A Tale of Two Irvins

Thursday, February 14, 2013

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)

Thursday, February 7, 2013

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!?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

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! :)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

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!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

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

Monday, December 31, 2012

2012 Round-up

2012 was filled with high points, low points, challenges, rewards, emotion, love, life, work, play, rest, prayer, and adventuring. So I've made a little round-up of our year :)

Favorite Picture: This One!

Favorite Month: March 2012 (obvious choice!)

Our Wedding! 11 years and 2 months after first meeting, we became husband and wife. The day was perfect - the weather was perfect - the ceremony was perfect - and our mini-moon was perfect! (Until we both came home with the flu, but we were warned - when you're married you share everything!)

Least Favorite Month: November 2012

The darkest month of our year. We lost David's Great Aunt Coleen, My Grandma Fraylick and My Grandma Young - all within a 9 day period. Seems unbelievable? Yeah, it was tough to swallow. BUT, by the Grace of God, and the LOVE He showered on us, we made it through! And we can rejoice that all three of these beautiful women are in Heaven!

Favorite Meal: Chicken Stir Fry with Peppers & Pineapple

One of David's Specialties - we discovered that adding pineapple to chicken teriyaki stir fry gives it so much more flavor. We made this meal most often this year!

Favorite Restaurant: Miyabi's Sushi Bar!

We may or may not have a standing VIP discount. And, we may or may not have received a Christmas card from them. And, Sota, our favorite sushi chef, may or may not be bringing us a present from Japan when he goes in January. :) Let's just say, it's like our second home!

Favorite TV Shows: Hart of Dixie & Revenge; Dexter & Walking Dead

I'm sure you can guess which shows belong to which of us.

Favorite "Bucket List" Item Checked off: Recording in Studio!

I've blogged about it before, but we got to each go into Charleston Sound Recording studio to record our Life Songs for a real album! Super cool experience - and fun thing to do together with each other, and our friend Jenny!

Favorite Weekend Activity: Getaways & Mini-Vacations!

We LOVE to get out of town and spend some quality time together. Since getting married, we've been to Myrtle Beach for a quick weekend, Clemson for a Game, Camping in North Carolina, and to Greenville for a weekend.

Favorite Worship Songs: How He Loves (David), How Deep the Father's Love (Court)

We chose these two songs as our life songs this year. If you want to know the reasonings, just ask us sometime!

Favorite Accomplishment: No Wedding or Honeymoon Debt!

With the help of my parents, David and I were able to pay for the majority of our wedding, and save up enough to completely pay for our upcoming honeymoon. All without having to sell anything or open any credit cards. Apparently, wedding debt is really common. We're pretty proud of ourselves that we made it all work out beautifully!

Favorite Overall Moment of the Year: Getting Married!

By and large, in the future, when we think of 2012, we'll undoubtedly think "Our Wedding". So it will always go down in the books as one of the best years of our lives! As our pastor Chad says, it's the second most important decision of your life (behind accepting Christ as your Savior). I think we made the right choice ;)

On the calendar for 2013?

Honeymooning in Jamaica in March! Looking like it's going to be a great year!

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

C+D

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Gone Campin'

Married Life Adventure #3 - Camping in NC!

A few weeks ago, David and I had a long weekend so we headed up to Mills River for some much needed R & R in the Mountains! We both love camping, so we couldn't wait to go. It was SO nice to be unplugged for 4 days with just each other in God's Creation!