Thankful Thursday 4.18.13

This week, we're thankful for our life. Simple as that. There are so many in our country, Boston specifically, who's lives are tumultuous right now. We're thankful for another month, week, day, of our peaceful life.

We're thankful we get to eat dinner together every night.

And get to go to bed next to each other each night. 

And get to talk to, see, hug and kiss each other every day. 

We're thankful for our God, who's present in every traumatic event that occurs on this planet.

We're thankful for three of our friends celebrating birthdays today! 

We're thankful for the extra work we've been able to do this week to help us get ahead in our finances. House buying and Student loan paying-off are on the horizon!

I feel this post has been a bit useless, in light of all the monumental news going on right now, but for us, it's been a pretty ordinary week, and I'm so thankful for that. 

We're thankful we can just "be". 

It's so good to count your blessings, even when there's not much going on. 

Peace & Love,

C + D

Thankful Thursday 3.28.13

This post is probably going to be LOADED, because 

A. I haven't blogged in a very long time, 

B. March is a big month for us, and 

C. A lot has happened in the past month-ish that I've been on this writing hiatus! ;)

That being said...it's time for....

This week, David's probably the most thankful. He's thankful for his NEW JOB!! That's right, he's no longer with Fogel Services, he now works for Carolina Chillers, Inc. It's a commercial HVAC company versus residential. Huge step up. Better hours, better pay, better benefits, better environment, and better bosses (who love Jesus!) He's LOVING it so far, and I know he will be great at it! He's very thankful already for the relief of having this new job. Therefore, I'm thankful for it too! I'm thankful I'll be able to see him more, he won't be working as much, and he'll just be all around happier. I'm so proud of him!

This month, we're thankful for the long break we had for our First Anniversary/Belated Honeymoon trip to Jamaica! It was absolutely perfect. (Minus the 3 hour delay on the way home, putting us in Charleston at 3 am!) The resort was awesome, the weather was gorgeous, and most of all, our quality time together was just so so good. Good for the soul. A week away from everything - completely removed from reality - is priceless these days. Especially when it's spent in paradise! We came home even more in love than before we left. I'm so thankful for a husband who I love SO much, and who loves me back just the same! (I'll do a whole post with pictures from our trip one of these days...be on the lookout.)

While on our Jamaica trip, we're thankful we celebrated our FIRST ANNIVERSARY this month. Can you believe it's been a whole year!? We can't! They say the first year is the hardest, but I don't buy that - because it felt like a piece of cake to us! We've enjoyed every minute of it. I'm not saying we're the perfect couple who never disagrees on anything, but seriously, I'd say we've passed with flying colors. I know life will throw us curve balls and we'll go through tough stuff - I'm not that naive, but all I'm saying is our first year was a breeze! Thankful to Jesus that he made us both for each other. We're the perfect match. 

Also this month, I'm thankful for David's life! His birthday was March 20, and it goes without explanation that I'm happy he was born. So thanks, Mrs. Cheri, for bringing that blonde headed baby boy into this world 28 years ago! Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

And this week, we're thankful for Jesus! (Well, every week we're thankful for Him...but this week especially). Thankful that he sacrificed everything, took our sin on His perfect shoulders, to be crucified...only to rise again and defeat the grave! Our prayer is that everyone will remember what it's really about. Not bunnies and eggs (although those are cute and fun) but about Christ and his ultimate gift of Grace. 

Happy Holy Week, Everyone!!

Also, if you're in the Charleston area and don't have anywhere to go Sunday, we'd LOVE to have you join us at LifePark! Let us know. 

Thankful Thursday 2.14.13

Valentine's Edition!

This week, I'm thankful for my handsome valentine! 

And, I'm thankful to be married to him - so he'll be my valentine every year!

Seriously, how cute is this face?!

We're thankful for the lack of rain today (not quite sunny skies, but we're getting there!) - after a few days of non-stop rain here in Charleston.

We're thankful for our puppies.

We're thankful for our home.

We're thankful for our cars.

We're thankful for our love.

We're thankful for our whole little newlywed life. It's been pretty great. 

We're thankful for our salvation. My sweet Daddy's valentine to me this morning said: Remember, "We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19. So, we're real thankful that HE loved us first. 

Happy Love Day, Y'all! I'm headed home to share it with my hubby! :)

xoxo

Court (& David)

Thankful Thursday 2.7.13

This week, I'm thankful for prayer.

As I mentioned in the post earlier this week, a lot of big things are on the horizon for us. And the doors keep opening. My gut reaction? Fear, apprehension. If these things work out, it could be life changing and awesome. If they don't? We'll still be A-okay. How do I know this? Prayer. Seems I've been in constant prayer this week. I'm learning that when I pray for "trust" or "faith", God's not going to magically give me those qualities. He's going to give me something to build my trust and faith. I'm learning. It seems David is much better at this part than I am, as he's ready to dive in head first. Me, I'm getting there. Exciting things are coming. 

(And no, it's not a baby for all of you inquiring minds, haha!)

This week, David's thankful that God seems to be opening doors to a better life. 

This ties in with the above. Not that our life is bad in any way, shape or form. We have a great life. He's just thankful that God seems to be pushing us toward an even better one!

This week, I'm thankful for my job. 

