Happy New Year from the Tordoff Troop

This was actually written the end of December, first of January.  I thought it had posted, but obviously had not. 

The traditional Christmas letter didn't happen this year.   I always think as I get older that I will eventually have more time since children have been leaving the nest every few years now, but nope.   My days seem fuller than ever.   However, they aren't stressful and exhausting so I can't complain.  They are definitely full of wonderful people and eternity worthy things.   However, I still wish I had more time to write.   Everyday little things happen or are said that I think, I need to write that down, or that's good, and the children will get a great laugh one day or see how God was moving in their lives so young.   Before I know it, I'm waking up to another day, and that mental note is in a pile on the desk of my brain probably forgotten forever.     Here's an example of those things I don't want to forget, and want my children to know.  The other day I heard some scary news.   My mind was about to travel a road I didn't need to go down that would have filled my heart to overflowing with fear and worry when Christopher comes banging on my door calling my name.  "Mom, Mom, hurry up, you've got to see this!"   It was a beautiful sunset that he wanted to share with me.   It was even more beautiful because he was completely unaware that He wanted to share it with me to encourage me that God is still in control.  I need to rest in Him. I was reminded of the Scripture in Ruth 3, where Naomi is reminding Ruth to "Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out."    My heart was filled with peace and wonder.

2016 Recap

Mission Trip to India

India was amazing.   Timothy, Praise, Michael, and I went on a 10 day trip in April to Rajasthan to encourage a family and a bunch of boys they are raising in a boy's home.   We painted rooms in the home, and ran a VBS that week.     We were blessed more than we were a blessing by many hugs and smiles, by their generosity, and by their love.   I could fill this whole letter with just the preps for India, the flights, the travel days to Delhi, the Taj Mahal, Jaipur "The Pink City", the Amer Fort, the monkeys, the chipmunks, just animals everywhere, the sweet family we stayed with, the joy of the boys, and so much more.  ( If you want to support Indian widows and orphans, I'd encourage you to make gift purchases through chunkyjunk.com. They sell jewelry, purses, and more.)   The plane ride was long, the Muslim call to worship rang out daily, the weather was like a hot Georgia summer, Michael and his buddy Charlie got pretty ill, our plane ride home nearly missed, things we bought were broken or missing upon our return, yet we never really thought about those things nor talked much about it since our return.  We never really felt inconvenienced, but more of an inconvenience when this family gave us the best rooms, sacrificed their food to serve us, and loved us well.  When we talk about India we remember the sweet family, the boys singing, their joy, the poverty, the majesty, and our Emmanuel for God was surely with us.   He knit our hearts to this sweet family and we want to return as soon as possible.  

2016~what a year.   December marked 5 years since I found out I had cancer.   It seems like so long ago now thankfully.      I'm feeling great, and my mind is clearer each year post chemo.    I'm still home schooling, tutoring with Classical Conversations, and working part-time at Control plus.  In the spring, we took a trip to Florida to celebrate my Uncle Mike's life.   The trip was bittersweet.  We had such a good time visiting family we don't normally see, but was definitely sad I couldn't have laughed with Uncle Mike one last time.  Rusty has been busy making cabinets.   We just returned from spending Christmas with his family in North Carolina.  It was such a fun trip full of laughs, hikes, food, and family.   He gave up his Mountain Dew this year due to a diabetes diagnosis.  Since giving up his beloved soda (😉), he lost 20# and has no problem with his sugar levels.   Also giving up all that sugar, he no longer has arthritic symptoms.     That's pretty exciting.  He's such a good Dad and has helped the kiddos build all kinds of projects this year.   

          Cindy moved to the Burn Unit as a surgery nurse this year, and has loved it.   She and Brandon have separated, but are keeping the children's lives as normal as possible.  Cindy also started her own business CRAFT (Custom Re-purposed Art Furniture & Tiles).   You can find it here on face book.  Rylie is in band this year playing the drums.   She is in 5th grade, and has caught up with Emily in height, and is such a smart girl.  She loves to dance with Emily, read, and play games.   Jackson is in 2nd grade.  He's also grown so much.   He loves legos and playing outside with Christopher climbing trees and just being all boy.

          John Russell and Lindsey have had a busy year.   John Russell continues to work for Advanced Industrial Refrigeration and has put in a lot of hours this year to help support Lindsey's last year of college.   We're so proud of the man he has become.   She graduated this December with a Biology major.   She wants to pursue a P.A. degree, but taking a year off to work first.  We are excited for her.    They still attend Grace Fellowship.  They are such a sweet couple, and I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for them this year.

