JAPAN 2009

(Surprised by God)

Romans 8:28 "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God."

(We can be sure that every detail of our lives of love for God is worked into something good. TM)

Oswald Chambers says . . . God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can't understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose.

What started out as a class assignment for the Women's School of Ministry I am taking turned into an adventure full of surprises. First, I reconnected with some old friends that Steve and I had met when we went to Japan 6 years ago. This blessed my heart very much. But, I became involveed with some new friends that are not yet "Kingdom" friends but quickly became heart friends. This took me by surprise and I came to love these new friends deeply and I have a great desire for them to give their heart to Jesus so that they are not just my heart friends but my "forever" family. We dubbed them the Joy Luck Club.

Here is Beverly Rivers and Yoshi Hanks with our "Joy Luck Club".

The other thing that took me by surprise was that even tho' Beverly (a wonderful gospel singer), Helen Shopp (my pastor's wife) and I never collaborated about what we'd be sharing, God wove it all together into a wonderful ministry that encouraged and supported what we had come hoping to do. Then when Steve arrived 2 weeks later and Beverly and Helen flew home, that ministry just continued on. Now together, as husband and wife, we met and shared with the same people. Steve gave the message at the Mino Grace Bible Church on Sunday, Oct 11. This was a clear and to the point message of the need to place your trust in Christ and Christ alone, that He is the one and only God and Savior - there is no other. There sitting in the congregation were many of our new heart friends coming to see a man who could play his harmonica and guitar at the same time and to see a puppet play. However, they also heard about the love of Christ and the offer of salvation with the encouragement to do it now while they have the time.

I might mention also that another surprise for Steve and I was that we met, for the first time, his cousin Gregg Hutton and family who have been missionaries in Kyoto Japan for 25 years. Also, we were able to spend a week with our Japanese "son" Hiro and family seeing some surprising and new and beautiful sights of Japan.

70th Anniversary & Family Reunion

We just got back from a wonderful family reunion/70th wedding anniversary celebration. Steve's parent, Hyatt & Betty Moore celebrated 70 years of marriage on May 6 and on June 23 through June 26 we met at the Dana Point Marina Inn for a reunion. This was the first time that everyone was all together. Mom and Dad have 5 children (Hyatt III, Steve, Lynnel, Sue & Lori) who in turn are all married and have children. And. . .Hyatt, Steve & Lynnel all have grandchildren. So the total number gathering together was 70. It was a wonderful time getting reacquainted and acquainted with those we hadn't met before (brand new babies & new husbands). We even published our very own Moore Cook Book from contributions from the whole family. Sprinkled throughout the book are pictures of the family, a poem and antidotes about what it was like at meal time at the Moores. This will be a treasured book for sure. On June 27 we all reassembled at Rolling Hills Covenant Church for a reception for the folks. There were many many many friends in attendance. I never got a head count but the place was full. All of us in the Moore Clan put on a program honoring our folks and giving praise to God for His goodness for such a family as this. Steve even wrote a couple of songs in their honor. One required Kleenex which we supplied at each table. The other left us laughing. As it has been said in the past "no one knows how to throw a party like the Moores" still holds true today.




We had wonderful times playing games in the conference room at the Dana Point Marina Inn where we were all staying for the week.


The Penny Auction. This is one way to pass on some of Mom's things to the next generation. It is also called downsizing.

A beautiful day at the park by the beach.

In Roars March

Today we woke up to snow. It seems that it crept in silently last night while we slept. We have been having some wonderful rains lately, but this snow was a bit of a surprise. Yesterday was a day of heavy, heavy rain, with a black sky resounding its thunder: a very good day to stay in by the fire, read a good book with a cup of coffee in hand. I, on the other hand, went outside to listen to the thunder. And while I was at it, I watched with trepidation as the large oak trees swayed in the wind. It brought to mind Psalm 29:3...the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters and Psalm 104 (a Hymn to the Creator) verse 4. . .He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. What a powerful God we have and yet what a loving God we have. One who want my fellowship & my love. All I can do is stand amazed. Hope your day was touched by the God of thunder, the God of love.

Silly Papa Steve with Isabel & Acacia Worsley

We recently took a short trip down to Palos Verdes to see Steve's folks. For people in their 90's they are doing great. (I will post a picture of them later.) We left Sonora Sunday afternoon after church and got to PV by supper time and stayed until Tuesday afternoon. Then we drove to Jason & Heather's place in Canyon Country for a brief visit - well it was brief for Steve because he had to leave the next day for Sonora. I on the other hand had the wonderful privilage to staying for a week. Here is a picture of Steve and the girls in the back yard. They were playing "Pirate". Steve was the caption and Isabel and Acacia were his maties and they were finding buried treasure all over the yard (they were picking up their toys; sneaky way to get them to clean up huh?) It was one of the last dry days we had. The rest of the week was rainy off and on. That was OK tho' because I had a wonderful visit with everyone and then on Friday afternoon until Sunday evening I was honored with caring for all 4 kids while Jason and Heather took a little
R & R to Pismo Beach. While the parents were away we ate Mac & Cheese in front of the TV watching Wall-E; we stayed up after 8:00 pm; had monkey faced cupcakes for dessert and exercised to a hula DVD. All in all we had lots of fun. I then took the train home to Modesto on Tues, Feb 17. Well, first an Amtrak bus over the snow covered hills of the Grapevine to Bakersfield and then the train from Bakersfield to Modesto. Steve was there to greet me and take me out to dinner and then home to Sonora.

