A Note From The Noodle Family

Two Fridays in a row... soaking rain. Ain't it great? This week is a little cooler, though. The high should be around 50 today. So, I'm taking a break from cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry and helping the kids with school work. Cindy is substitute teaching today at First Baptist Christian School. This is her third appearance there. On her first day, a student in her class had a little challenge pronouncing "Newell". It came out sounding like "noodle". The kids started giggling about it and the name stuck. So, today Cindy Noodle is off to work again. I suppose that makes me Mr. Noodle, thank you very much.

Noting the trouble so many of us have had with allergies this Fall, I came across an impressive list of home remedies. I'm not sure they all work on the sinuses, but perhaps you might have a laugh.

1. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.
2. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.
3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.
4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.
5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.
6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.
7. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
8. DAILY THOUGHT: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

I know you were all wondering about Melanie's ear from last week's post. Well, I heard from her this week (boy, did I ever) and she reported that the candle treatment did work for a period of time. The biggest challenge is to figure a way to keep the candles lit on windy days when she goes to the grocery store. The biggest benefit is that she can provide her own candles at the Christmas Eve service.

This weekend is the annual Cape Cod Marathon, and for the second year in a row we'll not be competing in it. Last year we opted for the Marshall University Marathon which was a fantastic event. This year we are still getting settled in our new home and were not able to train adequately. We do plan to return next year. I've been following the news of the event on the race website and our friends from the Falmouth Track Club have been keeping us in the loop. There's just no place in the world like New England in the Fall. We really miss the fun and fellowship we have with our family and friends there, everything from Pam's waffles and folding shirts at the Lawrence School to the roar of the crowd as we kick to the finish line at the Village Green on Main Street.

North Falmouth is a special place for us. We have such fond memories there, folk music on the radio, mussels from Woods Hole, Happyhallowthankmus festival at the church, falling asleep at night while star gazing through the bedroom skylight. Chris and Pam, we miss you. Be sure to go see the Falmouth Fiddlers on Sunday morning and cheer the runners for us as they pass the Bourne Farm!

Georgia Pollen Count

Well, the fall season is upon us here in northwest Georgia. Now that we've received all the settlement funds from old utility accounts, escrow accounts and closing costs, Cindy and I are finally going furniture shopping today. Woo-hoo! It will be nice to get a few more boxes out of the house. Maybe we can even provide guests a place to sit in our den. What a concept!

It's raining today. That's a good thing for us, as our area is still considered to be in a severe drought. The students at church aren't real happy about the rain today, though. They are supposed to go to a corn maze tonight. Still, I count the rain as a blessing. We got a good soaking during our run this morning. It felt REALLY good!!

Tomorrow morning we'll head over to KEMO (that's Atlanta runner-speak for Kennesaw Mountain) for our weekly long run. We hope to run from Pigeon Hill to Kolb's Farm and back (about 11 miles). We tried that last week, but got lost somewhere around Cheatham Hill. We followed another runner who looked like he knew where he was going and we somehow ended up circling back at Cheatham Hill Road, then heading the wrong direction toward Powder Springs. Trail running can be tricky (no road signs). We knew we were lost when we heard the train whistle from behind us, when it should have been in front of us. We turned around and eventually made it back to familiar territory, but we ended up only running 9 miles. So... tomorrow we try again. I'll study the trail map a little closer this time and we may even take it with us (duh). Getting lost on the battlefield at sunrise is no fun (too many Civil War ghosts in the forest).

I think we are all suffering from fall allergies around here. The whole church office staff has been coughing, sneezing and wheezing for over two weeks. Our office manager, Melanie, has had it so rough she resorted to drastic measures the other day. Ever try placing a lit candle in your ear to unclog things? Ask Melanie how well it works. There MUST be an easier way to combat the Georgia pollen count. Perhaps a few teaspoonfuls of local honey?

Handyman

The title begs a reference to James Taylor, but I don't think Cindy would appreciate it. :-)



After our weekly run at Kennesaw Mountain National Park, we came home and started our house projects. Cindy is painting bedrooms and I am tackling our storage issues.
Now, before I go any further, I have to say that I am NOT a handyman. My grandfather McKinney could build anything, but I must have missed that piece of the gene pool. However, since we moved to Kennesaw, I'm beginning to learn. Today I installed some extra shelves in a bathroom closet. I actually got them equally spaced and level. I was shocked! Cindy is still speechless. I only wish my Pappaw could see them. He'd probably have a good laugh because I made such a big deal over simple closet shelves.



To celebrate we grilled some burgers for dinner. So much for the big weekend. Marshall got clobbered last night, but the Red Sox are on the brink of winning their series with the Angels. We'll see how that Pats do tomorrow.


I guess watching all those episodes of Home Improvement is beginning to pay off. Cindy can't wait to see what's next!

By the way, the new Kennesaw First Baptist Church web site is now up and running. Check it out at www.kfbc.org

It's 1, 2, 3 strikes you're out...

