Knowledge is only potential power.

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Knowledge Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end. Permanent link to this post: Knowledge

If you don’t know what you want from life, what do....

If you don’t know what you want from life, what do you think you will get?

The great majority of people in the world drift through life, never realizing that their future will be the one they create for themselves. The minority who achieve great success are people who know what they want and have a plan for realizing their objectives. They know what they want and how they are going to get it. Your goals should be specific, they should be measurable, they should have a deadline for their achievement, and they should be divided into manageable pieces. Know exactly what you plan to achieve, when you plan to achieve it, and how. Review your progress regularly, correct your course when necessary, and never, ever give up.

 

 - The Napoleon Hills Foundation - www.naphill.org

Distance in Life's Battles

 

Fasting and prayer prepare and condition your spirit to go the distance in life's battles.

 

-The Fasting Edge

by Jentezen Franklin

Better Together: A Balanced Diet of Authentic Relationships

So like I mentioned in this last week's post, I was back in Westlake visiting and one of the places I was so lucky to be able to visit again was my church, Calvary Community Church!!

I think it's so interesting how God puts exactly what we need in our lives at exactly the right time. Calvary helped me grow at such an essential part of my life. I was 1,800 miles away from home where I was "free" to grow on my own.

While I was back visiting, I was so lucky as Pastor Shawn touched on one of my favorite topics: family! I was smiling and so excited during the whole sermon. It was too good not to share w/ y'all!!

If video doesn't play, you can visit Calvary's Media website to catch this sermon:
 "Better Together: A Balanced Diet of Authentic Relationships". September 30, 2012

*************
Some of my sermon notes include:

People in healthy churches are interconnected in a wide variety of meaningful spirtual relationships.
If you want to go fast, go a lone.
If you want to go far, go together.

3 dimensions of authentic spiritual relationships...

#1. FAMILY being FAMILY
We naturally share a common
idenitity in Christ (Acts 2:42-47)

• we hang out together
• remember together
• celebrate together
• care together
• grow together

#2: IRON Sharpening IRON
We intentionally help each other grow in Christ (Acts 20:36-38; Galatians 2:11-21)
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" - Proverbs 27:17

• connected together enough that there is permission to encourage each other
• connected together enough that there is permission to confront each other

#3: DISCIPLES Making DISCIPLES
We specificially invest in someone else becoming like Christ (Acts 16:1-5; 2 Timothy 2:1-2)

• look for someone farther along in Chris to pour into your life
• look for someone no so far along in Christ to pour your life into
• expect those you mentor spiritually to
  look for others they can mentor spiritually

So . . .

• Are you engaging in the family being family?
• Are you a part of iron sharpening iron?
• Are you making disciples?

That's what Jesus left us to do!!

**********
I scribbled on the bottom a book Pastor Shawn mentioned but I didn't catch the author.
Book: Celebration of Discipline by ____?______
Have any of you read it? If so, please email me , would love to hearyour review!! (or author's name)

Calvary is so resourceful and always include great media to go with the sermon. You can find those additional resources right below the sermon playing or I've posted a few the Take 5 notes below.

Take 5 Notes for Week of September 30, 2012

I was so lucky to be able to catch this sermon with The Larsons (aka Tara's fam)!! The Larsons have been just like my second family and it was perfect that we all made church together.

Life is hard - we need a net of meaningful relationships to get through it!

Proverbs ___:23

All hard work brings a profit
but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs __:23

Mixing Bowl Gal

Not only does my friend Christine deserve some credit, but I feel like it would be wrong to keep her talents a secret from all of YOU!
Christine went from blogging about her passion and now has taken the next step: she just launched her website today!

Step by step visuals make it so easy to follow!

Yes, I call Christine a friend even though the one and only time I met her we spent 2 hours together. dot dot dot...in a Blood Donor line.
Yeppp......just two days before I said my goodbyes to Westlake Village, I was in line to give blood at church and Christine came up and sat next to me. We stared chatting and over the next 2 hours just clicked on so many levels. Even though we both moved out of California less than a month apart, we have kept in touch over Facebook and texting. It's crazy the way God puts people into our lives!

Anyways, check out Christine's new website: MIXING BOWL GAL

The recipes are amazingly good and one of my favorite features is that Christine takes pictures during the entire process - it's so easy to follow!

Enjoy!
And Congratulations Christine!