My Memorial Day

Today is January 31, 2009. Eleven years ago today my mother, Marion Mae Colby, entered into her final rest. Steve and I had been gone all day to a church related conference and arrived home at 9:45 pm. As I walked in the door the phone rang and it was my brother calling from mom’s place to say that mom had just died. She had been in very poor health for a long time and on hospice the last few months. So it wasn’t a surprise -- and yet, it was. We are never quite ready when that call comes.

In 1987 she had a stroke, which left her changed in both body and spirit and personality. Nevertheless she loved me and I loved her to the end. But I think back most fondly of the woman who taught me to bake a pie, who gave me a love for reading and who encouraged me in everything I did. She was a friend, not just a mom. We would often laugh, discuss the books we’ve read, overindulge in donuts with a hot cup of coffee and just enjoy each other’s company.

And she was such a happy grandma! She just loved our 3 daughters to pieces. The love would bubble up inside so much that she would smile and then grit her teeth to prevent herself from hugging them to death. She'd say, “I just love them so much it is a wonder I have any teeth at all!” She was blessed to get to see 3 of her great grandchildren -- and she still had her teeth! And, she thought Steve was the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Marion Mae Turnbull Colby was a quiet, steady rock. She took whatever life threw at her with a calm dignity. Her complaints were few. I remember going to visit her in the hospital after a grueling 12 hour surgery. It was the first year I was married. I was told that I wasn’t allowed to see her because of fear of infection and so I didn’t go to the hospital right away. A few days later my father stopped by the apartment where Steve and I were living and scolded me for not going to see mom. I told him that I wasn’t allowed to see her, but he just replied, “Nonsense, she needs you!” So that day I drove over to the hospital, put on the required gown and went on in. She looked at me with a big smile on her face and told me, as she had told me so many times before, “That’s OK honey, I understand!" I cried, but she just smiled and patted my hand.

I remember one time when I was commissioned to sew a wedding dress, veil, and all the bridesmaids’ dresses. What a daunting task and I had great fear. The first cut on the beautiful satin nearly brought me to tears. As I got each new part of the wedding dress done, I would take it over to mom’s (she was living in an Adult Foster Care Home by this time) and show it to her. I'd let her feel the satin, see the lace and beads and hang it up so she could see the full length of the dress. She would always exclaim how beautiful it was and what a wonderful job I was doing. After the wedding I brought her pictures of the day, the bride, bridesmaids, and the handsome groom.

As her life began to ebb she would sometimes say, “I wish I could just die!" She missed my father very much. He had passed away 15 years earlier, in 1983. Her pain and discomfort were getting to be too much and she was tired of being trapped in a wheelchair. She was ready to go. And so, in one burst of pain from an aneurysm, she was gone. At the age of 81 she entered into eternity, and because she knew Christ as her Savior, she found herself home with Him forever more.

I love you mom. I will see you in the morning!

Brenton Worsley -- a budding CEO/PASTOR

This Christmas our daughter Heather and her husband Jason and family visited us. It was a wonderful time celebrating Jesus' birth! We had rain, snow, sleet & hail all in one day. When it began to hail large hails stones we all ran outside to see if the sky was falling. Jason received several red welts as the hail hit is arms and we all looked like we had popcorn in our hair. The older kids, Isabel, Acacia & James had a grand time with Papa Steve making "hail balls" and bringing them in the house and watching them sizzle and melt on top of the wood stove. Jason braved the storm and made a little "hailman" on the railing of our deck.

Here is a picture of our newest grandson Brenton (Jan 10 was his 6 month birthday) in his festive executive onesy. I do believe that this is his first tie. What a cutie pie he is, to be sure. This was his first Christmas and we felt honored that he spent it with us.

Hello ! Welcome to my brand new adventure -- Blogging.

Today is a new adventure in the history of our country as well. It is the inauguration of our 44th president and as I watched it on TV, the statement by our president that we were a patchwork heritage making us strong made me think about my own heritage. I am a patchwork of German and Scotch descent physically but my spiritual heritage is bigger. As a believer in Jesus Christ I am a descendent of The King. I have been adopted into His forever family through Christ (John 1:12,13). Why, because He, Almighty God wanted me. Because He loves me (Eph 1:5). I had no say in my physical heritage. I took what my grandparents and parents gave me. But my spiritual heritage I embraced as I committed my life to Jesus. Oh it was there all the time, He was there all the time, but until I reached out and took hold of Jesus and said yes to Him, He was like a Christmas gift still unopened, waiting to give me His love and forgiveness; waiting for me to say yes to His offer of adoption. Ephesians 1 goes on to say in verses 6-8, "Now all praise to God for His wonderful kindness to us and His favor that He has poured out upon us, because we belong to His dearly loved Son. So overflowing in His kindness towards us that He took away all our sins through the blood of His Son, by who we are saved; and He has showered down upon us the richness of His grace -- for how well He understands us and knows what is best for us AT ALL TIMES" (TLB).

So in these very uncertain times I find great comfort and strength in my spiritual heritage because of the words AT ALL TIMES.