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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

A Thrill of Hope (& a printable for you.)

December 6, 2017 by HappyGoStuckey 2 Comments

If ever there were a weary world, it is this one.

It would seem that if ever there were a world in need of Christmas, it is the one we walk through now.

But truly? The first world waiting on Christmas had to be the weariest. They had been waiting for Him for so long. Though we are weary now; they were wearier still. When would He come? How long would the wait be?

But still I see the ache of weariness in faces reflecting the glow of a stoplight. I feel it in my tensing shoulders when I dare to open the news. Much of social media is a black hole of more hardness than we can bear.

Our wild world is certainly a weary one.

And it’s tempting to give into the weary way. Our only defense against pervasive fatigue– is joy. Our only hope is to choose to remember the thrill of hope. Not a brave fortune cookie hope that all will turn out okay in the end— but the hope that many around us are scraping for.

It is the thrill of hope that makes the weary world rejoice.
The thrill of the hope that only ever comes in Him– it is the thrill that we know well. A thrill like that of Christmas morning, but better.

I want to live in that hope when the world seems bleak. I want to shine like twinkle lights; not in false happiness but in real, warmness of joy.

I need the whispered liturgy that comes from the church of my quiet car, my bedroom chair, my kitchen sink. Let every harried and hallowed place be a place where He is worshipped.

Even when the hope is mashed up beside the hard, we can know– there is nothing we will ever lose by hoping in our True Hope.

And to know that whatever it takes, even when the waiting seems long, my weary soul can still rejoice.

In thinking on this very thing, I made a little something for you and I, using a line from the beautiful Christmas Carol, O Holy Night. The lyrics are so lovely.

A reminder that even in the bleakest of times, our weary hearts can rejoice. I hope this gift brings that reminder close to you.

Just click below, save the PDF file and send it to your local printshop for printing. (I recommend printing it on cardstock.)

Download this free 8 1/2 x 11 artwork here: The Thrill of Hope-2 

 

Please be kind and give proper credit if you share! © Cynthia M. Stuckey. For personal use only, not to be distributed without permission, not to be altered or sold.

What I Learned & Loved in the Fall.
Scattered Unripe Lemons: A Year In Review

Comments

  1. Denise says

    December 15, 2017 at 7:02 am

    Cynthia,
    Thanks you for this poignant post that adds a bit of calm amidst the chaos of this world. Happy Christmas.
    Solus Christus,
    Denise

    Reply
  2. Amy Kerr says

    October 20, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    I know it’s not Christmas. It seems like sacrilege to talk about it when I still have ghost lights on my bannister.

    But this post is so beautiful, so restorative. It helps me anticipate the season of hope ahead.

    And MAN, you design pretty things! The world is lucky to have your soul in it.

    Reply

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Hey There!

I'm Cynthia and I'm so glad you're here. I am an introvert with an extrovert's love of gathering people together. I love good books and capturing moments. Whether you visit me here or on my own front porch, I'll be the one holding the Iced Coffee for us both.

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happygostuckey

Throwing it back but not way back: remember last y Throwing it back but not way back: remember last year when we *discovered* the whipped, frothy, goodness of Dalgona Coffee?

I made it again today for the express purpose of seeing if it would still work with less sugar and I rather like my lightened up version!

(Tip: in my opinion, it makes enough for two— especially because I use instant espresso— so it’s pretty strong! Not warm where you are yet?  Tap the little flag to save this post for later.)

✨Whipped Coffee✨ 
2 TBS. instant espresso
2 TBS. cold water
1 TBS. maple syrup or simple syrup
1-2 glasses of ice and milk

Whip/ Beat the espresso, syrup, and water with an electric beater, immersion blender, or hand-held milk frother until frothy and light in color. Scoop over the milk and ice and enjoy!
🪡Do I seamstressed to you?🪡 Really though, 🪡Do I seamstressed to you?🪡 

Really though, after completing my first embroidery project, I feel like it might just be the cheapest, prettiest, stress relief out there. I am officially a believer in relaxing this way. And PS, if I can do it, you can.

