0:02

us more. Hey everybody,

0:04

welcome to the Bob

0:06

and Friends podcast. I'm

0:08

so glad you're with

0:10

us. Hope it's been a great

0:12

week for you. If yours is

0:14

like mine, then it has some

0:17

really notable highs and then a

0:19

couple things that are real head

0:21

scratches. And so It's so good

0:23

in a time where things are

0:25

just, you're scratching your head, to

0:27

return to some really safe people

0:29

and some really safe places. And

0:32

so this is the treat to

0:34

be able to bring on the

0:36

podcast again, a dear friend. It's

0:38

been a family friend for the

0:40

longest time. Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

0:43

And so Elizabeth, welcome to

0:45

the podcast. Bob, that is so

0:47

kind, I'm so fired up to be

0:49

here with you. I feel like you,

0:52

you always are that like point on

0:54

navigation, like return to good. And it's

0:56

actually should just say north, should just

0:58

say like Bob Goff. I guess like

1:00

we all believe these incredibly conflicted lives

1:03

and we make our way through

1:05

them and trying to say, are

1:07

we safe? Are we not safe?

1:09

Should we love? Should we not

1:11

love? And so if you would

1:13

think of everything is motivated by

1:15

either love or fear or some

1:17

combination of them, you have definitely

1:19

been love in our life and

1:22

I'm just so grateful for that.

1:24

Among the things we're going to

1:26

talk about today is this new

1:28

book of you. that's releasing a

1:30

God's masterpiece. I want to hear all

1:32

about that. But I want to talk first

1:34

about people who might be feeling, whether you're

1:37

stuck in traffic or you're out in a

1:39

jog or something, that might feel a little

1:41

bit on edge in how we can. you

1:43

know, really return to safe people

1:46

and safe places. Elizabeth, I was

1:48

in the Midwest with 700 guys

1:50

that had cowboy hats. And, uh,

1:52

and really, it wasn't my crew,

1:55

but I was like, always like,

1:57

this is gonna be awesome. And

1:59

so. when people hear I'm

2:01

from California, they'll say something a little

2:04

bit snide, like, you know, he's a

2:06

couple fries short of a happy meal

2:08

or they'll say something that is a

2:10

little big, but it's cute. And this

2:13

guy came up to me in his

2:15

big hat and he said, I don't

2:17

think your lid's on right. And I'm

2:19

saying it aside, like, should I take

2:21

him and so that? And then I

2:24

looked and I was holding a cup

2:26

of coffee and the lid wasn't on

2:28

all the way. And he was just

2:30

trying to keep me from embarrassing myself.

2:33

As I've experienced you, you're the kind

2:35

of person that wall, there's a lot

2:37

of things going on in your thought

2:39

bubble that you're really mindful about what

2:42

you say. And that's guided by your

2:44

faith and your hopes. And so tell

2:46

us about this, how you can give

2:48

some practical ideas to somebody who's stuck

2:50

in traffic or jogging or something that's

2:53

just feeling a little stressed out right

2:55

now. Yeah, well I can certainly be

2:57

that person. You know, I think my

2:59

natural tendency, I'm super optimistic, but I

3:02

think I almost grew up with like

3:04

a fear mentality a little bit. So

3:06

I can and having worked in news

3:08

for like 10 years, I was like

3:10

completely inundated with bad news. You know,

3:13

most of the news that's going on

3:15

is bad. And what I realize was

3:17

on the days that I didn't like

3:19

Like in art, we would always put

3:22

a primer on a canvas first so

3:24

that the color seemed right. And then

3:26

they didn't like, you know, lose the

3:28

effect of the good tone on like

3:30

a canvas that wasn't prime properly. So

3:33

I'm like, I had to prime the

3:35

canvas in my heart. Like, if I

3:37

had to prime the canvas in my

3:39

heart, like if I am listening and

3:42

receiving because I have a very spongy

3:44

heart, like sometimes I wish like God,

3:46

why didn't you give me like a

3:48

more like a solid heart like where

3:50

nothing gets in there? like a lot

3:53

of what's happening in the world or

3:55

even around me. And so I think

3:57

in order to, if you have that.

