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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

What I Need More than More Time.

January 15, 2016 by HappyGoStuckey 10 Comments

I have moleskin notebooks in pretty pastels, pages and pages of lines of possibility. I have pens that run smooth and my favorite highlighter.

I have a pretty zip up case for my trusty “Mactop” that keeps it happy and safe.
I have books. Wow. Do I have books.
I have spiritual books on writing, practical books on writing, creative journals on writing, and books on writing about specific topics. And then there are the books that I read to keep me thinking so I can write.
I have my treasured people at Hope*Writers with the community and helps it offers.
Resources and tools? I got ’em.

I have absolutely every single thing I need to put my little self in the chair and make my fingers do the work.
Except time.

writing-2
I rarely feel like I have enough time.
The stop and start of being a mama keeps me hopping from first light to goodnight. With something filling every sliver of every hour of the day, it’s tempting to be frustrated. The days meld into one another and there my books sit unopened and the moleskins are still quite empty because, time. Who has it? 

But I’m sitting here now with a little block of this treasured commodity, time- with my self glued to chair and my Grande London Fog to keep me warm and gently caffeinated– and I know this to be true– all of this may never change.

Because having our lives full of people to love and care for means that they will also be FULL to the very hemline with the fabric of life together. We are always doing something. Caring for someone, planning for next fall and also tomorrow, thawing out chicken, getting the band-aids, letting the dog out, keeping the love tanks and the water-bottles full, helping find the shoe for the doll who can’t seem to keep both shoes on at the same time while trying to keep anyone at all from seeing the hall bathroom facilities as a potable water source. It’s a lot. You know. I know you know.

But in all of this, I know I want it all. At once. Every last bit. I want do what I can with the time that I have. Can I be honest? It has been nothing short of hard this school year to be the homeschooling mom and the writer mom. But, that, my friends– is life.

This very full (of good things) life gives me both joy and tension. Both are crucial for this fertile ground that grows lessons in my own heart and more words on the page.. together, during the very same seasons. I need this lesson, this reminder– and maybe you do too.

That regardless of what you and I are trying to build, what we’re hoping to fulfill, what crazy ideas we think we can accomplish on our time table— the equation rarely adds up without three things.

  1. Discipline. The pesky helpful thing that causes me to get up when I want to sleep, open notebooks when I want to open Netflix and keep my rear in the chair when I suddenly remember that closet I wanted to clean out. ( This helps.)
  2. Patience. The knowledge that I will not have the free time of someone in a different stage of life or parenting. I might have a microscopic window a few days a week, but I can USE what I have– and be patient that God and His timetable are the main long-range planning tools I really need right now.
  3. Surrender. This one is the hardest for me. I daily struggle with dying to my self and my schedule. The helpful, necessary rhythms we have in place can very quickly become a favorite idol if I don’t hold them with open hands.

From the very first alarm to the lamp out on my nightstand– I need to know this one thing about my never having enough time–

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”  — Psalm 127:1

My 2015 in Review (the year that I drank a lot of coffee.)
Why A Few Crazy Moments Do Not Equal a Crazy Mom.

Comments

  1. Debbie says

    January 15, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    This is brilliant!! And having a full life is a treasure!! Time will never be enough… But you will still have it…especially since this masterpiece took only five!!

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      January 22, 2016 at 9:45 am

      Haha. Well, a little bit more than five minutes. I barely write a title in that time. 😉 Thank you always for your encouragement!

      Reply
  2. Amy M says

    January 15, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    Oh, I so know this feeling! It’s so hard to tune out the world’s, “You can have it all and if you don’t, something is wrong with you” message and just use what time we have. I’m in the season of toddler mothering, so my spare time is the blissful window of naptime – not a lot.

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      January 22, 2016 at 9:44 am

      As am I, Amy– that window evaporates so quickly, and some days it just doesn’t happen. Thank you for stopping by to say hello!

      Reply
  3. Christina Hubbard says

    January 15, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    HI, Cynthia,

    You’re so right, the hours we spend doing one thing inform all the others. Esp. homeschooling. We stopped homeschooling this year and it’s taken me 5 months to find the richness again—the learning, the relationship, the meaning I found in all that. Life is different and time has shifted. I think what you are doing is a rare beautiful thing. Keep mothering, teaching, praying, and writing. Good words. So glad to read this today. Ever grateful, Christina @creativeandfree.com (#70 at FMF)

    Reply
  4. Christina Hubbard says

    January 15, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    Oh, one more thing: did Fringe Hours help you? I read that a while back and it certainly gave me food for thought and new ideas to try. You might like “Notes from a Blue Bike” by Tsh Oxenreider too.

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      January 22, 2016 at 9:43 am

      Oh YES! Fringe Hours was a huge help to me. I feel as though I’m still reaping the benefits. Notes from a Blue Bike is in my to-read pile– I’m looking forward to it even more now that you say that! Thanks for saying hello!

      Reply
  5. shalomshannon says

    January 16, 2016 at 12:55 am

    Great food for thought in the journey of creativity! Thanks for sharing. Blessings.

    Reply
    • HappyGoStuckey says

      January 22, 2016 at 9:41 am

      Thanks for stopping by, Shannon! Sorry for the delay in my reply– I’ve had a little technical difficulty.

      Reply
  6. Kristin Ching says

    December 18, 2016 at 2:11 am

    Hi, Cynthia,

    Wow, I needed that encouragement to discipline, patience, and surrender.

    It’s funny how I rediscovered you . . . after listening to two episodes of the Hope Writers podcast today (I don’t even remember now how I found the podcast, though I have–and love–Myquillyn’s book), I decided to look up their website. As I skimmed through the Hope Writers info page, I suddenly recognized your photo beside the first testimonial. Wow, I thought, I know a real writer! So I looked you up to see what you write, and found this beautiful blog. (I could have known that from Facebook since we’ve been Facebook friends for nearly a decade, but at this season of life–six littles at our house–Facebook time is a rare treat. And I’m good with that.) Anyway, so glad to see where the Lord has led you, and greatly blessed by your sharing the lessons He’s teaching you.

    I only wish you were a little closer so we could get together for some real face-to-face time! Let me know if you’re ever in Jax and have time to plan something. And have a very Merry Christmas!

    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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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!}🤞🏻😂😬
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.🍝
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