Podcast appearances and mentions of teresa johnson

Creativity and connection are brushed onto every visit at Color Me Mine, where painting pottery is only the start. CEO and studio owner Teresa Johnson shares how the franchise blends art and entertainment-based experience to create impact, while Yelp reviewer Vannessa W. reflects on how the welcoming space and attentive staff made her visit a special memory. Whether you're a first-time painter or a seasoned artist, learn how Color Me Mine makes creativity fun, accessible, and unforgettable. Color Me Mine More about the episode Theme Music by Ali Schwartz and Meserole Sound

Teresa Johnson, CEO of Leading pottery painting franchise Color Me Minehttps://www.colormemine.com/Color Me Mine was founded in 1991 and is based in New Orleans, LA. It is the only contemporary paint-your-own pottery franchise in the industry, and has an international presence with more than 120 locations across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, and the Philippines. Acquired by Twist Brands LLC in 2020, Color Me Mine provides guests with the “The Art of Having Fun” through a unique pottery painting experience in a welcoming, relaxing environment. Guests can choose from hundreds of ceramic pieces to paint, and enjoy an hour or two of entertainment while making meaningful connections and memories with friends and family while creating a unique piece of art. Ceramic pieces are then glazed, fired, and picked up later.

(0:00) Intro.(1:04) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.(1:51) Start of interview.(2:54) Terry's "origin story." (5:18) The start of her legal career with O'Melveny & Myers.(8:35) Her time at Howard Rice and her current role at Arnold & Portner (the firms merged in 2012).(11:34) Her book ESG, the Professional's Guide to the Law and Practice of ESG, published by the American Bar Association.(14:55) On the evolution of the purpose of the corporation and emergence of ESG.(17:28) Environmental risks and opportunities (the "E" in ESG)(21:00) Her take on the new SEC Climate Disclosure Rules. "It's arguably, to me, the Sarbanes-Oxley of its generation in terms of a regulatory shift."(24:21) On the legal challenges to the SEC Climate Disclosure Rules.(28:11) Social risks and opportunities (the "S" in ESG).(33:31) On the ESG backlash. Reference to FT article ($13.3bn pulled out of BlackRock). Larry Fink's 2024 Chairman's Letter to Investors.(37:50) Challenges to CA's board diversity laws (SB-826 and AB-979)(42:14) Challenges to Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule.(44:14) The Theranos Governance Story with Tyler Schulz (event hosted by BASF).(46:22) BASF's Truth and Power Distinguished Speaker Series.(48:47) Future corporate governance trends: ESG is increasingly intersectional (i.e. sustainability and AI)(52:29)  Books that have greatly influenced her life: My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem (2015)Lady Justice by Dahlia Lithwick (2022)(54:04) Her mentors: Larry Rabkin (former partner at Howard Rice)  and her Dad.(54:57) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that" (St Teresa of Avila) and "You have to see it to be it" (Billie Jean King)(55:55) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.(56:14) The living person she most admires: Gloria Steinem.Terry Johnson is a partner at Arnold & Porter and the 2024 President of the Bar Association of San Francisco and its Justice and Diversity Center. You can follow Evan on social media at:Twitter: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Happy Holidays from Coweta-Fayette EMC! On this special episode of In The Loop, learn about about how Coweta-Fayette EMC shares in the Christmas spirit each year. Teresa Johnson, CFEMC's Supervisor of Customer Service Branch Offices, joins us to talk about our annual Christmas project and how CFEMC employees worked together to volunteer and raise funds to assist local organizations in the community, as well as pack and ship Hero Boxes to our military service members during Christmas. 

This week, the show travels to Kansas to explore some hidden cultural gems in the state.We head to Heartland Farm, a retreat founded 35 years ago by the Dominican Sisters of Peace with an aim to address the challenges of its rural Midwestern community. Site Director Sister Jane Belanger, Marketing Director Teresa Johnson, and Farm Manager Terra Crawford share how they welcome volunteers from far and wide to run a farm that promotes holistic well-being through agriculture.And, we take the show to Topeka, the home of Fiesta Topeka, a celebration of Mexican-American heritage that has spanned decades. We meet the festival's publicity chair Marisol Marcelo and captain of the event's kitchen Ginny Barron Jaramillo.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Eat Your Heartland Out by becoming a member!Eat Your Heartland Out is Powered by Simplecast.

I'm Teresa Johnson from Krum, Tx. At the age of 50, I took my first ever girls trip in 2019 and needed a safe way to carry and travel with my inherited turquoise jewelry. Starting with a vintage train case, I added some western flair, revamping it into a travel jewelry case. Several ladies on the trip asked me to revamp their grandmas‘ train case with my unique vintage western style. VCC was born.I've been a nurse 33 years and with the Covid pandemic in 2020 I began travel nursing and recognized a need for travel accessories, especially for my cherished squash blossom necklace. Sitting in an airport I designed a squash blossom case to secure and protect my necklace, eventually filing for a patent. I have continued to design and develop western style jewelry cases, travel accessories, and luggage and am so thrilled to now devote my full time to my business with hopes to get my cases into boutiques/stores nationwide. Follow Teresa: @vintagecowgirlcases Shop Vintage Cowgirl Cases with Junk 'N Disorderly & use CODE - AGCHICKS: https://shopjunkndisorderly.myshopify.com/collections/junkin-merch?page=4 Thank you to Ag Chicks Sponsors: Strayhorn: Use code AGCHICKS at checkout ⁠https://www.strayhorn.com⁠  ------------------------------------------------ Merch: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.agchicks.net/shop⁠⁠ ⁠  ------------------------------------------------ Find Ally: Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://agchicks.net⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/agchicks⁠⁠ ⁠  Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/agchicks⁠⁠ ⁠  YouTube: ⁠⁠   ⁠   / agchicks --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agchicks/support

Mother's Day Special with my mom, Teresa Johnson

Teresa Johnson talks about her segue from a 33-year nursing career to a thriving western jewelry case business. Listen in...Guests and Links Episode 107:Hosts: Mike Donnell, Kacee Willbanks Colletti, and Sophia JagellaGuest: Teresa Johnson of Vintage Cowgirl CasesVisit the WESA Website

Teresa Johnson talks about her segue from a 33-year nursing career to a thriving western jewelry case business. Listen in...Guests and Links Episode 107:Hosts: Mike Donnell, Kacee Willbanks Colletti, and Sophia JagellaGuest: Teresa Johnson of Vintage Cowgirl CasesVisit the WESA Website

We are delighted to bring you the next episode of our podcast series 'Talking Board Diversity', hosted by Emma Bartlett, Partner at CM Murray LLP in London, and Teresa Johnson, a San Francisco-based Partner at Arnold & Porter, exploring the key developments and current progress in bringing more diversity into the boardroom, both in the UK and in California. In this episode, Emma and Teresa discuss how board diversity will be achieved in light of the prolific challenges to the board diversity rules across the US, and challenges in the UK to positive action measures taken by organisations who are trying to hit diversity targets. In particular, focusing on: Why there have been such significant challenges to the Nasdaq board diversity rules and mandatory California quotas – and why such challenges are succeeding The California rules introducing mandatory diversity board quotas were controversial from the start, but nevertheless had a significant impact on improving board diversity - not just with regards to gender, but also BAME. The rules appear to have brought about change quicker than any other jurisdiction The UK is still catching up when compared to California. Notwithstanding the legal challenge knocking the rules down, is the improved board diversity here to stay, or will boards eventually revert to pre-2018 composition? How and whether, in this new environment, boards will continue to be diverse What is it about the investment community in particular that will continue to drive change? What is new in the UK with regards to board diversity measures, including the FTSE Women Leaders review 2022 How board diversity is otherwise being progressed in the UK, including the use of positive action measures, which are being criticised as overstepping the mark in the form of unlawful positive discrimination There has been overt pushback in the UK to setting diversity targets generally if steps taken to achieve ambitious diversity targets may be viewed as positive discrimination

As a young woman, Teresa made choices in life that some may view as life happening to her and not her responding to life in the best healthy way. The cliché: “With age comes wisdom,” has some truth in it for her, but it  isn't always the case. Slowly, Teresa realized she was suffering and didn't like her life. That's when she made the decision to choose a different way. She chose to make herself a priority.  Listen as she shares her story. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/heyevette/message

Teresa Johnson, from Chariti Home Ministries, joins to talk about her local non profit that helps pregnant teens and teen moms. 