3:59

of heart or you're just a normal

4:02

human and like things affect you and

4:04

you feel stressed out or overwhelmed, for

4:06

me, I can automatically get to fear

4:08

pretty quickly. I can automatically think the

4:11

worst pretty quickly. What I have to

4:13

train myself to do like a muscle

4:15

is just prime the canvas of my

4:17

heart. Listen to something good, remind myself

4:19

of something good, get in the word

4:22

of God first because if you see

4:24

everything else rested upon something else, it's

4:26

going to be a little off tone.

4:28

and then it's going to sit and

4:31

sink in. So the first thing that

4:33

should think in the canvas, that poorest

4:35

canvas of your art, is truth. And

4:37

so that's like, that's what I have

4:39

to do. And listen, you get off

4:42

my husband on the days I don't

4:44

do that first. It's ugly. I think

4:46

of the at your house you have

4:48

this beautiful pineapple painting that you made

4:51

and it represents hospitality and trade just

4:53

like when among the little slides that

4:55

come to mind when I think about

4:57

you guys is that and and how

4:59

you create that environment from the moment

5:02

anybody walks in and then you have

5:04

like at least at one point you

5:06

had a blackboard that you. painted and

5:08

written things on and they'd be like,

5:11

oh, that's so endearing. I love that

5:13

among, although you're really talented author and

5:15

written trade books and all that, that

5:17

among your focuses has been some children's

5:20

books and there's nothing that will get

5:22

us more grounded than trying to explain

5:24

a complicated life to a kid because

5:26

I've got. four grandkids now. And so

5:28

explaining to them how life works and

5:31

what to wonder about, it's like there's

5:33

something really that will clench your palate

5:35

between all the crazy. So what would

5:37

tell me, why did you write this

5:40

new book, a God's masterpiece, an adventure

5:42

in discovering your word? Well, you're an

5:44

example of being like the best kind

5:46

of grown up kid, because your heart

5:48

is always looking for adventure. and discovering

5:51

something new and learning something new. And

5:53

I think having a child's heart sometimes

5:55

requires, like, what am I curious about?

5:57

And then, like, can I bring some

6:00

friends along and get curious with me

6:02

about? So I have to thank you

6:04

for that. You're a great example. With

6:06

me and this book, man, God gave

6:08

me this book. Because it's really his

6:11

word in Ephesian Souten, like, we are

6:13

God's masterpiece. He said it. Not me.

6:15

So like, I just get you right

6:17

about it. I studied art. I was

6:20

a studio art major. My dad let

6:22

me draw on the walls growing up.

6:24

My mom was like, okay, I guess

6:26

you're doing that. I love to paint.

6:28

And I'm visual. I thought, what if

6:31

we could have a book for kids

6:33

that in today's world full of comparisons,

6:35

swiping, where they're, you know, dealing with

6:37

a lot of things coming out, and

6:40

if we can get at them young,

6:42

and go on a discovery of their

6:44

words, and in the same time, and

6:46

go on a discovery of their words,

6:49

and in the same time, like, learn

6:51

about some great artists, because any time

6:53

you see something made, whether if I

6:55

like, like, If we can like see

6:57

one another, not because it's already because

7:00

God says that we are his workmanship,

7:02

his masterpiece, creative for good work, so

7:04

he's actually prepared ahead for us, which

7:06

is so cool, met the whole other

7:09

thing. But like, if we can look

7:11

at each other like with big gold

7:13

frames around the faith of your friends

7:15

and declare you're good, you're good masterpiece

7:17

and that art does not have to

7:20

look like the other art. But the

7:22

cool thing is because we share a

7:24

master, like You know the feeling when

7:26

you're trying to like plug something in

7:29

from different like manufacturers and you're like

7:31

this doesn't work with that? We are

7:33

all made. It's like Apple sort of

7:35

like all their things work in harmony

7:37

right like or you get another big

7:40

brand there stuff works in harmony. We

7:42

are made by the thin maker because

7:44

we're intended for harmony and unity and

7:46

so though we're unique we have different

7:49

purposes that God's going to give us.