        Nicholas is still with John Deere.   He has worked hard at getting healthy himself this year and it shows.  He has registered with Augusta Tech to begin 2017.    He and Lydia are still a couple, and they attend Journey together.   They have been involved in Bible studies there, and enjoy movies, Mexican, and hanging out with friends.    He is moving out in a week.   Love seeing how the Lord is growing in him and the wise choices he makes. 
       Timothy graduated this year through Classical Conversations' Challenge program.  He has been working for  Door Hardware Contractors when he's not in school or studying.  He is also been enrolled at Augusta Technical College in their welding program since the fall.   His sweetheart's name is Olivia and they like hiking and being outdoors.    He still attends Kiokee when he isn't at Olivia's church (Lakeside).   He has a great heart that serves others well.
     Praise is in her final year of high school.   She is enrolled in the Challenge program as well as the Cosmetology program at Augusta Technical College.  She and all the younger ones are still at Kiokee with us.   Cosmetology is definitely a great fit for her as her hair color has changed quarterly for the last few years.   She was homecoming queen this year.   She's not only beautiful outside, but inside as well.    She wants to go to Jamaica on a mission trip in 2017.
     Michael is a sophomore this year.  He loves sports, and working hard.   He doesn't like to be bored, and wants to be moving all the time.  He gets up early to get his school done early so he can work with his Dad, meet with friends to go to the gym or disc golf, play football.   He fell in love with India and wants to go back 2017.     I love his heart to serve.
    Emily is nearing the tween stage.  She is 11, and in 6th grade.  She loves dancing, singing, playing cards, going to every church youth activity as does Michael, bicycling, and more.  She is still such a happy girl, and still very social.   She's always helpful and fun.  She's such a joy to our family.
   Christopher will always be the baby, but he no longer looks it.   He has grown so much.  He loves everything outside from basketball, bicycling, climbing trees, running races, etc.  He loves playing legos inside as well as drawing and coloring.   He has a sweet heart that loves to cook breakfast with his Daddy in the morning and me at night.

That wraps up our year.   Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

 

Thanks-living

  

I'm listening to the pitter patter of water splashing around my front window, as I'm snuggled warm and safe from the wintery elements, and am so thankful for this rain.   I'm thankful the fires in TN and NC are out.  I'm also so sorry for the families who have lost their homes and family members due to the fires.   [If you are looking for a way to help hurting families, search Renee Hand on my facebook page.  She is gathering things together to deliver to many folks north of us.]   As the children are already resting in their beds, (I doubt with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads), I reflected on the fact that I haven't written in forever.  Everyday I think of things I want to write about, but I never get a chance
 to sit down and type away.  So today, even though I've already taught all morning, picked up my sweet girl from college, lunched and led our Bible study group at  the house, worked for a few hours, and went to a Women's event tonight at church, I'm going to stop and write.

We are entering the season of Advent, and have begun decorating our little Jesse tree as we do short devotions daily as we approach Christmas.   However, I never wrote during November, so I'm going to step back a bit as I ponder on all the blessings that surround my life.   First of all, I'm thankful to the Lord for saving me and calling me His own.    This may seem like hogwash to someone who doesn't know Jesus personally, and I get that.  But to anyone who has tasted and seen the goodness of our Lord, you can't help but be overwhelmed by His grace and mercy towards those He calls His own.  I'm truly thankful, and wish I had adequate words to express how my heart rejoices in Him.

 

Next, I am thankful for my hard working, fun, handsome husband.   Our journey in this life has taken us through beautiful sunshine filled mountains, and some difficult dark valleys, but we have trekked through together hand and hand.  It has made our love richer and stronger.   Out of that overflow of love for one another, the Lord has blessed us with 8 wonderful children, 2 children-in-loves through marriage, and 2 beautiful grands.    The privilege of raising these children for the kingdom of God, and sharing their joys and pain, is an incredible thing.   You never knew your heart could love so deep, or hurt so much.  You rejoice with them over their joys and accomplishments, and your heart breaks for the things that they struggle with in this life.  When they are little, you try to fix everything for them, but it's not too long in parenting that you discover that you can't.  You can pray for them, encourage them, love them, then you must watch them fly, flounder, fall, and prayerfully rebound.   It's a beautiful thing to realize that the Lord, who is the perfect parent, does the same for us.   However, He is far more patient, and does nothing in fear of His reputation as we are tempted to do or wring His hands in worry.  

