Order of the Polar Star

While researching my Swedish heritage, I decided to learn a little about Sweden's royal family. His majesty, Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, ascended to the throne on September 15, 1973. As I read about the king and his family, of particular interest were the orders which the king had received. Royal recognition from not only Sweden but other countries have been bestowed on King Carl, and as King of Sweden, he has the authority to honor others with these royal awards.

For example, the Order of the Polar Star is an "order of chilvary" and serves as a reward for "civic merits, for devotion to duty, for science, literary, learned and useful works and for new and beneficial institutions" and can be granted to either Swedish or foreign honorees.

In the United States, the highest award that can be bestowed by the President of the United States is the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Imagine receiving an invitation from a monarch to visit his palace. Imagine learning that he intends to honor you with the highest honor he can bestow.

As I pondered these thoughts one evening while driving home, the Lord reminded me that he intends to distribute awards as well. Among the higest awards are the Crown of Righteousness, the Incorruptible Crown, the Crown of Life, the Crown of Rejoicing and the Crown of Glory. The Bible teaches that there are other rewards that will be issued as well.

In Sweden, crowns are reserved for royalty. For example, King Carl's eldest daugher Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, is next in line to ascend the throne. In June of 2010, Princess Victoria married her personal trainer, Daniel Westling. Upon marriage, Daniel went from being an average Swedish citizen to a member of the royal family.

I was not born into the royal Swedish family, nor do I anticipate marrying or being adopted into it.

But, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have been adopted into the royal family of God. Romans 8 teaches that if you possess the "Spirit of Christ" then you are "children of God", and if children, then "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ..." Revelation 21 states, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." And again, Revelation 22:12 reads, "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

God made a point to inform us of His reward system. In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul exhorts us to "...run, that ye may obtain."

I don't know about you, but I can think of no greater honor than to be the recipient of God's rewards. Run, that you may obtain.

Strategic Planning for Life

The vast majority of people live their lives without specific direction. The daily rat race pulls them along from one thing to another and before they know it, they're retiring from their careers having lived their entire life, having never achieved anything significant, wondering what legacy they are going to leave for those around them. How can you avoid this pitfall?

The answer is planning. "Plan the work and work the plan" is a fairly simple concept, yet very few know how to achieve this. It has been called a number of things, but we'll call it "strategic planning" for the sake of this article.

In any organization (i.e. company, church, family, government, etc.) it is imperative that the members of the organization be in alignment with the leadership. It is also imperative that these goals and objectives be successfully communicated by the leadership to the membership. If these goals and objectives have been effectively communicated, the division managers within the company had better ensure that their division's work (projects and operational activities) are aligned with those directives or their division will cease to be funded or the manager fired.

In all of the organizations listed above, God has established clear goals and objectives for each. They each have specific, unique purpose and jurisdiction, and it is incumbent on each individual to ensure that they are in alignment with these God given "policies and procedures." Whenever we recognize a lack of alignment, it is the responsibility of each individual to assess the alignment gap and create a strategy for getting back under the established guidelines.

While there are many methodologies for strategic planning, you can boil them down to four simple questions:

• Where do I want to be?
• Where am I now?
• How am I going to get there?
• How am I going to know when I've arrived?

Most people, when discussing changes they need to make in their lives spend quite a bit of time thinking and talking about them, but rarely do they turn those desires into "actionable" steps which result in the success of getting from point A (where I am now) to point B (where I want to be).

To illustrate how you can use these questions to lay out an actionable plan for yourself, here are sample responses to the strategic planning questions. The answers below are hypothetical and should be replaced with the answers that are on your heart and mind. Remember to answer the questions by providing statements of alignment. In the case below, referring to scriptural mandates within the responses provides the necessary alignment to Biblical directives.

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Where do I want to be?

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 says I should "Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Within one year's time, I want to have a vibrant prayer life where I talk to the Lord about everything, no matter how small.

Where am I now?

My prayer life is often limited to giving thanks at meal times, but I often forget to take issues at work to the Lord. I often become frustrated or upset when things aren't going my way, rather than believing that Jesus Christ is in control of all things. Hebrews 2:8 says, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his [Jesus] feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him."

How am I going to get there?

1. During the next two month, I am going to research every place in scripture that speaks about prayer, document my findings, and share it with my accountability partner.
2. After researching, I am going to keep a daily prayer journal which I will keep beside my bed. Each night I will make an entry of the things I have brought before the Lord that day and any answers that He had given.
3. Once a month, I will bring the prayer journal to my accountability partner and demonstrate that I am following up on my commitment.

How will I know when I've arrived?

At the end of one year, I will be able to measure the results by looking back through the journal and identifying those items in which the Lord provided an answer, and those on which I am still seeking the Lord's guidance. Since there are 365 days in a year, I will count the number of days which I recorded an entry and divide by 365. If I only have 200 entries, then 200 divided by 365 is 54.7%. My goal is to achieve an 80% score or better.