Teresa Johnson is a holistic health coach that you may know her as Veggie Mom Club. Before Teresa was a holistic health coach, she was a model, volunteered for GrowNYC, an environmental nonprofit, and was hired to manage a few sites for their Fresh Food Box Program. Teresa has plant-based community dinners with Mayday Space and Bushwick City Farms, and by word of mouth and Instagram, was hired as a freelance vegan caterer for environmental and fashion brands. She would use leftover produce from her job to curate the menu for her community dinners, and shopped at farmer's markets, mainly sourcing from farmers of color for catering events. Teresa started Veggie Mom Club centered around food, gathering, and reproductive health, and realized she liked to create and produce, and have pursued work that will help lead her to goals of wanting to tell visual stories centered around food, tradition, agriculture, and reproductive health justice. Please welcome Teresa Johnson to Wear Many Hats. instagram.com/teresacarollynn instagram.com/wearmanyhatswmh instagram.com/rashadrastam rashadrastam.com wearmanyhats.com dahsar.com

A Prayer for Rescue! A prayer led by Dr. Teresa Johnson. Join us for our weekly prayer calls on Mondays and Fridays at 7am EST. Dial in at (267) 807-9601 and use code 943334#.

A Prayer For God's Grace! A prayer led by Dr. Teresa Johnson. Join us for our weekly prayer calls Monday through Friday at 7am EST. Dial in at (267) 807-9601 and use code 943334#.

Pastor Mike hits the road again, for the conclusion to this 2 part series.  He is once again joined by Dave and Teresa Johnson.  As well as, fellow biblical counselor, Maya Johnson.  Together, they dive into the world of psychology.  Tackling difficult topics like the comparison between the outer man and inner man, the different viewpoints on what man is, God's sovereignty over everything, and the question of where you get your truth from.  They'll show that to be a counselor, you don't have to be a connoisseur of fancy food and classy wines, or even run your own radio program.  All you need is God's Word and Truth.  So grab your legal pad, pull up a seat next to the cry couch, and listen along with Pastor Mike.   "Hello Rapid City, Pastor Mike's listening."       

Pastor Mike takes the show on the road this week for part 1 of a special pair of episodes.  Our ace reporter visits Dave and Teresa Johnson, and journeys through their history, with this in depth interview.  With his probing and eloquent questioning, Pastor Mike learns about their history in the medical field before discovering Christ, the change in their points' of view after God opened their eyes, and their new desire for biblical counseling.  What starts out as in depth interview about experiences in the medical field, turns into a biblical study of psychology.  So grab a seat on the cry couch, put on your thinking cap, and enjoy part 1 of this special 2 part series.     

This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Daniel Kramer and Teresa Johnson of Kramer Trial Law (https://www.kramerlaw.com/).   Remember to rate and review GTP in iTunes: Click Here To Rate and Review   New! Watch the video recording: Link   Episode Details: California trial lawyers Daniel Kramer and Teresa Johnson of Kramer Trial Law share how they secured justice in a major premises liability case that was one of the first in-person civil jury trials to be held in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kramer and Johnson represented Louis Acosta, a 40-year-old electrician who was severely injured on a job site at a strip mall in Riverside, California in 2016. Two years earlier, Athena Management, Inc. — the property management company that MAS Realty, LLC hired to oversee a shopping center they owned in Riverside — was told by roofing inspectors that a rooftop hatch was broken and the access ladder needed to be repaired in order to meet OSHA compliance requirements and to address safety concerns. The rooftop hatch was never repaired, so when Louis attempted to fix malfunctioning exterior lights, he opened the hatch — not realizing it was broken — and the 40-pound hatch door slammed down on his spine. Louis immediately felt his right side go numb. He continues to struggle with chronic pain and has endured numerous surgeries, resulting in hardware being placed in his spine, neck and lower back. Trial lawyers Daniel Kramer and Teresa Johnson countered the defendants' attempts to claim they were not notified in 2014 about the broken hatch and to blame the roofing inspector as well as Louis for his own injuries. In August 2021, a Los Angeles jury found defendants Athena Management, Inc. and MAS Realty, LLC negligent and responsible for Louis's injuries, awarding him $12,622,238.75 in total damages. The jury found that the property management company was 80% at fault and the property owner was 20% at fault, with no comparative fault for the plaintiff. Click Here to Read/Download the Complete Trial Documents   Guest Bios: Daniel Kramer Daniel Kramer is a trial lawyer who specializes in representing families and individuals involved in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death matters, as well as employment discrimination and retaliation lawsuits. Daniel has obtained numerous jury verdicts as lead counsel, all victories on behalf of his clients. Multiple verdicts have been featured in both The Daily Journal, Verdict Search, The Huffington Post, and Fox 11 News. Five verdicts were ranked as the top 50 verdicts in the state of California for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 by TopVerdict.com.  Early in his career, Daniel tried one of the first cases in Los Angeles County history to embrace a controversial new law regarding the recoverability of health insurance payments in personal injury actions. In his first year with the firm, Daniel obtained a $3 million settlement on behalf of the family of a WWII veteran who was tragically killed when a truck owned by a large grocery store chain ran a red light and crushed their husband and father to death. In 2015, Daniel obtained a $1,237,500 settlement on the eve of trial on behalf of CalTrans worker who was severely injured in a freeway collision. In 2016, Daniel obtained a $1,420,000 settlement just before trial against a shopping center for failing to protect its customers when a vehicle jumped a curb severely injuring a mother and her two daughters. Also in 2016, Daniel obtained a $1,000,000 policy limits settlement on behalf of a family who lost their 87-year-old father and grandfather who fell down a poorly lit stairwell. In late 2016, Daniel obtained a $2,160,000 jury verdict against the City of Los Angeles in a slip and fall case. That verdict was selected as one of California's Top 100 verdicts in 2016. In 2017, he obtained a $1,830,000 wrongful termination verdict and judgement on behalf of a minimum wage worker who was terminated because of his disability, where the jury awarded punitive damages.  In 2018, Daniel received a $2,847,500 verdict against two large construction companies after his client fell in an open trench resulting in 3 broken ribs and permanent nerve damage.  Last year, Daniel obtained an $850,000 verdict in a very difficult slip and fall trial where the client suffered a fractured knee cap. Read Full Bio   Teresa Johnson Teresa is a trial lawyer practicing in the areas of plaintiff's personal injury, wrongful death and employment litigation. Along with Dan Kramer, Teresa has second-chaired several trials, and has secured numerous six and seven figure verdicts and settlements for her clients. Since 2016, four of the verdicts have ranked among the top verdicts in the state of California by TopVerdict.com. As her clients' legal representative during their most difficult times, Teresa is committed to zealously advocating for her clients from the moment the case is signed up and all the way through trial. In 2018, Teresa graduated from the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Plaintiff Trial Academy, a rigorous six-week course designed to teach advanced trial skills. Teresa has also authored several articles on subjects such as cross-examination of expert witnesses and how to conduct jury selection in a premise liability case. Prior to joining the firm, Teresa attended Loyola Law School, where she earned her Juris Doctorate in 2015. While at Loyola, Teresa gained experience as a judicial extern to the Honorable R. Gary Klausner in the United States District Court, Central District of California. Teresa was President of the Consumer Law Society, a student-run organization intended to educate other students on the role of the Plaintiff's bar, and was also on the Editorial Board as the Chief Research Editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review. In 2015 after graduating, Teresa completed a Fellowship sponsored by the American Board of Trial Advocates, a prominent organization comprised of trial lawyers throughout the nation. Teresa is currently licensed to practice in California state courts and federal district courts in the Central District of California, and is an active member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. Teresa was selected as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers in 2020. Read Full Bio   Show Sponsors: Legal Technology Services - LegalTechService.com Digital Law Marketing - DigitalLawMarketing.com Harris Lowry Manton LLP - hlmlawfirm.com   Free Resources: Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1 Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2