I'm also thankful for my family (Moms, Dads, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc) and friends who fill my life from end to end.   Family and friends who I can go without seeing or speaking to for literally months or years, and we are as comfortable as if we only spoke yesterday.  Ahhhh, the sweetness of friendships.    I'm thankful for women who fill my life from my various Classical Conversation groups, Potter's Hand group, Kiokee Baptist Church, my sweet K-Group ladies, Grace Fellowship, old neighbors, classmates, coworkers, and more.   I'm rich in people whose steps I've walked beside, enriching my life in so many ways as our paths have crossed throughout the seasons.

Choosing to live thankfully may be difficult at first.   I'm a half glass full (and overflowing) kind of girl, so honestly it's not too big a struggle for me.   But, I can tell you if you can habitually put it into practice it can change your life.    It's hard to be thankful, and gripe in the same breath.    So when you are tempted to complain, look at life or a situation with a half glass empty attitude, find something to be thankful for.   It works! 

I'll end this post with a poem I found along the way.   May we all choose to live our lives full of thanksgiving.   

A Thanksgiving

For summer rains, and winter’s sun,
For autumn breezes crisp and sweet;
For labors doing, to be done,
And labors all complete;
For April, May, and lovely June,
For bud, and bird, and berried vine;
For joys of morning, night, and noon,
My thanks, dear Lord, are Thine!

For loving friends on every side;
For children full of joyous glee;
For all the blessed Heavens wide,
And for the sounding sea;
For mountains, valleys, forests deep;
For maple, oak, and lofty pine;
For rivers on their seaward sweep,
My thanks, dear Lord, are Thine!

For light and air, for sun and shade,
For merry laughter and for cheer;
For music and the glad parade
Of blessings through the year;
For all the fruitful earth’s increase,
For home and life, and love divine,
For hope, and faith, and perfect peace,
My thanks, dear Lord, are Thine!

~~John Kendrick Bangs

 

India, Homeschooling, graduation, girl's weekend, great reads, and rest

It has been a while since I've had time to blog.  I finally took a deep breath from the busy-ness of the past year.   There are so many things I would like to write about as you can tell by the title of this blog.   However, it's late Friday night.  I will be writing on all those things asap.   I'm excited about them all.  We had graduation rehearsal tonight for child number 4.  I'll say what every old person says, "Where has the time gone?"   Except I know where they went.   Years of school, church, co-ops, friends, family, great days, hard days, days of disappointment, days of thankfulness, sick days, messy days, and fantastic-joy filled days.   It's been and continues to be an adventure.   So tonight as I await my little girl's arrival from an out of town birthday trip, I'm thanking the Lord for allowing us the privilege of raising children for His kingdom.   I'm trusting He will take my meager attempts, successes and failures, and bless them.   I'm thankful that He is giving me 4 more chances to lean on Him and grow as a Mom and teacher.  Tomorrow we watch our fella walk across the stage and towards the next stage of his life.  What an exciting day.

I'll add some graduation pictures later.   Good night and God bless.

Great Advice!

"Times of discouragement, suffering, and opposition will come to every Christian, so it's worth preparing ourselves for situations like these, before we are in the thick of it.  Here are some things that can help a Christian to stand firm in times of trouble:  developing a routine of personal Bible-reading and prayer that can keep you going when facing difficulties; memorizing key passages of Scripture that you can bring to mind at moments of stress or crisis; developing friendships with mature Christians who will pray for you and look out for you; reading about Christians who have suffered and being inspired by their perseverance and achievements...Why not choose one of these practical steps and start putting it into action?"  ~Mary Davis "Women of Faith from the Old Testament" 

{This looks like a Bluedorn picture, but unfortunately I saved it to my photos without the name.  However, I have three of her books, and this beautiful art looks like her work]

They Called Him Uncle Tommy, but His Name Was Harry

Yesterday was the celebration of my Uncle Tommy's life.  He had been a victim of that insidious disease Alzheimer's.   My Uncle Paul who conducted the ceremony described him as a sweet older brother which I found so interesting.    So many times in families you hear how the oldest was mean, bossy, demanding, etc.    Maybe my ears tuned in to those comments because I'm an oldest and know I could definitely be some of those things.   He said they had their scuffles, but never once did his older brother punch or hit him.    He was a sweet brother who would turn away from conflict except when it came to war.   He was still in high school when the Korean War began.   My grandfather had to sign he could go because he was only 17.   But he felt the need to join the battle.   It was so interesting to me that my Uncle Paul described the reasons many joined the wars of their generation was not only strong love for their country, but their strong faith in the Lord.    That's a thought I am going to have to chew on.    Don't get me wrong I believe it.   I've read books on Stonewall Jackson and his letters to his wife during the civil war which were full of scripture and love of the Lord but, I guess too many movies and stories have made it all about American Patriotism alone, and not their faith.   

