Quick catch-up

‘Ello friends!  It’s been awhile, but yes, we’re alive!  We’ve been busy over the past few weeks trying to take in all that Dallas has to offer.  We’ve had quite a few date nights (which is kind of a shock to my system…thanks residency) because Josh’s schedule is so flexible.  It’s been nice to be able to hang out so much and do the fun things that we haven’t been able to do until now.

“Night at the Nasher”  Every first Friday of the month, they have a live band in the art museum’s courtyard until it gets dark.  Then, they project an outdoor movie on the back of the museum!  So fun!

 

Enjoying the concert from our blanket.

 

A good old fashioned Texas rodeo where they say “God bless Texas-America!”

 

 

We went down to Austin for a few days to visit some friends.  We happened to enter ourselves into a corn hole tournament and the guys came in 2nd place of 16 teams!  They have skills.

Also, we found an awesome church to attend while we are here!  We visited the Village (Matt Chandler’s church) at first.  We absolutely loved it, but it was so big that it was hard for us to get plugged in.  I googled “churches in Mesquite” one day, which led me to several websites.  After looking at a few, we decided to go to this one called New Community Church.  I’ll post another blog about this and what I have been learning through this church, but for now, I just wanted to take a moment and point out an important aspect of this journey.  I prayed for 2 very specific things for us this year: that God would provide really great friends in each city and that God would provide a really great church in each city.  I know some of you have prayed this prayer along with me and I thank you for that.  It’s very nerve-wrecking for me to move to a new place, not knowing anyone, and realizing that in a few months time I’ll be starting over again.  So, this is my way of saying that the Lord is faithful and He has answered those 2 prayers within the first month of us being here.

We have some sweet friends who live in Dallas but are actually about to move to Columbia (we’re switching).  It’s been great to hang out with the wife and see the Lord’s work in her life.  She has an amazing story!  We were talking about moving and all the mayhem it involves.  Then we started talking about missions and “what if the Lord called us to go to _____ or _____?!”  She said something so amazingly perfect that I just have to share it.  She said, “The Lord has been so faithful in my life, how could I resist His will?”  That has stuck with me so strongly over the past few weeks.  She is so right!  God could ask me to go to Siberia (although, Lord, it’d be nice if you didn’t) and I should go, because His will for my life is always better than my own.  So, bringing it back to answered prayers….my King has answered mine and will continue to do so, because He is gentle, compassionate, faithful, and intimate.  Wow!  I’m so glad my God is that good.

Last little update….or big update.  Like I’ve said before, our plans are not definite.  We thought we would be in Texas until October.  Looks like we will now be here until the end of November.  From here, it looks like we might be going to (drum roll please) Tacoma, Washington!  Talk about extremes!  We were looking into Colorado or Utah, but there don’t seem to be any jobs opening up soon.  The next best place that would kind of be similar to that mountain feel we were looking for that’s available is WA.  For those of you who aren’t familiar (I wasn’t), Tacoma is about 30 minutes south of Seattle and about 2 hours south of Canada.  Really, I’m laughing to myself, because I don’t handle cold weather well (come on, I think SC winters are bad!), yet here we are, going way up north during winter months in our little RV.  Alls I gots to say is that they better have excellent hot chocolate up there!

So, there you have it!  Our lives thus far in a nutshell.  I’ll keep the updates and ramblings coming on a more regular basis, hopefully!

The way these eyes see it

I probably should have paid more attention in high school to my artsy, animated philosophy teacher.  I couldn’t really get past his hand gestures at 8 in the morning.  I also should have listened to my quiet, wise theology professor in college.  Maybe I would be a little further in my spiritual fundamentals.  But then again, maybe it’s a good thing I zoned out during those important classes.  They had important things to say and some of it did stick, but sometimes a classroom isn’t the best place to learn things about God.  Sometimes, you understand more about God’s character from seeing  prayers answered, from walking through difficult times, or from simply not knowing the answers already. 

I started a letter to myself a year ago and have slowly been adding to it ever since.  (I do this sometimes, write letters to people to give to them years later.)  I started writing it because I was just coming out of a difficult time and wanted to remember what I was learning.  I realized that I might need to write it to my future self just the same.  I know I will face more trials.  Harder trials than before.  In those times, I don’t want to forget what I know about Truth.  Because, honestly, doesn’t our view of God seem to change with our circumstances sometimes?  I know mine has the tendency to.  I am writing myself a (lengthy) letter, so that when I am tempted to think differently about myself, God, others, my marriage, my children, the Church, etc, I can come back to what I truly believe is the right way of viewing these things. 