Nikki Haverstock and Teresa Johnson discuss what to do after nationals (or your last outdoor tournament of the season) and how and when to transition to indoor distances.

Teresa Johnson is back and ready to talk about the Olympics.

A Prayer for Resilience! A prayer led by Dr. Teresa Johnson. Join us for our weekly prayer calls Monday through Friday at 7am EST. Dial in at 712-775-7031 and use code 943334#.

A Prayer Reminder that God Remembers You! A prayer led by Dr. Teresa Johnson. Join us for our weekly prayer calls Monday through Friday at 7am EST. Dial in at 712-775-7031 and use code 943334#.

Cami and Teresa tackle the very loaded, but not uncommon subject of infidelity. This episode is full of clear strategies for communicating about cheating, trust, and conflict resolution.You can find Teresa at https://drteresajohnson.com/

We are back with a second episode with Teresa Johnson. Teresa and Cami are tackling the elusive and scary idea of sexual desire discrepancies within monogamous relationships. This episode is full of strategies for discussing different sexual desire levels and finding creative solutions for maintaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship for both partners. You can find Teresa Johnson at https://drteresajohnson.com/

Teresa Johnson is back after her oral surgery.  Catching up on a variety of topics, the least of which is the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympics and how a year of pandemic is going to affect things.  Plus a mini-debate on whether the pandemic has made things more or less "a level playing field."

Teresa Johnson and Cami Hurst discuss strategies for taking responsibility for your own orgasm and reducing performance anxiety. You can find Teresa at https://drteresajohnson.com/

Teresa Johnson and Nikki Haverstock dig into a topic, how to stay motivated to practice. 

Rob and Jason are joined by Teresa Johnson from Google. They first discuss the Qt6 beta release and a blog post proposing range_ref, a lightweight view for ranges. Then they talk to Teresa about ThinLTO, the scalable and incremental Link Time Optimization built into LLVM. News Clang 11.0.0 is out 17 Smaller but Handy C++17 Features Links ThinLTO CppCon 2017: Teresa Johnson "ThinLTO: Scalable and Incremental Link-Time Optimization" Keynotes at Meeting C++ 2020 Sponsors PVS-Studio. Write #cppcast in the message field on the download page and get one month license PVS-Studio: analyzing pull requests in Azure DevOps using self-hosted agents Why it is important to apply static analysis for open libraries that you add to your project Use code JetBrainsForCppCast during checkout at JetBrains.com for a 25% discount  

Teresa Johnson had a behind the scenes view of the previous nights Legend Series presentation by Butch Johnson, Rob White and Justin Huish, moderated by Guy Krueger.  She shared some things even she learned and teased a few others that you will need to listen to the seminar to learn yourself.Tickets at: https://www.usarchery.org/coaches/national-symposiumWhich led to our follow up conversation: Does a coach need archery competition experience to be a top level coach?

Recorded for release W/C 24th August 2020 This week Luke Goss chats about his latest film Pay Dirt, Teresa Johnson and her Son Louis talk about their latest charity work, we have music from Mike Watson with his latest collaborations and also a song from Arran Page, Kerry Hayes from Kerry's Beauty boutique VIP's talks skin care and we find out about EJ Edwards Virtual London Marathon run in October.

Talking w Teresa Johnson from Veggie Mom Club in Herbert Von King Park in BedStuy.

It's a lovely remote interview with 'acoustic sad' singer-songwriter [Nic Dyson](http://nicdysonmusic.bandcamp.com/), all about his punk background, his highly emotional, personal songwriting, his upcoming (full band!!) record, and a whole heap more. This episode was a long time coming and I'm glad we made it happen. Nic made an appearance on a [previous live episode](http://witchpolice.com/e/wr255-live-at-torque-brewing-with-laura-artus-nic-dyson-and-jaywood-35a1aa163134e4/), but this is the first time he's sat down for a formal interview on the show. This episode is brought to you by our friends at [the Park Theatre](http://www.myparktheatre.com/). …and local electronic artist [Tape_Worm](http://witchpolice.com/e/wr432-tape-worm-37e019ce319736/), who is playing his [first-ever live show](http://www.facebook.com/events/2618292545056821/) at the Osborne Underground March 19 – a gig which also serves as the [Vagina Witchcraft](http://witchpolice.com/e/wr427-vagina-witchcraft-37d2b89d47ea04/) tour kickoff and includes past Witchpolice guest [Paige Drobot](http://witchpolice.com/e/wr376-paige-drobot-37461d930714ac/) as well! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on [Patreon](http://www.patreon.com/witchpolice), including our latest patron Teresa Johnson – which you can do for as little as $1 a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case!

It's a lovely remote interview with 'acoustic sad' singer-songwriter Nic Dyson, all about his punk background, his highly emotional, personal songwriting, his upcoming (full band!!) record, and a whole heap more. This episode was a long time coming and I’m glad we made it happen. Nic made an appearance on a previous live episode, but this is the first time he's sat down for a formal interview on the show. This episode is brought to you by our friends at the Park Theatre. …and local electronic artist Tape_Worm, who is playing his first-ever live show at the Osborne Underground March 19 – a gig which also serves as the Vagina Witchcraft tour kickoff and includes past Witchpolice guest Paige Drobot as well! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon, including our latest patron Teresa Johnson – which you can do for as little as $1 a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case!

Teresa Johnson and Nikki Haverstock cover a few topics before heading into the topic of the day.  Discussing first Sarah Sonnichson's decision to step away from archery and Brady Ellison's historical 900 at Vegas.  Eventually they settle in to discuss what goes into at-home outdoor range.

Nikki Haverstock and Teresa Johnson hop from topic to topic with their eye on the how indoor and outdoor season differ.  Many people are moving from indoor tournaments to outdoors and that can pose a lot of challenges that are discussed in detail. Plus every other random idea that crosses their mind in the process.

Teresa Johnson and Nikki Haverstock spend some time catching up on their life then dive into our first themed episode.  The majority of the episode is focused on the question of sponsorship, what are some of the pitfalls, what are the benefits, and is it right for you (or your child)?  We also touch a bit on our own sponsorship or rather the lack of sponsorship and why we are happy with that decision. 

Welcome to our podcast, hosted by Nikki Haverstock and Teresa Johnson.In our first episode we introduce ourselves and our podcast. 