7:51

We every struggle every wrinkle every part

7:53

of us that's so unique is God's

7:55

good idea and so I think as

7:58

kid if we can just allow them

8:00

a moment to a learn about 11

8:02

great masters in art through the book

8:04

in God's masterpiece and then ultimately

8:06

at the end be like and

8:08

you know what you are God's

8:10

great masterpiece too and then what

8:12

that does how do you treat a

8:14

masterpiece you treat it carefully you

8:17

step back you're like I'm in all of

8:19

this this is so cool and if we

8:21

can treat each other like that I just

8:23

think it'll solve some problems we'll

8:26

call though Yeah, I totally get

8:28

it over my shoulder is a

8:30

fake painting. It's called The Puppeteer

8:32

and it's by this really famous

8:34

guy. But when I was in,

8:37

when I was a lawyer, there

8:39

was a painting called the Puppeteer

8:41

that I saw in this art

8:43

gallery and I'm like, oh, do

8:45

that's so awesome. And I'm not

8:47

a big archive, but I was

8:49

like, that is so cool. So

8:51

when I went in to get

8:53

the. painting, they said they brought

8:55

out two. And they said the

8:57

original you put in a vault

8:59

and the fake one you put

9:01

up on the wall. And the reason

9:04

I have that one up here

9:06

is because out there in the

9:08

living room is the real one.

9:10

And so sometimes what we do is

9:12

we put the fake one up because

9:14

we're just afraid that what if I

9:17

got the real one up and it

9:19

got damaged or something. And so I

9:21

like that tap on the shoulder to

9:23

remind ourselves to get the original

9:26

version of us out there, even though

9:28

it's kind of scary. But to say,

9:30

and we will take a hit

9:32

or two, the one, the original

9:34

that's out there, the kids were

9:36

having a rubber band war and

9:39

the kids got it. The puppeteers

9:41

got a rubber band mark right

9:43

in the head. And so that

9:45

would be like mortifying for I'm

9:47

sure somebody who's an art collector,

9:49

but I like the painting more

9:51

because it's. It's the it's a

9:53

real thing and I think sometimes

9:56

we want to be a better

9:58

version of us and what thing

10:00

that's talking about is to be a

10:02

more accurate reflection of Jesus. Yeah, so

10:04

tell us about encouraging kids. I'm thinking

10:06

about the verse that said, unless you

10:09

change and become like a child, you'll

10:11

never end up entering the kingdom of

10:13

God. And he wasn't talking to kids.

