Random Childhood Story

Have I ever told you about my childhood fascination with ducks? It started on one of the first trips to the local market that I was allowed to make when we got to Kharkov. I was with my mom at the time, and we walked up the long, dusty road about 45 minutes to the nearest outdoor bazaar to buy food. At first, my parents went to the market by themselves and left us kinds at home. They were worried about getting lost, the locals, etc. But eventually they got braver and would take one or two of us along. I think now, it was to help carry the groceries back more than anything... those bags could be so heavy!

Well, that day, as we were slowly meandering up and down the twisting aisles of booths, I spotted a stack of crates. More like pallets, actually, only a few inches high. The pallets were staked a dozen or so up, and peeking out was enough yellow and black fluff to float a ship! The tiny peeps and rustles from inside fascinated me and I went over to see. Squished in-between the pallets were hundreds of little baby ducklings!

They were so so tiny and so so cute, all jammed together and imprisoned in the hot sun. A few of the were dead, even. I wanted to "Free Willy" and take a few home where they could run around, and I could feed them bread crusts, and we could start a barnyard of animal pets! But... my mom was not so sympathetic. (Or maybe she was, but also more pragmatic!) And she said no.

But the next few times I went to the market, I would run to that back corner where they were selling ducklings (and occasionally chicks) and stand and look and sometimes, when the grouchy old babushka wasn't looking, I would sneak my fingers in and stroke their little wings.

I'm not that found of ducks now that I am grown, outside of seeing them in the wild at lakes or such. But I found this picture and it took me back to a time long, long ago =) and I wanted to take you there with me for a minute. =)

I love you!!

Lake Overholser

Hey baby....
I love you. Despite the difficulties in our lives right now (jobs, city, finances, cars, sleep deprivation, health etc) the last few days have been so.... sweetly blissful. Sunday night was so amazing... thankyou for it. For holding me in your arms. <3 For late-night scouring the Chinese buffet. =) For talking... and loving... and everything. It meant so, so, so much.
And yesterday at Lake Overholser? The thought of having somewhere that nice close enough to go relax and study during school is so encouraging to me. I can't WAIT to go there again with you and explore. Someday I'd love to go boating and fishing, too =D
A name for my puppy... been tossing a few around. Amarillo is a good idea =) I'm also a fan of Reece's, Jack, and Nikita.
I love you and just wanted to say so. I am soooo glad you are in my life.
Thank you, most of all, for praying the past few days with me. It has been very needed... I want to try my best to help us keep faithful at that. Especially in 4 weeks when school starts back up........

Hugs & Kisses

Weather

It's raining outside, soaking grey rain pattering against the pavement and flooding in pools across the parched grass. You're at work, finishing for the night, and I should be in bed but I can't go to sleep because my mind is restless tonight. It's been a hard couple of days. I'm tired of being sick. I love you and I'm sorry for our fighting. I'm sorry my necklace is broken and lost. I will look for it before I go to bed.
I was just thinking how nice weather is. People say it'll never be hot or cold in heaven, but I don't really believe them. There is a great company from Switzerland, I think, whose motto says, 'There is never bad weather - just inappropriate attire.' So maybe in heaven we'll just have really awesome clothes =D That way we can enjoy all four full seasons at their best. =) I'd like to think so. About enjoying all the seasons in heaven, I mean. And, well, the awesome clothes part, too. =P
I think that the weather is one of the nicest things God has given us for our time here on earth. Think about it. It defines our every day. What we wear. What we eat. How we feel. Where we go. When we wake up and when we go to bed. Who we are around. What we want. Everything, really. All based on the weather. Hot? Chilly? Sunny? Humid? Blustery? Frosty? Crisp? Mellow? Stormy? Hot chocolate or sweet iced tea? Barbeque on the porch or slow-cooked stew? Hanging with friends or curled up at home with a book? Stay up late or turn in early? Leather boots or flipflops? Sunglasses or scarf? Vigorous day or laid-back evening?
It is no wonder the most elementary conversations begin with the weather! Because it has predestined everything about the day! And if it changes abruptly, no wonder why people get all ruffled. Everything has to change, even if not noticeably.
Gen 1:14 "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years..."
From the very beginning, weather was in God's mind. Do you ever think about that? The huge, billowy clouds of purple and blue we saw tonight, catching the retreated storm and colors of the sunset.... the translucent, obscure stars we saw out in Nichols Hills that night together... the sunshine of Saturday in the swimming pool... it is all what God saw from the very beginning.
You talked about reading our Bibles and praying more, and just talking to each other. Well, how much God mentions weather in the Bible has always intrigued me. Especially the books of Job and Psalms, filled with references about His power reflected in the weather and seasons. "Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? ...By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened...."(Job 37&38) So beautiful =)
I am so glad for today's rain. Because rain always meant homemade chocolate chip cookies as a child =) and because I know it reminds my Levi of his home. =) Rain is so soothing, gentle, cleansing... exactly what I needed today.
I love you. I am praying for you as I go to sleep. Please be safe on the wet roads. I will see you tomorrow in the sunshine, if it isn't raining again. =)
Forever yours,
Noelle