I got to travel to San Francisco last week for a conference. While it was a work trip, I still got plenty of time to be a tourist. I went in high school, but when I got back, lost all of my photos that I had put in an album. So, I'm thankful I got to go back and take replacements! It was a great trip. It's a great city. And the pacific ocean is still really cold on the toes :).

This week, we're thankful for each other.

We've been apart a lot for the last couple weeks, so we've really been enjoying our time together this week! Marriage is awesome. And it's almost been a year already - how crazy is that!?

To Trust or not to Trust...

February 5

"Seek My Face, and you will find not only my presence, but also my peace. To receive my peace, you must change your grasping, controlling stance to one of openness and trust. The only thing you can grasp without damaging your soul is my hand. Ask my Spirit within you to order your day and control your thoughts, for the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.

You can have as much of Me and My Peace as you want, through thousands of correct choices each day. The most persistent choice you face is whether to trust me or to worry. You will never run out of things to worry about, but you can choose to trust Me no matter what. I am an ever-present help in trouble. Trust Me, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea."

"So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." Romans 8:6

from Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

Don't you love it when your devotional PERFECTLY aligns with your life?

Some pretty big things are on the horizon for David and me. I cannot go into specifics yet, but I will say it involves David more so than me. Good big things. Exciting big things, but still scary things. Just last night, David and I were having a long discussion about these things. His stance is confidence, excitement, and motivation. Mine is more timid, wary, and questioning. (I am my mother's daughter). While I am excited, I found myself so quick to be the "devil's advocate" so to speak, than the trusting faith-filled Christian I am supposed to be. After realizing this, David said to me, "Babe, we are children of the King, He will direct us, and take care of us where He directs us" (Sidenote: How awesome is it it have a husband who speaks like that...who reminds me that I am a Child of God!?) To which my response was, "You're right. I know you're right. I really need to work on myself, and my trust and my courage." (Keyword here: Trust). 

Then I read that devotional this morning. It's Like God was there in the bed with us last night in our conversation! He heard me say I need to work on my trust. He knew I needed this devotional this morning. Or, he knew this devotional was coming, so he orchestrated our conversation last night. Either way, (I'll say it again) Don't you love it when your devotional PERFECTLY aligns with your life? Hey Jesus, thanks for speaking to me today, it's so good to hear from you.

Courtney

Order the book here! You won't regret it! :)

Worship in the Round

I'm in a worshiping mood today. Could be because of the new series we're in at LifePark. The Sermon series is called authentic, and we're calling the set-up "Worship in the Round". We are cutting to the heart of worship. The heart of Jesus. Without all the lights, environmental effects, full band, sound, etc. While I love all of that - I must say my favorite style of worship is acoustic... A guitar, a cajon, maybe a fiddle, etc. All just sitting around worshiping. So, I'm LOVING this series we're in. We even took the stage apart at church - and set up a mini area in the center of the room, with all the chairs in a big circle around it. I love the "homey" feel. More intimate, more authentic, more comfortable and laid back. Not a big production, just worship. And bonus, I didn't have a mic last week, so I had both hands free to lift up! If you know me, you know that when I worship, I just can't keep 'em down. :) At first, both David and I were a bit apprehensive because we thought "What? No Mic? People are going to wonder why we're just standing here singing with no mic. David didn't have his guitar, I don't have my mic, This is going to be super awkward." But, I just trusted the Lord, and trusted our fearless leaders who are trusting the Lord, that this was going to work. And did it ever! It was one of the most worshipful services I've experienced in a long time. I LOVED it. David loved it. The church loved it.  And I KNOW Jesus loved it! :)

A few pics from our first weekend: (Thanks to friends and Facebook!)

Rehearsal before the services.

Husband.  Love watching this man worship!

Aerial view!

I'm so excited for the next few weeks of worship. Such a fresh new take on sunday mornings. So real. Come be a part of it! Get in touch with one of us if you'd like to join us one week!

Thankful Thursday 1.10.13

Been a while since I've posted one of these! 

I'm thankful for my flowers! Shameless Bragging: David had not one, but TWO bouquets of flowers waiting on me last night when I got home! Yellow and White Daisies in a vase, and pink daisies in a pot, to plant in the yard! He knows me so well. I LOVE getting flowers! So thankful to have a man who's still bringing me flowers (quite often) 4 years later! :)

I'm thankful for my spiritual family. I don't mean the whole body of believers, or even my church - I mean my inner circle - Husband, Dad, Mom, Sisters, etc. Had a great conversation with daddy last night about accountability and getting in the word. And I just realized, how AWESOME is it, (and, rare in this day and age) that I have an entire family who loves Jesus, and loves talking about Him? 

We're thankful that the Holidays are over. Not in a bah-humbug way, but just so that we can get back to a normal routine. Christmas and New Years are full of fun and parties and laughter and presents and busy-ness....but they're exhausting! :)

Speaking of New Years...I'm thankful that the Tigers WON the Bowl Game!!

(albeit by the skin of their teeth..but hey, a W's a W!)

David's thankful for his new grill - and, heck, I am too! We've eaten some delicious steaks, pork and bbq chicken. He loves to grill (what man doesn't?) and I love grilled food! On the menu tonight? Grilled fish, Corn & Asparagus. YUM!

XO,

C + D