Monday, January 31, 2011

Community

This past week Pastor Zac spoke on community, doing life together. Here is a snippit from his sermon notes.

What are the practical implications of community?

1.  Love one another - John 13:34; 15:12; 1 John 3:11
2.  Be devoted to one another; honor one another above yourselves - Romans 12:10
3.  Live in harmony with one another - Romans 12:16
4.  Serve one another - Galatians 5:13 (see also John 13)
5.  Carry each other's burdens - Galatians 6:2
6.  Be kind and compassionate to one another - Ephesians 4:32
7.  Forgiving each other - Ephesians 4:32
8.  Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ - Ephesians 5:21
9.  Do not lie to each other - Colossians 3:9
10. Encourage one another and build each other up - 1 Thessalonians 5:11
11. Confess your sins to each other - James 5:16
12. Pray for each other - James 5:16

How will you take responsibility to "do life together" with your brothers and sisters in Christ?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

MOTE-BAKER Choir members marry in SLO (part 2)

The bride chose a friend, Cynthia Tyrrell of San Luis Obispo, as maid of honor.
Attending as bridesmaids were Carolglee Peterson of Laguna Beach, and Marilyn Mote of San Luis Obispo, a sister of the bridegroom.
The bridegroom chose his brother, David Mote of San Luis Obispo, as best man. 
 Serving as groomsmen were John Lybarger of Yuba City and Gary Day of Cupertino.
Ushers were Gary Peterson of Morro Bay, Dale Petrick of Pismo Beach, Scott Bruce of San Luis Obispo, and Bill Mote, a cousin of the bridegroom from San Luis Obispo.
Nancy and Kevin Mote of San Luis Obispo, a sister and brother of the bridegroom were candle lighters.
Lee Shirey and his wife, Beth, sang a duet while the bridal couple took communion. Harvest, a group of singers from Grace Church, and Melody Springsted of San Luis Obispo, sang.
The newlyweds were honored during a reception in the church annex. They are making their home in Morro Bay after a honeymoon at King’s Retreat, a Christian campground in Tahoe City.
The above and yesterday's posts were all from the article posted in the Telegram Tribune regarding our wedding. Since it was weathered and wouldn't copy well, I typed it up. 

A couple of fun notes: One of the things that wasn't mentioned was my Book Attendants: Tzolig Haroutunian, Christy Jones and Alice Powers. They had a very important job, you know?
And I just had to pan out so you can see the "old sanctuary". A bit different, wouldn't you say?
About the attendants dresses: Cindy and I were shopping for dresses and happened to find the dress she wore that had my colors in it (powder blue and dusty rose). Glee and Marilyn ended up making their dresses...and Glee was hemming hers up while coming to SLO. 

And a story about the picture of the "reception line". The first person in line was a puzzle for us. We crack up even now at how funny it was that we didn't recognize this person. How embarrassing to find out she was MY cousin from Thousand Oaks, whom I hadn't seen forever! And I hate to say it, I still can't remember her name - she was one of 7 siblings (I think it was 7). :)

This all happened 32 years ago today. And I would DEFINITELY do it all over again. Happy Anniversary to my husband, Dan. Wish he had a blog and FB so he could see this. Guess I'll have to tell him myself. :)


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

MOTE-BAKER Choir members marry in SLO

Robbin Rita Baker and Daniel Bruce Mote, who met as church choir members, exchanged wedding vows during an afternoon ceremony in Grace Church, San Luis Obispo.
Pastor V. Deane Keller, of Grace Church, officiated. Pastor John Boswell of Calvary Baptist Church in Lompoc gave the beginning words on marriage.
The bride, escorted by her father, wore a white qiana knit, high neckline gown with a sheer yoke bodice and fitted sleeves accented with venice lace. A chapel length train was adorned with white lace swirls and a waist length veil, trimmed with venice lace, was attached to a Juliet cap of matching lace. 
 The bride is the daughter of Raymond A. Baker of San Luis Obispo and the late Doris E. Baker. She graduated from San Luis Obispo Senior High School in 1972 and received a certificate of proficiency in secretarial sciences from Cuesta College. She has been involved in choirs at Grace Church for the past eight years. She has been employed in the School of Business at Cal Poly almost four years.
 
The bridegroom, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mote of San Luis Obispo, graduated from Yuba City High School in 1973. He attended Yuba City College two years before moving to San Luis Obispo in 1975 and attending Cuesta College. He is a member of the Grace Church choir. He is assistant manager of Morro Dunes Travel Trailer Park in Morro Bay.

To be continued......