July 4th

When I was little, we went to A Mountain for July Fourth to watch the fireworks. Fireworks are illegal in Arizona, you see, because it is sooo dry they always start fires which rage out of control and destroy the precious irrigated cotton fields outside the city. The local government comprised by selecting a small desert mountain, kind of like an upside down yogurt cup, to be the only place where fireworks can be shot off for the holiday. And they city shoots off the fireworks; no private fireworks are allowed still. A Mountain is on the outskirts of Tucson, and it is called that because it has a huge letter A (for Arizona) made of painted rocks that forms a proud face of the mountain. Everyone comes out in pickups and brings lemonade and blankets and lawn chairs and sit out at the bottom of the mountain when it grows dark. The mountain itself is cordoned off by police, and inside that cordoned-off space, the mountain is surrounded by fire trucks. The fireworks begin, and ~ inevitably, the mountain brush catches on fire, and the whole thing goes up in flames like a spectactular fountain firework or a hot flambeau Baked Alaskan cake. Really, everyone goes to watch the mountain catch on fire rather than a few sizzling explosions. I remember the smoke filling the darkening sky, and in the glowing light of the flames licking the sky, hoovering helicopters dumping water on the mountain. It was awesome. =)
Well, I saw that two years that I can remember (when I was 4 and 5) and then it was off to be a missionary and that's the last July 4th I ever had. Until last year, which I was anticipating with soooooooo much longing. I'd been dreaming of it my whole life, you see. Especially after deciding I was going to join the Naval Academy and make a career, I was fiercely patriotic. Still am. I love being American. This holiday was the one I longed the most to see. Id' never seen the parades, the car shows, the flags, the fireworks, the picnics and baseball and family barbeques. Just imagined them.
Andrea knew how badly I wanted to be and feel American. She used to buy me little stuff that said Proud to be an American, etc. It's why I chose July 4th last year. Because she knew what that day was; an acculmination of a lifelong dream, turned into the acculmination of a life-killing despair. The only correspondence she ever received from me after that night was when I sent her back a small glass paperweight she'd bought for me that said Proud to be an American. It was a gift from the August before, two weeks I spent in Pekin that I used to call the best two weeks of my life. They were blissful, indeed. And they were what I lost. That ultimate happiness, and even more so, the infinite innocence. I sent it back to remind her of August. Of what we one were. Of how she once was. Of everything we had lost. Of how she had destroyed my dreams.. all of them... Of everything.
This Fourth of July wasn't what I wanted... I wanted to spend it with you, in your arms, hiding from the memories of the crash, of the screams of despair, of the empty phonecalls that no one would pick up....... I spent it alone.... It was better than last year. I know you love me. It was just hard to spend it alone. I'm glad it's over though, you know? It's over, and I can remember why I did it. I did it to break free of Brad, of Andrea, of the abyss of horror and despair and agony. That's why I did it. I wanted to be free, and safe, and calm, and happy again.... I wanted heaven, I wanted to feel Jesus holding me, I was so weary, I longed so badly to feel anything other than shattered...
I need you, Levi....
I'm still limping from the wounds, figuring out how to piece my life back together. Scared, at times... really scared. I miss heaven. I wanted it so badly that night. For weeks, really, months... it was all I dreamed about. I'm glad that God has left mehere, so I can be there for you, but I still feel frail.
Thank you for yoru love... your friendship... your endless patience and compassion for your little girl.
I love you, Levi.....
Happy July Fourth, baby... Independence Day.

Come back soon... please? i miss you,. youve grown so fond in my heart, its like my heart is just growing around yours baby, i never want to let you go, like a vine growing thicker and thicker and closer and closer. baby girl i want to let you know i adore you with all my heart. gonna go rest soon :) i missed you ll day babe, starting to feel worn  out and have two trucks tommorow :/ come back soon, im praying for the stressful events your going through princess, keep your chin up, im praying so hard. Hey my cousin bailey (my aunt angel's daughter) is going on a road trip and she just texted me saying shes stopping through oklahoma city, pray for that babe, that would be neat to see her. love you! tebya leblyu ochen ochen ochen mnoga :)

Natural Disasters

So I was reading today in Amos chapter one. I like the little books tucked between the Old Testament and the New. Always been a fan of the minor prophets =) They're just so little! So often overlooked! Sure, a lot of what they had to say was prophetic and strange, but so were the messages of Jeremiah and Isaiah and Daniel, too, you know. Rather than go on for chapters and chapters, they deliver their warnings in brief gut-punching packages. Like journalism.... all about the most informative sound-bite. =)

Well the book of Amos starts out with a qualifier, "Two years before the earthquake." Which means nothing to me, because I'm not an ancient-history geek so I have no idea what natural disasters went on during the Bible days, but surely caught my interest. It is just neat to me, to think that the people back then had to deal with natural disasters, too. Not as many as us today - because God promised that there would be more and more as time went on and His return grew nearer - but they still had some pretty big ones, big enough to qualify certain time eras.

