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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

Time for Tea

November 18, 2013 by HappyGoStuckey Leave a Comment

The week before Thanksgiving. The week before packing and going and coming and travel. To-do list a mile long and the third day sore throat begging me to just curl up on the couch with tea and a book. But the list of “must do’s” is too long.

“It’s ok.” I tell myself. “It’s almost rest time. Then it will be quiet and I can tackle my list with tea in hand.. in quiet.” Have I mentioned how I was looking forward to the quiet? Worshipping it, maybe?

“Mommy? What are you doing?”  (My inward sigh of selfishness trying to escape.)

“I’m making tea, hon. Mommy’s tired and tea might help.” I see the hopeful glint in her eyes and my own hope of time to myself begins to fade. “Mommy? Can I help you? Can I help you make the tea?”

“Sure, Lucy. You can help.” I manage a small smile and notice it’s exactly 6 minutes before alleged rest time. And little sister is already half way to dream land. I consider making it a quick activity and calculate that I could still be in my aforementioned spot in about 15 minutes. NO, I tell myself. Take the time. Waste the time. Thankfully, I had this post come through my email earlier today, helping me to snap out of my SELF.

She says she’s FOUR now. And four-year olds are big enough to have REAL tea. Not sweet tea, but warm tea.

I stifle a smile at the last time she asked repeatedly for hot chocolate with marshmallows. We made it. She took two sips. She wanted to save it for later. So we did.

I smile and get down two little china tea cups and saucers.

“Oooh. Real dishes? Fancy!” She breathes in delight. She starts schooling me on how to hold my pinky just right and how I should politely ask “for a spot of tea.” (This girl never ceases to amaze me.)

We wait for the boil and get out the sugar bowl, saucer and spoon. I  teach her the proper steeping time. It steeps and we watch. I put a cube of ice in hers and wait for the melt. She tastes, and I wait for, “Umm.. you can have it mommy.”  But it doesn’t come. She likes it!

And so we set up a little tea party with treats and our cups and our saucers and our napkins in laps. And we sit and we drink. And she blossoms a little. She suddenly remembers what she learned that day. (Interesting, because just an hour beforehand– “I don’t KNOW Mommy. I don’t remember what we did in school today!!!” Funny how a little bit of tea brings it out. More accurately, a little bit of time. 

And then she says it, “Mommy, thank you for sharing your tea time with me. We should do this more often.” (Yes, she really speaks like that. Four-going on 24.)

She appreciates the little touches and they are not lost on her. So why am I so stingy in giving them sometimes? I want to be productive. I want to spend my time wisely.

And there’s time for all that.

But what time is spent wiser than on these precious gifts??? Where is the sense is saving everything until tomorrow? Why wait until our children are at a particular (allegedly perfect) age to have a certain experience with them?

Why should we wait until a special day to break out the nice dishes? Use them. It’s OKAY to use a good plate for a frozen waffle.

Good dishes are good because they are used to serve love, not because we save them for company. 

We should not save the best for everyone living outside of our four walls. We should give them the best of our talents. The best of our time. The best of ourselves.

Don’t wait. Let’s love them lavishly and without a constant time-clock ticking away.IMG_2643

 

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Comments

  1. Beverly Copeland says

    November 19, 2013 at 10:13 pm

    Your sweet words are always such a blessing. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • happygostuckey says

      November 20, 2013 at 9:11 pm

      Thank you so much Beverly for your kind words. We’re all being molded through these little things, right?!

      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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Throwing it back but not way back: remember last y Throwing it back but not way back: remember last year when we *discovered* the whipped, frothy, goodness of Dalgona Coffee?

I made it again today for the express purpose of seeing if it would still work with less sugar and I rather like my lightened up version!

(Tip: in my opinion, it makes enough for two— especially because I use instant espresso— so it’s pretty strong! Not warm where you are yet?  Tap the little flag to save this post for later.)

✨Whipped Coffee✨ 
2 TBS. instant espresso
2 TBS. cold water
1 TBS. maple syrup or simple syrup
1-2 glasses of ice and milk

Whip/ Beat the espresso, syrup, and water with an electric beater, immersion blender, or hand-held milk frother until frothy and light in color. Scoop over the milk and ice and enjoy!
🪡Do I seamstressed to you?🪡 Really though, 🪡Do I seamstressed to you?🪡 

Really though, after completing my first embroidery project, I feel like it might just be the cheapest, prettiest, stress relief out there. I am officially a believer in relaxing this way. And PS, if I can do it, you can.

Thank you, @thebarmyfox for bringing this lovely art into my life!
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!}🤞🏻😂😬
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