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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

The Unexpected Ministry of a Four-Year Old

September 30, 2013 by HappyGoStuckey Leave a Comment

It was exactly one week ago at the kitchen sink that I saw it.

Lance’s car pulling into the driveway. Two whole hours early. (Complete with the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.) I immediately knew. All those prayers we prayed for God to make our paths straight and clear? He had begun. He just closed a door. He had just made one thing end in order to bring about something else. And as we grappled with different emotions and tried desperately to take deep breaths, PRAY… and we had an audience. They were playing with dolls in the next room.

We put forth every effort to remain upbeat and joyful, so as not to frighten them… the older is SO perceptive.  Especially in those next few hours. At one point, she found me *hiding* in the pantry, questioning the next step. She said, “Mommy. I LUD (love) you. Do you KNOW that I LUD you? I do. I LUD you A LOT.” 

unexpectedministry

That was the first of many instances this week that God artfully used the beautiful, innocent love of our children to pour balm on our exhausted and tentative hearts.

And not just through our children. God has brought encouragement from every. single. corner. of our world. Everyone we have come in contact with has been so kind. So thoughtful. So quick to want to help. So generous. The amount of kindness we have been recipients of has been so much more than a huge blessing. It’s been HUMBLING.

Yes, this causes us to realize what great family and friends we have. But more than that even, we realize (again) how great our God is. Every little thing, keeps saying. “I love you. I’m faithful. And I love you.” Every well-timed song we hear, ministers to us in our season of uncertainty and causes us to stop. And worship the God who saw this coming. He heard our 3 years of frustrated prayers as we prayed for an open door. He heard and He acted FOR us. 

Undoubtedly, we have… moments. Moments when all we see is the sudden turn of events and our complete inability to change things. I was having one of these moments on Friday. Alone for an hour, I tried to fit in a Dr’s appointment. I walked into the reception area to check in, and was directed to a new girl I hadn’t met before. There, plain as day, taped to her computer was a tattered strip of paper, with one verse–

“The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:14 

IMG_1815

YES. Because when you watch your husband faithfully work and strive and struggle and then be let go… You NEED a God who fights battles and gives peace.

Every little thing He uses to comfort us– it stops us dead in our tracks of frustration and causes us to stand awestruck at what He is doing. Because we know HE IS WORKING.

But when we’re in the thick of it, we falter. We see what’s in front of us, which is a little foggy, and we strain to see clearly… until our eyes ache from squinting to see the clarity that just isn’t there. Not yet.

But, Oh He is Faithful! Faithful to keep gently reminding us.

Through His Word.

Through sermons that seem so well-timed, that surely there is a wire-tap on our phones, feeding our pastor his next topic.

Through the generosity of others.

Through the girls.

Yesterday while leaving church, Lucy (in the backseat with her craft– A paper world she colored and taped the day’s Bible verse to.)  Any idea what the verse was? Jeremiah 29:11. And from the back seat, she said, “Mommy? Daddy? God said, For I know the plans I have for you!!!” 

This being after the beautiful sermon on trusting God and surrendering to His will–

We just looked at each other and shrugged while laughing around the joy of knowing we. were. LOVED.

Today, I picked Lucy up from school and pulled over to buckle her in. I opened her folder as I always do, and spotted a post-it note from her sweet director.

“NO Tuition due for October. Payment made by an Anonymous donor.” 

Meanwhile, from the backseat, I hear my little encourager sing–  (and please know, I could not make this up.)

“Oh how He loves you and me…. Oh how He loves you and me…” 

I did NOT hold myself together at that point. It was just too much. Too much love lavished on us by people who want to bless us. Too much grace poured out from our Father. Too much hope in knowing He is at work. Too much anticipation as we watch what He does next.

Too. Much.

DotMom13- Part 1
DotMom- Part Two and a Book Giveaway!!!

Comments

  1. Kasey says

    September 30, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    This whole post has made me cry! I’m so glad that you are finding God in so many places during this time. “NO Tuition due for October. Payment made by an Anonymous donor.” …that is awesome! Definitely praying for you, friend!

    Reply
  2. Amanda E. says

    September 30, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    Bawling…He is truly amazing.

    Reply
  3. Jade McEwen says

    September 30, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    LOVE LOVE LOVE! And we LOVE you all so much! God is so faithful and I’m so glad to hear how He is taking care of you. : )

    Reply
  4. Courtney Sexton says

    October 1, 2013 at 11:46 am

    I’m speechless. And overcome with thankfulness that He has been so gracious to you. And what a little minister Lucy is… I’m just in awe. What a way to start the day…

    Love you,

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Speaking Love | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    May 28, 2014 at 10:13 am

    […] the most undeniably amazing thing we learned? God KNEW exactly what we needed to be encouraged. That’s the True Power of Encouragement. That no matter the form the encouragement comes in, […]

    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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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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