talk about generosity; he lives it. In fact, he and his beautiful wife, Andre, live it like they’re made of the stuff. Jeff and Andre have invited me into their lives. Selfishly, I’d like to say I’m one of the very few people who have been invited in because it would make me feel somehow important. But they invite everyone they meet into their lives. Instead of making people feel important, they make everyone feel loved. Where some people act like bouncers when it comes to other people’s ideas, Jeff quietly acts like an usher, and in this terrific book he’s invited us all to take seats right up front in the orchestra section. He’s reminded me once again of what’s good in the world and of the simple goodness of giving.

Jeff doesn’t set out in this book to convince you that you have much excess stuff in your life—but he will. He doesn’t try to tell you to let go of the stuff you’ve accumulated, either—but you will want to. What Jeff gently says in this beautifully written book is that we don’t just have more stuff than we need; we have more love than we need. In fact, before I turned the last page, I found that I had piles of love hidden everywhere.

Thanks, Jeff, for reminding me where to look.

I’ve sat with Jeff in the woods in a small cabin where I listened to him talk about big dreams. What is different about Jeff is that his big dreams aren’t for him. They are big dreams for other people. And you know what? He makes them happen. You’ll see how in this book, and you’ll nod your head in agreement like I did—but you won’t stop there. You’ll go do something about it because love is as contagious as Jeff is.

Among the things I’ve learned from my time with Jeff in the woods is to be careful who I let into my cabin. Jeff didn’t trash the place; instead, he trashed my ideas of creative generosity and how I could go about enacting them. This is the kind of book you’ll want to read outside because there will be an explosion of sorts in your life. Some of your ideas of philanthropy will explode. Some of your excuses will explode. Some of your indifference and some of the limits you’ve put on your love or creativity will explode as well. And if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself silently mouthing the words “I could do that …” at the end of many of these chapters. What’s even better is that you’ll find yourself doing those things, not just thinking about them any longer. It’s for one simple reason—you’ve found yourself inside the blast radius of Jeff’s contagious brand of love.

You’ll laugh some and cry some at the stories in this book, but you won’t simply agree, because Jeff isn’t asking us to just agree with him. Instead, he invites each of us to take the next right step. He doesn’t road map the entire journey for us either, but he does offer some pretty good directions.

If love were raindrops, you’d be convinced before you finished this book that Jeff is a tropical storm. I know these things because I’ve been caught in the squall that surrounds his life, and I’ve been soaked through with extraordinary love and grace and passion. If you’re like me, you’ll put down this book and not just want to be more generous; you’ll want to be more like Jeff. That’s not Jeff’s goal of course, but that’s what happens when you see love lived out. It’s an extravagant love Jeff writes about too. When I got caught in its vortex I found myself wanting to be both at Jeff’s side and at the feet of Jesus.

Jeff knows Jesus, and he knows Him well. I don’t know this because Jeff told me; I know this because I know Jeff. I’ve seen him in times of desperate need and in times of utter delight. I’ve laughed until I’ve cried as he’s told me stories. But none of his stories are about him. They are stories about the needs in the world and the need to help we have in our lives.

Jeff sometimes gets a telltale bird-eating grin on his face, particularly when he’s talking about God and how my life would be better if I would shake loose some love. It’s almost like Jeff is spinning the dial of the vault in which I keep some of my generosity. In that way, Jeff’s not unlike a safecracker listening for tumblers to fall into place. And for me, before I finished the book, they had. Jeff unlocked in me a desire to love God and love people better than I thought I could, with a generosity as creative as it is extravagant.

This is a book of extremes: extreme love, extreme grace, and extreme faith. Jeff is one of those guys all of us hope to have in our lives but few of us do. You’re about to meet a guy who will mess with your notions of love and generosity as much as he messed with mine. Let me warn you in advance: your closets, your cabinets, your love, and your pride are not safe around Jeff. That’s because Jeff is going to mess with how you use your time, how you spend your money, and what you do with your stuff. Jeff isn’t trying to get us to reevaluate our lives; instead he’s asked us to value them more. To value what we can give from our excess and what might be possible if we served ourselves up to the world with a large scoop of whimsy.

I’m no meteorologist, but like you, I can smell rain in the wind a long way off, and I could smell this book coming from Jeff for a while. Jeff has given all of us something really beautiful in this book. Jeff hasn’t just sprinkled a couple of good ideas in these pages; instead, it’s a gully washer of love, creativity, and engagement that a parched world desperately needs. You’re about to get caught in the terrific hurricane of kindness that surrounds a guy who loves people well. Buckle up, friends: you are about to get Jeff’ed.