10:15

He was talking to big people like

10:17

me and you. So what about that

10:20

child like faith? How are you seeing

10:22

that experience? How do you want people

10:24

to experience that through your book? Yeah,

10:26

I think, first of all, kids move

10:28

pretty quickly from like. failure to success

10:31

naturally right we kind of ruin it

10:33

for them by like exemplifying like getting

10:35

stuck a lot and I think kids

10:37

natural tendency is like all get up

10:39

and get it climb up the slide

10:42

and go down again like they're so

10:44

cool I think you really like get

10:46

it I really like get it I

10:48

think one of the things in the

10:50

books that I've tried to write for

10:52

kids and God has let me do

10:55

is be really honest and I'm like

10:57

in flashlight night it's there's a line

10:59

in there that says that when I'm

11:01

mad I won't want to want to

11:03

fight you know like not just creating

11:06

literature for them that's like fake and

11:08

that actually in this book here it's

11:10

like and when your friend forgets about

11:12

their worth that you can remind them

11:14

that their work of art their work

11:17

of art created by God and that

11:19

also we can trust like we are

11:21

his work right so we can trust

11:23

the maker of his art work like

11:25

we trust our maker he's good right

11:28

that's known he's a good god and

11:30

what he makes it perfect so like

11:32

we can trust him to finish what

11:34

he starts and so I think with

11:36

kids They encourage me. I feel like

11:39

I really I draw so much encouragement

11:41

from our own children. They're resilient and

11:43

they're kind and they jump back up

11:45

from failure moments. And I think if

11:47

I were to encourage kids, it's like

11:50

you are God's great idea. And like

11:52

his cool work that he has for

11:54

you doesn't have to look like the

11:56

cool work he has for someone else

11:58

and that you we can work together.

12:01

in the unique ways that he's made

12:03

us, and that's good. And it's okay

12:05

to, like, be growing, and it's okay

12:07

to, like, allow God to put another

12:09

brushstroke on that canvas. It's okay for

12:11

God to, you know, add another mark

12:14

on your life. Like, he's the one

12:16

with the paintbrush, and we just get

12:18

to, like, be his works in motion.

12:20

So I think the kids get it

12:22

oftentimes more than we do. So I

12:25

learned from them. I like that there's

12:27

a message for children and I love

12:29

your kids books that they are well

12:31

read around here. But there's also a

12:33

message for us as adults. There's a

12:36

artist Thomas Cole from the 1800s and

12:38

in the National Smithsonian Art Gallery they

12:40

have a series of four paintings. It's

12:42

called The Journey of Life and the

12:44

first one is a little boat on

12:47

a stream and this angelic being and

12:49

a little baby and a little baby

12:51

and this angelic being and a little

12:53

baby in a little baby in a

12:55

little baby and a And so think

12:58

of that snapshot if you're listing this

13:00

stuck in traffic or stuck in a

13:02

job or stuck in a relationship or

13:04

stuck in wherever you are about what

13:06

it was like when you were hoping.

13:09

Like art can draw us in to

13:11

say like, what was that like the

13:13

second painting in this series? And they're

13:15

all. 12 feet long and 10 feet

13:17

high. The second baby is this young

13:19

man. I don't know if he's in

13:22

his 20s or 30s, but he's launching

13:24

out into the world on the same

13:26

canoe and the hourglass goes down each

13:28

time. looks like it's clear sailing and

13:30

he's headed for this celestial city but

13:33

the third painting he's I don't know

13:35

if he's 40 or 50 but he's

13:37

got a canoe full of junk and

13:39

he is scared to death because the

13:41

roof is really roaring and the fourth

13:44

painting in the last one he's an

13:46

old guy like me and he's sitting

13:48

out at the end of the river

13:50

where the river spilled into the ocean

13:52

and there's no more hourglass and his

13:55

as canoe is empty. I like those

13:57

snapshots shots in our that remind us

13:59

that there are. many different seasons in

14:01

our lives. What do you want people

14:03

to take away when they think of

14:06

this season with the particular things that

14:08

they're encountering, a tap on the shoulder

14:10

from their friend Elizabeth, to return to

14:12

a simpler time? No, I think there's

14:14

preparation even in the, if it's a

14:17

suffering or if it's awaiting, or you

14:19

can feel like suffering. I think, like,

14:21

I'm like laughing right now, because I'm

14:23

like, how did I? I used to

14:25

design shoes for Puma, right? And I

14:28

think when you're an artist, you're kind

14:30

of used to having people look at

14:32

stuff and not like it or not

14:34

think much of it. Like you're kind

14:36

of like, well, I guess like I'd

14:38

put up three sketches and two out

14:41

of the three would get like literally

14:43

ripped up. Like, those aren't good. But

14:45

the only way I got to the

14:47

good drawing was to have like, like,

14:49

like, artwork is that there's a lot

14:52

of sketching involved and you I got

14:54

brave to like you put up what

14:56

you make and it's really susceptible to

14:58

someone's opinion and sometimes you're on like

15:00

that's not that good or but to

15:03

get to the good you've got to

15:05

like be able to like put a

15:07

bunch of stuff up there and like

15:09

see what gets torn down and it

15:11

might not be what you would tear

15:14

down but what's left up there is

15:16

okay? And it came by a process

15:18

of some failure. So I think about

15:20

the view and I'm like, wow, how

15:22

did I get there? And I'm thinking

15:25

God knew to put me in the

15:27

Australian Outback 9 out of the 10

15:29

deadliest snakes to prepare for that table.

