amazing grace.

Amazing Grace. I'm a huge fan of song lyrics, and these are simply remarkable!

Last weekend, we took our high schoolers on a "Deeper Weekend" retreat to a plantation in Walterboro, and our speaker Friday night (the incredible Dr. Charles Hook) mentioned Amazing Grace, which spurred me to really look into the song. He told us that Amazing Grace is the most recognizable and most popular song ever written, among religious and secular music. The author of the song, John Newton, was in the royal navy, and eventually became a commander of a slave ship. He eventually gave his life to Christ and became an ordained minister, who obviously came to intensely regret his involvement in the slave market, and became an advocate for abolition. Dr. Hook told us that John Newton wrote what he wanted the inscription on his own grave to be, and it was this: "John Newton, Clerk. Once an infidel and libertine. A servant of slaves in Africa was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, PRESERVED, RESTORED, PARDONED, and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy." I would say that it is surely Amazing Grace that can preserve, restore, and pardon us from our filth and sin.

The lyrics of Amazing Grace, particularly the first verse, are so true his story: He was a wretch selling slaves, blind to the truths of Jesus' grace, but was saved and his eyes were opened by our amazing God, to be a minister to share this grace he had worked to destroy.

I've been a Christian for years, and have grown up listening to this song, so it had become just another song to me. But it was so SO good to sit down and actually read these lyrics, and seek the truth in them again. They became real to me again. I hope you can do the same!

The video link at the bottom is one we watched this weekend, and I'm not gonna lie, it made me cry a little! The music is so beautiful, I don't see how anyone can hear music like this and not be moved. I especially got chills in the last verse, realizing that they're singing in the ruins of the Roman Colosseum, which was built almost two thousand years ago (about 80 AD). The structure is now falling down and obviously won't last into eternity, but hearing the words, knowing that we can sing this song TEN thousand years from now (not just two!), and still have "NO less days to sing God's praise" is astounding! Singing praises to God will last into eternity. We will be able to sing praises to Him forever, thanks to His Amazing Grace!

"Amazing Grace,
How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost,
But now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Twas grace that taught
My heart to fear
And grace, my fears relieved
How precious did
That grace appear,
The hour I first believed

Through many dangers
Toils and snares,
I have already come,
Tis grace hath brought
Me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home

When we've been here
Ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days
To sing God's praise
Than when we first begun

Amazing Grace,
How Sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost,
But now am found,
Was blind, but now I see."

It wouldn't let me just embed the video on here, but i PROMISE it's worth watching! (There's a surprise after verse 3!) Watch it with the mindset that their stage has been there two thousand years. Watch it truly listening to the lyrics. Watch it knowing that we have received this Amazing Grace, from the God that created everything you see. I promise, it will make your day better. :)

Copy and paste this because the link isn't showing up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMVxzEueJ6A

Love.

Oh love. I don't know why I feel compelled to write tonight... maybe it's because I just finished (finally) watching the bachelor, or I'm smack dab in the middle of an OC marathon (Don't laugh). Or because I ran into two ex's in one day. NO I don't regret not being with them, or wish I was, etc..... but it still makes you think, you know?

I'm a big fan of love. No, I'm not in love with anyone, nor do I see myself being in love in the near future, but I have been in love before. Let's be honest, I haven't really fared well in the love department in the past few years, and have had one...a few too many broken hearts for my liking, but I'm still a fan of love. In hindsight, my last relationship turned out to be a train wreck from start to finish, and the one before that kinda ended before it even started. Long story. But at the end of the day, I can't deny that I have faith in love. I have faith that one day I'll be in it. I have faith that God designed love, He is Love, and He will give me love.

I was talking to my brilliant friend Reese tonight, and she was so encouraging. I was venting, and she advised me to "remember how fabulous you are...it can't do anything but pay off". Love can even come from great friends! She was full of insight and great advice... saying that all unanswered questions will eventually resurface, giving everything meaning. That reason is hard to trust in the moment, but essentially that hindsight really is 20/20. Which adds to the reason I believe in love. I believe that I'll one day figure it out. Call me naive, but I think I'm gonna get my fairy tale one day. Love is a great feeling... feeling loved is a great feeling. I can't wait until I find it, or am given it again.

