• Start Here
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Table
    • Together at the Table
    • Food and Such
      • Beverages
      • Bread
      • Breakfast
      • Main Dishes
      • Vegetables & Sides
      • Soups
      • Desserts
  • Writing
    • On Family
  • Happy Designs
  • Connect
    • For You
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

Living Free. (#Write31Days)

October 28, 2014 by HappyGoStuckey 17 Comments

27/31 (#Write31Days)incourage_LetterpressBlocks_img17

In 4th grade, I came home breathless and excited, clutching a blank permission slip and desperately hoping my parents would go for the tennis lessons I wanted. It was the very first time I remember wanting to do something. My mom was hoping I would take piano, like my best friend Heidi, but she agreed to talk it over with my dad. I sat across from both of them feeling nervous and a little giddy that they might just say yes.

Finally my dad said, “Ok– but you can’t quit. Once you start, you have to finish out the year.”

I nodded vigorously and started to picture myself as the next Jennifer Capriati. (Minus the hours of community service she “earned.”)

My mom tried gently one more time, “Are you sure you don’t want piano lessons? Because we really can’t do both..” 

I shook my head no and a smile crept across my hopeful face.

“Okay.” Dad said. “You can do it.” And that was that, I jumped up, gave quick hugs, and excited “thank you’s” and ran off to locate my favorite scrunci and slouchy socks just in time for practice the next day.

****

If you’re wondering why I’ve never mentioned my tennis career, there is a very good explanation. It was terribly short lived. About 6 months later, the school had to plow up the tennis courts to make room for more parking and they never were re-built. So that was that.

So here I am, a non-tennis playing Minister’s wife– who consequently doesn’t know how to play the piano, either. HA!

At one point I asked my mom why she let me take tennis lessons on my own little whim, and I’ve not forgotten what she said, “Because we really didn’t know who you would become– and we wanted you to be free to decide. 

Free. That freedom means a lot more to me now that I’m 32 and a mother myself.

At the time, I was the 5th in a long line of sport-playing, tuition-check needing kiddos– and somehow they sacrificed yet again to allow me the FREEDOM to begin to figure it all out with a Jr. Tennis racket and a pair of shiny white keds.

And by the time those tennis courts were nothing but a parking lot– I had gotten it well out of my system, and they didn’t care one bit.

They let me stretch my wings a little, and it taught me a lot about freedom — and being who you are.

****

Fast Forward to a couple of years ago when our little family blog was the exact spot where I wanted to spend more time. I wrote as often as I could, and it made my heart beat fast to edit, edit, edit and then finally press– publish. The more I wrote, the more I loved writing.

And when I sat down with Lance and told him how I longed to be… an actual writer– he said this, “Go for it. I think you should.” 

And I felt it all over again, that exhilarating breath of air that comes when the people we love the most create the space for us to thrive. The space for us to continue growing, all throughout adulthood to change and become more of who God made us to be.

He is continually doing a new work in us, giving us fresh life and fresh opportunities to grow and serve Him better. That fresh bit of life brings great Freedom as the seasons of our lives change bit by bit.

I hope that our children grow up with the same space around them that I did. The same space I live in today– the space to become– whatever God has created them to be. 

So naturally, when Dayspring asked a few of us what “word” would be special to us as a family, I chose Free. Namely, Free Indeed.

FreeIndeed Letterpress blocks

Because, if the Son has set us Free–(and He has!) than we are Free indeed. Free from the chains of our sin and self– and Free to grow in Him and in this life He has blessed us with.

The gorgeous letterpress blocks can be completely customized to whatever word, phrase or verse is special to you and your family. The fun part is, you can go to their website and play around with the tool to see exactly what your blocks would look like!

incourage_LetterpressBlocks_img05

“The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8: 35, 36

 

**Dayspring is sending me a $25.00 credit in exchange for my honest and heart-felt opinion of these letterpress blocks. I actually won my words, Free Indeed during a Twitter party for #Allume, and the blocks are just as beautiful in person as they are on the site!!

Chicken & Rice and Post-Partum Depression
Allume Moments (2014)

Comments

  1. Blonder than I pay to be... says

    October 28, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    This really made me smile! I literally had perma-grin while reading…Ok so I have it a lot but this even made my heart happy 😉

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 28, 2014 at 4:30 pm

      Hahaha- you know what got me, your, “blonder than I pay to be!!!” Girl. Me too! <3

      Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 30, 2014 at 4:15 pm

      Remember, A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman— Read it girl!

