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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

The Sabbath for Servants

November 20, 2014 by HappyGoStuckey 9 Comments

By 7:25am on Sunday I had already cleaned up two little messes, changed one diaper, fixed 2 sippy cups of milk, folded up the blankets, made the beds and was half way through breakfast prep.

And standing there in the kitchen I pondered the word, Sabbath and it immediately led me to Remember the Sabbath to Keep it Holy…

As the youngest of five children, I saw my mom rise before the sun– clad in her pink robe and bare feet, standing watch at a skillet of scrambled eggs and smiling over her coffee cup as we padded in the kitchen one by one. Sometimes, the happy dusting of flour all over the counter tops and a quick peek through the stove window confirmed the smell of homemade biscuits.

Sometimes it was a piece of nearly burnt cheese toast hastily served up while we all ran out the door, pulling on shoes and tucking in shirts and smoothing unruly hair– but either way, she was always at the helm of our ship— making provisions for us all as we made our way to church on Sunday morning. Once or twice I wondered… when was her Sunday? Who would make her breakfast so she could enjoy a break? When would her Sabbath come? But mostly, I just ate my own breakfast, filled my seat in the family grocery-getter and never questioned the way things were.

And many trips around the sun later, I’m the mom. Biscuit baker. Cup-Filler. Smile-bringer. Hair-smoother. And to be truthful, sometimes it feels like I also wear the label, Non-Sabbath taker.

SabbathforServants

And as I struggle with the push and pull of being both provision-maker and desperate needer of a Sabbath myself– I know there are things we can do to cut back on all the doing– and make time for the resting. And sometimes we do them. Takeout Sunday lunch. Extra planning on Saturday. Frozen waffles. And just letting some things go until Monday.

But I also know that life just is. And Sundays are a day that little people still need the same help they need the other six.

Whether a mother or a Minister or an ICU nurse, not everyone can take a service-free Sunday. And I’m just not sure that is what Sabbath means after all.

The hands that serve others for God are hands that worship simultaneously. Perhaps we are the best multi-taskers when we first put our hands up toward Heaven to offer up our first bits of sacrifice.

I know that if asked, my mom would not say she missed out on those few extra hours of Sunday morning sleep. More likely, she would say that God gave them back to her twenty fold in watching her children grow to know Christ.

And some might say that the two are not related. But as one of those pajama clad kids who always woke up to such Sunday mornings, I would disagree.

Nothing is secular when done for the honor of the sacred. Nothing is ordinary when done with the hands and feet of Christ. And for all the moms (and dads!) standing in all the kitchens today, for all the grandparents who are doing it again for another generation, it matters. For the policeman standing guard instead of sitting with the paper, it makes a difference. For the leaders in our churches who get up and get at it so Sundays can happen, we need you. We need you all. 

So go hard after it for the Glory of God.

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Why Your Mailbox will be Stuckey-Less this Year

Comments

  1. hopeful50 says

    November 20, 2014 at 11:23 am

    Beautifully written and heartfelt. Maybe our Sabbath rest comes when we finally go home!

    Reply
    • Tobi@SimplyJesus says

      November 20, 2014 at 4:06 pm

      Amen, Susan!

      Reply
  2. Jolene says

    November 20, 2014 at 1:59 pm

    What a beautiful post!

    Reply
  3. Jolene says

    November 20, 2014 at 1:59 pm

    What a beautiful post!

    Reply
  4. Tobi@SimplyJesus says

    November 20, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    I will start by saying that I am blessed abundantly and everything is for God’s glory, but…I am head of Children’s Ministry and one of those who are at church 2 hours before it starts and an hour after it ends.. (we set up and tear down everything every week because we rent a building on Sundays) sometimes I would give anything to walk into service when it starts and get up and leave at the end. Thank you for the acknowledgement and encouragement.

    Reply
  5. Tobi@SimplyJesus says

    November 20, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    I will start by saying that I am blessed abundantly and everything is for God’s glory, but…I am head of Children’s Ministry and one of those who are at church 2 hours before it starts and an hour after it ends.. (we set up and tear down everything every week because we rent a building on Sundays) sometimes I would give anything to walk into service when it starts and get up and leave at the end. Thank you for the acknowledgement and encouragement.

    Reply
  6. Sarah Parsons (@sarahparsons) says

    November 22, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    I love this. One of my friends who is a pastor’s wife said something interesting one time – she talked about how they took their Sabbath on Mondays (her husband’s day off). I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but really liked the conscious effort they took to honor having a day of Sabbath rest. That said, I still haven’t quite figured out what that looks like as a mom of littles. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Sarah Parsons (@sarahparsons) says

    November 22, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    I love this. One of my friends who is a pastor’s wife said something interesting one time – she talked about how they took their Sabbath on Mondays (her husband’s day off). I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but really liked the conscious effort they took to honor having a day of Sabbath rest. That said, I still haven’t quite figured out what that looks like as a mom of littles. 🙂

    Reply

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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.
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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.

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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

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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...

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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. 

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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.”
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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.
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