More Reflections

As usual, we always remember things that we should have said after the fact. We were a little overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done for the service, practicing music, and thinking about what we wanted to say. Of course, that is when your mind goes blank and you can't think. But I still want to share a few things of what we and some others remember about Dad.
Friends of ours in our teen years and boyfriends were subjected to the 1/2 of a whitewall cleaning while he or she was in the house. Dad was famous for this prank. Dad loved his whitewalls and felt that everyone should keep them white like his. This was his gentle reminder to others that they were negligent in this area. He also collected quarters for whatever reason. As a result, he jokingly charged all of our friends and the neighborhood kids quarters for every little thing and they would reply "just put it on my tab." Rhonda Urban Smith reminded me of that one. Also, a note from Stacey Miller reflected on her memories of Dad and the Red Rider BB rifle and how he used to call her and Melissa the "gritchy girls." He loved jazz piano music, trumpet and brass. His favorite color was red. He had a red tie on for his final appearance and Mark, Jacob, Nick and my friend Ed all wore red ties. Alison and Hannah also wore red in honor of Dad and Hannah made a red friendship bracelet that she tied on his wrist before the viewing. There were many men that came to the viewing that worked for Dad at Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad. Every single one of them said what a man of integrity Dad was and what an honor it was to have him as their boss. They highly respected him. I wish I would have counted how many there were. What a testimony that was of Dad's character. That's just a few things for now. More will probably follow.

Viewing & Service Information

Viewing will be Friday, April 16th from 4pm-7pm at Loutzenhiser-Jordan Funeral Home in Greenville http://www.loutzenhiser-jordanfuneralhome.com/and a Resurrection Celebration will be held at 11:00 am Saturday April 17th at Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church. http://www.crossroadschristianfellowship.org/

God Be with You

God be with you till we meet again,
When life's perils thick confound you,
Put his arms unfailing round you-
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus' feet
God be with you till we meet again.

Rod went home to be with the Lord this morning. He was a wonderful Husband, Father, Grandfather and friend. We will miss him greatly but rejoice that he is with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Viewing will be Friday, April 16th from 4pm-7pm at Loutzenhiser-Jordan Funeral Home in Greenville http://www.loutzenhiser-jordanfuneralhome.com/
and a Resurrection Celebration will be held Saturday April 17th at Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church. http://www.crossroadschristianfellowship.org/

Moment by Moment

Never a trial that He is not there,
Never a burden that He doth not bear;
Never a sorrow that He doth not share-
Moment by moment, I'm under His care.
Moment by moment I'm kept in His love,
Moment by moment I've life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Please be in prayer for Daddy as he has had some serious setbacks. This past Monday he became unresponsive and was having difficulty breathing. He remained unresponsive most of the day until later in the evening when he was awake enough that Mom, Scott and I were able to get him up to the wheelchair for about 1 hour. We readmitted him into hospice care last evening and have some oxygen now to make him a little more comfortable. He is still not very responsive and we have only been able to get a few spoonfuls of water and watered down applesauce into him yesterday and today. He is laboring a little less with the oxygen and we believe he probably has a pneumonia. Please be in prayer that he will rest peacefully in the knowledge of his Savior's love until the Lord calls him home.

A Look Back at Fall

It's a new year and time for an update as Jenyl promised! This past fall Jenyl, Mom and Dad joined us in Ligonier for the annual Fort Ligonier Days celebration. Jenyl managed to rub elbows with a pretty impressive figure- Note- Jenyl and George were here! This past Thanksgiving the Murdock family added a new tradition to our repertoire. Last year Scott's sister and brother in law from Texas came for Thanksgiving and brought their turkey fryer. Scott fell in love with cajun fried turkey and when Gander Mountain had a sale needless to say we walked away with a turkey fryer. This was our first time doing this and a special thanks goes out to Jeanne and Gary for manning the texas fried turkey hotline and patiently answered all our questions- like exactly what are the chances of this exploding and catching on fire- do you all watch mythbusters? Ian being the knight in shining armor donned Dad's welding mask and retrieved the fire extinguisher just in case we needed defending from the deadly fryer. I am happy to report that the lowering of the turkey into the fryer went off without a hitch. As with most Murdock endeavors we do try these things in less than ideal weather conditions and this was no exception. It was a cold and windy day so the men did need to construct a wind break just so we could get the temperature up enough. The turkey was a huge success and was enjoyed by all. I think next year will be a two turkey thanksgiving as well. One last update that we feel is necessary is to let you know that Jenyl is out of the dog house the car is fixed and the other party admitted to full responsibility- her slate is clean for the new year. I am up in Greenville now with Mom and Dad. We were able to get Dad out of bed for most of the day. Please continue to keep Dad & Mom in your prayers. We thank you for your faithfulness towards them this past year and pray God's blessings to you all in 2010.

Winter Wonderland

I think since I arrived on Monday it has snowed about every day. But let me back up a minute. Heidi and her family were here to celebrate Christmas with Mom & Dad while Alison headed to Albany, NY to her inlaws. Unfortunately, Heidi & gang had to leave on Sunday to pick up their two chocolate labs from the doggie spa kennel (where they are referred to as "kids,") and where Heidi had to buy them a present to open on Christmas day since all the other "kids" had one to open but Heidi had been remiss and had to purchase one in the convenient doggie spa shop, much to Scott's dismay. I drove in on Monday and met Mom & Dad in New Castle for the viewing of a long time family friend, Ron Urban. Our paths crossed with the Urbans in many ways and Ron was the one to help Mom learn the computer and get her to the point where she knows more and can do more on the computer than me. The rest of my family came in on Wednesday and thus started the Walmart runs. The picture of today's snowfall was taken by Richard Miller (our neighbor). This isn't our road but still gives you an idea of what it looks like here...beautiful. I wish I had my camera when an Amish buggy went by with it's contrasting black horse and buggy. We were out shoveling the driveway and hauling wood to the garage when a snowmobile went down the road. You don't see that everyday either.

We were all home for Thanksgiving and have some rather amusing pictures that we would like to post once we figure out whose camera or phone they are on and transfer them to Mom's computer. May God bless you all in this New Year.

Some Prayer requests and Some Praise

The Fall is a busy time for us girls with getting kids back to school, soccer, cheerleading, music lessons, one off to college, one scouting colleges, two getting driver's licenses, SAT testing, senior pictures, choral tryouts, etc. Any parent can relate to this. We haven't been keeping up with the blog like we would like to but we would like to update you on the events of the last few days. Several days ago Dad misjudged and fell when going to sit down. He complained about having headaches and Mom took him to Greenville Hospital on Tuesday. A scan revealed some active bleeding in the brain and he was transported to Pittsburgh. Some adjustments were made to his medications to correct his clotting time and the results were about the same from a scan done on Wednesday. He has 3 slow bleed areas but there is no pressure building up in his brain. He was discharged on Wednesday and Mom is to monitor him at home. While he was being scanned and taken care of, Mom also had a follow up CAT scan and appointment with her doctor. He was pleased with how she looked and her results were unchanged from her previous scan. She will continue to be monitored with another scan in 3 months. Heidi was able to take the day off to help them with everything that was going on and see them off back to Greenville. Please continue to pray for them as they deal with their various health issues.