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If you have any questions or comments, or are having trouble turning your answers into actionable steps, feel free to contact me.

Extra! Kungsbacka Article

Daniel från Florida på jakt efter sina rötter

Anders Peter Johansson från Hanhals gick till sjöss 1859 och hamnade i USA. Nu har hans sonsons sonson Daniel Johnson spårat sin förfader och kommit för att hälsa på sina släktingar.

Det har varit väldigt känslosamt. Fast det bara är några dagar sedan jag träffade mina släktingar så känns det som om vi känt varandra hela livet, säger Daniel Johnson.

När Extra träffar släktforskaren från Florida har han just ätit frukost på Hilmersgårdens Bed and breakfast och ska ge sig ut på dagens expedition. Schemat är späckat under veckan i Sverige.

Nio generationer

Hittills har jag lyckats forska nio generationer bakåt på min pappas sida, och i de bakre leden bodde nästan alla i Hanhals och Gressela. Många släktingar bor fortfarande kvar här, en del av dem visste inte ens att de var släkt med varandra förrän jag berättade det, säger Daniel Johnson.

Intresset för släktforskning är relativt nyväckt och Daniel Johnson började inte på allvar förrän i höstas. Men tack vare en utförligberättelse som hans farfars faster skrivit fick det hela en flygande start. I berättelsen beskriver fastern sina föräldrars liv och sin pappas barndom i Halland.

Han föddes 1845 och hette Anders Peter Johansson. Som 14-åring gick han till sjöss och när han slog sig ner i USA efter 15 år ändrade han namnet till Andrew Peter Johnson. Men han kallades oftast A.P, säger Daniel Johnson.

Med hjälp av släktforskarbaser på internet och Landsarkivet i Lund lyckades han spåra upp sin farfars farfars hemort och även leta fram levande släktingar. Till exempel bröderna Hans, Sten-Åke och Roger Herbertsson.

Deras farfarsfar Johan Emil var bror till A.P. När Roger Herbertsson och hans dotter Ida mötte mig på Landvetter hade både Roger och jag gåshud. Det kändes otroligt, säger Daniel Johnson.

Vill tillbaka

Idag, torsdag, går planet hem till Florida igen. Men Daniel Johnson hoppas komma tillbaka.

Min pappa, min fru och mina barn vill gärna följa med nästa gång. Dessutom hoppas jag att några av våra svenska släktingar vill komma och hälsa på oss i USA.

Det Sverige som förfadern A.P. lämnade var fattigt och överbefolkat. Men hans ättling är imponerad.

Människorna är fantastiska. Och precis som A.P, beskrev så växer det vackra blommor överallt, både i trädgårdarna och längs vägarna.

Gustaf Görfelt
0300-68 18 60

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 6)

Morning came early and Sten-Åke, his son Jonas, and his brother Hans Herbertsson (who everyone calls “Hesse”) came to pick me up at Hilmersgården. Hesse drove me to the Hanhals boat docks in his work truck where we were met by Chico (the other newspaper reporter). Chico had brought several copies of his newspaper article for me to keep. As we were boarding Sten-Åke’s boat, Chico took some final pictures.


We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather and it wasn’t long before we were heading out to sea. While we were cruising along, Hesse gave me a sandwich that he had prepared for breakfast along with some coffee, of course.


On the ride out, Jonas and I got to know each other a little bit. Jonas is a database administrator for a small technology company in Göteborg. Jonas and I speak the same language…technology!


It took about an hour to get to the place in the North Sea where the Herbertsson’s wanted to fish. Once the hooks were baited, we dropped the lines in the water. I let my hook down about 9 meters and it was only a few seconds before I had hooked my first mackerel. Not long after, Hesse caught a fish shortly after.

Somewhere in the middle of our fishing trip the lack of sleep from the past several days caught up with me. With the warm sun shining on me, I suddenly got very sleepy, sat down and took a very brief nap as we were going to the next fishing spot.

But, as the sea would have it, we labored most of the day and only caught 5 fish. I learned that the number 5 in Swedish is pronounced “fem” and the word fish is pronounced “fisk”. So, when we got back to shore, I went around telling everyone that we had caught “fem fisk”, much to everyone’s delight.

We returned the boat to a small dock in Åsa near Sten-Åke’s house. After unloading the boat, we spent a few minutes touring Sten-Åke’s house. He has solar water heating panels and his home’s heating unit is geo-thermal. The system sends fluid down a long pipe in the ground and uses the earth’s constant temperature to partially heat his house in the winter. It seems that the heating systems in Sweden are much more efficient than those we have in the United States.

We left Sten-Åke’s house and drove to Hesse’s house back in Hanhals where Hesse began smoking the fish we had caught. While we were waiting, we looked at two beat up cars that Hesse used to race in demolition derbys. I also met one of Jonas’ young daughters and we jumped on the trampoline together. Not long after, we were all enjoying a fantastic meal of freshly smoked mackerel, potatoes and salad.

