We're going to Guatemala!

Hello Dear Friends & Family!

As you may or may not know, David and I will be traveling to Guatemala in July. We will be going with a group of about 8 others from our church, led by Kristen & David Patrick (It's a family affair, y'all!). 

David has been on a few international mission trips before, and said that they were lifechanging experiences for him. He has traveled to Panama once and Nicaragua twice. Courtney has never been out of the country on missions, but has participated in several trips stateside, which have also been incredible. Since going on those trips in the past, both of us have had the itch to go back. 

We've known our church goes on several trips a year, and the desire to go was always in our minds. We have just been waiting on the "Go" from the Lord, trusting that He would tell us when He wanted us to go. It was actually a very quick decision! David and I both just thought one day, "The July trip. That's the one". Since making the decision, God has perfectly aligned everything for us to go on this trip.  David had to renew his passport, and it came in earlier than expected. We both got approved for the full week off work... paid! He has already begun to reveal himself to us - and we haven't left U.S. Soil yet! We feel so blessed to be called into the global mission field. We can't wait to get outside of our "home" and spread the good news of Jesus Christ! 

We will be serving a small, unreached people group called the Chorti, in a tiny mountain village named Chanco, high in the Mountains of Guatemala. We don't know the specifics of what exactly we will be doing yet, but we're trusting the Lord. Another team from our church is actually returning from the same village soon before we go, so we look forward to getting some more direction, suggestion, and guidance from them.

Here's where we need YOU! Will you prayerfully support us? Please know, that our number one request is prayer. To cover us and our team in prayer as we travel and serve - that God will protect us and bless our efforts as we minister; and to cover the Chorti people in prayer - to have open ears, eyes, minds, and hearts to the grace and glory of the Gospel. We serve a BIG God who LOVES hearing from His Children - so please pray for us!

Our other need is financial... Any trip out of the country is costly, so we are asking our family and friends to consider helping us out a little! Would you consider making a small donation to help fund our trip? A donation of any size will help! You can donate online by clicking the "Give Now" button at the top right of this page, or you can mail checks to First Baptist Church Mt. Pleasant, 681 McCants Drive, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 and include "David & Courtney Irvin - Guatemala" in the memo line. Either way you would like to donate is great with us - we try to make it easy. 

We are so grateful for our huge support system of family and friends! We thank you sincerely in advance for your prayers, your donations, and your love. 

With faith & gratitude,

David & Courtney

Innovative Climate Control

(Warning: Proud Wife Blog coming up!)

I'd like to take a minute to introduce you all to:

David is now a fully licensed HVAC Business Owner! 

In the past month, he's become a one-man band doing full service Residential HVAC work. It's already been such a blessing to us! By word-of-mouth alone, he's already got a full plate and is keeping himself very busy. I'm so proud of him for really going for it, and pursuing something he's so passionate about. He's still working full time for Carolina Chillers, doing commercial HVAC, but this way, he still gets to do residential work as well.  We're excited for this new adventure!

So, keep him in mind when you need any Heating & Air Conditioning work done!

You can contact him at (843) 864-4908 or innovativeclimatecontrol@gmail.com. You can also check him out here! 

2013 Round-Up

2013 HAS BEEN A GREAT YEAR!

Our Biggest Accomplishment: Becoming Homeowners!

We bought our first home back in October. It was definitely a lot of work...and I think several trees were killed in the process (SO much paperwork!). We are now beginning the long road to renovating & updating. Will try to be better about blogging and posting before and after shots as we go! 

(...thanks, Google Maps...)

Our Biggest Change: Church Switching

Earlier this year I blogged about leaving LifePark and heading back over to FBC Mt. Pleasant. It has been a huge adjustment, but we are happy, growing spiritually, worshipping more than ever and definitely feel confident that the Lord has us where He wants us. We still miss our LP family though!!

"The Foundation" - Our LifeGroup at FBC!

Our Biggest Adventure: Jamaica!