15:31

He's like, he'll bring you somewhere weird

15:33

sometimes to get you to somewhere else.

15:36

And I think being unafraid of failure

15:38

and a strong skin against criticism. Like

15:40

there's criticism and then there's critique, right?

15:42

Critique in the world of art makes

15:44

it better. And also allowing some people,

15:47

like, okay, if you think of George

15:49

Girac, he's one of the artists in

15:51

this kid's book, and I love him,

15:53

I would, you know, you'd say like,

15:55

dot, dot, dot, like, George Surat, okay,

15:57

was how I taught the kids. about

16:00

him and if you look really closely

16:02

at his painting, you just go,

16:04

what the heck is this? And you

16:06

have to step back. And some

16:08

people need to step back more than

16:11

others before they get it, right? So

16:13

when it comes to like what

16:15

you're working on or what you're struggling

16:17

in, some people just need to step

16:20

way back to see your picture. And

16:22

it's okay. Like, those are the people

16:24

that might need to be a little

16:26

bit more as distant in your life.

16:29

who right up close only sees like

16:31

three dots of floppy color on your

16:33

canvas at the time and they still

16:35

think that's good without seeing the

16:38

big picture, then keep those people

16:40

close to you. And then other people

16:42

who need to like that distance

16:44

to see what the big picture is

16:47

going to look like, that's

16:49

reciprocal. Keep them out

16:51

of distance until they appreciate

16:53

just the marks and progress

16:55

going on because we're all

16:57

in progress. Like God's gonna

16:59

finish what he starts. And

17:01

so I think identifying the

17:03

helpful humans in your life

17:06

that appreciate the marks along the

17:08

way and don't need to see

17:10

a finished work and who you are

17:12

is super key in this life.

17:14

Sometimes people are thinking about anniversaries

17:16

and these birthdays and all that, which

17:19

is all really great. I'm a big

17:21

fan. But I also take note of

17:23

the worst day that a friend has

17:25

experienced. And I don't call them up

17:28

on the anniversary of the worst day

17:30

of their life. This is the anniversary

17:32

of the worst day of your life.

17:34

I'll just call them and say, look

17:37

how far you've come. And there's

17:39

just something beautiful, maybe they'll put it

17:41

together, maybe they won't, but to just

17:43

pause every once in a while to

17:45

just say, look how far you kind

17:47

of, sometimes we beat ourselves up because

17:50

we all mess up big time and

17:52

then we're just back to the scene

17:54

of the accident and like that big

17:56

mistake of the big screw up and

17:58

I think God, these. who we are

18:00

becoming. And I think that's the kind

18:02

of friend you've been to me and

18:04

that we could be to one another.

