• 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

Speaking Love

May 28, 2014 by HappyGoStuckey 5 Comments

I saw her standing next to the milk.

Her little girl had chocolate brown eyes and animal cracker crumbs stuck to her sticky face.

I walked by, gave her a small smile and she ducked her head, apologetically making a funny comment about “having to open the cookies just to finish her shopping.”

I knew. I had been there yesterday.. except it was a hastily opened bag of goldfish and my little one was having a very loud “moment” until I distracted her with a snack.

I nodded my head and told her as much.

Immediately, I saw it on her face. Safety. She visibly relaxed and then went on to ask if she could ask me a question.

She did and we talked for a minute about babies and toddlers and how to try to just get them to eat-for-crying-out-loud. 

I sensed something in her that I had felt in my own heart a hundred times so I spoke brave to this stranger/ fellow mama.

I said, “Hey you’re doing a good job. You’re just the mom she needs.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she said, “Thank you. Thank you very much. I’m trying.”

She walked away and I wondered if anyone was regularly encouraging her. Anyone in her corner? Telling her she’s a beautiful mom? Smiling at her with kindness?

I missed an amazing opportunity to try to connect with her more, but when I looked for her she was gone.

As I walked away I realized what an amazing gift you give someone when you just…. say something kind. Be a blessing. SEE THEM.

Because, we really never know. We never know what their life is like. What their heart is like.

And it goes far beyond kind words. It’s the Gospel that takes our kindness from self-help to actual words of Life. 

Last September, we became intimately acquainted with the ministry of encouragement. Not because we were experts in encouraging others but because we needed a whole lot of encouragement.

And 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, God sees our hurts, our needs, our struggles and He KNOWS. He is Jehovah El Roi. The God who sees. 

The God who sees. That puts a whole entirely new meaning and wonder to being encouraged. And to being the encourager. 

He is All-Sovereign and All-knowing and He could have chosen a different way to make us, a different way for us to be made– but He did not.

He made us for community and for one another and for Him. We GET to encourage one another. WE GET to be the living love of Christ to others. WE GET to allow the light of the World to shine into and out of our dark places.

We are given the gift of being the Grace Gift to one another. 

 

Linking up with these amazing ladies over here on the Power of Encouragement. 

Close & Comfortable (FMF)
Nothing to Change. (FMF)

Comments

  1. Deb Anderson Weaver says

    May 28, 2014 at 10:26 am

    This is beautiful and so true.

    Deb Weaver

    Reply
  2. charity Hassel says

    May 28, 2014 at 11:10 am

    now that my kids are out of that toddler stage I look for moms like this- the ones with three kids in and on the shopping cart, trying to patiently handle it all… I love to say things like… you’re doing a good job, hey, we’ve all had those days.. it gets better, you have your hands full but your heart fuller! encouraging others is a delight! (:

    Reply
  3. jenpcv says

    May 28, 2014 at 2:03 pm

    Bringing tears to my eyes today! What a lovely experience…makes me think how I can impact others in a similar way-those simply, everyday acts that make a person’s day.

    Reply
  4. Meredith Bernard says

    May 28, 2014 at 2:18 pm

    Great thoughts today, Cynthia. I had a similar incident happen to me recently, except I was on the receiving end. I was in the shopping line with my two littles and the woman in front of me heard me say that we were in a hurry to my little girl asking so many questions. She gave me her place in line and said she remembered the days…and she missed them. I found safety in her eyes, in her words and in her gift. She has no idea how what she did affected me and I wish I could go back and hug her. Tell her thank you again. I don’t think she knew what her little bit of encouragement did to make my night better. I learned from her how important it is to be on guard and to be looking for opportunities to encourage someone else. Sorry for the novel of a comment. 😛 Always encouraged by your words. 😉

    Reply
  5. Jennifer says

    May 28, 2014 at 4:06 pm

    Beautiful. I had a similar experience last night at a restaurant. I love your statement, “It’s the Gospel that takes our kindness from self-help to actual words of Life. ” So true! God is a faithful farmer. He will bless the seeds you planted!

    Reply

Leave a Reply 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

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. 🎄❤️✨
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