While I couldn’t personally go on the vision day tour, Filipe did a great job of tweeting pictures from each of the stops along the way. In case you missed them, here they are.

Filipe testing a Google bike.

Many of our neighbors are Sikh’s- often mistaken for Muslim’s, but they aren’t. Filipe told our neighbor that he visited his temple and he was really confused and impressed. We pray for opportunities to share the Gospel with him and his family. Maybe this will open the door further.

Proverbs 29:18 in the King James Version says,
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

The Message says it like this,
“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.”

I love to stop and take notice of all God is doing around us, whenever I do, it’s pretty incredible.

A man who led a movement.
A man who stood up for freedom.
A man who couldn’t just sit while injustice reigned.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr helped change the direction of our nation.

He led a movement to end racial discrimination and segregation, and as a result, died for his beliefs, for his cause.

MLK is remembered and esteemed for taking responsibility for the problems surrounding him in 1963.
I’m so thankful for leaders like him who take a stand- even when it cost him his life.

But what about now?
What about the problems here in 2012?

• Did you know there are 27 million slaves in the world today?
• Did you know that 21,000 children die EVERY day from preventable causes?
• Did you know that in India a mom will sell her newborn baby for a 10 lb. bag of rice?

These are unacceptable. These are inexcusable.

What are you going to do about it?
What am I going to do about it?

DO SOMETHING NOW

Filipe’s brother and family arrived from Charleston this week and many activities are on the schedule.

Lily performed in her “Winter Concert” this week.

   I’m busy making Peppermint Oreo Truffles for teachers
and mailing packages for loved ones away.

Our South Bay pastors must’ve drank a little too much Eggnog considering this is how they were spotted yesterday.

if you’re local, check out our Christmas Eve service

Next week we fly to Charleston (on the 25th) to visit my family and see friends…
it’s been way too long.

But in the midst all the hustle and bustle, I will continue to post.  Don’t worry though, you won’t miss anything new.  For the next two weeks (Mon.-Fri.) I will be posting the “Best of 2011″ and reposting some of the highlights of the year.

Enjoy your family and time with loved ones, and in the new year I will be back with some fresh things to say.

Looking forward to 2012!

A month ago, Soledad O’Brien, a CNN reporter, did a documentary in her Black in America series called, The New Promised Land- Silicon Valley.  Last summer, 8 black entrepreneurs moved here to Mountain View, CA to learn from mentors and pitch their internet companies to a group of venture capitalist and investors.

It was their chance to get noticed.

The documentary focused on the lack of black entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.  Throughout the interview Soledad talked to many VC’s about diversity in Silicon Valley (or lack of when it comes to blacks) and why it is that way.

Less than 1% of tech startups are founded by African Americans.

Throughout the 9 weeks 25 different mentors and speaker sat down with the group to give them insight into the tech industry, and coached them up until demo day.

Vivek Wadhwa, a Duke professor from India and founder of two internet companies profiting over $50 million, was one of the mentors.  He left them speechless as he shared openly with them.

“Can I be honest with you?  You folks don’t help each other”, he said.

Wadhwa went on to share about the different mindsets.  Where he comes from when you see a problem, you work with the problem instead of just stopping and waiting for the problem to go away.  ”Work with the system”, he said.  When he came to Silicon Valley, he hired a 6 ft. tall polished, white guy to be his frontman and do all the talking.

VC’s invested in his company.

He reached out, worked with others, and together they solved their problems.  Because of it, he became a successful entrepreneur.

After Wadhwa’s visit, the group of 8 realized they needed to work together.  They had been living in the same house for a week working day in and day out on their own companies, but not one had shared their idea with another.

Many of us are fooled into thinking we can get through life on our own having an “I can do it myself” mentality, attempting to solve our problems by ourselves.

Life doesn’t work that way, and you won’t get very far in life with that type of mindset.

When South Bay Church started, 17 churches partnered with us before we even moved to Silicon Valley.  The one thing Andy understood from the get-go is that we needed a team, and we needed partners and supporters.  Much of our growth and success has come through these partners and the investment they’ve put into our church.

