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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

DotMom13- Part 1

September 27, 2013 by HappyGoStuckey 2 Comments

**First, thank you all so much for your kind comments, emails, texts and phone calls. My husband did lose his job this past Monday (brief commentary- it was unexpected but we are at peace with God’s direction.) Though we are still reeling from it all, we are trying to take a few days to re-group, rest (stress is so exhausting!!!) and PRAY.  We KNOW that God means this for GOOD and we are excited to see where He leads next. So, THANK YOU so much and we would covet your continued prayers.**

dotMOM-color-horizontal

Last weekend, I was so thrilled to be able to attend the LifeWay sponsored DotMom conference in Chattanooga, TN. I’ve always wanted to go and was simply over the moon about being able to not only attend, but have 6 other moms from our small group go along. We had an absolute blast. It was a little like Summer camp for Mommies. We traveled together, ate our meals together, got ready together, stayed up late talking and laughing together, etc. It was an AMAZING two days of conference fun and of course, we added a little outlet shopping at the end for good measure.

Lauren Chandler & her band led worship and they did a fabulous job of helping us prepare our hearts for worship. She is a beautiful woman, inside and out and if you’ve never heard her sing, you can purchase her first album, The Narrow Place on iTunes for only $5.99. Look her up, you’ll appreciate her story.

The main keynote speakers were Angela Thomas, Vicki Courtney, Jen Hatmaker and John Croyle. Each speaker was absolutely amazing. I attended break out sessions with 3 of the 4 speakers, and I took a BUNCH of notes and wish I could share each little thing with you. I’ll have to settle for a few main quotes instead.

Vicki Courtney, who recently wrote the book, Ever After: life lessons learned from my castle of chaos, spoke about expectations and the infamous, “Fairytale Letdown.” She spoke words of wisdom about what to do when reality doesn’t match our expectations. She said that, “Happily Ever After is a decision YOU make TODAY in the here and now. A choice we make to look for God’s standard — not the world’s idea of the IDEAL.” She spoke a little about Pinterest and how she even has had to shut it down, already when she needed to.  Simple truths but so good to be reminded of.

Jen Hatmaker. WHOA. first of all, that girl can rock a high bun and look so hip!

IMG_1754

See? Anyway, enough about her sense of style.

She. was. AWESOME. I was privileged to hear her twice, once in a smaller session. A few things she said: (so passionately!)

“Speak of God’s plans for their lives from the time they are in diapers.” (She spoke against raising fearful children, and instead raising kids who Love Jesus. Period. ) She opened my eyes a little bit more to the importance of DISCIPLING our children and how the focus needs to be on God’s leadership over their lives from the beginning.

During our last evening session, she shared a little bit more about “Parenting Diligently NOT Fearfully.” She wisely said that “In Motherhood, fear makes an already hard job even harder.” So. Very. True.  She also left us with this, “Live it. Or you have NO HOPE of leading it. (to your kids.)”

And then she shared the most beautiful video of the day they brought home their last two children. Grab the tissues, You’re going to need them.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMQuXTG2ndY&w=640&h=480]

 

More DotMom fun to come next week, stay tuned!!

Twelve Minute Creamy Pesto Pasta
The Unexpected Ministry of a Four-Year Old

Comments

  1. Keisha says

    September 27, 2013 at 9:14 pm

    I’m excited to hear Jen Hatmaker next month at MomCon for MOPS! Maybe she’ll share some if the same stuff!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. DotMom- Part Two and a Book Giveaway!!! | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    October 2, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    […] If you missed my first post on DotMom 2013 in Chattanooga, TN– find it HERE.  […]

    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

Some of the rhythms we took up in ‘20 we will co Some of the rhythms we took up in ‘20 we will continue to sigh into in ‘21.
Baking sourdough, watching it bubble and rise and fill our BlueHouse with the scent of a good, long, posture of patience— I absolutely need a second serving of this.
While we wait, and whatever it is that we wait for— may the space between be made sweeter by the knowledge that we never wait alone.
You can’t tell by their joy, but the day I snapp You can’t tell by their joy, but the day I snapped this photo was somewhat of a regular day.

What looks like a winter beach vacation was actually the tail-end of a masked lunch stop in the middle of a pandemic road trip.

This sparkling moment of sun-splashed fun was sandwiched between brutal conversations about regular life, especially the hard parts.

