More on P.E.A.C.E

I promised to follow-up from my time in California with Rick Warren, the PEACE Plan, and PD Summit. Here is a link to the video interviews of the top leaders flown in to participate in the Purpose Driven Summit...

Some quick thoughts and notes I wanted to capture:
1. You can only take someone as far as you have grown
2. What you measure you succeed in
3. We are called to build people...God builds the church
4. Spiritual growth is intentional and happens when we make commitments

My favorite comment from Rick was:

5. People set goals too low and try to accomplish them too soon...We need to set big goals and spend the rest of our lives chasing them.

New Link

Adding a new link to Chris Brady's Blog...

I have known Chris Brady since 2002 and he is a gifted orator, leader, and author. His book "LLR" was #1 on Wall Street Journal's Best Seller's List and was in the top 10 of all the major business reviews.

Enjoy...

Bye- Bye Truck! (or How we became a 1-Car Family)

A new adventure has begun at the Simon house. Not since I was a young girl (less than 10-years old) have I been part of a 1-car family. But, this past Monday, the truck (a 2000 Nissan Frontier) gave evidence that it was not “well.” We dropped it off at the mechanic and the long and short of it is: the truck needed several expensive repairs and needed to pass inspection for registration renewal. It failed! The exhaust manifolds on both sides were leaking….also expensive to repair.

The total cost of the repair work was equal to or would exceed what the truck is worth (we had also just done $1500 in repairs in April). So, after much consideration and with the current registration due to expire on May 31st, Friday night we took the truck to Car Max and sold it.

We hoped the truck would last at least 2 more years; it's only at 121,000 miles- the Honda Accord we just got rid of got to 230,000 miles before we SOLD it!! But, no such luck.

However, we aren’t interested at this time in buying another vehicle. Why? We are not interested the quality or type of vehicle that can be purchased with our current savings and we do not want a car payment. Therefore, the best option for us at this time is to live with just one vehicle. As many of you know, the D.C. Metro area has a great Metro (rail) system---unfortunately it doesn’t go to where David’s work is located. Our current plan is for:

a. David to use the car for work.

b. The kids and I to walk or ride bikes in and around Vienna. Vienna is a great town, the grocery store, bank, drugstore, library, multiple parks, community center, swimming pool, etc are all within 0.5-2 miles of our house.

c. My mom rides the Metro to work. She has graciously said that I can drop her off at Metro and use her car during the day—when I need to get somewhere that is further from home or if the weather is bad.

This hasn’t been nor will it be the biggest challenge we conquer this year. However, it is definitely an adjustment to life as we know it. It will be fun and I am sure it will not be without some frustrations but we will manage as a 1-car family (we would like to make it until August). This will be a great opportunity to teach the kids about caring for the environment, creative problem solving, and good stewardship of resources.

See you on the bike path, sidewalks, and Metro of Northern Virginia and the DC Metro Area!

Beach Pictures

Many have asked to see beach pictures from last weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Here they are:

Biz Developer or Relationship Builder

Around 5pm I met up with Jamil Evans of Evans & Chambers Technology at Chima in Tysons Corner. I think that sometimes people in the business community get so caught up in the networking and business angles that they forget some basic things like stopping long enough to get to know people and build relationships. It was refreshing to sit and engage with a fellow entrepreneur and 'get history' with one another. Jamil and his partner have a great business (certified 8a small business too) that is growing, doing quality work, and provides top notch IT services.

On a different note...Jamil is just a genuine guy who is honest and sincere. Besides talking about what opportunities are out there to be chasing, we had a chance to talk about our families, travel, and the future. It always nice to hear successful people talk about wanting to do more than just make money. We spent time talking about the idea shared by Linda Ellis in 1996...'The Dash'. It is great to make money, it's exciting to have a growing and thriving business...but at the end of the day, I can't imagine saying to myself or those around me..."I wish I worked 3 more hours or I wish I stayed late more often." I am all about working hard and focus, but every once in a while it is important to sit with friends and other businessmen in the community and remember what things of significance we plan to accomplish.

After we hung out for several hours...I raced off to Car Max to join Sharon in our exciting Friday adventure involving the truck (see Sharon's post on being a single car family).

~David

House of Blues

A question I was recently asked was:

What is the Church?

Matthew 18:19-20

Ephesians 4:1-6

I bring it up because while in Myrtle Beach we don’t have a ‘traditional’ place to plug in, so I decided to take the family to the House of Blues. That’s right…food, family, and worship at the Gospel Sunday brunch. A change in place and change in pace. We had a wonderful time and even Sybella got into the worship songs. Some folks may be there for entertainment value and a Sunday meal but I thought it was more than just a fun experience for the family. If you ever make it to Myrtle Beach and stay through the weekend, I highly recommend the House of Blue’s Gospel Brunch!

Church is not the bricks and mortar but rather the people, fellowship, and focus. It was a great way to start Sunday and spend quality time as a family engaged in something that is not normally the focus of the family vacation.

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For those of you who are thinking... these guys are fanatical or even a little over zealous…don’t worry. This was not an attempt to be overly spiritual just a way of taking an hour out of the ‘family vacation’ and making it more about family and a little less about the beach. I think the boys were more into “Jake & Elwood’s Car” parked out front.

Visioneering

Used a big chunk of the 10 hours in the air to digest Andy Stanley’s book, “Visioneering” and what was left I finished up during the start of vacation. Stanley takes the historical story of King Artaxerxes and his servant Nehemiah to draw life lessons on why vision is important, how to set vision, how to respond to challenges, and staying focused.

My biggest take away is the following quote, “The most significant visions are not cast by great orators from stage. They are cast at the beside of our children…My most significant vision casting takes place on my knees with my face twelve inches away from the face of my children.”

WOW!

Some other quick highlights on this excellent book:

1. Vision begins as a concern
2. Don’t Get distracted
3. Anyone can be a critic, everyone can come up with solutions because it does not take anything special to have a good idea, but it takes a visionary to generate results.
4. Vision requires constant attention…one individual has to be willing to pick-up the vision and be the person who will deliver.
5. Leaders who have success in vision casting share at least these three traits: A Peaceful Spirit, Healthy Relationships, and Character
6. To be an effective leader you have to engage people’s heart and tie it to the vision.

PEACE

Took off early on Monday morning and flew with Mark Batterson to California. Rick Warren was hosting a special event at Saddleback Church in Orange County. I have forgotten how beautiful California is and how awesome the sunsets are.

The conference was incredible with leaders from all over the country. Mark was asked to speak to this select group of invites who came to learn more about Rick’s vision for the PEACE Coalition. Rick has more than a big dream he has a heart for helping people by taking on the 5 Big Global Goliath’s of today through PEACE:

P - Promote Reconciliation
E - Equip Leaders
A - Assist the Poor
C - Care for the Sick
E - Educate the Next Generation

I will share more later but just wanted to encourage everyone to dream big dreams and trust God to fill in the gaps. I was totally in awe at the wisdom, experience, and teaching provided by these spiritual giants of our time. Mark is sought after by so many and is truly a transparent leader who men in leadership look to. Mark has a new book that will be coming out called "Wild Goose Chase". The more I hear him tell people about the book, the more excited I get...can't wait for the release later this year...