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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

The Good Kind of Long Days (#Write31Days)

October 17, 2014 by HappyGoStuckey 14 Comments

Day 17/31

Our family has been needing a little rest and refreshing together, so we found a little cabin in the Georgia Mountains and jumped on it. We packed our cozy socks, fleeces all around, no-bake granola bites, and the ingredients for chili and hit the road last friday afternoon.
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We picked big beautiful apples, which turned into a pretty unforgettable memory of standing in a torrential downpour while our girls wailed at the top of their lungs, but standing out there in that huge apple orchard with absolutely no outside noise and only the smell of all that fresh fruit was surreal.
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We rode the railway into TN and ate Ice Cream Cones on the bank of the river in perfect 70 degree weather. We spent three full days just enjoying together, with very little distraction.

One afternoon the girls rested and Lance and I sat on the back deck and drank piping hot lattes (because you should never leave home without an espresso pot and a milk frother,) and read real books in total silence. And it was in that moment that it hit me– how much more DAY is left when you slow down long enough to watch the minutes pass.
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The quiet was so thick, you could almost hear it– and as the wind whistled through the rapidly falling leaves, I am pretty sure I heard the sound of my own stress and striving melting away with the deep exhale of remembering how to breathe.

The days felt so much longer because there was so much less in them. However, they were far from empty– but rather felt more full than all those days that burst at the seams with hurry and a 3 foot long to-do list. I need more of that in my life. Every day cannot be spent at a cabin with no internet and barely enough square feet to keep everyone from being on top of everyone else– but still. Quiet is so healing. 

It was good for the younger members of our party too– instead of a slightly over-full playroom, there was a small stack of coloring books gracing a sunny spot on the floor by the back door. They laid there on a blanket and colored and giggled and had plenty of silly moments– and it was more than enough. For all of us, it was more than enough and all that we needed. 
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HEY!!! Don’t forget to enter the Away We Go Co. Giveaway over here!!! Only a few more days!

Adjust and a Fun Bloggi-versiary! (#Write31Days)
Granola Bites

Comments

  1. Anita Ojeda says

    October 17, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    I felt myself relax as I read your post–thank you for sharing your beautiful weekend with me :). I especially love the mental image of you picking apples and your kids wailing in the rain ;). That’s classic.

    Reply
  2. Anita Ojeda says

    October 17, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    I felt myself relax as I read your post–thank you for sharing your beautiful weekend with me :). I especially love the mental image of you picking apples and your kids wailing in the rain ;). That’s classic.

    Reply
  3. iwillbloom says

    October 18, 2014 at 12:06 am

    Lovely, lovely, post. Especially liked the line, “how much more DAY is left when you slow down long enough to watch the minutes pass”.

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 18, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      Thank you! So glad you stopped by for a bit.

      Reply
  4. iwillbloom says

    October 18, 2014 at 12:06 am

    Lovely, lovely, post. Especially liked the line, “how much more DAY is left when you slow down long enough to watch the minutes pass”.

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 18, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      Thank you! So glad you stopped by for a bit.

      Reply
  5. Heather N says

    October 19, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    Very beautiful post, and a restful blog. Sounds like exactly what my lil’ family of 4 (with 2 girls) would love, too. I’ll live vicariously through your rest, quiet, espresso, and REAL books until we, too, can get away … 🙂

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 20, 2014 at 7:03 am

      Happy to meet you Heather!

      Reply
  6. Heather N says

    October 19, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    Very beautiful post, and a restful blog. Sounds like exactly what my lil’ family of 4 (with 2 girls) would love, too. I’ll live vicariously through your rest, quiet, espresso, and REAL books until we, too, can get away … 🙂

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      October 20, 2014 at 7:03 am

      Happy to meet you Heather!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 31 Days of Writing Free in October | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    October 20, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    […] 17. The Good Kind of Long Days […]

    Reply
  2. 31 Days of Writing Free in October | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    October 20, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    […] 17. The Good Kind of Long Days […]

    Reply
  3. What I learned in October. | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    November 3, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    […] I learned that someone else’s mistake can be my hidden gift. When we took a long weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains earlier in October, we were excited about the rest, the quiet and the family time. Secretly, I was […]

    Reply
  4. What I learned in October. | Happy Go Stuckey says:
    November 3, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    […] I learned that someone else’s mistake can be my hidden gift. When we took a long weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains earlier in October, we were excited about the rest, the quiet and the family time. Secretly, I was […]

    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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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.🍝
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