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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

Small

February 21, 2014 by HappyGoStuckey 11 Comments

Five Minute Friday

Friday is the day to take part in 5 Minute Friday over at Lisa Jo Baker’s. We are given a one- word prompt and then we write for 5 minutes straight. No editing, No second guessing. So here it is. Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you’re here.

Small. 

Go.

It’s 7,987 miles from our little neighborhood street to Cape Town, South Africa.

That is no small distance. But in just 5 days, you’re going. You’re packing up your suitcase.. complete with gifts to minister to the Mums who love the orphans. The unloved ones. But not by them, not by us. And not by our Savior. They are the LOVED ones.

You’re leaving your dear husband and your three boys and those crazy dogs and you’re going. Because you’ve been called to do this thing by a very big God.

Months back, when our morning walks brought sweating instead of shivering, you shared your heart for this very trip. We prayed. We hoped. You outlined the many mountains God would have to move to get you there.

Well, friend. He moved them. You’re going.

And though you may feel VERY small right now. You may feeling all kinds of anxious thoughts. The enemy is certainly working over time to cause you to doubt. Cause you to fear. Cause you to feel like curling up under your covers with a pint of ice cream and an entire season of Downton Abbey.

Don’t do it. Did you hear me? Don’t DO it.

Know that you are small. Indeed. But HE IS NOT. We serve a BIG God and He has called you. He has equipped you. He goes before you.

Stop and think about that for a minute. He goes before you. He orders your steps. There is nowhere you will be, no one you will see, no little arms that will ask you to pick them up and wrap like a baby monkey around your neck– that He doesn’t already know and ordain. 

So go. Go, even feeling small, to this amazing adventure He has called you to. Love the least of these. Love these that the world will call small. Love them knowing that they are big to a very BIG God.

“Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Isaiah  41:10

**Will you pray for my friend Amy as she takes these big steps in following God? I know she would appreciate it. **

Ice, Ice, Baby
Florida Orange Poundcake

Comments

  1. rllangdon says

    February 21, 2014 at 12:29 pm

    Very exciting! I really love short-term missions. You captured so much of the big adventure here in one small post!

    Reply
  2. jenniferlinck says

    February 21, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    How exciting! I hope your trip is amazing in every way. I have a dream of going to Ethiopia one day. A God-Sized dream.
    Stopping by from Five Minute Friday!

    Reply
  3. jenniferlinck says

    February 21, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    How exciting! I hope your trip is amazing. I hope to someday go to Ethiopia! A God-Sized dream of mine.
    Stopping by from Five Minute Friday!
    Happy Travels!

    Reply
  4. jenpcv says

    February 21, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    How encouraging it is to know that He knows what’s up ahead, even if we don’t. That fear is hard to quiet, but when we do….how amazing it can be! Keep those fears down and go with your heart wide open!

    Reply
  5. Emily Simmons says

    February 21, 2014 at 2:42 pm

    Oh, what a beautiful encouragement.
    “Go, even feeling small, to this amazing adventure He has called you to.” This gave me chills.
    It was great to get to chat with you last night!

    Reply
  6. CW says

    February 21, 2014 at 3:09 pm

    Love this! And, I might not be Amy, but I needed this reminder, too! Kenya, here I come!

    Reply
  7. blestbutstrest says

    February 21, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    What a beautiful tribute of encouragement to your friend Amy and to all of us that fear doing big things–even those we’re called by a big God.

    Reply
  8. christywillard says

    February 21, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    I think sometimes we use “small” as an excuse to not jump in, an excuse to not trust God. You are so right! He is big and He will accomplish His plan through us, even if we feel small. Celebrating the courage Amy has to step out and go in faith!

    Christy @ A Heartening Life
    http://www.ahearteninglife.com

    Reply
  9. Alexis says

    February 21, 2014 at 5:51 pm

    I love you and your encouraging words! Thank you for being real!

    Reply
  10. Mom- Linda Blythe says

    February 21, 2014 at 7:54 pm

    God bless you Amy as you go and give a cup of cold water to the least of these- who are indeed loved by our amazing Holy God. You will be holding those little ones He died for. You will doing it unto Him. WOW! How blessed you are!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Beautiful Feet in Madagascar | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    July 14, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    […] in loud, snort-laughing. What you may not know about her is that she has a BIG heart for missions. Last February, she left her family and traveled 7,987 miles to Cape Town, South Africa to love on little ones and help spread the LOVE of Christ. She came back with an even bigger heart […]

    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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