Monday, January 24, 2011

Sanctity of Life

I wrote this a long time ago. Can't believe I missed Sanctity of Life Sunday this past week, but wanted to share this anyway.

The Sanctity of Life

 So fearfully and wonderfully made are you
A precious gift from God above.
No man can fathom the care He took
Creating you by His hands out of love.
The God who knew you before you were born
Is always aware of your being.
Thank you, Father, for the little lives
You’ve given these dear little children.

Open our eyes that we may see the preciousness of life.
Fill our hearts with the love You give to every tiny new life.

Little ones to Him belong” * are words that we all know.
Infinite love is bestowed on us all, no matter how young or how old.
For we are all God’s children whom He so skillfully fashioned with care.
Everyone is dear to Him…lift up our babies in prayer.

Written by Robbin Mote for Sanctity of Life Sunday, January 22, 1995
*Words by Anna B. Warner, 1860

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Boring for you...a new adventure for me

So Dan and I decided to go to the wrecking yard after all. A different type of adventure for me. Got my rubber boots on since it had rained and it was a little muddy. Before we went, we decided to go to Dick's Sporting Goods and I found a couple of workout tops that were on sale. Dan found a couple of things, too. Then we went to eat at The Veggie Grill. Here's what I got.
Bean Me Up Chili - Red & white beans, touch of soy cream, chopped green & red onion.
Baja Fiesta - Chopped romaine, papaya, avocado, roasted corn salsa, quinoa, cucumber, cilantro, tortilla strips with a ginger-papaya vinaigrette.

Then we hit the wrecking yard...you take your tools in, find the section for your car type (Honda Civics for us) and start taking parts off. If you can find things in good shape, it costs so much less than getting parts from an auto store or dealer. We spent about $150 instead of $400-500.

One of the guys found a window track that would work better than the one in my car. I could roll it down, but it would go up crooked and bend the rubber and have a gap. They also found a rubber piece to replace the worn one.They found a good track and changed it out and now I can use the window again without having to get out and push it in to fit the rubber part. Sorry if you don't understand.
While the guys were working on my window, Dan was replacing one of the window buttons that only worked one direction.   
 
And these were some of the pieces we got. A heater replacement with sliders that work. A console that has cup holders that aren't broken. A new antenna to replace my crooked one. And I don't remember the last piece. There are still things we want to get for the car. It's kind of fun to fix up my car now. Maybe my next lesson will be to change a tire or change the oil. My daughter can do those I think. I remember her changing a tire three times in one day, I think. Anyway, we'll head over to the wrecking yard every so often I'm sure.

My Birthday Day

The key to this day is that I got to spend time with Dan. He took the day off and we just hung out. Nothing extraordinary, but just a fun day doing things we like. Sorry I don't have more pictures. Didn't have my camera. And anything I took on my phone didn't come out really well.

So he took me to work and we stopped at Starbucks to get my birthday drink from them (got a card in the mail from them) and something to eat. 

He picked me up and we went home and he showed me all the fun little things he got for my car – a visor, a button for the window to match the front panel, a small pocket to also match the panel, a new switch for the back window so it will go up AND down, and a host of other fun things from the junk yard. And would you believe, I was ready to go “junking” with him to get more parts. But we decided to go see Tron and were debating on 3D or not. So we checked it out, went to Johnny Rockets where we could get a burger, a drink and fries and get 2 tickets to the theatre. Fun!  We had time to walk around, so we strolled through the mall and there was one stand that had all sorts of jewelry. Silver with an opal. Dan said, “The opal is my birthstone – now you’re stuck with me.” He’s funny. So then we went to the movie. 
 During the movie I was feeling light-headed and when we got out, we just walked around for awhile. Then we decided to go ahead and head towards the restaurant for my birthday dinner…Red Lobster (never been there). I was still feeling strange, so we stopped in the Sports Chalet for a little bit and then went to RL. We waited for about 15 minutes and then got inside. Had some water and iced tea and started feeling a little bit better. I decided that my lunch was probably to blame. Although, I wonder if 3D also affects me. I sort of felt strange after Narnia, too. But, I’ve been so used to eating healthier and I went and had a greasy burger with cheese, fries and a malt. I’m guessing that’s not the best for a diabetic, but it tasted good, for a little while. 

