So remember when I said I was back to blogging? Well, apparently I lied because I’ve been doing a terrible job! Here is a random assortment of updates.

Baby:

I am now 20 weeks pregnant. Halfway there! I cannot believe the first half of pregnancy has come and gone already. And in case you missed it, it’s a girl! You can watch our gender reveal video in the previous post. We went for our ultrasound Tuesday morning. It was so great to see our sweet baby again! Our last ultrasound was at 7 weeks which hardly looked like a baby at that point. They measured baby girl’s brain, kidneys, heart, etc. Everything looked perfect. We then had the ultrasound tech put the gender reveal photo in an envelope to give to our best friends.

We both were pretty sure it was a boy. Wrong! Our friends came over that night with gifts for us to open that would reveal the gender. They were perfect, and it was so much fun!

 

Zach and I are so excited to meet Nora Evaline Skaggs! We chose the name Nora because we both absolutely loved it. Evaline (pronounced Ev-uh-leen) is a name created from both of my grandmothers’ names, Evelyn and Nadine. I love that Nora will always have a little bit of two women who I love dearly.
I can now feel Nora wiggling around. Her movements are not strong or consistent at this point, but I love feeling her move. I am feeling great and trying to savor each and every moment of pregnancy.

Uganda

I have had two yard sales. The first got rained out after just a couple of hours. We rescheduled for another Saturday. Woke up that Saturday and….it was raining. We postponed it again to the next day on Sunday. To say I was frustrated and discouraged would be an understatement. We ended up doing pretty well (thank you to all of you who donated items!). There were some great opportunities for me to share about my passion with our shoppers which is one of my favorite parts about fundraising. I just love hearing all of the reactions from people, the good and bad. People were able to see some of the pictures from my last trip. I absolutely love sharing stories about the sweet faces in the photos.

 

 

I’ve got to tell you though. I have had a pretty stinky attitude. Fundraising, working, volunteering at church, and being pregnant is hard. Preparing to go to Africa while pregnant is hard and scary. Unfortunately, I have been guilty of wallowing in pity on more than one occasion lately. When fundraising isn’t going so well, and I am terrified at times to go on this trip, it’s easy to get discouraged and say, “That’s it! I’m not going!”

But here’s the thing, I believe God called me to do this. And where in scripture does He ever say the road would be easy or would not be scary? I am pretty sure I have never read that. Yet, while I know this, it is still easy to forget and decide to give up instead. I have to believe that if He has called me to co-lead a trip to Uganda, then He has perfectly equipped me with everything I need to do so. I have to remind myself that He will never leave me, that nothing is impossible with Him. (Please note: anyone who wants to keep reminding me of this is totally allowed.)

What excites me about all of this is that this feels like one of the biggest, scariest things He’s ever called me to. Which means this is one of the biggest opportunities I have ever had for growth. That’s exciting! I am learning a lot about giving up control and trusting in God. Pregnancy, mission trips, and motherhood are not things that control freaks always cope well with. I like to handle things myself, and I like having a plan. I feel like one by one God is prying my fingers back to open my hands to all that He has for me. He is so faithful even when I am so faithless.

Fundraising

All of our funds are due November 27th. I would love to tell you that I am 100% funded, but that’s not the case. In fact, I am still about $1,500 away right now. If you feel lead to support me, I can never express how much you bless me. Please do not ever feel like a donation is too small. When you are fundraising and preparing for a mission trip, just getting a word of encouragement from someone is huge.

If you are interested in supporting my trip there are a couple of fun ways to do that right now. You can simply make a donation via PayPal using the link on the top right.

I still have a few Ugandan paper necklaces for sell. They are $20 each and gorgeous!

Until November 17th I have a Premier Jewelry Catalog fundraiser going on. You can go to http://nancyskaggs.mypremierdesigns.com/ and enter the password “nancy” to view the catalog. Then call or email my fabulous mother-in-law at 330-720-0929 or nlskaggs@gmail.com to order. Perfect for Christmas shopping!

Overall, life is beautifully hard right now. I feel challenged in every area. But the things that challenge me are such amazing blessings. I know that it is said all the time, but I could never have imagined this life for myself. It is so much better.