He led the way for his brothers whether it was football, his love for country joining the military, or his faith.   You see all 3 of my uncles and my father were military men at some point.   Uncle Tommy later became an accountant, but my father, Uncle Billy and Uncle Paul (chaplain) were all military men and being the eldest son he was the first.
.  
I love, love, love hearing the stories of a person's life.   My Uncle Paul was actually married before my Uncle Tommy and when he asked Uncle Tommy to come to his wedding he said he didn't want to witness a murder.    Of course, he came and supposedly sat in the back row.   My uncle Paul laughed and said if you knew him, it wasn't a mean comment but his humor.    Soon after Aunt Marilyn (Uncle Paul's wife and I believe Aunt Sue's cousin) got a call from Aunt Sue that Uncle Tommy had called and asked if she would date him.    Of course, she did and as they say "the rest is history."   My Uncle Paul did say he couldn't come home for the wedding, but wished he could have been their for "the murder".   

Uncle Paul contributes he and his siblings strong faith to their mother and father.    Grandma Williams was the godliest woman they all knew even today.    She was a mighty prayer warrior.    His father, Grandpa Harry Williams,  was a baseball man for the beginning of the children's growing up years.   I remember seeing newspaper clippings at my Aunt Sara's house of him from his baseball career.   His mother, my Grandma Williams, would faithfully take all the children to church on Sunday.   There were six of them and my daddy was the youngest.   While they were at church, my grandfather was at baseball.   When he could no longer play, he coached or umpired.    Then he was captured by the Lord and saved.   What a wonderful memory for his family.   He then played an active role spiritually in the lives of his children.    Uncle Tommy had a godly heritage.

My Aunt Edna and cousin Leslie both talked about a story when he was young and outran a bull.   They (Edna and Tommy) were supposed to be home by three and cut through a cow pasture.   But in that pasture there was a bull and then a run to get out of the pasture.   Aunt Edna made it in time to get out of the gate but Uncle Tommy had to jump through the barbed wire and made it without one scratch!.   .

After his service to his country, he went back to finish school.   He was 23 years old and went back to high school.   What courage and dedication that was to obtaining an education.    He saw that Uncle Paul was going to college afterwards and thought if his brother could do it so could he.   So he worked nights for the power company (I think) and went to school during the day to get his degree.   

My earliest memories of Uncle Tommy and Aunt Sue were from when we came home from Germany.   I was ten years old.   After apartment living on 17 Frieburger Strasse in Heidelburg Germany, my siblings and I thought they had the biggest house ever with a huge back yard.   We laugh now about how we returned as adults and it was a nice sized, beautiful home, but not the mansion of our memories.    We loved being there.   There home was full of laughter and love.  Not only did Uncle Tommy and Aunt Sue surround us with their love, it was hard to believe their teenage children (our cousins) would give us so much attention.    I mean we knew they were in  high school and were football players and a majorette and we were only 10, 7, and 4.   We loved any time we got the chance to visit.

My last visit at their home my sister Sandi and I were at a home school conference in Tennessee and we wanted to stop by on our way home.    My sweet aunt Sue was already in the early stages of battling Parkinson's disease and although she had always been an excellent cook, it was too difficult now.   We went to KFC where they refused to let us pay for our lunch.   They were the type of family that was truly excited to spend time with you and you always left them full of joy.   I believe I saw them at my Uncle Wally's funeral, but that was my chemo year and my memories are very blurry.   Chemo brain is real.   That's another thing that I never doubted.   When I was battling cancer, I knew they were praying for me.

So why did they call him Uncle Tommy when his name was Harry?    I hope my cousins at some point tell me their version of this story.   When I was looking at the pictures before the service, my brother asked the same thing when we saw his name plate on the table that said Harry Carroll Williams.   Carroll was my grandmother's maiden name.  She was a descendent from Charles Carroll of Carrolton who signed the Declaration of Independence.    Harry was my grandfather's name as well.   So where did Tommy come from.   My father said a girl he dated didn't like calling him Harry so she called him Tommy.    My Uncle Billy said he thought that's what their grandfather called him and it stuck.   My Uncle Paul said that a neighbor friend held him up as a baby and said he should be named Tommy and it stuck.      Whatever the reason, he was always Uncle Tommy to me, my brother and sister.