Anyway, dinner was yummy. I haven’t had lobster or lobster tail in decades. When I was growing up, my dad took us to Breaker’s every once in awhile and I would always get lobster. It was the Maine in him, I’m guessing. Dipped in butter, it just melted in my mouth. But since it’s so expensive, I don’t get it, but yesterday, Dan convinced me to do it. So I had lobster tail (and actually laid off the butter…still tasted good), NY steak, mashed potatoes (didn’t order that), rice pilaf (did order that), rolls and tea.  Then got sung to by the staff – off-key. That was actually a crack-up. No special dessert or anything, but it was fun anyway. I was too full. I was feeling good by then.
We stopped at K-Mart  just to look around and I found a couple of pairs of pants NOT FROM THE PLUS SIZE section!!!Then we got home and Dan gave me another gift – a calendar of Islands. It’s in my office now. 

So that was my day with my hubby. Time together that we haven't really had for awhile. And now we will have more days together with his weekends being close to what my weekends are now. Gotta start looking for things to do and places to go and people to see. Want to try to use our time a little more creatively. Looking forward to exploring our city more.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Past Year

Family Christmas at Grandma's house (best gathering in years)

Highlights of 2010

January consisted of my birthday and our anniversary. It was also a time or reorganization, sort of.
February had my daughter turning a quarter of a century!!! How did that happen??? Then a store description of what God is like. More reorganization.
March was a no-blog month other than remembering someone special.
April had Spring coming and my oldest daughter turning 27. I had my kids when I was 10. :)
May was the beginning of a new chapter in my health .
June is an extension of the Spring with a full bush of hydrangeas.
July was a month of no blogs. Don't know why.
August was a month of meeting new people at my new workplace, learning more about communion and a Writer's Meme.
September was a time to reflect on my friends.
October was a time to think about my health and how God has taken me to a path of balance in my life...physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.
November was a time of Thanksgiving several times, a huge photo challenge that went into December, a trip to SLO and a special time to remember those "kids" who are serving our country. I say kids because I've known most of them most of their lives through youth group and their families. What a sacrifice they are giving to our country - time from families and friends, not knowing what's going to happen next. Thank you again, for your service. Come home safely if you are still deployed/serving.
And December...December...went out with a BANG (even though I wrote it today...still happened in 2010)!!! But first, had to decorate, write a letter and finish up the photo challenge.

One of the things I would like to do is to do more writing. I'm hoping to not spend too much time on the computer, but I do want my time to be a little more productive. Anything you want to know about me and my life? I may or may not write about your suggestions, but at least it would give me some ideas to bounce off of. So, to all you bloggers, I hope you have a great year with many fun, thoughtful, prayerful things to write about. I look forward to reading another year of favorite blogs and finding new blogs to read.

End the year with a BANG!!!

There I was, minding my own business, working on the computer, when all of a sudden I hear this frantic knocking on my door. As I answered, my neighbor is telling me to call 911. I had no idea what was happening, but she pointed to the end of the street - all I could see was a huge shadow that looked like a tree. It WAS a tree...it had fallen from the neighbor's property across the street and was laying across the road, blocking passage from either side of the street. I couldn't find my phone (figures), but someone was able to get ahold of the police. As I looked at the downed tree, I realized, the closer I got, that Dan's Honda was UNDER the tree. Oops! Way to end 2010.
 Our car is the one under the tree.
The damage.


 THE tree...something like 52" wide at the base.

So what happens now? Not sure. We just bought a car to replace our broken down van. Dan's car is on its last legs, so to speak. We were trying to decide what to do with it...well, now we have to make a decision. He called the insurance company and they want him to take it to some garage to see what can be done with the car now. I have a feeling this is the last time we will see our K-Life Honda. Yup, we bought it from K-Life, a Christian radio station in San Luis Obispo. In fact, we bought two vehicles from them and now both are gone, almost. We're sad, but know that this is not the end of the world.

In fact, we can probably do well with one car now that Dan's schedule is changing. I work from 8a-noon, M-F, and his new schedule will be 2pm-midnight, Sn-W. When I get home, we can have lunch together and then he can take the car to work. As long as I don't have anywhere to go, or I can use a bike or the bus system, it should be okay for a little while. Thursdays and Fridays he can take/pick me up from work if he needs it during the day since he's off those days. And we have Saturdays off together, which we haven't had in ages. He can still go to church, then go off to work at 2pm. So we can actually take our time in finding another car, rather than rushing like we had to the last time.

So 2010 goes out with a BANG. Let's see what 2011 brings us. Better health? Stronger marriage? Grandchildren? :) (not yet) A NEW CAR! We'll see. I know I have a wedding to plan for, so I guess I'll say good-bye for now and start looking for a dress.YAY!!!

But my main goal for the year is to have a deeper desire for the Lord, to spend more time with Him, to learn more about Him and what He wants of me.

You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:24-26

HAPPY 2011 EVERYONE!!!