Thank you, @thebarmyfox for bringing this lovely art into my life!
Joy is the courage of people who don’t have all Joy is the courage of people who don’t have all the answers, yet.

While you sit in a season of waiting,
the calendar can often be a cruel companion, reminding you that days go by, weeks, months— with what feels like very little change in the right direction.

Perhaps you can easily assent to: 
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but you strain to see just how it will be when: “...a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)

Wherever you and I are today— whether we wander, wait, stand firmly planted, or some pressed together combination of all three — we can take heart.

We are not alone.
And this will not be wasted.
What seems to be an unending blank space, an indefinite pause, is a space for new things.

Long before all is made right, and whether or not it all is tied up neatly with a perfectly crafted bow— we can know this:

We do not have to know the outcome to be faithful today.

✨Joy is not disregard for reality as much as it is obstinacy against despair.✨
Hi 👋🏻 I’m Cynthia and I’m a bit weary. T Hi 👋🏻 I’m Cynthia and I’m a bit weary. There. I said it. These days I’m gravitating to the true & the beautiful as rest for my weary self... and I wonder if you are too.

So much so, that I’m starting a new little offering, it’s called “The Feast: Wonder for the Weary” and the first issue goes out this weekend. It’s a bit more personal (okay this first one is WAY more personal. 🤭) It will be a little bit of everything, all with the goal of offering REST to both the feasters & foragers alike. If you’re already a subscriber— no need to do anything, if not— click through my bio to “keep in touch” and join the feast.✨
We are a people of both lament and praise. We hol We are a people of both lament and praise.

We hold questions without answers— yet we hold them in hands already full of good things.

We hold our daily bread, our daily gifts, and we hold the daily closeness of the God Who Sees.

The God who is no stranger to our lament, and Who Is the reason for our every hope.
He does not grow weary of our asking. Of our need to be told again, He will. 

You friend, are not invisible.
You are seen and cared for by the God who does all things well. (Even when they feel anything but.)
Married love ambition: making the kids roll their Married love ambition: making the kids roll their eyes at our “gushy-ness” as often as possible. 

President & CEO of the Lance Stuckey Fan Club— in every season, but especially on days like today.
Rainy day Mocha date, courtesy of our own toasty k Rainy day Mocha date, courtesy of our own toasty kitchen.😍🌧📚

On this chilly Saturday, we spent entirely too long browsing for books at our library and then all came home to a fire, mochas, and cocoa, respectively. Of all the things we do not know at this very moment, we know the gifts abound, and are worth counting.

PS, if you haven’t spread whipped cream on a foil-lined baking sheet to freeze, and then cut out cute shapes with cookie cutters to top your coffee or hot cocoa, may I suggest you get thee on that at once.
“If God sends us on strong paths, we are provide “If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes.” — Corrie Ten Boom

✨File under, things to save in a fire.✨

The prayer journal pictured here contains six months of the hard & the sweet.
Six months of prayers asked & answered for ourselves and for others.
Six months of seeing through prayer, not how it changed our circumstances necessarily but how it changed us.

I always appreciate a record like this— being able to clearly see the paths we are led down, rocky though they may be? Priceless.

The ways God has come near us & drawn us to Himself again and again are written on these pages and I’ll treasure it forever.

Also pictured: Psalms Illuminated Scripture Journal. Highly recommend. Thank you always, @allifarnell
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it th “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

While scrolling through my photos today, my heart was heavy to realize how far back “before” was.

Before masks and distancing, before loss, before other, more personal bits of hard. Multitudinous change, neither all bad nor all good.

With our free time, we’ve introduced our girls to Tolkien, Bilbo, Frodo, and especially Samwise the Brave. They are officially hooked and we are delighted to watch them discover another world where evil doesn’t win, and the courage of the small matters much. {they close their eyes at the Orcs and we haven’t had a nightmare yet!}🤞🏻😂😬
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