We are excited to release our first and Introductory Episode to the We Fish with Phoenix Boats Podcast.  Find out what the We Fish with Phoenix Boats Podcast is all about.  Also Co-Founder and COO of Phoenix Boats, Teresa Johnson, shares her background and the history of how Phoenix Boats came to be and how … Continue reading EP 01 Phoenix Boats Co-Founder Teresa Johnson →

Social support is crucial for well-being and solution-oriented problem-solving. Men don’t tend to have outlets to feel heard and understood, or a safe space to be vulnerable. Sociocultural taboos and stigmatization are major barriers to men seeking and receiving support, especially when it comes to their most prized parts. On today’s show, I’ve invited psychologist and sex therapist, Dr. Teresa Johnson, to chat about the barriers and challenges that men face with sexual health issues, intimacy, and pelvic pain. We dive into the importance of social support and connection when facing these challenges. We also have some exciting news to share with you, so be sure to listen to the entire show. Thanks again for listening, enjoy!

Did you know that dyslexia affects roughly 15% of the general population? Unaddressed, learning differences can lead to an insidious sense of failure and negative self-worth. Yet, early intervention can positively change a child's trajectory for life. Programs like The Learning Center at The Lexington School provide a proven, successful framework for students with dyslexia, and its story needs to be shared. The journey began eleven years ago with visionary and soon-to-be-founder Brutus Clay, dyslexic alum, parent, and board member, over dinner with then Head of School Chuck Baldecchi. Add a strong and thoughtful task force and passionate Director, Jane Childers, and The Learning Center was born. The Learning Center is celebrating its tenth year in a BIG way because it has had a BIG impact locally on the individual lives of children and families who have been fortunate enough to experience the program. We've opened a BIG new building and finally integrated the program in the way we imagined all those years ago. We have a lot to celebrate. This month's podcast is the compelling story of The Learning Center told through the hearts of a visionary Brutus Clay, Director Jane Childers, former student, George Freeman, and parents, Marty and Teresa Johnson and me (George happens to be my son). Please join me and my guests, enjoy some original music from 5th grade TLC student, singer, and songwriter, Ameera, and grow in your awareness of "neurodiversity." And for those who want to dive a little deeper, here are a few more resources for you: 1. NEW TLC VIDEO produced in close collaboration with TLC students. 2. NoticeAbility.org Dean Bragonier's TED TALK on "The True Gifts of Dyslexia."3. WHAT IS DYSLEXIA? A good resource for clear answers. 4. From the Archives: Letter from Brutus Clay to the TLS Board of Trustees 5. HERE is 5th grade TLC student Ameera's unabridged TLC song. Support the show (https://www.thelexingtonschool.org/)

Vitalant Representative Teresa Johnson discusses the need for blood donations in our community and upcoming blood drives.

Valerie Wright hosts this segment with guests Michael Pinkney, Director, Salvation Army Community Center and Teresa Johnson, Northwest Community Consortium, Inc. as they discuss leadership, collaboration, and community change in marginalized communities. These leaders will discuss how they navigate multiple constituencies, organizational priorities while engaging residents for effective change? What is necessary for collaborating and remaining focused on the organizations' mission? How does one go about managing all the moving parts to influence the type of impact is required for the betterment of the community and quality of life for members? Join the conversation and hear how these leaders and their organizations are helping to make a difference for their community.

Valerie Wright hosts this segment with guests Michael Pinkney, Director, Salvation Army Community Center and Teresa Johnson, Northwest Community Consortium, Inc. as they discuss leadership, collaboration, and community change in marginalized communities. These leaders will discuss how they navigate multiple constituencies, organizational priorities while engaging residents for effective change? What is necessary for collaborating and remaining focused on the organizations' mission? How does one go about managing all the moving parts to influence the type of impact is required for the betterment of the community and quality of life for members? Join the conversation and hear how these leaders and their organizations are helping to make a difference for their community.

Valerie Wright hosts this segment with guests Michael Pinkney, Director, Salvation Army Community Center and Teresa Johnson, Northwest Community Consortium, Inc. as they discuss leadership, collaboration, and community change in marginalized communities. These leaders will discuss how they navigate multiple constituencies, organizational priorities while engaging residents for effective change? What is necessary for collaborating and remaining focused on the organizations' mission? How does one go about managing all the moving parts to influence the type of impact is required for the betterment of the community and quality of life for members? Join the conversation and hear how these leaders and their organizations are helping to make a difference for their community.

Valerie Wright hosts this segment with guests Michael Pinkney, Director, Salvation Army Community Center and Teresa Johnson, Northwest Community Consortium, Inc. as they discuss leadership, collaboration, and community change in marginalized communities. These leaders will discuss how they navigate multiple constituencies, organizational priorities while engaging residents for effective change? What is necessary for collaborating and remaining focused on the organizations' mission? How does one go about managing all the moving parts to influence the type of impact is required for the betterment of the community and quality of life for members? Join the conversation and hear how these leaders and their organizations are helping to make a difference for their community.

In the first hour, host Fr. James Gross began by visiting with Teresa Johnson of United Blood Services about the importance of donating blood. Fr. Gross then spoke with the Diocese of Fargo's Fr. Luke Meyer about the FOCUS Student Leadership Summit he and several others from across the area are attending. Finally, our host visited with the Diocese of Fargo's Msgr. Brian Donahue about the Epiphany of the Lord and the Magi.

Join Business Success Coach, Trina Newby as she shares tips and resources on Becoming a Six-Figure Woman!  Also, we'll be introducing the new Women About Biz Mom Expert, Teresa Wright-Johnson!

This is part 2 of our 5 Seals Episodes Have you ever wondered what God was talking about in Ephesians 4:1? Have you ever wondered what is the role of an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers? Join me and Apostle T H Johnson on Monday night for this informative session on the Five Ministry Seals. Theresa Harvard Johnson has a multi-faceted ministry. In this season, the Lord has entrusted her with nurturing, strengthening and building the people of God through love, affirmation, intercession, mentorship and instruction. The apostolic mantle on her life is one of aligning and mobilizing the people of God with their purpose, particular as it relates to the ministry of the Worship Arts and strengthening leaders. Theresa is best known as the founder of the pioneering organization, Voices of Christ Literary Ministries International and the Voices of Christ Apostolic Prophetic School of the Scribe where she has been tasked with mobilizing God's scribal army. In everything that Father has entrusted to her, the deepest cry of her spirit is to see artisans IMMERSED into the reality of the Father, into reality of the Son and into the reality of Holy Spirit where they are rooted in a desire to make God THE PRIORITY in their lives above all else. (Matthew 23:18-20) This posture builds leaders who seek to constantly exhibit the character of Christ and live according to His HIGHER STANDARD.

