Dear Family and Friends, December 2013
...The
virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel.
Isaiah 7: 14b
She
will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because
he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew
1: 21
For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that
whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John
3: 16
We join the angels
who praised God when they announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. It was good news then and it is still good
news today – for those who have faith and believe. It is the greatest gift ever given and God
offers it to everyone. Christ came to
earth to atone for sin – love truly amazing.
 |
| John Charles Worden |
 |
| New tie from the sons... |
February 8th found us
celebrating John’s 70th birthday with our annual trip to Richmond,
VA. There we had the privilege of being
with our son John’s family while he and Diane participated with other Chick-fil-a
operators at their annual seminar. We
shuttled for school, games, activities and kept everybody fed. We had
a terrific time.(ages in Feb.)
 |
| John G, Linda, Phillip, 14, Stephen, 13, John C, front: Lydia, 9, Joanna, 12 |
|
|
|
Baking is always a fun thing we do while visiting our grandchildren. My pecan rolls are an item requested and consumed quickly.
 |
| Teaching the next generation how to make pecan rolls... |
Basketball games for all...
 |
Both boys on the same team... |
|
Both girls on the same team.. |
|
Field trip with Joanna's class.... |
|
| Grandpa and Phillip begin a Science Fair project... |
 |
| Great team... |
 |
| Now to test the constructed catapult... |
After returning to
Kerrville, TX, John was celebrated and honored at work on the occasion of his
special birthday. February marked the
beginning of his 28th year to work for the H.E. Butt Foundation –
now known as the Foundations for Laity Renewal.
His job assignment continued as the Foundation Administrator –
responsible for many elements required in order to faithfully, legally,
responsibly serve the Lord as a faithful ministry whose Core Purpose is: To serve God by creating opportunities for people
to encounter God for the transformation of daily life, work, and our world.
March found Linda spending a week
in Detroit where she cared for Constantine, the 2 year old son of James and
Shara, while his parents traveled to Singapore for the music of My Brightest Diamond.
 |
| Loving the cold, snowy weather... |
What fun to rollick in the snow with a
precious little fellow who is thrilled to be outdoors in any kind of weather. We welcomed Cozzie for a visit in September
while his parents traveled to Europe for music.
At age 3, his vocabulary is expanding while his love of trains, fire
engines, books and the outdoors remains strong.
 |
| Team plus translators... |
August found us on two wonderful
trips. We returned to Moldova during the
first weeks with a mission team to again spend time with orphaned and
vulnerable children spending the summer at a camp. There we provided programming and a presence
in order to share the love and truth of God’s love and life. The three girls in the photo are the very
special young women we sponsor through CERI.
Helping with their continuing education is priceless. We are grateful
that God allows us to continue partnering with CERI, Children’s Emergency Relief
International, as our local church, Trinity Baptist, sends a team there. And our
son, John, returned along with grandson, Stephen, for his first trip with our
team.
 |
The girls we sponsor...
The last two weeks of August took
us to Wisconsin. Our first outing after
arriving there was to attend Linda’s 50th high school reunion. The original class of 43 was well represented
and it was a fun time with “old” friends.
 |
| Celebrating at Ecker's Orchard... |
|
 |
| Granddad's Bluff overlooks LaCrosse and the Mississippi... |
One of Linda’s
sisters and her husband hosted us in LaCrosse.
From there we drove to a number of places to see more family, friends,
the farm where Linda grew up, the home where John grew up in Madison, the
elementary schools they each attended, the University in Madison where they met
50 years ago and near the church where they married, 47 years ago – it was a
very special vacation.
 |
| 47 years of marriage... |
 |
| Wedding anniversary dinner with the Berndts... |
 |
| 2 sets of sisters reunite at Linda's childhood church in Winona, MN... |
 |
Linda's childhood farm home near Fountain City, WI... |
|
Former neighbors & classmates have recently bought our former farm... |
|
Linda's elementary school... Cross Ridge one room school 3 miles from the farm... |
|
| Not much has changed since these sisters attended this one room school... |
 |
One of John's childhood homes now being completely restored...
 |
|
| John's elementary school in Madison, WI... |
 |
| UW-Madison's Bascom Hall - part of the campus where we met 50 years ago... |
 |
| A niece and her family were another stop for an August visit while in Madison, WI... |
 |
Aunt Rosemary and her son, George, hosted another visit in WI... |
|
Another aunt and some cousins in WI... |
|
A dear friend created this beautiful quilt and brought it to us in Madison.. |
|
Watching the sunset from high atop Granddad's Bluff is how we spent our last evening in WI... |
|
| Laity Lodge brought Amy Grant to TX in Oct... |
Linda continues part-time work as
a Laity
Lodge hostess
also with the Foundations for Laity Renewal.
It is a privilege to have this meaningful opportunity.
 |
| Sarah's home |
Our daughter,
Sarah, bought a home in San Antonio last spring. Being closer to her work as the Librarian at
Fort Sam Houston Elementary School is terrific for her. She is only 45 minutes from us and so we
connect often. We are so thankful for
her life and closeness to home.
One of the things
Linda finds meaningful and rewarding, is to write posts on her blog.
She has regularly blogged while traveling – Moldova mission trips and
opportunities while being a “professional Grandmother”. This fall she decided to tell the story of the summer after her freshman
year in college when she and one of her sisters, traveled to Estes Park, CO to
work and earn money for college. Using
letters her mother had saved, she was able to relate the experiences of that
summer with rather extensive detail.
Another blog of note tells of meeting a girl from
Shanghai, China during our Moldova trip in 2011. That girl, Gloria, made the decision to
repent and become one of God’s redeemed daughters during our time there that
summer. She is spending this year at
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and will arrive here December 14th
for a visit.
 |
| Christmas in Richmond, VA... |
She will then join us as we
fly to Richmond, VA for Christmas with all of our children and
grandchildren.
We are really looking
forward to all of these elements which will be part of our Advent season this
year.
 |
| The Wordens in Richmond, VA... |
As this year comes
to an end, John’s nearly 29 years with the Foundations for Laity Renewal will
also end. He will begin retirement from
employment January 1, 2014. There will
be a celebration of his long and faithful service with the Foundation on January
8, 2014. We have been getting ready for
this milestone this fall and are looking forward to it. We plan to stay in our home in Kerrville, TX
from which we will continue to participate with ministry through our church and
in the community. John will probably add
voice therapy to his Parkinson’s disease response. His tremor remains only on his right side,
medication provides some relief for that and he continues at stage 1 and in
participation with PPMI – Parkinson’s Progression
Markers Initiative at Baylor Medical Center in Houston semi-annually.
 |
| Church directory photo... |
Connect with us on Facebook, follow the blog or communicate through email.
We look forward to hearing from you.
ay your
lives also be full of God’s joy and blessing,
John
and Linda Worden
Our daughter,
Sarah, bought a home in San Antonio last spring. Being closer to her work as the Librarian at
Fort Sam Houston Elementary School is terrific for her. She is only 45 minutes from us and so we
connect often. We are so thankful for
her life and closeness to home. 
No comments:
Post a Comment