After dinner, we shared stories over ice cream and coffee. One particular story about a tree and a stick of C4 has us laughing. Sten-Åke commented on how nice it was to have me visit.

Hesse drove me back to Hilmersgården.

Earlier in the week, Ann-Helen had asked me to stop by her place to see if her other daughter, Helena, had made it back from vacation. So, I got in my car and drove to Ann-Helen’s house. No one was home. So, I drove next door to Astrid’s house to see if she knew if they were coming back soon. I had forgotten that Astrid didn’t speak English, but she quickly went and got her daughter Mariann (Ann-Helen’s sister), to translate.

I learned from Mariann that Helena had returned and was having dinner over at Mariann’s daughter Anna’s house. I asked directions and Mariann decided to lead the way in her car because the directions were a little complicated. When we arrived, everyone had just finishing desert. Charlotta was there and I was able to meet two more cousins: Helena and her family, and Mariann’s daughter Anna and her family.

As the sun went down, it occurred to me that this was the last time I would see my relatives on this trip. The flight back to the U.S. was leaving early the next morning. I don’t know how my cousins felt at that moment, but saying goodbye was difficult for me. I didn’t want to leave. I had connected with my Swedish roots for the first time. My ancestors had farmed this very land for hundreds of years, and I had spent the last few days getting to know some beautiful people…family I never knew I had.

I can’t wait to go back!

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 5)

The night before, Anna and Lena had agreed to meet me at 10 AM at the IKEA store just south of Göteborg, Sweden. As I was eating breakfast at the Hilmersgården, Eva informed me that the reporter from “Extra Kungsbacka” was on his way to interview me. Gustaf Görfelt, a young man from the newspaper, arrived about 9:30 AM with his camera and notepad. As we sat in the dining area, I began to relate my story and Gustaf began taking notes. After the 15 minute interview, we walked outside and I posed for a few pictures before heading off for Göteborg.

I arrived at the IKEA store around 10:15 AM and immediately found Anna and Lena. We walked through the store comparing the prices of things between Sweden and America. Some things were more expensive and some things were less. As we were leaving, I picked up a bag of Swedish Fish.

The three of us got in Anna’s car and began driving north. Lena handed me a tourism brochure which listed many of the places to visit and asked which I would be interested in seeing. After looking through the pages, I determined that the Aeroseum was first on my list.

When we arrived at the Aeroseum, Anna handed me a pass that they had purchased in advance that would get us into nearly every tourist site in Göteborg. They were so thoughtful!
Inside the underground museum, we were able to sit in the cockpit of a retired Saab Viggen jet and climb in the air intake, through the engine housing, and out the back of the aircraft.


After the Aeroseum, the three of us decided to eat at Burger King in downtown Göteborg. The burger was exactly like the American version. Following lunch, we walked down to the water and passed by the immigration building where many of the Swedish immigrants had boarded ships bound for the distant shores of America.

After the Aeroseum, we visited Maritiman which is an impressive floating museum of old ships including retired freighters, a naval destroyer and a submarine. We were able to walk through the vessels on a self-guided tour.


Not far from the Maritiman was the Götheborg, an authentic replica of an East Indian trade route ship that had originally been built in 1738. On September 12, 1745, the ship sank when it hit a submerged rock (known as the Hunnebådan) as she approached the Göteborg harbour. The replica was built using the same methods that were used in the 1700's. The Götheborg is scheduled to sail to New York in 2013.

Next, we took the Paddan Canal Boat Tour. I learned that when Göteborg was being built, the city’s founder hired Dutch engineers to help design the city because it was close to the water. The Dutch engineers designed and built a canal around the city. The Paddan Canal Boat tour is an open-topped boat, guided tour around the city by way of the canal. One interesting moment is when the tour guide asks everyone to get on the floor of the boat and to keep your head down. The boat passes under a bridge that nearly touches the top of the boat. This is called the “cheese slicer” because you are not able to sit in your seat and pass under the bridge.


Since most of our day had been walking the streets of Göteborg, I was needing a some serious energy. Anna and Lena told me that their brother Thomas had decided to join us for dinner. We agreed to meet him at the Hard Rock Café. Since Anna and Lena visit the Hard Rock Café quite often, they are able to get seated more quickly than most guests. Within a few minutes we had a table and I settled for a steak dinner. Our waiter was from Pennsylvania but had lived in Sweden for 4 years. During dinner, I learned that Thomas was in school studying Information Technology security and was planning to become a certified information security professional.

After dinner, Anna and Lena said “goodbye” and Thomas agreed to take me back to my car which was parked in the IKEA parking lot. Thomas drove a sporty, black Honda Civic which made it back to IKEA in no time at all.

It was an amazing day, thanks to my Larsson cousins, and I needed some serious rest. Tomorrow my Herbertsson uncles (Hans and Sten-Åke) are planning to take me fishing in the North Sea.