runDisney 2016 Marathon Weekend

Bill and I have had a marvelous week here in Orlando relaxing and recharging! He played golf, I enjoyed the spa and we both enjoyed the parks, Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney).  We also had fun running the 5K run of the 4 runs this week that are part of the runDisney Marathon weekend.  We loved getting to literally RUN through Epcot!

We celebrated my 57th birthday and our 34th anniversary!  We joined the disney Vacation club back in 2007 and often say it was one of the best investments we have made!  

God is so good and we like to say, the best is yet to come, always!  

Today was our soft opening at the new location of First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie, Texas!  We had two services and we enjoyed having our Mayor Ron Jensen speak and  every minute of praise, worship and an inspirational message brought by my handsome husband, Dr. Bill Skaar.  It's a privilege and an honor to be the first lady of this marvelous church filled with servant leaders, talented and giving people who love God, care about this community and who give of their time so willingly!  God is truly at work right here in Grand Prairie!  

After the weekend of preparing for this "soft opening" Sunday and then enjoying today, having a relaxing lunch with a nice group of friends after church we finally got to be home and I took a nap while Bill watched golf and called visitors.  I slept well but woke up sobbing!  Absolutely sobbing!  Yes, even being a grown woman at age 56 I woke up just weeping. I haven't cried like that in a long time.  I dreamt we were in San Angelo and I was so full of joy, so happy and not bragging but pleased and thanking God for how each of my parents children and Irv and Patsy Skaar's children are all good, happy, productive, and yes serving God, loving life and giving Him the glory!  I was looking for Mom, in her house and then realized she was no longer there.  I wanted to visit with her like we did thousands of times, watch the sunset in San Angelo and count our blessings. She loved being right in the midst of whatever was going on with her kids and her grands.  She loved us all and she enjoyed us.  She would be so pleased just as Bill and I were reminiscing last week how his mom and dad would be so pleased with how each of their 4 kids, spouses and grands are right now!  I longed to share this day with Dixie but suddenly remembered we are separated right now, temporarily.  I do believe she is in heaven with Daddy and with the Lord but I really longed to just have an hour with her today!  Just an hour...  I have so much good to tell her and I know she would just love it all. 

I think perhaps my dream was triggered by a sweet visit with friends at lunch.  They were sharing with me how his 90 something dad is in an assisted living and his wife is gone on now, and their dad is just lost without her.  I would so love to have any or all of our 4 parents still here. But I am confident that what they are experiencing in heaven, with the Lord, now, far exceeds any joy they would have felt still here on earth.  

2nd Corinthians 5:8 speaks of being in heaven with the Lord....

Our Eternal Dwelling
…7for we walk by faith, not by sight-- 8we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.…

As I was still sleeping and dreaming and sobbing, this verse came to me about God keeping our tears in a bottle!  King David cried out to God in Psalms 56:8, saying, "O God! 8You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?

Finally I woke up and realized I was not in San Angelo, in Mom's house, I was here in Grand Prairie and sobbing as I napped!  Even at 56 you can still miss your mom so much but I know where she is and I know I will see her again one day!

1 Peter 1:4New International Version (NIV) "4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,"

                                        

I am so thankful Melissa got to "walk" and do graduation with her undergrad class so Mom could be there!  Melissa's Masters of Taxation is a 5 year program but she was the first to do both graduation exercises.  One with her class of 2008 that May and then the following December 2008 she walked at commencement for her Masters just a month after we buried Mom.  

In Waco as we celebrated Melissa's undergraduate completion at Baylor and the beginning of her Master's in Accounting.  Mom came with us to Waco that May and then in August she was diagnosed right before her 80th birthday with AML, Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

My beautiful Mom, Dixie, and my sweet daughter Melissa holding newborn Bradley in Livingston, Texas, 1990.  My marvelous mom came and stayed a full month with me each time I had a baby.  She was wonderful, cooking, cleaning, and helping me adjust to having a new baby!

My "Mommy" and me and my "Baby Dear" as I called her!  

This was in October of about 2006, we had taken her to see the Broadway Musical, Wicked!  We had a wonderful time with Mom that evening!  She was so fun!

God is so good, and we have so much to be thankful for.  The heritage we have been given by both Irv & Patsy Skaar and Jim & Dixie Wimpee is priceless.  We treasure it and we push forward to make them proud as we join God at work as He builds His kingdom!

Psalms 44:8 says, "In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name forever!"

This Land is my land, this land is your land, from the Red Wood Forest….

Bill took me to see the fabulous Red Woods in California!  This was on my bucket list!  

   

We flew into San Francisco and drove North up to Leggett and drove through the famous Chandlier Tree that is 315 feet tall and approximately 2,400 years old!  Amazing!

We loved driving through "The Avenue of the Giants" and seeing Founder's Grove!

This was our favorite tree in Founder's Grove! 

God's creation at it's best!  

Ephesians 5:21
and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Ephesians 5:22
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…

My appreciation for my husband has been heightened recently. As I have encountered more and more women friends who are presently without a husband/godly man to love her, protect, her, lead her, have fun with her, and share his life with her I am so thankful for my handsome husband who has a heart for God. He is a good provider, protector, travel agent, planner of all things fun, accountant, best friend, and he is my "executive function" coach, which I need! He goes along with any and every kick I get on, whether it be clean eating, DIY projects, or planning places I've always wanted to see! He is a blessing to me and to our children. I do not take having him for granted.
After visiting recently with a number of my Kappa sisters from Baylor I was surprised to learn of so many who have lost their husbands to illness, accident, or divorce. I am happy to say each and everyone of those lovely ladies also gave testimony to God's faithfulness to them and protection over them but I ache for their pain, loneliness, fears, and trials. I will never take my husband for granted. I am resolved to savor everyday and make the most of every hour together. I am resolved to consciously express to him my appreciation, show him affection, and admiration.
I am also newly aware of the many older women in my church and circles of social activities who are now widows and who miss their man. I want to remember to pray for them, encourage them and include them. I do believe God becomes the provider, protector, and companion to widows but still I know from what many have shared with me, these ladies still miss their man, miss those warm hugs and that safety and security they felt all the years they had with their husband. When I was at a visitation for a precious lady who'd lost her husband, she said to me, "I don't know how I'm going to live without his big strong arms to hold me". Makes me tear up just to remember her fresh grief but more so it reminds me to not let the hustle and bustle and daily stress cause me to forget to treasure my handsome husband, to take time to just stop, appreciate, savor, and partake of the blessings of having a wonderful man with a heart for God who loves me and desires me above all other women! I have a heightened appreciation for my man, my husband, my friend. Husbands don't have to be perfect, no one is perfect, but we as wives must be committed to be our husband's encourager, biggest fan, appreciator, admirer, and one who give him endless affection!
How does this apply to you and your life?

Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Angel Fire, New Mexico with our kids and grandson!

We had a wonderful adventure and more snow than we ever imagined!  We are thankful we made it there and back safely and made lots of memories!  God is good!