18:07

Don't tell people what to do. Remind

18:09

them who they are coming. And if

18:11

we can do that, that's a kids

18:13

book will do that. If I came

18:15

over to the house for supper and

18:17

I've shared a meal, we've broken bread

18:19

there. I would not show up empty

18:21

handed. I'd have something with me. And

18:23

this isn't a pitch to buy a

18:25

book, but don't show up in a

18:27

kid's live without something to share with

18:29

them. And I love that this is

18:31

just another resource to say, pause and

18:33

it's not gonna. cost you five bucks,

18:35

it's going to cost you five minutes

18:37

to sit down with a kid and

18:39

turn some pages and say, hey, let's

18:41

just get lost in this together and

18:43

you're going to walk away. I like,

18:45

I just as a grandpa, I would

18:47

walk away more filled up. Tell me

18:49

about what you hope when somebody turns

18:51

the last page with a kid because

18:54

I know it's tedious work to put

18:56

all this together. Okay, so they turn

18:58

the last page. What are they feeling

19:00

or what did they just experience? Okay,

19:02

well that's so cool that you just

19:04

asked me because the last page of

19:06

this book is my favorite. We got

19:08

it. You mentioned that chalk wall upstairs

19:10

that we have when you come up

19:12

the stairs in a, like, we call

19:14

them like the fun stairway. Come down

19:16

here, you're having some chores to do,

19:18

probably. But you go up and there's

19:20

the first thing you come to is

19:22

a mirror that I put up when

19:24

we moved and it says, with quotes

19:26

on it, you, by God, effusions, effusions

19:28

to ten. And you cannot help. But

19:30

look at yourself in the mirror with

19:32

the title called You By God. And

19:34

so my hope is that at the

19:36

end of this book, you can look

19:39

in there. I'll see there you are.

19:41

Look at that guy. You by God.

19:43

Now that's a good masterpiece right there.

19:45

You are God's Master Peace, I'm gosh.

19:47

My hope is that kid would know

19:49

and he'd be like, wow, if we

19:51

declare a maker and all these artists

19:53

and all this work, I have a

19:55

good. I have a good God and

19:57

I am his good idea. I'm his

19:59

masterpiece. And then what if they end

20:01

up being a little master of 11

20:03

great artists in their work as well?

20:05

So education, some fun art, and ultimately

20:07

the message that they, when they look

20:09

in every mirror at the end of

20:11

this book, know that they're God's great

20:13

masterpiece. Yeah, well said, and I think

20:15

we just need more of the time

20:17

being really inefficient in the way we

20:19

love one another. And I can't think

20:21

of anything more inefficient than sitting down

20:23

to the kid and reading a book

20:26

and getting something out of it for

20:28

yourself. Again, is this reminder, I hope

20:30

you'll feel this tap on the shoulder

20:32

from Elizabeth to say like, what if

20:34

you live in? to this reality. It's

20:36

not just a happy thought, but that

20:38

you're a masterpiece. So thank you, Elizabeth.

20:40

Thank you for the book. It is

20:42

out by this thing. I get, I'm

20:44

signing up for a case, but get

20:46

a copy, show up to somebody's life

20:48

with this thing, and then spend five

20:50

minutes. Don't just give them the book.

20:52

Say, here, let's sit down and read

20:54

this together. Oh, great idea. Bob, Bob,

20:56

you're the best. You're God's masterpiece friends.

20:58

You're the best. We love you, love

21:00

to the family and just keep doing

21:02

good stuff. And I know that it's

21:04

not easy. I know you get out

21:06

there and sometimes you be like yikes.

21:08

I'm just so glad to have a

21:10

courageous friend like you that is just

21:13

pulling to jump into the yikes and

21:15

to grab your knees and do a

21:17

cannibal. I do look over the edge

21:19

a little more like, is this the

21:21

cliff I want to jump off right

21:23

now? Me and you both every single

21:25

day. All right. You guys have been

21:27

listening to Bob and Friends, the podcast,

21:29

and here's a deal. No doubt Elizabeth

21:31

said something that resonated with you. And

21:33

so find a wide spot in the

21:35

road. Write it down. She's not looking

21:37

for you to agree with her. Nor

21:39

is God looking for you to agree

21:41

with him. But what he he

21:43

wants you to

21:45

do is to do something

21:47

Like do the next

21:49

courageous thing whatever

21:51

that is for you

21:53

for think it might

21:55

involve a kid's

21:58

book and opening that

22:00

thing up and

22:02

don't serve the last

22:04

page But you

22:06

can take a peek

22:08

if you want

22:10

just to confirm who

22:12

you are. take a

22:14

right, if you We love

22:16

you to confirm who you are.

22:18

All right, Elizabeth, we love you.