And just like that, I leave you with a little of what the Lord has been faithfully showing me.  But then again, maybe these are just like my professors’ lessons:


“If God was willing to break perfect unity with His Son so that mankind could have the hope of being adopted as children into eternity in paradise, does that not make Him the ultimate picture of love? Is there anything more extraordinary than God’s sacrifice of part of Himself to rescue a perishing race? No. There is not- nor will there ever be- anyone as loving and good as God. That is why Job could endure his suffering. Because God is good in spite of our circumstances. We may not see that He is good in our circumstances, but he is good in spite of them…..If the rest of my life is full of pain and torture and endless agony, God is still good. He is good, because He loves me with a ravishing love that would not allow my soul to perish. He loves me with a love that willed the Trinity to break its perfect unity to save me from eternal wretchedness. He loved me when I did not have the ability to love Him back. He loves me still. He loves me in my anger, doubt, fear, insecurity, sin, unfaithfulness, and brokenness. He is completely good no matter what is happening to me, because He sealed my soul for Himself for the rest of eternity. My body and problems will die with this earth, but my soul will reign with Him in His Kingdom forever. He is good. Always.”

It’s the little things

I’ve had at least 5 people in the past week tell me I need to blog more.  I honestly didn’t expect many people to read this on a regular basis, but I’m honored to know that you do!  So, thanks friends for stopping by my cyber world to check in on Skaggs news.  It definitely makes me feel loved!

Josh and I headed back to Columbia last week to drop off our dog (*tear*).  We had been trying to move to an RV park closer to the city, but when we found out we had a spot, they told us they wouldn’t take us with a big dog…maybe I should have said we had a small horse instead- less intimidating.  So, on Josh’s week off, we headed back to SC to find a home for our pup until we returned from this adventure. 

We had only been gone for 2 weeks at that point, but pulling into Columbia felt so weird.  I was driving on the same roads I always drive on and saw the same stores and took the same routes- it just felt different this time.  It kind of felt like I didn’t belong there anymore.  In a sense I don’t (at least not for this portion of time), but I still had a little twinge of sadness as I realized that this place isn’t home to me right now.  This place that has been my home for 25 years is just another city. 

I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing, though.  While it makes me sad at times to feel removed from familiar places, it’s good for me.  It pushes me to be more intentional with what I appreciate and to pay more attention to the lifestyle I’m in now.  Ok, for example, I dreaded going to the grocery store in Columbia.  One of my least favorite chores.  Here, it’s exciting, because it’s new!  There are new people, new products, new everything!  And, as the extreme introvert that I am, I used to just get the job done and go home.  I think I have talked to more people in the grocery stores here than I probably ever did back in SC.  Is that really how I want my life to be?  Keep my head down and keep moving to get the job done?  I am forced to move outside my comfort zone in this new city, because I don’t know what I’m doing and I do need the extra help.  I talk to random strangers because that is the extent of my human interaction.  I don’t have friends who just pop over to say hello or go to dinner with a different person every night (not that I did that before, but I at least had the option).  That’s just the point: I don’t have the option.  If I’m going to have friends in the different places we go, I have to find them.  I have to seek them out, go up to them, ask them to hang out, call them, text them, etc.  Introverted me is scared to death to do this, because it’s uncomfortable and it takes a lot of effort on my part.  Then again, maybe it took a lot of effort on my friends’ parts in Columbia to come up to me.  And if they hadn’t done that in the first place, my world would desperately be lacking some amazing relationships.

Going back for the week helped me realize something to a greater degree:  I am unbelievably blessed by so many people.  I saw people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner pretty much everyday we were there.  Every person I met with, I realized more and more how much I truly appreciate that they are in my life!  Even people who I don’t know very well seemed extra special to me.  I like this new perspective, because that’s how I should have viewed these people all along!  I’ve always loved the people around us, but I know I’ve taken it for granted.  A lot of people don’t have the quality friends and family that Josh and I have.  We have servants, providers, care-takers, interceders, challengers, and encouragers in our midst.  How could we not be grateful?

So, to each- and I do mean each- person we saw and more, thank you for being incredible to us, for being strong and faithful in this relationship, and for caring beyond the natural tendency.  You are more appreciated now than ever, and I hope we are able to show you that more fully.