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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

Wednesday Shopportunity: For the Book Lover

November 13, 2013 by HappyGoStuckey Leave a Comment

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So it’s no secret that we are a family of book-lovers. We LOVE to read right down to the youngest one of us. If I could, I would have an inexhaustible book budget so that when I read something I enjoy, I could quick buy it for everyone else I know would enjoy it too. But since an inexhaustible anything budget is pretty much a pipe dream, I get so excited when I can buy books for others. It is possible I enjoy giving them more than they enjoy receiving them… Hmm.

But, as we have a major giving opportunity just about six weeks away, I wanted to share my favorite books to give these days. Several are on my Winter Must Read List– hopefully I’ll make a little progress soon.

Ok–One of my favorite books to give your mom, aunt, or best friend who also happens to be a mom– Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn I have mentioned this one before, and Melanie, aka Big Mama happens to be one of my very favorite bloggers. She writes with true wit and heart, and you will feel as though you’re chatting about the humor and horrors of motherhood at a tiny table at Starbucks instead of reading alone.

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AND, Melanie is releasing her second book(a memoir on marriage) on February 4, 2014 and I can only imagine that it will be a total delight, The Antelope in the Living Room: The Real Story of Two People Sharing One Life –So yay!

While we’re on the subject of books to buy your family members– this book by Sophie Hudson is a safe bet for any human being that has even an ounce of Southern in their blood– even if it’s in spirit only. A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet: Southern Stories of Faith, Family, and Fifteen Pounds of Bacon is a light and easy read which will have you reflecting on all the crazy and wonderful idiosyncrasies of your own extended family. Buy it for your grandma, your aunt– whoever!

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist has been at the top of my “to read” pile and as soon as I finish my current book, I will dive right in. I keep hearing wonderful things about it and though I love a good piece of authentic food writing, this seems to be so much more. The little bit that I’ve paged through has made me want to grab a cozy blanket, a cup of something warm and settle in to read every word in one sitting.

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Now, I know we’re talking about gifts to buy others– but just for a minute, let’s talk about a gift I want you to buy for yourself. Ann Voskamp has just released the most beautiful piece of Advent Writing I’ve ever seen. The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas contains 25 readings for the first 25 days of December and you will want to relish each one. I had the sincere honor of hearing her in person last month and it was a wonderful experience. She is an amazing writer. An amazing speaker. An amazing mother who has crossed the globe touching others, whether in person or in print. More importantly, she is a woman who is SHINING for Jesus in all that she puts her hands to. So, please, go buy yourself this book! And I dare you to try to wait until December 1st to crack it’s cover; but if you do– we will be reading it together. I’ll bring the coffee.

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A Million Little Ways, A: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily P. Freeman is my current read. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’m reading it with a highlighter that is quickly growing dry and God is ministering to my soul through this book. Whatever your calling in life, whatever your passion… this book *might* just set you free to live fully in the joy and grace that Christ has given us. Whew!

God is Able by Priscilla Shirer is a relatively short but rich book reminding us of God’s power and provision. My mom bought this for me about a month ago, and it is good. Very good in fact, that I would recommend it to anyone in a situation that seems “too big.”

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THIS is the lovely Ree’s new holiday cookbook, and it is HUGE. Well worth the price and what a beauty it is! The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations. I do not own this yet– but every time I go to Costco for spinach or greek yogurt… I find myself wandering past the book table just to flip its’ gorgeous glossy pages.

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And last, but not least–Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption!! This book is available on Amazon but is unable to be linked to. I was given it recently and hope to start it in a few months. I know many of you have probably read it, but you know me– always late to the party!

Happy Reading and Happy Gifting!!!

(Disclosure: Affiliate Links Used.)
Bless the Lord, O my Soul
Time for Tea

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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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