I know, I have been so unfaithful with this!

Aaaahhhhh! I promise to post soon! I am so sorry! I will be posting pictures too, we found the missing computer cable! I have also painted many walls in the house and one of our friends donated a REALLY expensive coach light for the front. As Josiah says..."You can't hide money."

Grandfather Faunch

Thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers for the Ewing family. We are still GA but heading home Thursday(more prayers would be appreciated). Jon is so lonely and I am ready to paint! Jon actually drove up to CO last week and ran in a triathlon. He will be doing more of these. I am so proud of him! Maggie has informed me that her name is no longer "watertop" (she has been introducing herself as such for six weeks) but now she has a "Grandfather Faunch." The poor man is in jail, put there by doctors, but he will be out at "2 clocks" and then will be going to "Mexican." Slightly disturbing but generally amusing. Brennah threw a huge fit the other day, and after receiving a talk and a spanking, she blurted out while crying, "That hurt!" "It hurt like the dickens!" So my child is throwing out 19th century expletives. I have just finished reading "Gone with the wind." I found it in one of Gran's old bookcases. It was her copy and there was actually newspaper cutouts of Margaret Mitchell at the time of writing. It made me think of Gran...I miss her so much. After several comments over the phone to Jon this week, he has reminded me that the civil war is over and that the yankees are not still out to get the south. I guess I was really getting caught up in the drama... Natalie, Jen Bailey, Summer and I went to Augusta to get dessert at a unique little restaraunt downtown called The Boll Weevil this week. Summer ordered a piece of "PeeCan" pie. Horrified, I told her, "Summer you just said that like a Yankee!" (like I said I really got caught up in a past era this week) "Oh? How do you say it?" Pecaawwnn, I answered. We proceeded to take a poll on how everyone pronounced the word. When the waitress came again, we asked her. "I say pecaawwnn, I've always thought the other way is like saying pee in a can." After the laughter completely died down, Summer got really quiet and thoughtfully said, "y'know I think I just had this conversation and pronounced and argued the other way." We laughed so hard that the entire restaurant looked over. I just talked to Natalie on the phone. The girls spent the night with Natalie at Grandma's house last night and Maggie told Natalie more on the Grandfather Faunch saga. He has died suddenly, in jail and they have thrown him in the water, but we are not to worry, because she will rescue him. Everybody is Welcome to pray for me tommorrow as I drive the 16 hour trip back to Texas. I will try to post as soon as possible. There have not been any pictures lately because somebody grabbed the wire that hooks up the camera to the computer to transfer pictures off of the camera and threw it in with mom and dad's stuff in their storage unit. Sooo we will be getting it out and posting picture of the house and my walls! Love to all, Noelle

A race well run

I have not had the energy to post. I am heartbroken. A very dear friend was violently killed by an evil man several weeks ago in Atlanta while riding her bike. Her name was Jennifer Ewing as many of you know, and she was an incredible woman. I have known the family for about 13 years and all of the members exemplify Christ. Jennifer (I always called her Mrs. Ewing) loved to laugh, and she was, in terms of strength, an oak. When I got the news, I couldn't even stand. I ache almost physically for what that family is having to endure right now.
I am grieving for the things that will come and go without her. I grew up with her eldest son Jimmy, we constantly bickered throughout high school and college and both enjoyed it immensely. I watched as her daughter Margaret became a beautiful woman, and I might add a formidable opponent on whatever athletic venue she chose. George who is the youngest, is still friends with my precious brother Jimmy even after all the years being away from Atlanta. I prayed continually the day I found out, not ever questioning God's sovereignty but asking, why? Why are we completely protected sometimes and not others? I feel like I received somewhat of an answer in the week to come.
I believe she was assasinated by the enemy.
Mrs. Ewing was a giant in the faith, a general if you will. An example of a life lived to its fullest every day. There was such a passion in her, it really could not be contained. You felt it after meeting her once. She let Christ consume her and it was beautiful to watch. I feel like a leader has been snatched out of our camp in the middle of the night. I also believe that this is a wake up call to all of us who have become complacent. God has a plan, and he will absolutely glorify His name through this. I am praying that her legacy, which involves the children, will spread to others who hear about this. I feel that the man who did this was a pawn in a much larger game than this crime, and we need to get mad.
Jennifer was on a list. The list that targets who is furthering the kingdom. Some of us are definitely not on that list because we are not threatening the enemy's work here at all. We have become complacent. At her funeral, which was a definite celebration service even in the midst of such deep sorrow, I thought-I have thirty years to get to the age she was...thirty years to affect and bless this many people. I love the Lord, passionately, but I am called to do much more than I have been. I want to be even more outspoken, I want to strive for excellence in everything. This is a war, and Satan is not out to just give the occasional bad dream.
I feel like we have come to accept a "G" rated christianity, and it's just not. We will unfortunately, have casualties. In the early church there were many martyrs. I feel like Mrs. Ewing died for Christ. I also feel that her death meant something and will jolt many out of our daily reverie. We need to be on our knees in intercession for each other continually, and I don't mean "Lord let them have a good day," kind of prayers.
There are weapons designed just for us to use in this life, we need to practice with them-get the feel of the sword in our hand, get used to the heaviness of it and slowly develop the callouses and muscles needed to wield it without harm to ourselves. This is a country of baby christians and I am not pointing at everyone else.
I had a dream years ago, and in it there was a large snake, there were actually hundreds of snakes, but this was the leader. In my dream there was a man passing out guns to kill this snake, he said "You must hunt him and kill him, or he will find you and kill you."
The only problem was that each gun had a slightly bent end. The deal was that they would work just fine, but you had to practice with them, to adjust your shot slightly. When I woke up, I knew what this meant. We live in a world that we were never designed for. Sin is a terrible thing to come into contact with constantly, in a way it is death that we experience daily. We do have a means to fight back, but it requires much practice. We cannot just expect to pick up the defense Christ has given and be able to "shoot anything that moves." That would be like letting me play in the world cup- I am neither capable of doing anything but kick people as they run past which although I would enjoy doing, I have not put in the years of dedication to earn that honor. Jenni had put in the years it took to earn that honor. She had the callouses and the muscle that it took. I loved her and miss her, but will see her again. I will also strive to be able to meet her warrior to warrior when I arrive.