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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

No Longer Waiting to Exhale (FMF)

July 3, 2014 by HappyGoStuckey 12 Comments

I’ve been sighing all day long. In the last 18 hours, I’ve exhaled many times.

I exhaled when 47 minutes into a 5 hour drive, she asked, “where are we going?” for the 11th time.

I breathed out deep when our lunch-time detour took all four of us to unexpected river-front meal and a few minutes off the interstate did us all a little bit of good.

I exhaled down to my painted toenails when we drove across the rocky driveway of my parents, the same home I once drove away from for college– the home I love to go to sleep in and wake up in and drink coffee in and be someone’s kid in.

Two hours later and another short drive gave way to another familiar home. And the sweet family of two has become a family of three in just the last five days. And he’s perfect. And healthy. And so. very. small. And his parents overflow with all-of-a-sudden HUGE love and just a little bit of exhaustion. And I hold the tiny little image bearer in my arms and look up at her–his mama (!) and she did it! And he’s here! And we exhale together in unbelief and thankfulness. And the exhale squeezes out a few tears of utter and complete relief.

And it is SO good to exhale. And so needed. And I’m so in need of more of this in my life, in my summer.

I need less and less running and more of this stopping to notice the beautiful rhythm of the day.

Stopping to breathe in the gifts and breathe out the Thanks. 

There are so many reasons to exhale all of this grace. So many reasons to be grateful. So much Thanks to give.

 “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”  –John 1:16

Linking up to Five Minute Friday HERE.

Happy Monday!
Belong. (FMF)

Comments

  1. Crystal says

    July 3, 2014 at 10:21 pm

    Beautiful post. I love how you use your words like an artist.

    “I need less and less running and more of this stopping to notice the beautiful rhythm of the day,” reflects my feelings exactly.

    Reply
  2. Marie says

    July 3, 2014 at 10:22 pm

    I love the idea of breathing in the gifts and breathing out the thanks. I usually breathe in the worries, the problems, the tough stuff and exhale anxiety and frustration. Thank you for this good reminder. I need to look at my life right now differently, in light of His goodness and grace.

    Reply
  3. agirlonthedoorstep says

    July 3, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    I love your imagery, and when you express the home where you want to be “someone’s kid.” There is safety in those words. Beautiful!

    Reply
  4. Charlie says

    July 3, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    “Stopping to breathe in the gifts and breathe out the Thanks.” This. Love it!

    Reply
  5. Courtney says

    July 3, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    So. GOOD. Love reading what you write. 🙂 Enjoy being a kid for a bit!

    Reply
  6. Holly Barrett says

    July 3, 2014 at 11:04 pm

    So sweet!! Love that we can breathe in His gifts, just as we breathe in His presence. Perhaps that’s the greatest gift of all. Great post, Cynthia!

    Reply
  7. Anita Ojeda says

    July 4, 2014 at 7:52 am

    Isn’t it wonderful that we can sometimes have the privilege of going ‘home’ to our parents (whether it’s the same house or a different one, it’s our parents that make it home 😉 )? I feel that way once a week when we have dinner and Survivor at my parents’ house.

    Reply
  8. Meredith Bernard says

    July 4, 2014 at 8:59 am

    Oh, yes, Cynthia, I need to do more exhaling of grace this summer, too! I love this thought, “Stopping to breathe in the gifts and breathe out the Thanks.” Yes, that’s what it’s all about. Glad you are in the company of friends and new life…that’s a gift like no other. Blessings to you this 4th of July weekend! xoxo, Meredith

    Reply
  9. Jolene Underwood (@Faith_Eyes) says

    July 4, 2014 at 10:45 am

    New babies, family, home. What a wonderful way to spend your weekend. May you breathe and exhale in life giving, life supporting ways this weekend Cynthia. Enjoy!

    Reply
  10. Karrilee Aggett says

    July 4, 2014 at 11:03 am

    “Stopping to breathe in the gifts and breathe out the Thanks.” Amen, my friend! Amen!

    Reply
  11. amypboyd says

    July 4, 2014 at 11:11 am

    Love this !!! I don’t always think to breath out the thanks. No more often it is questions or complaints that pas my lips. Thanks for the little reminder

    Reply
  12. heidicogdill says

    July 4, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    What a beautiful post! Your imagery makes me miss home and wish for simplier days. Thanks!

    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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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!”

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