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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

I Wasn’t Prepared…

October 28, 2013 by HappyGoStuckey 16 Comments

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Last night I returned from one of the most amazing weekends of my entire life. I’m definitely still processing all I learned and I’m sure it will take days before I can put into words all that God taught me there.

After the events of the last few weeks, I was prepared for God to speak to my heart in a big way. The spiritual attacks on our family ranged from mildly frustrating to nearly debilitating. There was the sickness with head colds that rounded our family and then the revolting stomach bug that landed our littlest in the hospital over night (out of town!)  and then temporarily leveled the rest of us just days before I was to leave for Allume. Not to mention the near final-blow of becoming a “no-income” family just four weeks ago. Throw in a couple appliances breaking down (again.) and I was 100% convinced that Satan was waging an all-out battle to get me to give up and stay home. Through it all, the message was quite clear that I should still go, so went I did. With the anticipation of learning the treasures He wanted to teach me. So I was prepared for something great. 

I was not, however, prepared for several other things.

I was not prepared for the lovely change in weather, rendering half my wardrobe useless. (YAY FOR FALL!!!)

I was not prepared to be loved on again and again by the organizers, sponsors and speakers of Allume. I had heard of the amazing SWAG– but oh. my. word! Here’s a photo of SOME of the books and lovely gifts we received. Blessed!

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Whoa! Thank YOU!

I was not prepared to start making real connections twenty minutes after I arrived. The first person I met was a member of Allume staff who is right now, in the midst of waiting on her 2 adopted daughters to come home from across the world. While working registration together, she shared a bit about how they had been waiting about twice as long as the normal timeframe. I immediately became connected with this mama in my heart, and have committed to pray that God would MOVE MOUNTAINS if needed, and get these sweet girls home by Christmas. Will you please take a minute and pray for them as well? Her name is Christin and you can read a bit of their story by clicking on the link above.

I was not prepared for the friendships! ( I know.) During the Newbie Meet-up Mingle, I seriously wanted to run, not walk, back to my hotel room and watch some HGTV out of denial that anything called a MINGLE was going on and I was supposed to be a part of it. But a few minutes in, I started talking to Amanda, (who frankly had the same blogger-in-the-headlights look) and we found out how small the world really is. So many writers, bloggers, women with stunning hearts and unique spheres of influence– and I was blessed to meet many of them!

I was not prepared for the QUALITY of the Allume Conference. I was completely unaware that this was only the 4th year running, and could not tell from the attention to detail, the beauty of the decor, and the caliber of each speaker! I was 100% blown away and am so thankful to have had a part.

I went to Allume as a “Mom who happens to have a blog.” But I left Allume as a Woman who is confident that God has given her a passion for writing for a reason. I went hoping to become a better writer, but I left as someone who is not concerned with being “good enough” but is focused on being “available.”  I am even more convinced of who He has made me and I’m utterly grateful to be able to worship Him in this way. I now understand why I feel most relaxed and content when I am writing. Writing is a very personal form of worship for me and my desire is that it would ALWAYS make great the name of God. My hope is that I will continue to live in what I believe is an aspect of His calling for me. 

I was NOT PREPARED to leave my fears, inadequacies, comparisons, and concerns in Greenville, South Carolina. But God is faithful and He reminded me that He is not the author of fear or confusion and that He has placed me right where I am for a time and a purpose!

I’m not here because I’m there…
A Fresh Lens

Comments

  1. bennettaj says

    October 28, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    Woo Hoo! That picture surprised me when I clicked over 🙂 I can’t believe you and Amanda had just met–you were like old friends! So glad God met you there this weekend.

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 29, 2013 at 11:20 am

      Haha! Amy, I thought I should have warned you… 🙂 The only other one I brought home was the GIF… and well, that was just *special*

      Reply
  2. Christin says

    October 28, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    So happy to have met (and worked with) you! Your words in my journal are a beautiful blessing and I thank you so much for covering our adoption in prayer. I cannot tell you how much that means to me. Your prayers have helped restore peace to my heart. *Thank you*.

    Reply
  3. Amanda says

    October 28, 2013 at 10:51 pm

    So thankful for how our steps were orchestrated this weekend! Can’t wait to see how the words we heard impact us both going forward!

    Reply
  4. Kasey says

    October 28, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    First of all, I am sooooo glad you had such a great time! You deserved it! Second, I am so glad that you have found such a passion and ministry to serve the Lord! Third, I want to borrow Kisses From Katie when you are done! I’ve started reading it at Barnes and Noble when I’ve taken Kyle to play there and never bought it. 🙂 I love your blog and that it is such a reflection of you and your heart and the Lord!

    Reply
  5. Logan Wolfram (@lifefordessert) says

    October 29, 2013 at 12:32 am

    You will be pleased to know that as we were cleaning up, we found your left fears, inadequacies, comparisons, and concerns…it seemed like you intentionally left them, so we took the liberty of throwing them in the garbage with the rest of the trash for you. It’d just not be worth it to ever return ship anything so heavy and entirely unwelcome. Heaps of blessings on you! I love how the Lord used the weekend to speak this huge amount of life over you! Walk in it girl! We applaud you and join arms with you in your curiosity and availability to the exciting things of the Lord!

    Reply
  6. Vanderbilt Wife says

    October 31, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    I am SO glad we got to sit next to each other at that first dinner. It was wonderful to swap stories of grace, and I am remembering you and your family in my prayers.

    Reply
  7. Katie E says

    November 1, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    Absolutely loved this post. I feel the same passion growing in my heart and feel so blessed to have read your words today – “I left Allume as a Woman who is confident that God has given her a passion for writing for a reason.” I hope to attend the next conference. Thank you for sharing your experience!

    Reply
  8. Katie Emanuel says

    November 1, 2013 at 11:41 pm

    I so enjoyed reading this post. I have felt the same passion for writing stirring in my heart and connected with your words, especially “I left Allume as a Woman who is confident that God has given her a passion for writing for a reason…Writing is a very personal form of worship for me and my desire is that it would ALWAYS make great the name of God.” Thank you for sharing your heart! I hope to attend the next conference 🙂

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      November 4, 2013 at 8:55 pm

      Katie, Thank you for your kind words. I would LOVE to meet you at the next Allume!!!

      Reply
  9. Meredith Bernard says

    July 30, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    Ok, now I’m doubly excited to attend Allume this year Cynthia! I’m so glad you shared this with me. Your experience sounds a lot like mine at She Speaks this year…so to think that I get to do that all over again with more amazing friends is beyond me. 😀 Yay for people that get us and a God that lets us worship Him in this way. I love how you put that. 😉 Can’t wait to meet you! xoxo, Meredith

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      July 30, 2014 at 4:49 pm

      Yes, Meredith! Now we just get to count down the days together!!!

      Reply
  10. leeanngtaylor says

    July 31, 2014 at 6:28 am

    Thank you to Meredith for sharing this on Twitter so the rest of us #Allumenewbies this year could also read. I’m so excited to see what God will do there. My introverted self has signed up to volunteer to get past the newbie-blogger-in-the-headlights feeling. 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    December 22, 2015 at 10:43 am

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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

I saw a magazine cover this week advertising the h I saw a magazine cover this week advertising the headline, “Ditch Gratitude!” 

This is my “No thanks,” face.
My grateful face.
My you-can’t-make-me-face.
Because no matter how long the list of things we still don’t know, I know I need gratitude like water.

Questions remain. Uncertainties abound. Reasons for concern greet us with each January dawn.

Hope remains and so do questions. The two have never been enemies, but cozy next door neighbors.
I’ll keep my gratitude, thank you.
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. 🎄❤️✨
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