Thankful Thursday 5.30.13

Whew! I'll begin by saying I'm thankful it's almost June! :) Though I'm not sure June is bringing much of a reprieve in the busy-ness category...Going to have to work on that. We're supposed to slow down in the summer, right?

May has been a whirlwind...Seriously, how is it already the 30th? I've been off the blogging bandwagon pretty much all month (as per usual, I'm afraid to say. I just can't for the life of me find the time or think of something important enough to post more regularly) BUT that's also because we've had SO much going on in the real world lately! 

So, take this as our Month-of-May Update and List of thankfulness. :)

We're thankful for our dear friend, Devin, who graduated from USC this month! Been a long time comin'!

We're thankful for my awesome Momma, who celebrated another birthday this month! No, Momma, I won't tell them how old you are ;).

We're also thankful for my Momma's best buddy Beth, who also celebrated a birthday this month! We won't tell them how old you are, either :).

Momma & Beth with their beards at Beth's
Duck Dynasty birthday party! 

We're thankful for this beautiful weather lately! THIS is why we live in Charleston. 

We're thankful for our Health! Thankful for our Great Physician and Healer.

We're thankful for our Mothers - and that we got to spend time with BOTH of them on Mother's Day. 

We're thankful for being a part of our precious niece Lyla's first trip to the beach! Watching her take it all in was pure joy. 

Watching the wave coming!

Just LOOK at those little running legs! :)

We're thankful for the opportunity we had this year to lead our Student Band at LifePark. This past Sunday was "Student Sunday" and they got to lead worship for all three services! And, let me tell you, we felt like Proud Parents! Watching them grow in the Lord and grow in worship since last August was so rewarding - all to culminate in watching them lead our whole church body in worship (excellently, I might add!) was so rewarding. So we're SUPER thankful to have had that role in their life!

We're thankful for all the extra work we've been doing. (Eww, what?) No, we're not always thankful in the moment, but in the big scheme of things, we ARE thankful for all the side jobs both of us have been getting, to help us get ahead in our savings a little bit! And both of us love what we do, so it's not bad :)

We're thankful for all of our great veterans who fought and died to give us the freedom to live the way we do! We don't have to only appreciate and honor them on Memorial Day!

I'm personally thankful for quality time I've gotten to spend with special, Godly women this month! I got to spend a few hours with my Mother in Law one day, and a few hours this past Saturday with my best bud Jenny. I admire both of them so much and truly, truly enjoyed having "Girl talk" with both! So blessed to have these two as such important women in my life!!

David's thankful for: "My new job [still] - Working for a good company that has owners that care about their employees. And for my beautiful wife!" (awww...Can I add that I'm thankful that he responds to my "What are you thankful for" texts each time I make a TT post!?)

Peace & Blessings,

C + D

Steady My Heart

As worshippers, David and I both seem to find the Lord through songs. Worship tunes just seem to speak truths over us. Help us to put music to our thoughts and prayers exactly. I don't necessarily think that's even a trait you get from being musicians, I think everyone can relate to hearing a song and having that "aha" moment - they are singing exactly what you're thinking!

Thus, I've found my thoughts on this week so far in a song by (who else) Kari Jobe. It's one of my favorite tunes by her and has been for a while. She's insanely talented, and so authentic.

My heart needs steadying.
But, He's here, He's real, and we can trust him. 
Hallelujah!

Steady My Heart - Kari Jobe

Wish it could be easy

Why is life so messy

Why is pain a part of us

There are days I feel like

Nothing ever goes right

Sometimes it just hurts so much

But you're here

You're real

I know I can trust you

Even when it hurts

Even when it's hard

Even when it all just falls apart

I will run to you

'Cause I know that you are

Lover of my soul

Healer of my scars

You steady my heart

You steady my heart

I'm not gonna worry

I know that you've got me

Right inside the palm of your hand

Each and every moment

What's good and what gets broken

Happens just the way you've planned

You are here

You're real

I know I can trust you

Even when it hurts

Even when it's hard

Even when it all just falls apart

I will run to you

'Cause I know that you are

Lover of my soul

Healer of my scars

You steady my heart

You steady my heart

And I will run to you

And find refuge in your arms

And I will sing to you

'Cause of everything you are

You steady my heart

You steady my heart

Even when it hurts

Even when it's hard

Even when it all just falls apart

I will run to you

'Cause I know that you are

Lover of my soul

Healer of my scars

You steady my heart

You steady my heart

I'm not gonna worry

I know that you've got me

Right inside the palm of your hand.

This song will be on repeat all week, until I let it sink in. He's got me (and my family) in the palm of HIS hand. What better place to be, right?

Steady My Heart was followed closely by "Hide Away" by Ben Rector. You should listen to both. :)

Sorry for the "bummer" of a post - don't worry about us, just pray for my family. Just being truthful on a Tuesday. :)

Peace & Love

C

Jamaica Us Crazy

Last month David and I took our one-year anniversary/belated honeymoon trip to the beautiful island of Jamaica! We stayed 7 days in an all inclusive resort and had an amazing time. Saving up for a "real" honeymoon really paid off! Sorry it took me over a month to post pics - we'll just say "I was on Jamaica Time" :)

Those are just some of our favorite pics. To view the rest of our favorites, visit our Jamaica Facebook album!

Happy Friday, Mon!

C + D

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!?