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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

These Moments of Grace

June 15, 2014 by HappyGoStuckey 4 Comments

On the day you asked me that breathless question with shining eyes and a blue velvet box, I needed no time to think.

And on the day (Five years and 20 days ago to be exact-) you sat near my head, us both wearing paper shower caps and holding our breath as the Doctor pulled her out and up and she, pink faced and protesting like a kitten– miffed at her eviction from her warm nest, made parents out of a crazy in love couple– I knew I was glad I said yes.

Yes to you. Yes to our life. Yes to babies after only a year. Yes to forever.

And when we staggered with cups in front of the coffee pot, after precious little sleep– I was thankful to be leaning on you.

When I went back to work and you stayed home with a 9 week old bundle– to be a Daddy and look for work– I cried. Because I wasn’t there. But also so grateful you were.

When there was a miscarriage of hope before we even got used to the idea of being a family of four– you let me grieve. You loved our little family with outstretched arms and helped me see the hope that we would grow again some day soon.

When we packed up our whole life and moved two states away, we were all anxious to peek round the corner and see the beauty that was to be in the next chapter of our life together.

Transitions. We had many and you led us all to trust, and to wait.

Then the joy and the surprise and the beautiful wait came again… and another operating room. More paper shower caps for you and for me and another sweet baby girl, blessed with your cheek bones and silly- wonderful sense of humor.

You held both these babies so tenderly, both fresh to new life and still blinking at the light of it all. And you hold them now, and me- with the gracious, gentle love we have come to rest in, and sometimes take for granted.

They run, squealing from each corner of the house, when you come in each day. They trust you. They rest in you. They want to make you proud. And you listen. And you dance. And you play. You teach them what life more abundantly looks like. 

And they are learning. Yes, learning how to ride a bike. Learning how to not scream in terror at every fly in their vicinity. Learning how to control their emotions and act with kindness toward one another. Learning what a family is. Learning God’s grace. His patience and love.

They are learning Love.

They know how precious they are to you. And so do I.

And all these moments, all these moments add up to many years and the years fly right by. We mark the years in birthday candles and anniversaries and “oh they need new shoes again.” And it all adds up to more joy than I ever thought possible.

It adds up to millions of moments of grace. There have been many defining moments of grace. Moments I never saw coming, or some that I might have. Moments that cause me to stop right in my tracks to Praise HIM for giving us each other. For giving us this life together. For giving us all you.

We are blessed with you as the leader and shepherd of our family. You as my husband. You as their daddy.

Today is Father’s Day. But YOU are OUR gift.

 

Scanned Pictures 072An Interview with Lucy and Birthday Fun!!! Family Photos! Little did we know...

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A little bit of Happy for your Wednesday

Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    June 16, 2014 at 8:04 am

    Cindy, that was truly beautiful! What a gift you have for words!

    Reply
  2. Meredith Bernard says

    June 16, 2014 at 9:08 am

    What a beautiful tribute to your husband and the father of your children. XOXO

    Reply
  3. Paula says

    June 17, 2014 at 7:33 am

    This is beautiful!

    Reply
  4. Kate says

    June 17, 2014 at 3:02 pm

    Precious.

    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

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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