We went on several little trips this year - Myrtle Beach, Columbia, etc. as usual, but our one big trip was our Honeymoon/First Anniversary week in Jamaica! It was the vacation of a lifetime - we climbed a waterfall, snorkeled, danced, ate great food, enjoyed fun drinks, visited Negril, shopped, and most of all relaxed and enjoyed quality time together!! It was everything we hoped it would be!

Sunset over the water, Rick's Cafe, Negril

Our Biggest Frustration: Holt Transmission

I probably shouldn't state their name on here, as they still have not fixed the problem we took to them a MONTH ago. Seriously, I have not had a car for the whole month of December. We took it in with transmission problems and they said they needed to rebuild the transmission, which would take about 3 days. You'd think, by the name of their company, they know how to do that (You had one job....). Don't let the name fool you, they have no idea what they're doing. Bonus, they'll break your AC for you while they're at it!

I do have it now, although it needs to go back for a third time, but I'm just being stubborn and refusing to give it back just quite yet. It's ok that is shakes while in reverse, and sometimes cuts off, right? (Kidding...I know that's bad.)

Our Favorites:

Bands: The Lumineers, Mumford and Sons

Worshipers: Kari Jobe, Rend Collective, Elevation

Restaurants: Still Miyabi Sushi Bar! And The Shelter on Coleman for Brunch

Worship Songs: Give Me Faith, Elevation Worship; Steady My Heart, Kari Jobe

TV Shows: Grey's Anatomy, Duck Dynasty, The Walking Dead (D), Hart of Dixie (C)

Book read this year: The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak (C); Caliban's War, James S.A. Corey (D)


On the calendar for 2014? 

Guatemala - July 2014
We are going on a Mission Trip (My first one out of the country!) for a week in July with our church. David's always had a love for global missions, (He's already been to Nicaragua and Panama), and I've always wanted to go out of the country (My US missions trips have been phenomenal too, though!). Pray for us in the months leading up to our trip. We're SO excited!!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family!!

C+D

Thankful Thursday 8.8

Today, I'm thankful for having a long weekend coming up! That's right - Friday AND Monday off! They won't be spent completely relaxing - gotta squeeze a little work in there tomorrow and Saturday ;)

Which leads to our next bit of thankfulness...

We're thankful for all the side work we've been getting lately (as well as our full time jobs) because we've gotten a good bit of extra income.

Which leads to our next bit of thankfulness...

We're thankful for that extra income, because we're in the early stages of maybe possibly buying our house! (Well, not our house, Aunt Sharon's house, but the one we live in). So pray for us! It's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.

I'm also thankful for David, who knows me so well, he made and brought me "Sleepy Time" hot tea to help me sleep last night, since he knows I haven't been sleeping well. (Yes, that's shameless bragging on my hubby. I can't resist sometimes - he's just SO good to me!)

David's thankful for getting Monday off so we can relax together all day!

I'm also thankful for being on this earth for 27 years now (Well, on Sunday.)

Happy Birthday to me! :)

Peace & Blessings

C & D

Making a Switch

You all know that David and I have been very plugged in to our church, the Church at LifePark for the past few years. We've been student ministry adult leaders, worship team members, student band leaders, bible study members and I do a lot of design work for the church.

But in recent months, David and I have really been wrestling with where God wants us. We have been questioning where we can do the most good in ministry. Where we can be used best. Where we will grow the most. We've been asking and searching for a clear vision of where the Lord wants us in this season of our life. The idea of changing churches began forming. Is LifePark still the best fit? Should we go back to McCants? Or, should we search for a new church all together, maybe closer to home? Are we really open to what the Lord is asking? What is He asking?

Since then we've felt a stirring that God might want us to go back to our original campus, First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant, (aka McCants) in the Old Village. So we began to pray. Unbeknownst to us, so did a few of the staff members. How COOL is it, that while we were praying about this decision, a few of the staffers were also chatting about us, and praying about us. (FYI: That's a God thing.)