Hi, it’s Jackie Ulmer and welcome to show 35  in the Q and A edition of the Street Smart Wealth, Profit in Your PJs Podcast   Show notes can be found at JackieUlmer.com/QA035   Today’s question is - Where are all of the women leaders and mentors? Women are often the ones getting it done and yet it’s the men on stage. Today’s show is brought to you by - SocialMediaBackstagePass.com     And if you are ready to take your business online, and use the amazing tools of social media sites like Facebook, LI, Twitter, GPlus, Pinterest and more to attract people to you who are already pre sold and looking for a home business, join my inner circle coaching program and learn what works and how to build a freedom business of your dreams.  - SocialMediaBackstagePass.com   Today’s question is….   Thanks to Teresa Johnson for today’s question……   Where are all of the women leaders and mentors? Women are often the ones getting it done and yet it’s the men on stage.   ANSWER   This is a timeless question, one that women have asked for years - where are all of the women leaders and mentors? Why do we hear that there are more women in network marketing and yet it’s the men who dominate the stage and the top income earners, typically, unless it’s a company that focuses primarily on women’s products?     Are we not asked? Do we not want to be there?   Networking Times has dedicated an entire issue each year to women, and have repeatedly asked this question.   My conclusion, personally - it’s a combination.   Men just seem to mostly network quite often better with men. Men come to mind when they are thinking of leaders. Book reviews - 1 in 8 or 9   Women - not a priority for us. Mentor better one on one. Want our people on the stage. Don’t like public speaking. Don’t crave public recognition as much. Balance with family and business.   Sit down with a group of women network marketers over lunch at a convention or event and you'll often find the conversation much different than that of the men. Instead of talking about the latest strategy to "max out the compensation plan", women will be actively engaged in finding out more about each other – families, jobs, interests, hobbies.   While this group may have just met for the first time, by the time lunch is over, many are well on their way to becoming great friends and already know much about the personal side of each other. Through this, we develop support systems to uplift and empower each other. And, we learn and develop good communication, listening and business skills.   Women are born to "get it done." We are multi-taskers by nature and wear the hats of mom, wife, bread winner, caretaker, friend, volunteer, shuttle service and more! Our primary focus is most often family, friends and home. This is exactly why a home business in Network Marketing is perfect for women. Our homes are the center of our universe and it only makes sense that we should make our living while at home, with our children by our side.   Being a mom requires flexibility. It doesn't fit into an 8-5 routine and that is exactly why corporate America is not a fit for so many of us. Network Marketing allows us to work a business on our own time schedule and fit all of the pieces of the "time puzzle" in to get everything done.   Women make such a difference in the network marketing environment because of their very nature of being nurturers, encouragers and supporters. We are the cheerleaders and love nothing more than to empower others to believe in themselves, even when we often have our own self doubt to deal with. While we all love recognition, we love nothing more than seeing those on our team reach the top and get recognized.   Network Marketing builds the inner confidence women need to succeed through product sales (yes, I said "sales" and it is not a dirty word!); team building and developing their own income through their own efforts. These successes and business skills are priceless and will serve us in all areas of our lives.   Women also think differently about money.  We certainly want to do well financially, and enjoy the finer things in life. But our mission for earning money is often motivated to some degree by how we can make a difference in the lives of others, through the income we earn.  A study by Thomas J. Stanley in "The Millionaire Next Door" shows that of female millionaires, the average donation to charitable causes is 7% of her annual income. That is almost three and one half times the average of most households in the U.S.   All of this together shows why Network Marketing is such a perfect fit for women. We can pursue our dreams and passions, while sharing an opportunity to "have it all" with others in our circle of influence. We aren't forced to choose between our job and our families. We can truly make a difference in the lives of others and enrich our families at the same time. It doesn’t get any better than that.    This is how we extend our leadership into the network marketing arena. Not always so much from being on stage.   And, having said that, we need more women on stage, so don’t be afraid to throw your hat in the ring and set that as a goal! That’s a win win for everyone!     What woman can you reach out to today and share this opportunity with?   Show notes - JackieUlmer.com/QA035   Good luck in your business   Do you have a question? Ask it at JackieUlmer.com/questions   Hey, if you’re looking for 8 easy steps to create and build your network marketing business online then Grab the free guide over at ProfitInYourPjsNow.com    Until next time - remember this - Hesitation Never Cashed a Check!  