When I think of natural disasters in the Bible, I always think of Euroclydon, the "temptuous wind" of Acts 27, which shipwrecked Paul. I imagine that was a hurricane, much like Katrina or Ike. We had a kitten once named Euroclydon, Yevro for short (Russian is Yevroclydon, Yevro = Euro). We named him after that storm. And then there is the "fire and brimstone" that wiped out not only Sodom and Gomorrah, but all the cities of the valley. I figure it was a volcanic eruption. "The the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Comorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." Fire, and brimstones, pouring down and obliterating a whole valley that spanned several cities and farmland counties in between - destroyed buildings, people and all the plant life? I bet a volcano is plausible! =) Anyways that's just Noelle's Revised Version... open for modification. lol

I found a website about the Great Earthquake in Amos' days. I copied the URL here but am not sure you'll be able to follow it on your phone so to save you the trouble I copied the most informative parts of the article. So.... here's your article of the day. =D

Earthquake Link

"The Kings of Israel and Judah ruled during the period of time designated as the Iron Age by archaeologists.
Widely separated archaeological excavations in the countries of Israel and Jordan contain late Iron Age (Iron IIb) architecture bearing damage from a great earthquake.1 Masonry walls best display the earthquake's effects, especially those with broken ashlars or displaced rows of stones, walls that are still standing but are leaning or bowed, and collapsed walls with large sections still lying course-on-course.

Earthquake evidence is seen prominently at Hazor, Israel's largest ancient city. In excavations beginning in 1955 by archaeologist Yigael Yadin, twenty-two successive cities were discovered to have been built on top of each other.2 Excavations in Hazor's Stratum VI revealed tilted walls, inclined pillars, and collapsed houses. In the Iron Age building called "Ya'el's House" within Stratum VI, objects of daily use were found beneath the fallen ceiling. General southward collapse within Stratum VI argues that the earthquake waves were propagated from the north. After more than 50 years of excavations at Hazor, earthquake damage continues to be revealed in even some of the strongest architecture.

The city of Gezer was also severely shaken. The outer wall of the city shows hewn stones weighing tons that have been cracked and displaced several inches off their foundation. The lower part of the wall was displaced outward (away from the city), whereas the upper part of the wall fell inward (toward the city) still lying course-on-course.3 This indicates that the wall collapsed suddenly.

A Magnitude 8 Event

Earthquake debris at six sites (Hazor, Deir 'Alla, Gezer, Lachish, Tell Judeideh, and 'En Haseva) is tightly confined stratigraphically to the middle of the eighth century B.C., with dating errors of ~30 years.4 So, the evidence points to a single large regional earthquake that occurred about 750 B.C. The accompanying map displays the site intensity (Modified Mercalli Intensity from archaeology or literature) and lines of equal intensity of shaking (isoseismals).

The epicenter was clearly north of present-day Israel, as indicated by the southward decrease in degree of damage at archaeological sites in Israel and Jordan. The epicenter was likely in Lebanon on the plate boundary called the Dead Sea transform fault. A large area of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah was shaken to inflict "general damage" to well-built structures (what is called Modified Mercalli Intensity 9 or higher). The distance from the epicenter (north of Israel) to the region of "significant damage" to well-built structures (what is called Modified Mercalli Intensity 8 that is south of Israel) was at least 175 kilometers, but could have been as much as 300 kilometers.

Using the pattern and the intensity of damage through the region of the earthquake, the earthquake's magnitude can be estimated. Through a process known as scaling, the damage areas of smaller historic earthquakes of known magnitude are used to scale upward to estimate the area of damage and magnitude of the regional earthquake. Based on this method, the earthquake in question was at least magnitude 7.8, but more likely was 8.2.5 This magnitude 8 event of 750 B.C. appears to be the largest yet documented on the Dead Sea transform fault zone during the last four millennia. The Dead Sea transform fault likely ruptured along more than 400 kilometers as the ground shook violently for over 90 seconds! The urban panic created by this earthquake would have been legendary.

In the mid-eighth century B.C., a shepherd-farmer named Amos of Tekoa de livered an ex tra ordinary speech at the Temple of the Golden Calf in the city of Bethel in the northern kingdom of Israel just "two years before the earthquake" (Amos 1:1). Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II was king of Israel. Amos spoke of the land being shaken (8:8), houses being smashed (6:11), altars being cracked (3:14), and even the Temple at Bethel being struck and collapsing (9:1). The prophet's repeated contemporary references to the earthquake's effects is why it bears his name."

this feeling

https://www.dropbox.com/
email: lonelyroadways@hotmail
Same password


Im a big fn of drop box, just the convenience and ease to transfer any files and backup any precious data. i hate summers in oklahoma,, i hate Oklahoma in general. such a pit, dirty, and hopless :/  i feel constricted babe, i feel like i cant move. Can you pray i keep my sanity till you get back? i cant stand another day without you, and i hurt without you near. My dreams are back, i think my subconcious knows your away, and it takes its advantage, i see dad, i see hatred, i see lies, i see so much in my dreams, the nightmare of my past,,, everything babe, and i need you :( the fall asleep to your scent...noelle hurry back please....