Revisiting California Trip - Part 1 - Los Angeles / Westlake

So it has been quite the last couple days!!
I came back to Los Angeles this past weekend to accomplish 3 main tasks:
#1: Invisalign appointment
#2: Get the rest of my luggage
#3: Visit Aubrey and friends

I say LA loosely, really my home was in Westlake Village which is located about 35 miles northwest of LA or 15 miles north of Malibu's coastline.

The cranky lady on my shuttle that started got
 my trip off to an interesting start!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2012:

I flew out at 10:00 am and oh man, did my trip start off with quite a twist!! I rode into St. Cloud with Ruth and the kiddios so I could catch the shuttle out of St. Cloud. As I jump onto the very rare packed shuttle with a "Goood Morning!", this cranky old bag nastily says to me "Thanks a lot for being late! Thanks to you, we'll probably miss our connection!!"


I checked my clock again, 3 minutes late. And it was due to the fact that I was parked on the wrong side of the hotel. Was this lady for real? I seriously sat there in silence, just stunned. (yah I know, Sarah House silent?!)
Anyways, nothing like landing in LA the Friday of "Car-mogedden" - pretty much LA's worst nightmare, shutting down the 405 for the weekend, the main freeway that runs north and south through LA. I got my rental car at Hertz which ended up being a smooth process. I hadn't heard the greatest things about Hertz but I was satisfied with the check-in considering the location. The LAX Hertz car rental is thee biggest car rental operation I've ever seen!


I hop in my Chevy Cruze and hit the road as I'm cutting it close with the dentist. Late or not, there's one quick stop I have to make before any other: In & Out!! With a grumbling stomach and a 2 month stretch of no In & Out, the Cheeseburger animal style was heeeaven!!
I get on the road and immediately am "embraced" with.....wait for it......bumper to bumper traffic!! Nooooo! So long story short, I missed my cleaning but made it up to Westlake in time to get my attachments done for Invisalign.



Happy Birthday Tori!

After the dentist, I head over to Tara's to see the girls and head out for Tori's birthday celebration! We headed up to El Torrito for some delicious mexican food and Margaritas! After dinner, we checked into a hotel room and went over to the bar/club attached to start the event festivities. It wasn't too long before the early morning rise, jet lag, traveling and minimal naps caught up to me. I headed back to the room. I a woke to the rest of the group getting in around 2:30 am. We ended up meeting this very nice fellow named Joseph who stayed up telling Tara and I his story of raising his late friend's son.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2012:
Saturday morning Caitlin, Tori, Tara and myself tried out a new breakfast establishment in Thousand Oaks called "Dish" or those of you who are familiar with the area, the late TGIFridays. Great place, great food, great service and we had a wonderful waitress.

I had to hit the road to meet Aubrey and her mom Amy - I was going to Aubs horse back riding lesson with them. I was so so so excited to see Aubrey!! And I guess she was rather excited to see me - she didn't let go of my arm for the first 5 min. in the car. Man, did I miss that little sweetie pie!!

We had a great morning as Aubrey gave me the tour of the stable introducing me to each horse and I watched her lesson. Following the lesson, we brushed her horse Julius and had some fun giving him some silly braids. We followed the lesson with lunch and cupcakes at The Calabasas Commons. I said my goodbyes for the day as we agreed to do a "Slumber Party" on Monday night so I could spend the night with Aubs.
I headed north back up to Westlake and met Tara at her house. After meeting Caitlin's mom, we sat poolside in their backyard and chatted during most of my designated naptime however I caught a nice 10 min. nap on a lounger.

We declined an invitation to go out and decided to hike Taranchula hill instead. The views of Taranchula hill are amazing! Although it's a short hike, it's mostly straight up so it gets the blood pumping fast.

After the hike, Tara decided to join me as I went to visit my friend Kelsey at her husband's football game. Mike is the defensive coordinator for Moorpark College. We had an awesome time with Kelsey and her sister Kirsten who I adore!! Kirsten was in town from Nashville for her birthday. You may remember her as the one who I gush over - check out Kirsten's amazing voice.
We got back to Tara's and while her and Caitlin watched 48 hours laughing hysterically, I narc'ed out.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012:
We overslept  our alarms but still made it to church. I was so excited to be back at Calvary! Man did I miss my church! The sermon was one of my favorites - "Better Together" A balance of authenic relationships. It was on family and encouraging, confronting and growing one another. I loved how Pastor Shawn started out by sharing clips of Awkward Family Photos!