After all this seeking and waiting and praying and resisting and accepting and second-guessing and getting excited and questioning and committing (yes, we ran through all of those stages), our answer was clear: go back to FBC McCants Campus.

We feel the Lord leading us to be foundational in the young adult ministry that's springing up over at McCants. (Check us out on Facebook and join us!) We have been a part of a small group for a while now, and have really loved watching it grow. We also know we can bring our gifts in worship to McCants, and step in there when needed. You all know our passion is worship, and we feel God calling us to help further the worship service over there, in whatever capacity we are needed. 

We feel like we helped plant LifePark, and were a part of getting it off the ground a few years ago, and we hope we have helped to further the Kingdom out there. I have no doubt there are people waiting in the wings to fill our void. But at the end of the day, we really feel confident in our decision to commit to McCants, at this stage in our life. We feel the call, and feel confident that we're being obedient. We love LifePark, we just aren't sure it's where we're supposed to be serving in this season. After speaking with Julianna yesterday (LifePark worship leader, my role model and my buddy) I felt her blessing and a peace. Then we spoke with Chip last night (McCants Associate Pastor, another role model and friend) and felt even MORE confident in our decision. Still, it will be a major transition, and we will miss the relationships and people and environment and everything out at LP. Mainly the relationships. It makes us sad to think about not seeing all of our friends and loving on each other each week. (So pray for us in that, will you?) Although we've already formed really great relationships back at McCants, we'll still miss our LP family. 

So for the LifePark-ers who may be reading, don't worry, we'll still be around, and will definitely pop-in every once in a while. And if you miss us, we're still a phone call away! And remember, we're one church, with two campuses, so we're still the same body. LP Ladies - keep me in the loop! :)

And for the FBC McCants friends, we hope you'll be ok with seeing our faces a lot more often. We can't wait to do life with you!

Will you pray with us and for us? We're so excited for this coming season. We're excited to be on board with what God's doing in the local church!

Peace & Blessings,
C & D

Old Charleston

Just for fun - I stumbled across these two photos online of King Street, taken around 1910. 

Doesn't everything just look so much more glamorous in the night shot?

What would it be like to live back then, if only for a day?

King Street at Wentworth 

Photos courtesy of www.shorpy.com

Happy Weekend!

C

Thankful Thursday 6.27

Backstory to this post: I'm currently reading a book called "Worn Out Woman: When your life is full but your spirit is empty". I bought it a long time ago when I was feeling overwhelmed, and (surprise, surprise) was too busy to actually find the time to read it. Lately, I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed with crazy stress at work, side jobs I'm taking on (probably more than I should be - still learning to say no), duties at home, prioritizing time for husband, and making time for friends and family. So, I picked the book up again. (I must admit, I'm a bit embarrassed to be reading a book titled "Worn Out Woman" - makes me think of an old, haggard woman who looks similar to a wrinkly witch...but I feel worn out, so, here I am. Don't judge.) 

Last night, I read a chapter about gratitude, and found a reference to this poem...so I looked up the rest of it online today and loved it! It's a perspective changer. My additions/edits are worked in as well.

I AM THANKFUL FOR:

…the mess to clean up after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

…the taxes I pay because it means that I’m employed.

…the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.

…my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.

…the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot garage because it means I am capable of walking.

…all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.

…that lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means that I can hear.

…lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.

…my huge heating air conditioning bill because it means that I am warm cool.

…weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means that I have been productive.

…the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I am alive.

By: Nancy J. Carmody

And a few more additions of my own:

...oversleeping this morning because it means I got a little extra-needed rest.

...the dwindling funds in our savings account, because it means we're making progress on my student loans.

...the snoring that keeps me up at night because it means my husband is next to me.

...the other snoring that keeps me up at night, because it means my pup is sleeping. (Yes, Charlie snores). :)

Happy Thursday! C&D