Greetings to the
saints, faithful friends and family. Grace,
mercy, and peace to you all from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our
Saviour. 2012 has been the hardest and best year
ever. A week before Christmas last year
I found out I had colorectal cancer. It
should have filled me with incredible fear knowing 2 of my grandparents died of
the same cancer at ages not too very far from my own, but God. I had also been laid off from work a couple
of months earlier, and I wouldn’t be able to look for more work for a long
time. How would we make ends meet? He gave me an incredible peace even from the
beginning. The tumor was too large to
operate on right away so I went nearly six weeks of chemo and radiation to
attempt to shrink the tumor. On April
11th I went in and had surgery.
I complained to the doctor about how painful it was weeks
afterwards. I let him know I did much
better after my c-sections and did not understand why I wasn’t feeling pain
free and energetic yet. He laughed and
let me know that my comparison of my surgery and a c-section was like comparing
it to having my teeth cleaned. Well
then, I guess I was on track, :D! The
tumor they removed was as big as a large man’s fist. About six weeks out from surgery, I began
chemo again this time with an iliostomy….a cruel and unusual combination. I’ll spare you the gruesome details. After 8 treatments over about a 10 week
period, I rested another month, and then had my reverse ostomy surgery
(basically got my plumbing fixed) the day before Thanksgiving. While you were eating turkey and fixings, I
was sucking on ice chips and just as thankful as could be. I was alive and cancer free. Praise God!
Since then, I’ve just been recovering from surgery while getting back
into the swing of school, home making, and caring for my family. Somehow, we made it this year without me
working. I didn’t even cook from January
through April due to meals given to us from friends and family. We were given various financial gifts
throughout the year. A golf tournament
was
given for us in June
that paid for our heating and air conditioner to be replaced. And even when the meals and money gifts quit,
God provided! Books that sat on Amazon
for over a year would sell in a week that we had pressing needs, or an
insurance check we didn’t even remember would show up just in the nick of
time.
Even our tax refund
was just what we needed to give us the suburban without getting into any
debt. This was a tough year, but God
taught me so much. Overwhelmingly, He
blessed me with all the above including His peace and Hope when I felt so sick
that giving up didn’t look too bad. The
love shown to me through Rusty & the children through their constant care
for me and all the details of running a home will never be forgotten. Thanks to all for the prayers and
support. We definitely felt the love! Now to update you on the munchkins.
John Russell, 19 and
working, moved out this year. How’d he grow up so fast? He works stocking at Kirklands a few days a
week, and builds cabinets with his Dad the other days. He continues to
enjoy working out, and hanging out with friends and visiting us!
Nicholas is 17 and a senior
in high school this year. He is
allowing me one more year to be sure he finishes well. We are looking into him dual enrolling in
college this next year while we tie up all the loose ends. He has
been a great help this past year in keeping things in order.
Timothy, 15, is in
his freshmen year. He and Praise were
the tag team chefs many days this year.
He and Nicholas have enjoyed the “Lord of the Ring” marathon this month
and were both excited to see “The Hobbit” when it came out last night. He’s a hard worker, and he keeps us laughing.
Praise, 13, is in 8th
grade. She is still a voracious
reader. She has just begun getting into
the “Lord of the Rings” series so she can watch the movies. She has gotten so much taller this year along
with her brothers. She was also a huge
help this past year.
Michael, 11, is in
the 6th grade. He is playing
basketball this season and loves it.
He also got glasses this year and looks quite studious. He still enjoys riding bikes (usually with
Praise). He is a hard worker, and tag
teamed with the others to keep things on track this year.
Emily, 7, is in second
grade. She loves for me to sit with her
so she can read to me. She enjoys
playing babies with Rylie, coloring, and playing outside.
Christopher, 3, is our
silly fella. He keeps us in stitches
with all his antics. He loves to eat,
be read to, and play hard with Jackson and his brothers.
Cindy's family is
doing great. I had the privilege of pinning Cindy during her graduation
ceremony from nursing school. Rylie is in first grade at Augusta
Christian and excelling. Jackson, all rough and tough boy, is a happy,
smiley 4 year old.
Our family is doing
something very different this year. We
are not doing Christmas gifts but going on vacation for 3 days, 2 nights in the
mountains. We planned on it early in
the year. Honestly, I wanted to make
sure we made a great memory just in case things didn’t turn out as well as they
have. My family including my grown ones
and grandbabies, my mom & Randy, Sandi’s family, Brian’s family, Aunt Fran
& Uncle Mike, and Aunt Joan will all be there. I’m getting pretty excited. I’ll let you know next year how it all
turned out. I have a feeling it’s going
to be the best Christmas ever. Love to
all. Be sure to keep in touch and if you are in the area, please stop by!
Merry
Christmas to All
from
the Tordoff Troop and
Blessings
for a Wonderful New Year
P.S. There was also a spaghetti dinner for us
early on that I forgot to include that we were blessed by.
P.P.S. Nicholas and Timothy are going on a mission
trip in July to Jamaica. They are
looking for extra work. Have anything
they can do, please let us know. If you
feel led to donate, thanks in advance. Please
pray for their safety and divine appointments.
Ways to Keep In Touch
SNAIL MAIL:
140 Summerfield Circle, Grovetown, GA 30813
BLOGS:
Michelletordoff.blogspot.com, Now Michelle’s Cooking @
MichelleTordoff.wordpress.com
FACEBOOK:
Michelle Williams Tordoff, Rusty Tordoff, Cindy Rutherford, JohnRussell
Tordoff, Nicholas Tordoff, and Timothy Tordoff
FACEBOOK GROUPS: Live a Life of No Regrets, Big Happy Family
Books
TWITTER:
OurBigHappyFam
IN PERSON:
Stop on by y’all!
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