After church, we did our regular brunch visit over to Brent's deli. Awww, just like the good ole days!
Then off to 902 (Tara's parents) on Lake Sherwood for our Sunday routine of lazing around and naps! The view from Tara's parents is priceless! We watched golf.....aka naptime! (I'm going to get it from Bob for that comment)
I woke up and as the rest of the gang went to the Sherwood Country Club to hit the pool, I had a date with Mr. Doug Crowe to catch up.
It was so good catching up with Doug over some appetizers. Doug lived with us for about the last 5 months of my time in Westlake while he was writing a book for Kent. During that time, he quickly became my mentor and friend (awww).
Sunday night I went over to my friend Michelle's house...oh wait, there might have been a TJ Maxx stop first :) The TJ Maxx in Agoura Hills is way better than any other.
Okay, back to Michelle. Unfortunately she had to stay and do an overnight shift at her place of work in Malibu but it worked out okay. I finally had some a lone downtime to myself to just relax in complete peace. I enjoyed the company of her German Sherperd, Zoe and I think Zoe enjoyed getting out for an evening walk.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012:
Zoe and I got another walk (okay, so Zoe pretty much jogged me) in Monday morning. After a Skype interview with the agency I'm meeting up in San Francisco on Thursday, I packed my bag once more and headed to lunch with Kent.
It was great seeing Kent and catching up over all our travels and the busyness of the last 2 months. Plus you can never go wrong with a chicken ceasar salad at The Promenade's Marmalade. Oh, I had to remember this....they remodeled the movie theatre into a luxury cinema where there's waiters and food delivery. Too bad I wasn't around longer to try it out. Maybe next time!
I met Tori and we went the rest of the afternoon catching up over our favorite pasttime, Frozen Yogurt and some quick shopping. Love that girl and so nice to catch up.

I then met Kent and Aubrey down at their little barn yard to visit Julius again before heading to Amy's to hit the hay. Winding down the day with Aubrey is one of my favorites. We did story time and I tucked her and said good-night. That's one of those routines I miss the most with her. I was so glad to be able to do it again.

TUESDAY, OCT 2, 2012:
I woke up with Aubrey and Kent picked her up for breakfast before school so I said my good-byes then. I had such a great time with her and can't wait to see her again in between colored letters, Skype, emails, etc.
As I pulled into the Coffee Bean in Westlake, I look up and did a double take. Who was parked head to head with me but  Britney Spears! Kinda random but fun enough to mention, especially for Ruth and my other Minnesota friends who enjoy the celebrity stories. For the rest of you, just bear with the rest of us country bumpkins. Tuesday kinda ended up being kind a celebrity day as Bruce Jenner pulled up next to me at the stoplight later in the afternoon.
I had an awesome Tuesday morning with Tara's mom Jacquelyn. We paddle boarded across Lake Sherwood and then did a quick walk with little Emmy before Jacquelyn had to get ready for their lady's Tiffany golf tournament! (enter Ooohs & Awws here)

I was excited to grab lunch with Stephanie Daaaavis!!! I always like to brag about Steph; she's my Pepperdine grad, bio chemist friend. And now actually teaches labs at Pepperdine as well. Steph is so sweet and quite humorous. We always have a great time even if its only an hour. Side Street Cafe has become our favorite little lunch cafe - its a hidden secret!! I wrapped up with Steph and dropped her off at work to go make more medical combinations to test on rats.
Tara and I met at 902 and decided to go over to Sherwood gym for free gatorade, I mean, a nice run. Or both. That place is ridicoulous.
After our work-out, we had to say our final good-byes which to Tara and I go something like this, "hey, I won't see you again, I'm flying out in the morning" - me
"oh you are? alright then, see ya next time!!" as she puts her hand out the window and drives away.
And I laugh and realize how much I love our simple friendship!



 

Adam and David, my Westlake cutie pie neighbor boys!
Sure miss Wednesday nights with you two!

I head over to Kelsey's where the plans are to get out of the house and grab anything kid friendly to Landon and Caleb, her 4 and 1 yr old.  We (Jordan, Kelsey, I and kiddios) grab some Chipotle and hit the Triunfo Park. I had talked to the parents of  Adam and David, these two sweethearts I used to watch on Wednesday nights while their parents hosted their Small Group. I wasn't really able to say good bye to the boys before I left and because they live right next to the park, I ran over and visited for a few short minutes.