We couldn’t have done it alone.

Some of us blame the roadblocks for keeping us from getting where we want to go, yet if we brought a few people alongside us, we’re much more likely to get around it together.

Whether it’s a company, a project, a book, or a hit song on the radio, no one can go very far on their own.

We need help.
We need each other.

Who is helping you?

This trip also gave me a few days to focus on writing.  While Filipe met with pastors, I sat in Starbucks typing away on my computer.  It was heaven for me.

Through a series of random events (or what felt random at the time), I was scheduled to have lunch with Mary DeMuth (author of The Muir House which I reviewed earlier this week) and two other friends and pastor’s wives (one of whom happens to be a writer too!).

Mary just so happens to understand a little about church planting since her family helped plant a church in France (yes, the country).  She’s authored about a dozen books all while being a stay-at-home mom of three, and currently attends the church that is South Bay’s primary sponsoring church.  I would say we have just a little in common, but I’ll let you decide for yourself.

The afternoon of our lunch, I arrived full of questions, and an expectant heart, all while trying to hide the nerves (though I probably didn’t succeed at that very well).  Mary arrived with gifts in hand and instantly put us at ease.  We ate lunch in a quaint little restaurant in Rockwall, TX discussing the worlds ministry and writing and how to navigate through them.

I felt so blessed in that moment.
I felt like God was smiling down on us as we sat together.
His daughters helping one another grow in the gifts He’s given them.

It felt like the opportunity of a lifetime, and while I shy away from ever putting someone up on a pedestal, it was.  Mary was incredibly kind and gracious.  She answered my questions without making me feel like the amateur I am, and gave great advice and insight into being a writer.  I walked away with more respect for her as a mother and a writer, and more driven to pursue what is in my heart.

I had already agreed to review Mary’s book, The Muir House, prior to our meeting, but didn’t read it until the week after.  Most of the book is set in the city of Rockwall, so reading it after our visit felt surreal and made the story come alive even more.

I want to remember moments like these.  Meeting Mary was an honor, and while I feel a little embarrassed by the giddiness of this post, I hope I never get too comfortable meeting people like her.  She has put years into learning the craft of writing and developing as a writer, and has much to show for it.  I am challenged and inspired by her and don’t take the time she gave us for granted.

Thank you Mary for sharing your gift of writing with us, and for teaching us what you’ve learned along the way.

Here, you can read yesterday’s post, The Present.

Silicon Valley
Today I am grateful to live in such a beautiful part of the country.
I’m grateful to call Silicon Valley my home.

A little over three years ago we joined the South Bay team and moved our family to the San Francisco Bay area.  I felt confident God directed us here, but I wasn’t confident I would connect with the area.  God doesn’t always take us to the places of our choosing, but I believe He will give us a heart for the place He has called us.

During the months leading up to the big move, I spent time researching and learning whatever I could get my hands on about Silicon Valley.  But reading about the tech companies in Fast Company magazine is quite different from experiencing it first-hand.

Aside from a weekend road trip to San Francisco my sophomore year of college, I didn’t know much about Northern California.  The culture here is much different than Charleston, SC where I grew up.

Silicon Valley is diverse and fast-paced.
People are driven to succeed and they take risks.
People place high value on their health and taking care of the environment.

The thing I love most is their honesty and openness about where they are spiritually.
There is no pretense.

Three years later I can honestly say, I love living in Silicon Valley.  Most of all, I love serving and doing ministry here.  God continues to expand my heart for this area of the country.

I’m finally able to say, and really believe, that this is home.

I love whenever we have visitors from Charleston. I love showing them around and sharing with them all that is happening in our city. It reminds me of how different ministry is in the San Francisco Bay area, and how we have adapted to the culture here for the sake of the Gospel.

Diversity- This is by far the biggest difference of all. About 40% of the population here is Asian (that includes the Indian culture) and another large percentage is Hispanic. Being a “white, American” feels like a minority here. For example, just on my cul-de-sac, I am the only white American out of the 8 homes (even my own husband is not from here!).