Pastor Jesse Thompson: July 03, 2011 Going Beyond, Part X, “Beyond Success.” I'm glad to be here in a different capacity this morning. Actually, Pastor Jerry is off this weekend, and if you know Pastor Jerry, [you know that] for him to take a weekend off, it's a rare thing. We're glad he and Vicki have taken this time, and we're praying that it's helpful and refreshing to them. Pastor Jeff is at our Evansville campus this morning. He's getting a chance to meet some of our brothers and sisters over there. We are going to continue this morning in our series of “Going Beyond.” Last week, we talked about “Going Beyond: Failure.” That was a very encouraging message to me, and I hope it was to you as well. We're going to continue looking at the other side of that now and talk about going “Beyond Success.” If we weren't sitting in church-because I know answers change sometimes when we're sitting in church-and I asked you to think of or tell me who the five most successful people you know are, who would the people be-the names and faces-that go through your mind? Maybe you're thinking of someone off of Forbes Magazine, the top 50 wealthiest people. Maybe it's someone in Time Magazine. This year they came out with their 2011 most influential people. Maybe it's an athlete; an actor or actress; somebody who has worked hard who seems to be at the top of their game; the best of the best. To many people, that means success, and it certainly doesn't hurt that a lot of money comes along with that; so success is sometimes tied in with how our checkbook is doing. When I start thinking of those people, I want to ask you a question this morning: are they successful people? I guess that depends on how you define success, and that's what we're going to do this morning. Actually, the answer to that question-are those people successful-is I don't know. As we look at this idea of success and what we learn from Scripture about what success means, it's something that's not so easily recognizable from the outside and the circumstances that one finds him or herself in. Let's dig in this morning to the Book of 1 Thessalonians 2:1 (page 1169 of pew Bibles). We're going to be picking up where Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica. He starts out in Verse 1; he says, “You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure.” Now why in the world would Paul go out of his way to make the statement that his time with church in Thessalonica was not a failure? Why do you think that might be? Well, apparently there were some circumstances about his trip that some might-and probably were-considering his time to be a failure, so he makes that bold statement. Why does he say that? Well, we need to understand some of the background about this trip he was on. This was Paul's second missionary journey. Actually, it's a really nice flow from last week because last week when we were talking about failure, we were looking at John Mark-or we know him as Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark. We looked at a time in his life where he failed. Later, when Paul and Barnabas wanted to go back and visit the people and the churches they started, Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them. Paul said no, and they went different ways over that disagreement. Pastor Jeff did a great job of communicating to us that that was probably a very difficult split. Barnabas was somebody very key and very important in Paul's spiritual life. So for his trip to start out on that note, with that disagreement and that parting of ways, I'm sure it was somewhat discouraging to Paul. We'll read on somewhat in Acts 16; if you'd like to read further through the flow of events on your own later, feel free. Paul began that journey and traveled around with some initial success but also a lot of frustration. He wanted to go to a certain area, but doors seemed to close. He didn't really understand why, but every time he would try to go, there was a closed door. He couldn't go, and he was frustrated in his attempts. Finally, through a dream, God called him to Macedonia; so Paul set out with his new marching orders to Macedonia. The first major city he came to was the city of Philippi, and he began preaching there. Now we need to remember that Paul had met with quite a bit of response to the Gospel message on his first journey; so as he went to that area in Philippi, he began preaching just as he normally had [in the past]. The response this time seemed somewhat less. In fact, the Bible mentioned that only a few women actually responded to the Gospel message. After that potentially discouraging start, Paul and his team came across a slave girl who was actually possessed by a demon; and they cast out the demon. That sounds like a very good thing, right? Of course, from our perspective, we would say it was. Well, the slave girl's owners were not so happy because one of the things that she was doing under the power of the demon was predicting the future; and they were making a lot of money off of her. Now with that ability gone, because she was actually healed of that possession, they were very upset. They gathered up a crowd of people. Paul and his team were seized and beaten. The Bible says they were severely flogged. Now being flogged, I can imagine, would be bad enough. To be severely flogged, it would just be that extra step; so they were in a bad way. They were put in jail without any real accusations, without knowing why; but they were put in jail. God tells us that through that experience, the jailer and his family actually did become believers; but again in the church in Philippi, we're only told of a handful of women and the jailer and his family who responded to the Gospel message after which Paul was asked to leave town. This was not necessarily the grand victory that perhaps he had envisioned or was hoping for. From Philippi, he went on to Thessalonica. He arrived in Thessalonica, and Acts 16 tells us he preached for three weeks in the synagogues-as was his custom. That's where he would begin to preach. He was met with some success-to the point that the Jewish leaders started becoming very jealous of the response that Paul was getting. Perhaps they realized their own influence and power were being threatened, so they gathered up another riot and crowd of people. Paul and his team basically had to sneak out of town in the middle of the night to avoid beatings and other bad things. The host family Paul stayed with was given the name of patriarch of that family, and his family came under bad circumstances as well because of hosting Paul. They were arrested and they had to post bond, so there was great financial cost to their family for being there. With this backdrop, with these apparent disappointments, these apparent failures, Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica that his trip and his time with them was not a failure. So often that's the case, right? Someone feels called or led into a certain situation, and then things don't go as planned. Oftentimes, our idea of success can be tied to the response that we get. I want to introduce to you this morning Phil and Phyllis Masters. They were missionaries to an area called Papua, Indonesia. This was back in 1963. I'll just kinda give you a confession this morning. I'm also using our time together to really share with you a lot about the trip we took with Tychicus Ministries to Bali, so you'll see pictures. The shirt that I'm wearing was one given to us by the World Team Organization in our time at the conference. I'm going to be sharing a lot of testimony, pictures, and different things from our time in Bali. I think it illustrates a lot of the points that we're talking about very well. If you would, you can take a lot of pressure off of me this morning. Don't consider this a sermon where this guy seems to be talking a lot about this mission trip he went on. Consider this morning a missions trip report that also happens to look into Scripture and have some meat to it. I would appreciate that. I really tried to find testimony, pictures, or videos that help give you guys a context and an understanding not only of our time in Bali, but the circumstances and the environment that the families there-the ones we went there to serve-are serving on a regular basis. This video does that because many of the missionaries that we spent time with are in tribes, villages, or areas very much like what you see in this video. This is Phil and Phyllis Masters, and Phyllis is the one speaking to us. In 1963 they were called to the Kimyal Tribe in Papua, Indonesia. You'll hear that in the video, so let's listen to Phyllis as she describes their short five years in this village. That's a powerful statement. It didn't seem to her that anything had been done. There were many who looked at Paul's time in Thessalonica and the disappointment that they felt, the limited response that seemed to come while sneaking out of town, and they would say, “Failure. There wasn't really anything that was done or accomplished.” We know that Paul didn't see his time that way. Paul had a different perspective of what being successful was. He's going to share that with us as we continue on in the Passage. Let's pick up in Verse 2, “We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you His Gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never use flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed-God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.” You see, Paul had learned that success was not the things that many people considered success to be. He knew that it was not a lack of hardship or opposition. He knew success was not in being well-liked by men. He also learned success did not mean getting rich based on your efforts. He learned to measure success by a different standard. He gauged success by his faithfulness to God, and that's our challenge as well-that we would gauge success by our faithfulness to God. Paul challenges us by saying we came as one approved y God to be entrusted with the Gospel. I think God has hard-wired into all of us a desire for approval. We're supposed to find fulfillment in that desire by looking to God and seeking His desire. What so often happens at almost every stage of life-maybe not infancy-but as soon as you are walking around and aware of other people, we start to seek the approval of other people. Last night I watched the movie, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” I don't know if you guys have seen that movie. It takes me back to a junior high time. The whole point of the movie is this kid trying to fit in. He's trying to find approval by doing all these different things, so that's something that's hard-wired into us. That's junior high, right? We all look at junior high and think, “Yeah, that happened in junior high,” but does it stay in junior high? No. High school; college; young adult, you're working and seeing your coworker advance. You start to strive after the things that might get you ahead. It happens in every stage of life. Paul challenges us, he reminds us, that if you want to be successful, that's good. Being successful is a good thing, but understand what being successful means. It means to be faithful to God, to be obedient to God. It reminds me of the Passage in Joshua 1 when Joshua was given leadership of the children of Israel. They were preparing to go into what God had given them as the Promise land. He gives this command over and over, and we're going to pick it up in Verse 7 (page 208 of pew Bibles). He says, “Be strong and very courageous.” Why do you think God repeated that to Joshua over and over in this Passage? Joshua was a strong guy. He was a warrior. He was experienced in battle. It wasn't because Joshua felt very strong and courageous. It was just the opposite. He felt afraid. He felt very intimidated by the task God was calling him into. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” Success is determined by our faithfulness and our obedience to God. When we say yes to God and we step out in faith- obeying His Word, obeying His Spirit-when He leads us into specific ministry opportunities and life experiences, we're successful. As our team was being put together to go to Bali under the direction of Peter and Janet Bales, the founders of Tychicus Ministry, and as they were recruiting people, we each had a specific goal, a specific task, that we were to focus on and that we were to really prepare for while there. One of the team members was Mike DeRosier, Janet's son. He was given the task of being the “game guy.” He was going to be the guy to provide games and transition time and to also let the kids have some fun while we were there. Mike wrote this paragraph to me after the trip in response to some of the questions I'd been asking him. Mike said: “I joined Tychicus knowing that I would be in charge of the games. At first, I didn't think much of it and thought it would be pretty easy. I'd just get to have fun with the kids. As the trip was near, I started to panic in my head, knowing that I would be in charge of two groups of kids-both about 15 each-and knowing I had the young ones for an hour and a half. That younger group was like 4 years old through 10 years old.” Like he said, there were about 15 of them, a little more than that. Have you ever been in charge of fifteen 4-10 year olds? If you lose their attention, that can be… I see some heads nodding out there. I think Mike's panic was well-placed. I don't think he was off track. He was scared as the reality of what he was called to do was approaching. It goes on to say, “The first day we were to watch the kids, I read my devotions which was Jacob preparing to meet Esau. If you know the story, Jacob is frantic about meeting Esau. I think I was probably freaking out just as much as Jacob was. Through the trip, I realized it was all going to be okay. Everything went very smooth. I fell in love with the kids and had a great time with them. Through it all, I ended up just trusting in the Lord and learned to stay calm.” Mike was willing to take a step past his fear. He didn't let that hold him back. He trusted God; he understood he had a call to be there, and for that he was successful. I also just wanted to share a little bit about Janet. When I asked her the question, “Can you give me some examples from our trip or Tychicus Ministries, examples that to you really demonstrate God bringing success to our team, to our ministry, and to the things that happened,” Janet responded with the following comments. She said, “Having felt God had called Peter and me to do this,” was one example. “Quitting my job,” she said. Most of you know that Janet was the music and arts director here full-time before I came on. I tell you it's nice to be employed full-time and to have that security, knowing that you're provided that in something you enjoy doing. She quit; she resigned knowing that God was leading her into something else-not knowing what that something else was, but resigning was just the first step in that. The first thing she mentions after resigning, that first major event that happened after that, she says, “Then finding out I had cancer. Having the doctor come in the room and saying he felt it was a bump in the road and God had big things for us and the enemy was trying to stop us.” You don't normally go to your doctor for spiritual advice, but in this case, I think she received some wonderful advice. She said, “Holding on to God during treatments and the tormenting thoughts of cancer,” and then getting the first email from Jasinda… Jasinda was our contact with World Team. She is the one on the World Team side that helped us coordinate details and logistics for our trip. We got to know Jasinda very well. You have to understand as I read this that Peter and Janet's first idea of what Tychicus would be-serving those who serve, being an encouragement to missionaries in the field-was kind of a one-on-one or a couple going to visit missionaries in the field and spending time with them, worshipping with them, encouraging them-but more on a one-on-one basis. Now, she is going to describe how we got this email from this organization of World Team inviting us to come be a part of their first ever Asia area conference where all their missionaries are going to come. They wanted us to come and serve, encourage, and spend time with the kids. She said, “Getting that first email from Jasinda and feeling this was big, but it was what God wanted to do, even though it was such a big proposal.” Given the year Janet had with the cancer and some of those things, I think everybody would have understood and probably agreed with her that it was a good opportunity, but maybe this just wasn't the right year. There were too many things going on. Maybe she wasn't fully recovered in her health and other things. Maybe next year [would have been better], and that would have been fine except for one thing: Peter and Janet knew very clearly that God was leading them to say yes to that. In the midst of that, they said yes to planning for this team of 10 to travel halfway around the world to a place they had never been, trying to put logistics together for some place we hadn't seen before or didn't know was available, what we might have had to plan or prepare for. She goes on to share a response that one of the World Team leaders gave to her. She said, “The World Team leader came up to me the second day and said he'd been to a lot of conferences, but the worship here was truly something different and incredible. That was really helpful to me because I went into this with the enemy really whispering in my ear I had no business doing this. I told Peter over and over what the enemy kept saying, and I walked to the hotel room in such dread that first day.” She verbalizes, I think, what Joshua felt when God gave Joshua the call. I think if we're honest, perhaps what we have felt at times when God calls us to do something, pretty soon our fears rise up. Pretty soon our insecurities rise up. We hear the enemy whispering to us, “Who do you think you are? What do you have to offer? How could you possibly think that you could be effective in this situation? This is way beyond you.” I think we can identify with those whispers that Janet shared. Just to remember and to think on that first day after arriving finally at the hotel, getting our bags, walking to the hotel room, the whole time Janet was terrified that she had nothing to offer; but she kept taking those steps forward. To me, that means that regardless of whatever would have happened on the trip, Peter and Janet were successful. They were faithful. They were obedient to the call that God had given them, and they took a step forward. That's what Paul tells us faithfulness is. It's walking forward. It's saying yes to God even when we can think of all kinds of reasons why we should say no; but when God leads, we follow. That's what being a success is. Why do we say yes to God? Because God is the one who knows the big picture, right? He's the one that has the plan in place. We can't always see how our decisions, our actions, or our events that He's calling us to do all fit together in that big picture, but God does. There were so many details in our trip that were examples to us of how God understood, that God had the big picture in mind. A lot of them had to do with just logistics and traveling. In some ways, those were some of the most difficult aspects of the trip. It was 42 or 43 hours [of traveling] over there and 45 plus hours on the way back. That's tough! We kind of felt like zombies at that point. Our travel route was Chicago to L.A. to Tokyo to Singapore to Bali, and we made that same track coming home. Some of those ways that God was keeping the big picture in mind and guiding and protecting us, we'll probably never know. We probably weren't even aware of the ways He intervened for us. Some of them we were. On the way back, some of the glitches or things that could have really been headaches, they all seemed to happen to Mike and Kristi Powers; so if you know them, you can talk to them and they can share in more detail. One I wanted to share because it really did affect all of us. Kristi was reflecting on things and wrote this to me, “One more God moment with flying: as we got on our plane in L.A., the last track to O'Hare after 42 hours of traveling-weary, tired, and ready to be home-I cannot tell you how true those words are. We just wanted to be home. Our flight was delayed for about 45 minutes. They said the computers were all down for United Airlines. As soon as they came back on, we were off. To us that seemed like kind of a minor glitch, but here was the God part: we were one of only four United flights that were able to fly that night. All other travelers-thousands of them-were stranded overnight.” I can't imagine. I think I would have cried if that would have been us. She said, “Everywhere we turned, a mistake or a problem with our trip back was taken care of.” I agree with her words. Crying probably would have just been the beginning if we were stuck in the L.A. airport for another 12-16 plus hours. God has the big picture. He knows the plan He's working out. So success means that we say yes to God. We faithfully step forward-even if we're afraid, even if our weaknesses are well in our forefront-we step forward and we say yes because He's called us to do that. How God uses our faithfulness or how He chooses to use our faithfulness, that's up to Him. The results that come-those are up to God. Our success is not dependent on the response that we give. I want to come back to Phyllis Masters. Their time there was short-five years. It ended in the death of her husband. Then she left very discouraged, wondering if anything had been accomplished. We're going to watch a video now that shows you some of the things that have been accomplished-the picture that God had in mind back in 1968 when Phil was martyred for his faith. This is that tribe. Again, you'll see the celebration as God's Word is presented to them in their language. It's the last time you just called out in praise and thanksgiving to God that He's given us His Word in our language. (To view most of this clip, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evMyOQ-vle8) To me that's very moving. That's a challenge. I wanted to show you just one more clip that was off of this DVD because I think it kinda completes the story of Phyllis. We heard her share earlier about the discouragement and the mourning time she went through and wondering if anything had been accomplished. Just one more real quick clip, and you'll see her present the first New Testament to their first convert who was the gentleman you just saw offer that prayer up to the Lord. There she was at one point in her life wondering if anything had been accomplished and then years later being able to be at that celebration and offer that Scripture to the tribe. What a joy that must have been for her. What about you? When you think about success, is it tied to how you're received? Is success tied to the fact that you're well-liked by those around you? Perhaps it's tied to how much money you've been able to raise or accumulate? How about in your family, your ministry, or your work, your leisure, your hobbies-the things you do for fun? Is success tied to a winning record or do you ask, “Lord, what would You have me do in this circumstance, in this circle of influence, in my work, in my work place?” Do you read and study God's Word and have a desire to be faithful to the commands of Scripture that He calls us to live as His children? Is your sense of success tied to that? I hope it's that latter. Paul goes on to tell us that not only is success a means to be faithful to God and that's it, but as we are successful-as we're faithful to God-that will lead us into another area that we can examine if we're being successful. We can also gauge our success by our treatment of others. He goes on to share, and I'm going to read through this section 6-12 (of 1 Thessalonians 2, page 1169). It says, “As Apostles of Christ, we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and our hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the Gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His Kingdom and glory.” You see, Paul knew that how we treat other people is a demonstration of whether or not we're being obedient and faithful to God. What are the two great Commandments? Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and number two: love others. Being faithful to God means treating others, first of all, gently, as Paul talks about, like a mother to her little kids. I just wanted to share one testimony we got back from one of the families: Trevor and Teresa Johnson. They live and serve in an area very much like what you saw in the video. They're in that type of environment. They had two kids with us at the conference: Alethea, who was four years old, and Noah, who was six years old. This is part of the letter that they shared about Noah and his time with us, “Being in a playgroup is more of a challenge for our six year old boy, Noah. Noah is growing up in a remote village here in Papua. Because of many transitions, he has become sort of shy and nervous in social situations among new people. Thanks so much for making Noah feel welcome and at ease. Thank you also for being patient with him and not pushing him. For example, he liked to see his friends do the skit but was afraid to do it himself. I guess his acting career may bloom later, but we appreciate that you let him decide for himself whether he would take part. I remember Noah being nervous before going to Camp Splash.” The hotel we stayed at had another property on which they had more areas of slides, swimming pools, and stuff like that-nothing like the smallest parks up at Wisconsin Dells, but just a little something different than our hotel. “But when he saw several of the teachers in his group, he relaxed and he went with them. Some mornings he was nervous to go to the playgroups, but when he rejoined us later, he told us how much fun he had. One night he asked me and Teresa, ‘Why do I get so nervous? I always end up having a lot of fun, but I'm still nervous before I get there.' So God bless, and thank you so much. By blessing our children, you've blessed us.” I think that's a great example of the power of gentleness, of the power of love. Paul said they could have come in great authority and laid down the law. They could have said, “Look, you new believers, this is what you're doing wrong. Do this. Do that. Oh, by the way, as your church leaders, we also can demand that you take care of us financially,” but because of their love for them, they treated them gently. You know what? We have a desire like Noah did-to be taught in love and gentleness. We could have laid down the law with Noah that first day and said, “These are the rules. You fit in. This is what happens. You're doing the skit,” and we probably never would have seen Noah again that week we were in Bali. His parents would have had a much different experience because they would have had little Noah in tow with them the whole week; so gentleness can be a very powerful thing. Treat others gently; treat others with love. Paul says to treat others rightly or in righteousness. Behave in a morally right way. Do what's right. He talks about being a father. I think of a father a lot of times as a coach too. They're there to encourage; they're there to have compassion, but you know what? They're always pushing you. They're always getting you to take that next step, to learn what it is you can improve on and do and how you can grow in your faith. It's easy when you're with a group for a temporary time like we were in Bali. It's really easy just to be a cheerleader and say, “Yeah! You're wonderful! You're great people! You're doing everything just right!” But we had some things to offer, some training to give them, some teaching that God wanted us to do. Mike Powers did an awesome job of challenging and teaching those kids. You try to teach day after day to a group of 4 through 18 year olds. That's a big range in age, and Mike did a great job of connecting with them in that way. The video that we saw as a countdown before service with singing, “You Never Let Go,” you saw that wasn't just Janet and I going and singing and worshiping with them. We pulled in the people that came from the families that were there. I'm so grateful that Janet has this direction, that we used this as a time of training and instruction in them and how they can lead worship in their own churches, in their own house churches and environments. We received comments back from those who were involved that it really was a great time of learning and instruction as we spurred them on. When we think about success and about people, again, I always want to bring this back to you personally. How do you view people in this pursuit of success? Are people simply a way to get to your success, or has God worked in your heart to understand that your treatment of others, your love for others, actually is the best demonstration of a successful life as you love them out of your love for God? The third point that I really want to emphasize this morning is the importance of celebrating the successes that God brings. The emphasis there is on God. He is the one who brings the success. We simply obey, are faithful, and say, “Yes, God.” God brings the results He wants. The awesome thing is as His children, He gives us that promise that as we go forth, as we share His love, as we share His Word, He will bring success. He'll bring fruit from that, so we want to celebrate those. As Christians, we shouldn't be known as the people who tell everybody what not to do or what to do. Christians shouldn't be like this. As Christians, we should be people who are characterized by a celebration of rejoicing in the joy and the grace that we have found in our relationship with God and the successes that He brings. Sometimes those celebrations can be big ways; they can be big parties. I've been involved in planning 25th wedding anniversaries or 50th wedding anniversaries. You get the tent; you get the food, the potato salad. Everybody comes, and you have a big party; and that's a lot of fun. Sometimes celebrating can be in small ways. It can be a note of encouragement. It could be making a big deal about a small decision that one of your kids made or a friend made, but it was a step in faithfulness. It was a step in obeying the Lord, even when they came up against some opposition, so celebrate those things. Look for ways you can do that. This last week, my oldest daughter Linnea was at a camp for junior high kids, Timber-lee. It's over by East Troy in Wisconsin here. She'd never been there before. In fact, she'd never been to a kids' camp without my wife or myself being there. She'd never been to a kids' camp that Jonanne and Kristi hadn't put on here through the church. If you know anything about my daughter Linnea, she likes things to be familiar. She likes to understand her surroundings. She likes to know the schedule. She likes to know who she is going to see. Stepping into new situations is a big deal for her, but she decided this would be a good experience and she could learn a lot; so she decided to go. The one comfort she had was one of her friends from church here also agreed to go, so they went together. That might seem like a small thing, but that was something that my dad wanted to celebrate. The great thing that I love about our family is either in big or small ways, we find ways to bring joy, to bring humor, and to celebrate decisions; so he wrote my daughter a poem. I'm going to share that with you this morning. This is something he sent to her during the week. I'll give you a heads up: this is not theologically deep. You are not going to be spiritually-challenged through this poem. This is not going to go down as great American literature, but I love the fact that my dad celebrates things like this. He's taught us to do it as well. He said, “You're off to camp at Timber-lee having lots of fun. I'm left at home a workin', it seems it's never done. I wish that I was in your shoes. Well, really that's a fib. I'd have to fold my feet in half; they're nearly twice as big,” (congregation laughing). I told you it wasn't spiritually deep, but when Linnea received that letter at camp, she had that same reaction. She laughed. Her cabin buddies laughed, and it let Linnea know that my dad was thinking of her, that he was excited she made this decision. How about you guys? Do you find ways to celebrate good choices, good decisions that lead your kids, your friends, your coworkers closer in their relationship with the Lord? I hope so. Celebrating is so important. It provides us an opportunity to communicate to the people around us what is important. What's worth celebrating? Is it only when you win the championship or the grand prize? We can celebrate that, but that's not the only thing that's worth celebrating. Saying yes to God, being faithful and obedient-we need to find ways to celebrate that as well. Celebrating allows us a chance to reflect and to meditate on the things that God has done, to remember the joy because we know that often those successes come through a time of struggle and a time of opposition, a time of difficulty. It lets us refocus and reenergize as we think about what God might have us do next or how we can improve the things that He calls us into. It allows us to fill our emotional and our spiritual tank so that we can reengage and then take the next step of faith that God calls us to do. If we don't take time to celebrate, we will quickly get burned out, discouraged, and we'll quit. That's what our time together here needs to be. It needs to be a celebration of what God is doing in our lives, and I hope that you come each week with that perspective. We're going to close out this service this morning with a video that Mike Powers put together for us: pictures of the trip, of the families, the kids that we met. Just enjoy seeing some of our interaction with them. As we do that, the ushers are going to come forward. We're going to receive our normal offering during the video, and then I'll have a few remarks and we'll close out the service after. (clip of pictures from Bali trip can be found by first being a Facebook member and then by searching out Tychicus Ministries. They are on the wall of this page.) Our team really does thank you and appreciate all you guys did and how you partnered with us in prayer and support in raising (funds) and helping us go over there. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the team was successful-not because of any specific results that came, but because as God called and led each of those on the team, they responded, “Yes, I'll go. If you want me to go and watch toddlers for a week [I'll do it]?” John was probably thinking [are You kidding me?], but he said yes. You know that picture where I mentioned, “Is John working hard?” he was holding little Aven, about 21 months old, on his shoulder sleeping nicely, and the music was just nice and mellow. That is not a picture that effectively represents Aven. Just a last quick story, Aven's parents are new to the mission field. They've been there about five months. They come from Canada where they get like a 12-month maternity leave, so Aven had literally not been away from his mom ever. At this conference, she was determined to get some time just to be with God. She would come and bring Aven, and Aven would cry and cry and scream and cry. He was a good kid, but he missed his mom. John carried him around; have you ever carried around a screaming toddler hour after hour? John did. He walked around along with others-Mary, Dennis, and Debbie Roach-who all spent a lot of time up there. To be able to capture that moment where Aven was asleep… John still had a smile on his face. Boy, that is a picture of success, of obediently saying, “I'll go. I'll serve, God, wherever you call me to go. I'll do it. Whatever task it is, whether it seems important or not, I'll do it. Then we'll leave the results in Your hands, and we'll trust, God, that You'll bring about the fruit that You desire for Your Kingdom.” Let's pray this morning: God, we do thank You so much that You are the One who sees the big picture. Help us to pursue success, God, in Your eyes-the One who truly matters. Help us to treat and love people in such a way that they see the Gospel in us, that they hear it not just from our mouths but through our hearts and through our lives as well. We give You all honor and glory. We praise You and thank You this morning for Your goodness. In Your name, we pray. Amen.