When we got home from the park, plan was to get the kids bathed and in bed so we could pop open a bottle of wine and catch up on our lives. The baths got done but things turned a different way quickly after.



As I opened the bottle of wine in Kelsey and Mike's kitchen, I heard Kels say something about a fire, run, parents going to kill her, get the kids out, someone call 911, etc. At first I was thinking it was a little game of her way to get Landon upstairs to bed, like "let's all run and pretend it's an emerency". But then her tone of voice was more urgent and as I rounded the corner to see actual smoke, panic and running, I saw that it was no game at all.
Kels had lit a few candles in the house just shortly before explaining, "I like to make the house look like for my husband when he gets home."
We don't know exactly how but the candle in the bathroom had somehow lit the bottom of their medicine cabinet or wall. We are so lucky we were around the area to catch it right away or there's no doubt the whole house would have been up in flames! The picture shows the damage that was done in only about 30 seconds.
After all the excitement, we said our good nights and good-byes.
I woke up at about 3:00 am to check on Dad and make sure everything was going smoothly on his end as he headed to the airport. I wasn't able to get back to sleep to I started packing my belongings up and hit the road to LAX.


WEDNESDAY, OCT 3, 2012:

I took an early flight out of LAX and headed up to San Fran to meet my Dad. Part Two of this trip coming up!

 

Am I being productive or just active?

Am I being productive or just active?

 

Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important?

 

Happy 3rd Birthday my precious godson Luke Andrew!!

During my break over the last 2 months, I have been so blessed to get some great quality time in with my family, including my 3 beautiful nephews and niece. Obviously each and every one of them is so precious to me in different ways but today I'm reminded of that precious blonde haired, blue eyed Luke.


I'll never forget the day Luke was born. I was living up in northern Wisconsin, about 7 hours away from Ruth and Rich's (for future reference, R&R) in St. Cloud. My cell phone rang and I knew it was rather early because the sun wasn't bursting through my windows yet. I grabbed my phone: INCOMING: RUTH MOBILE.
 She never calls this early.
 I didn't even say hello, "Did your water break?!"
Ruth casually greets me, "Hey, what are you doing?"
Well let's see, since I've been on pins and needles for the last couple weeks approaching your due date, I cut straight to it again, "Did your water break!?"
Ruth replied, "Did Mom call you!?!?"
"No, oh my gosh!! Did it?!" Did your water break?" I said anxiously.
"Ya, we're at the hospital." Ruth said in both an excited but calm manner.
"Okay, I'm on my way!!"
Luckily, I was heading home that weekend to do some photography at one of R&R's friends so I was headed that direction, I just decided to hit the road earlier than planned.


Our first picture together!!
30 min. old
No shower, 7 hours of drive time and just in time to
 meet my beautiful godson Luke Andrew Johnson!

I rolled jumped out of bed, loaded my car and got on the road. Of course the drive there was filled with phone calls and updates on Ruth's status to Mom, Ruth and the other ladies of the family. By the time I got to St. Cloud, I went straight to R&R's to let their golden retriever Oscar out. I needed the code into their house so I called Ruth but she didn't answer. Immediately Mom called and said, "hey, have you talked to your sister lately?"
"Eh nooo, probably 30 min. ago" I said.
"You better give her a call right now" Mom said trying to hide the complete excitement in her voice.
I then get beeped by Ruth, "Hey, where are you?" I told her I was trying to get into the house. She then said, "Well, you might want to get over the hospital and meet your nephew!!"


Getting those footsies inked up!

Three minutes later (R&R lived 4 blocks from hospital) I ran over to the hospital and met Luke Andrew Johnson, just 30 min. old when I first put him in my arms.
I was there when R&R made the final decision on the his name, when his little body was weighed and feet inked.
That precious little boy has a mind of his own and has kept his parents on their toes since day one, but more so in the last year more than ever!


Luggage Rides from Auntie Jo!

Although I'm in California during his real birthday, I'm so excited to be back in Minnesota with the rest of the family to help Luke celebrate in his favorite style, a Toy Story themed birthday party!
Luke Andrew, I love you so much and you bring a smile to my face every time I see you!! I look forward to watching you grow up!! Happy Birthday Buddy!!


Here's a few of my favorite pictures over the last 3 years....