 

As my cousin Greg told me before the service, he is out of pain, home with the Lord and it's a good thing.    That's the wonderful thing about knowing your family knows Jesus personally.   You can rejoice that they are in a better place where there is no more horrible diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or cancer.    They will reunite with their family that has gone before, and more importantly spend eternity in the presence of our Lord.     Although we may shed tears for our loss of a great man, we rejoice that we will one day see him again and we rejoice that he is absent from the body and present with our Lord.

Please continue to pray for his family and especially my Aunt Sue.     That stinking Parkinson's is kicking her behind.    I LOVED seeing the sweet attentiveness from her daughters-in-love.   The love of her children and their wives did my heart good.    She is still one of the sweetest people I know.  I would love for you to pray that her last days may still be her best days, that a cure for this disease is found, that she will be strengthened by the Lord during this sad time, and that she would be continually surrounded by the love of family and her God.   

BORED OF THE GOSPEL

It's been a while since I've written, but this subject has been in my heart for a while.  I wrote it two nights ago and wasn't sure whether to put it on the blog or if it was just for me and the Lord.   Then when my teens got out of youth last night, I asked (like I do every Wednesday night) the following question:  what did you guys talk about?   They told me boredom like when you get bored reading the Bible.   I about jumped out of my seat and told them I couldn't wait to show them what I had written the night before.   So here's my story.

It was my turn to be a help in children's church.   The leaders were presenting the Gospel message and I caught myself rehashing the Gospel message a little ahead of them in my head with a blah, blah, blah attitude as if to say "okay, I got it, move on!"   Then I came to myself.   My heart hurt when I realized I had become bored of the Gospel.

You may think that I live in the South and have heard it all my life so it's not surprising.   I have lived here most of my life, but was Catholic most of my growing up years.  However, went to Windy Gap camp one summer and accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior.   But, when I got back home, although I was excited and believed, I pretty much went the same way in life except my conscience guided me or convicted me for a few years before I knew how to walk out my faith.   Then as a  young mom, I came to the end of myself, and in my 1984 Mazda truck in the work parking lot on my lunch hour listening to "Focus on the Family" I surrendered my all to the Lord and wanted more.   I wanted to grow in my faith.   Those first years following that moment were exciting years.   I was studying God's Word, continually being amazed at His Grace towards me, soaking in sermons from the pulpit, and joy was overflowing from my heart.  Although I still had many struggles, they seemed such  light afflictions compared to what Christ was doing in me.   He was with me, and I knew it.  

Now I am older, and I see many older Christians becoming cynical towards the church.  In fact, statistics show a larger portion of the population that call themselves Christians no longer feel they need to be a part of a church.   And I get being disappointed in the church, because we are just people in the Church.   People are messy.    We get it wrong and we fail a lot.   But the Scriptures are clear.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church

and gave himself up for her,   Eph 5:25

Hebrews 10:24-25 says ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another

on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together,

as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—

and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Because Christ loves the Church, and I want to not give up meeting together, I will continue to go to Church to be challenged, to have opportunities to learn, and to encourage one another towards love and good deeds as I look towards the return of Jesus.    I wonder if the walking away from the fellowship of other Christians is not only from hurts, but getting bored of the Gospel.

Although I was guarding myself from becoming a negative, cynical person, I didn't see the boredom creeping up in my life.    Scarier thought for me was if I'm bored of the Gospel, why should my children and grandchildren be excited about the Good News?

Fortunately for the Grace of the Lord that convicts us, it grieved me that I would get bored over the greatest gift of all.  It grieved me that this news wasn't being treasured in my heart.   Most of all, it grieved me how it would grieve my Savior that I would yawn at the news of His sacrifice.

What was the cure for my boredom?     Although I don't want to be like Lot's wife and look back because I think I'm missing something.   I do want to look back and remember the joy of my salvation.   I wanted to remember, really remember, who I was before Jesus saved me.  I want to remember the guilt I felt for my many sins, and the freedom I felt when Christ flooded my heart with His Spirit.   I want to recall the excitement of the Gospel.      Secondly, I purposed to stop myself the moment I feel that ho-hum yawn towards the things of God and pray for the Lord to light the fire in my heart again, and flood my soul anew with the joy of my salvation.   Lastly, I pray the Lord will not allow me to become a comfortable, cynical, complacent Christian, and that He will remind me daily of the Gift that He is.   Because, if we really embrace the Truth of the Gospel, we will never be bored, but should be the happiest people of all!!