      Reply
  2. Blonder than I pay to be... says

    October 28, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    This really made me smile! I literally had perma-grin while reading…Ok so I have it a lot but this even made my heart happy 😉

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 28, 2014 at 4:30 pm

      Hahaha- you know what got me, your, “blonder than I pay to be!!!” Girl. Me too! <3

      Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 30, 2014 at 4:15 pm

      Remember, A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman— Read it girl!

      Reply
  3. Amy W says

    October 31, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    Popping in from the link up…. Beautiful Word choice and love your back story.

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      November 3, 2014 at 3:34 pm

      Thank you, Amy!

      Reply
  4. Amy W says

    October 31, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    Popping in from the link up…. Beautiful Word choice and love your back story.

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      November 3, 2014 at 3:34 pm

      Thank you, Amy!

      Reply
  5. Lovely Letters says

    November 3, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    Cynthia,
    This is a beautiful and inspiring post. I can never be reminded enough that I am truly free. God loves us with no strings attached and will meet us where we are at. Thank you for that much needed reminder.
    ~Lovelle from DaySpring

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      November 3, 2014 at 3:32 pm

      Hi Lovelle,
      So glad you stopped by! Amazing how we all need to be reminded, and so glad we have this space to offer that remembrance to one another. It truly is a gift worth giving. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Lovely Letters says

    November 3, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    Cynthia,
    This is a beautiful and inspiring post. I can never be reminded enough that I am truly free. God loves us with no strings attached and will meet us where we are at. Thank you for that much needed reminder.
    ~Lovelle from DaySpring

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      November 3, 2014 at 3:32 pm

      Hi Lovelle,
      So glad you stopped by! Amazing how we all need to be reminded, and so glad we have this space to offer that remembrance to one another. It truly is a gift worth giving. 🙂

      Reply
  7. jo says

    November 4, 2014 at 10:21 pm

    Lovely post!

    Reply
  8. jo says

    November 4, 2014 at 10:21 pm

    Lovely post!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 31 Days of Writing Free in October | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    October 28, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    […] 27. Living Free […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply to happygostuckey Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe and receive a Free copy of “Simmer: Six soup recipes and the Stories that Inspired Them.”

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

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.

Instagram

happygostuckey

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!}🤞🏻😂😬
I’m leaning increasingly more into the analog th I’m leaning increasingly more into the analog these days.

It started with the Sourdough and a dozen different kinds of jam last year.
I suddenly find great calm in activities that stand in direction opposition to hurry, the textbook definition of ✨work in progress.✨ And really, if you could see the other side of this piece, you would believe me. 🙃

Thank you to @thebarmyfox for making embroidery so accessible!
@thenester says, “It doesn’t have to be perfec @thenester says, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful,” and I believe that the weeknight meal equivalent is, “Just because it’s easy— doesn’t make it a second-tier supper!”

Thank you, Spaghetti with Meat sauce for being both a ministry to mom AND a crowd pleaser. Especially on a dreary January-ish day. It is ✨quite alright✨ to make something we’ve made a million times just because we know it makes the people happy.🍝
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Categories

Featured Posts

On Waiting & Moving

(And a Recipe for Italian Tortellini Soup) Later this month, our family will celebrate the 10th … [ Read More ]

Five Good Things

Hi. How are you, really? If you're anything like me-- you have moments of complete gratefulness for … [ Read More ]

Winter Favorites

(and why it matters to pay attention to the little things.) "For you are the sunshine-maker in … [ Read More ]

Loving Lately in November

"...all creation's revealing his majesty. We're invited to join with all nature in manifold witness … [ Read More ]

Feasting & Foraging (free for the weekend!) 🍊🌿

I wrote a book, called Feasting & Foraging, and I would like to tell you why. About a year … [ Read More ]

Miss Something?

Please be kind and give proper credit if you share! © Cynthia M. Stuckey. For personal use only, not to be copied, distributed, altered or sold.

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy may be found HERE.

Want each post to magically appear in your email box?

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Cynthia@happygostuckey.com
xo Cynthia
  • Start Here
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Table
  • Writing
  • Happy Designs
  • Connect

© 2021 · Pretty Creative WordPress Theme by, Pretty Darn Cute Design