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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

What Grown-Ups Get to Do (and a free printable.)

May 21, 2016 by HappyGoStuckey 13 Comments

When I was eight years old I wore purple unicorn sneakers and yarn ribbons in my hair. I scraped my knobby knees jumping off the front steps to escape a lizard. I fashioned a reading nook with my Lady Lovely Locks sleeping bag and a stack of books from the school library. The minute we came home from school, I dropped my backpack and found my quiet spot to crack open Spunky’s Diary for the fifth time.

My mom headed straight for the kitchen and began to make dinner. She sang hymns under her breath and I heard her when the electric can opener stopped abruptly. She seemed to be in her happy place, stepping from refrigerator to counter and back to stove top, humming and stirring dinner for six other people. Even after being at work for hours, she still seemed happy to be where she was. Happy to be doing what she had to do.
What she “got” to do.

grownups

I have clear memories of thinking I would just call out for pizza every night when I was a mom— you know, so I could read more books. (Nerd alert.)

I thought that grown-ups could do whatever they wanted because no one was bossing them around.
I thought my parents both worked so hard because they enjoyed it, when it was actually more like– they had five hungry guppies eating everything in sight and needing new shoes every four months.

Now I know.
Now I know that what grown-ups really get to do, is clean cold scrambled eggs out of the sink drain and be thankful for mouths to feed.
Grown-ups get to peel themselves from a warm duvet at midnight when a tiny person needs a hug and not really mind.
Grown-ups get to buy each other ceiling fans and small appliances and know that the experience of building a life together is really where it’s at.
Grown-ups get to catch baby spit-up with their bare hands, and then laugh about it.
Grown-ups get to be the former generation of big kids who do the things they have to do with joy.

AnneQuote1I want for my children to see that. I want them to hear me humming at the end of a long day. For them to see me smile when the hours till bedtime are stretching and so is my patience. I want them to notice me delighting in my life– all of it.

Because once upon a time, this reality was more or less exactly what I dreamed of.

There is so much more that we could say on this topic, but let’s leave it in the hands of the very wise Anne with an E.

I made a printable with a lovely quote from Anne of Green Gables for you and I. There are two font options, so just pick the one you like the most and download below.

AnneQuote2-3

Hang it near your desk or washing machine or kitchen sink so that we may remember– We may not choose the task, but we may certainly choose the perspective. 

Anne Printable, Script Font

Anne Quote, Caps Font

Download either PDF by clicking the link above & save it to your computer. Then either print out your 8×10 print at home, or email to your local print shop or office supply. I would suggest Cardstock or a high quality paper. Then just frame it and hang it!

Be kind, and please always give proper credit. © Cynthia M. Stuckey. For personal use only, not to be altered or sold. https://www.happygostuckey.com

Quick Basil Pesto
What We Can Do In The Aftermath.

Comments

  1. Birdy Pierce says

    May 22, 2016 at 6:59 am

    ❤️

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      May 29, 2016 at 5:23 pm

      Right back ‘atcha dear friend!

      Reply
  2. Cheryl says

    May 22, 2016 at 8:24 am

    Yes I love that and print it I will!

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      May 29, 2016 at 5:22 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. lee says

    May 23, 2016 at 2:16 pm

    Beautiful reminder! Thanks for the lovely design to remember this important concept. =)

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      May 29, 2016 at 5:22 pm

      Thank you! I certainly need to surround myself with reminders and it helps if they are pretty, right? Thanks for stopping by to say hello!

      Reply
  4. Courtney Lynn Harris says

    May 24, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    Such a lovely reminder! I love what you said about your Mom doing the work she “got” to do. I want my daughter to have the same perspective on my work, based on what she observes from me. Challenging!

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      May 29, 2016 at 5:15 pm

      Hey Courtney!
      It is such a challenge to know we are always being watched, isn’t it?
      I love what you have done with your writing space. Really fresh and pretty. And your recent post for “when your week has been hard” is just lovely. Sharing now!
      Always happy to see you here or there.
      –Cynthia

      Reply
      • Courtney Lynn Harris says

        May 29, 2016 at 7:41 pm

        Thanks so much, Cynthia! So fun to reconnect with you. 🙂

        Reply
  5. Megan Rae says

    October 12, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    Cynthia,

    I love this quote with your design elements! May I discuss purchasing from you a higher Rez for a larger print possibly? Thank you!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. For Your Weekend : Encouraging Reads | Life with Truth says:
    May 28, 2016 at 7:39 am

    […] What Grown-ups Get to Do – Cynthia Stuckey […]

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  2. What I Learned in May says:
    June 1, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    […] Did you see this post last week with the free Printable? I had such fun making this for us. Help yourself to […]

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    September 15, 2016 at 4:59 pm

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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

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.🍝
I saw a magazine cover this week advertising the h I saw a magazine cover this week advertising the headline, “Ditch Gratitude!” 

This is my “No thanks,” face.
My grateful face.
My you-can’t-make-me-face.
Because no matter how long the list of things we still don’t know, I know I need gratitude like water.

Questions remain. Uncertainties abound. Reasons for concern greet us with each January dawn.

Hope remains and so do questions. The two have never been enemies, but cozy next door neighbors.
I’ll keep my gratitude, thank you.
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