When I was about 12 years old, my parents took my brother and I to Atlanta for a mid-summer getaway. We spent a day at the Six Flags theme park, then the next day attended the Braves-Cardinals baseball game at the old (then new) Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. The Braves won 7-5 in 13 innings, and my experience was capped off by seeing my hero, Henry Aaron, hit a home run. All those memories came rushing back last week when I got the chance to take my kids to a Braves game for the first time, courtesy of a friend who is a Braves employee. Obviously The Hammer doesn't play any longer (some guy named "Chipper" is the star of the team - he had a bad night too, booted a grounder and made a wild throw to first later in the game), and the stadium has been replaced with a newer model. Nonetheless we had a fabulous time. We did the "Chop" (keeping time with the Chick-fil-A cow in left field) and enjoyed $1 hot dog night. The Braves lost to the Phillies 4-3, but who cares? Baseball is great! Let's go Red Sox!

Our new church website will be live next week, look for an announcement and the link from my blog. This past week we had a staff photo day for the website pictures and some of us decided to have a little fun in the playground afterward. Leave it to the old man to do the hanging crunches and smile about it!

We've Been Pounded

We've been pounded! (It didn't hurt near as much as I thought it might.) During our first week in the new house, our church family brought over dinner each night so that we would have time to unpack the kitchen and dining room boxes and wouldn't have to worry about cooking. The best part about that was that the folks brought over so much food that we also had enough left over for lunches. The day after the last meal was delivered, the church gave us a "pounding". Each person brought us canned goods, cleaning supplies and other household items. For example, according to Cindy's calculations, we received 30 pounds of sugar, 25 pounds of flower and 5 pounds of corn meal. The timing was perfect, and this week we started cooking our own meals. In addition to hall the kitchen pantry items we also received several gift cards to local stores so that we would have help in buying other items that we may discover that we need.

Our family at Kennesaw First Baptist Church has been incredible. They have really taken us in and accepted us. The love they have demonstrated to us has been awesome!

We've made a list of "fix-it" items around the inside of the house and will start on that today. We're also becoming experts in lawn care (we've got some great neighbors who have beautiful lawns, they have offered some great pointers). We don't want a "boo-boo" letter from the HOA! There are also some things we need to fix up around the exterior of the house, but nothing pressing (we'll have a list for that, too). As you can tell from the photo of Snickers having breakfast today, at least one of us has settled in!!

Who's In The House?

Well, we made it one week in the new house!! We have boxes stacked floor-to-ceiling in several rooms, but we are slowly getting settled. Everyone at KFBC has been so nice to our family in helping us with the transition. Families from the church have been bringing meals to us each night for the past week, and this Sunday night the church is having a "pounding" for our family. Most importantly, folks have sent us cards and letters, called us on the phone and stopped by my office to let us know that they pray for us and our new ministry each day. People have really stepped up to make us feel like a part of the family. We will always miss our hometown, but we really love Kennesaw and Kennesaw First Baptist Church. God is so good, all the time!

We had a busy week. Between all the unpacking, Cindy and I got our Georgia driver's licenses. We also got our tv, phone and internet services established. The next big thing is to get our new tags for our cars. Yesterday we took the cars in for emissions testing, so now that we have those certifications we can go to the county tag office.

We're also getting involved a little in the community. Last night we worked with a group of volunteers running the concessions at the Kennesaw Mountain High School football game. If I do say so myself, I cook a mean batch of fries. We didn't see any of the game, but they tell me the home team beat South Cobb High School 13 - 0.

The running schedule is also slowly returning to normal. There are several places to run near us. Because of the move, we won't be competing at the Cape Cod Marathon this fall, but the Atlanta Marathon is in November and there are other races close by. One of our welcoming gifts from the church was a copy of the Atlanta Running Guide, so off we go...

Well, time to unpack more boxes!!!

Georgia On My Mind

It has been over a month since our last post, and a lot has happened. When last we posted, we were in Kennesaw, GA, for the weekend. So now that the cat is out of the bag, we can say that the reason we were there is because I have accepted a full time staff position at Kennesaw First Baptist Church as the Equipping Pastor of Worship and Administration! We are very excited.






I've just completed my second full week on the job. We have sold our house in Fort Mill and purchased one in Kennesaw. I sold my old Civic and purchased a newer Corolla. At the end of August, we will finally all be together again and this crazy 4-hour weekly commute can stop.












Everything has been such a whirlwind, and I'm sure that once we get settled I'll have time to really think about the amazing ways that God has answered our prayers over the past few months. I'll also start scheduling time weekly to update the blog so that we can keep everyone in the loop. I truly believe that in this situation, my hearing was and is as perpetual as the music. I have no doubt that KFBC is exactly where God wants me to be in this season of my life. My heart is at peace. We will miss our Fort Mill family and friends very much, but the exciting part is that we will have new relationships that will grow over time.



A special note of thanks to Rev Jeff Bedwell and Rev Benny Wade of FBC Fort Mill for loving us, teaching us and pouring their lives into us for so many years. Thank you to the Nuts for head hunting. Last but not least, a special word of thanks to David and Lisa Klausman for praying for us every day since mid-March.
We love you all!!