Unchurched- The reason why we moved to the Bay area to start South Bay Church is because 95% of the area is unreached with the Gospel of Christ. Our goal as a church is to bring that percentage down. We are a church for the unchurched, and I love that most about South Bay! We’ve been able to create a safe place for people of all faith backgrounds to explore Christianity. We have volunteers serve diligently every Sunday morning who are still exploring faith, we have people serve at events with us who have yet to yield to Christ, and we have many people in Life Groups throughout the week just checking this whole “God thing” out.

Life Groups- I have a huge passion for small groups because I’ve personally seen their benefit in my own life, as well as others. But when I began leading life groups (our term for small groups) here at South Bay, things were different…in a good way. In the first group I led here, a Chinese woman from a Buddhist background came and asked if she had to be a Christian to join. She asked if she could come just to learn more about the Bible. (“Of course not”, I replied.)

Our life groups are not a group of mature Christians sitting around a room discussing spiritual truths. Our groups are filled with unbelievers, new believers, and some who are simply, searching. Following our life group last week, Filipe and I were talking to Billy and Sarah about how it feels strange now to have a life group without someone in it who is still exploring faith or who recently found Christ and is still learning about what it all means.

There are many more great things I love about South Bay, but those are just a few.  Do you attend a church?  What do you love about it?

My favorite quote is from his Stanford Commencement Speech in 2005.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

You can check out the rest of the speech here:

Inspiring might even be an understatement.

There are times when we hear something new and challenging and we walk out feeling good and inspired and life goes on pretty much the same.

Then there are others times when you hear something new and challenging and it seems to intersect our life in a way that alters its course.  This Summit may have just done that for me.

Once again, here is a recap.  It was tough trying to narrow down one thing per speaker, but I tried the best I could.  There were SO many great words of wisdom.  I feel honored to sit under these leaders and simply listen and learn from them.

Bill Hybels
Would we be willing to lead initiatives w/ no promises of earthly success?

Mama Maggie Gobran (founder of Stephen’s Children in Cairo, Egypt)
When one has nothing, God becomes everything.

Michelle Rhee
(Asked the question) How do you distinguish between revolutionary change or incremental change?
(Her response) “I’m not an incremental girl”.  When it’s your child, you can’t change fast enough.

Henry Cloud
What does a person do when the truth comes to them?
- Do they adjust to the truth or try to change it.
- The wise man will adjust, the fool change it, the evil will try to destroy it.

John Dickson
When great leaders are approachable, we aspire to be like them. When leaders appear aloof, we respect them, but they don’t inspire us.

Patrick Lencioni
We have to exercise our willingness to be rejected.

Erwin McManus
It’s not that hard to bring people to Christ when they see themselves in the story.

I’ve mentioned before here on the blog, but I must say again.  I love leadership environments!  LOVE leadership environments.  In a way, you could call it my comfort zone.

Today was no exception.  There was something to take away from every speaker.

Here are some of the highlights from today. Some are questions they posed or a quote they said.

Bill Hybels
What do I need to do to make the next 5 yrs. to be the best 5?

Len Schlesinger
Questions for Entrepreneurs
What do you want to do?  Or what do you care about?
- Take a step, Make a move

Cory A. Booker (Mayor of Newark, NJ)
At every second of every moment we have a choice, to accept circumstances or change them.

Brenda Salter McNeil
Are we pulling back in fear or pushing forward in faith?

Seth Godin (I could have quoted about 50 things, find one was quite difficult.)
Are we just surviving another day?
Or are we leading, living w/ passion, doing something, making art.

Steven Furtick
I can’t expect God’s blessing on my work w/out doing it his way.

The theme throughout each one talked about action.  Do Something.  It seems like a timely message for leaders considering the state of our nation, and our world.  I think God is looking for leaders who aren’t paralyzed by fear (of failure especially), but who are bold, courageous, trust Him, and lead the way.

It was a great day and I’m so excited to go back tomorrow!