And this is how it is. 
These bits of life that we never see coming, they are enveloped between all that makes us tired, weary, sighing pilgrims in a world that was never really meant to be hospitable in the first place.

This photo reminds me to look again at our year, our season, our circumstances.

To look a second and third time.
To keep looking as long as it takes to see that the joy of our right now isn’t gone, it just might be hiding in the shadow of all that’s hard.

Brokenness is never vague. And we don’t have to search very long to see it both within ourselves and around us.
Sometimes the weight of that fact is crushing.
And then, sometimes it reminds us even more clearly of the light shining in darkness.

Joy is an act of defiance against despair and I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling rather defiant at the moment.✨✨✨✨

@hopewriters #hopewriterlife 
#feastingandforaging #hopelenses #getaftergrateful
Endurance can feel like standing still. Especially Endurance can feel like standing still. Especially if what we’re called to be about is the same as yesterday and last month. 
It’s difficult to meet each day with the same fervor and joy for what we are called to do, especially when at present, the progress seems small and immeasurable. 
But even then, perhaps especially so — our faithfulness matters.

When we cannot yet see the other side, the light at the end of this particularly long tunnel, we begin again.

Not because we will always wake with fresh energies and bright, sparkling hope for what comes next, friend. But because the God of Endurance (Romans 15:5) dwells within us.

“It is the grace of endurance granted to you by the God of endurance that provides you with everything you need to continue to be what he calls you to be and do what he calls you to do between this moment and the moment when you cross over to the other side. When difficulty exposes the weakness of your resolve and the limits of your strength, you do not have to panic, because He will endure even in this moments when you don’t feel able to do so yourself.” — Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies

#hopewriterlife
Stuckey, party of two. Always ready to run out for Stuckey, party of two. Always ready to run out for paper towels... especially if the store is in convenient proximity to a quick date for croissants and dirty chai for two. Love my forever coffee companion even more at the start of this new year. Wherever he’s going, I’m riding shotgun.
We have learned... The inestimable value of a goo We have learned...

The inestimable value of a good camp chair, for they have been used for everything from soccer benches and coffee dates to theatre seats and church pews.

What our neighborhood streets can offer in the way of an outing—from the colors of spring to the sparkle of Christmas.

To hold plans with the loosest hands possible.

To rejoice in things found. Time. Margin. ...and enough toilet paper to share with a neighbor.

To give grace and accept it for ourselves.

The hilarious joy of a group text complete with “have you seen this meme yet?” 

To pivot. And then pivot again.

To find more joy in candlelight closer to home, instead of the bright lights of traveled cities.

To perfect our pizza dough recipe and truly learn to prefer it over dinner out.

To work with yeast and flour again and again— until the message of waiting for something really good dusted our apron fronts and kitchen floors.

And in our house, we learned how to be unexpectedly unemployed. We learned how to honor that new found space with needed grief and desired hope. How to be grateful for true friends who prayed with us, held questions with us, and hoped with us. We were reminded of our true identity and that it will never rest in a job. 

In a year in which we’ve all lost quite a lot, you and I have been given so much as well. Some of what we’ve lost we have learned to be without. Some, we won’t go looking for again.

In 525,600 minutes and in all the things, found and lost and found again— there is far and away more to be grateful for.

And we choose joy.

✨Happy New Year, dear friends!✨
Not rushing too quickly into a new year over here. Not rushing too quickly into a new year over here. Though the one in our rear view window is one we wouldn’t choose to repeat, still it was one full of God’s nearness.

One day I’ll write it all down.
But for now I’ll just say,
we were not alone. 🕯
“Once in our world, a Stable had something in it “Once in our world, a Stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.”
C.S.Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

Joy to the World, friends.
Behold. The most apropos Christmas Eve 2020 desser Behold. The most apropos Christmas Eve 2020 dessert ever. Made from a wonky gingerbread cake that did not cooperate.
We shall not go quietly into 2021.
We will fight back with beauty and joy and candles... and fresh whipped cream made by an eleven year old with sparkly green eyes. 🎄❤️✨
Merry Christmas from the Fam! { 👉🏻 swipe for Merry Christmas from the Fam! { 👉🏻 swipe for Stuckeys in their natural habitat.) 🎄🕯❤️✨
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