Book changes reader’s perspective

‘Love, Skip, Jump’ By Shelene Bryan

Plot: If you love how our creator wants us to, skip comforts to help those who cannot repay us and take a risk to jump into action, you could be one yes away from changing the world. I bought the book because I liked the cover and it has changed my life.

Author Shelene Bryan and her husband are so devoted to ‘skipping’ that they were willing to sell their wellplanned out home to help others. She also takes strangers on shopping trips to the mall. I am beside myself with her giving spirit.

Why you would recommend this book: Bryan says some of us are missing heaven by 18 inches, the distance between our heads and our hearts. We have the knowledge in our heads, but don’t really follow God with our hearts. She said there are 168 Bible verses referencing the poor.

I learned about this takeaway from a Seth Godin speech that Bryan heard. ‘When was the last time you did something for the first time?’ he asked, which told her to use some open-heart surgery to cut pride, judgment and self-righteousness out of her heart. She realized she needed to help the local homeless.

The moment when you were on the edge of your seat: I was shocked, as was she, that 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation. Forty-three percent of the people on the planet do not have indoor plumbing. Eighteen percent of the world population does not have access to an improved water source. Only 12 percent of the world population has a computer and only eight percent have Internet connections.

According to the Miniature Earth Project, if you slept in a bed last night, keep your food in a refrigerator and have your clothes in a closet, then you are richer than 75 percent of the entire world population. The majority of the world lives on $2 a day. Yet some of us with more walk around saying we are broke.

Lasting impressions: I, as she suggested, made a G-love bag (fits in your Glove box), therefore, the name. In it put socks, a poncho, lip balm, water, granola bars and a mini first-aid kit. Give it to a homeless person you see. She said socks are an important need of a homeless person. A poignant story demonstrates that the homeless don’t get mail. Smile when you do, whether it is a bill or junk. Don’t take your mailbox for granted.

The result of God’s love for us was that He gave, Bryan said. She shares an exercise where the reader fills in the blanks. Shelene so loved Omega that she gave the money she would have spent at Starbucks to pay for her education. For Deb so loved her friend that she gave every Friday morning to study the Bible with her. For Candace so loved her community that she gave of her time to serve as a guest chef at a homeless shelter.

Write your own five statements. For ______ so loved _______ that he/she gave ________. Suggestions from her website at www.skip1.org are skipping meals, car washes, bottled water, gum, magazines, clothing, manicures, massages or movies.