So...being as I'm not in romantic love, I choose to surround myself with love. Love from my friends, and to my friends. Love from my family, and to my family. Love from my roommates, and to my roommates. Love from my church, and to my church. This list could go on forever. There's also love for people I don't know... but that's a whole 'nother subject.

My advice... choose love. love wins. even when you're single :)



And there's always 1 Corinthians 13. Truth of scripture is a beautiful thing...

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate... So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. (v. 1, 3)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (vv. 4-8)

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." (v. 13)

polaroids, curses, tattoos, and stolen keys

first of all, i have to say i'm glad to be safely back in clemson. this past weekend was incredible. there's nothing like a few crazy fun nights with great friends to know how much you are loved....and some pretty out of control memories were made.

Thursday night was pretty great, I went to the Music Farm to see my amazingly talented roommate Emily play, and she did so great. Her talent is undoubtedly a gift from the Lord, because something so beautiful has to be from Him! Then I went home and got some much needed rest, (although I might would have gotten more if I knew what was in store for my weekend!)

Friday was fun, I went by Charleston Magazine, and it was a madhouse as always. I love it though; everyone frantically trying to get their files together, crafting going on in the middle of the floor, and tons of sweets scattered about the office...all the while the word "shipping" lingering over everyone's head. I seriously hope I can go back there one day! Then I went to dinner with the family, which is always fun then met up with some of my favorites downtown. It actually ended up being all C-Mag interns, which was super fun. And Reese brought the polaroid...which always makes great memories. We realized it was Friday the 13th, so of course danced our hearts out when the band played Ghostbusters and Thriller. At some point in the night, we got on the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident, and ended up with a series of Polaroids entitled "Situation: Chris Brown and Rihanna"....Too Soon? Yes, definitely. But after having a serious/awkward/mildly inappropriate heart-to-heart among friends, it was time to call it a night.

Saturday involved getting a haircut, washing my new purple sharpie tattoo off my arm (thank you, reese), a perfect Fraylick-girls shopping trip, and getting coffee with one of my amazing high school girls!

Then, I met up with some of my favorites at Sushi Hiro downtown, which is where the madness really begins. Or at least I'm blaming it on an incident that occured here. Apparently, it's really disrespectful/taboo to stand chopsticks straight up in a bowl of rice. Who knew?! One minute we were all enjoying our time, and the next, the not-japanese-at-all host races over to the table, pulls them out of the rice, and mutters something about curses, funerals, and a death offering. (Insert a table full of blank stares)How do you respond to that!? We all looked at each other dumbfounded and completely thrown by what just happened. Anyways, we brushed it off and continued our great Valentine's meal. One of my friends brought us Valentines complete with Miley Cyrus Tattoos for the girls, and NBA tattoos for the boys. Nothing like a childlike heart...I hope I never grow up. I had "Secret Pop Star" on my arm, and a rose on my wrist. The rest of the night brought even more polaroids (including more Chris Brown/Rihanna Situations) and crazy fun memories. The bouncer at the place we ended up even scrutinized my ID, telling me he had seen it at least five times, and even taken it from a girl once. I thought, funny thing, I've never, ever lost or given it out...and you need a new pick-up line. eek. We even saw a girl in a solid sequin dress and another in a lace-up shirt. Shout out to "What Not To Wear" - I think a trip to Charleston should be in the works. It made for a great Valentine's Day with great friends. I'm blessed to be loved by such fun people.

Then Sunday. Woke up, went to Church with the fam, which is always good. There's something to be said about worshipping the God of Creation with the people that brought me to know Him, and love me with the same love He has for me. I've recently learned not to take advantage of that, but that's another blog, for another day. Anyways, then came lunch, napping, then singing at LifePark. I can't explain how much I love singing, and help lead a congregation in worshipping the King of Glory.

Then Sunday night. Yikes. Let me preface this by saying that I was scheduled to leave Charleston at 6 am to make it back to class by 10. BUT, After eating dinner with the fam, i decided to meet up with some friends for just a short time, just as a goodbye-for-now til I go home again. I've now learned that next time I get that invite, I'm getting in bed immediately. I went to Village Tavern, a small, quirky hangout in Mt. Pleasant, and absurdities quickly followed. Somehow it leaked to the owner of the bar that I sing, so before I knew it, he was leaving, only to return with some strange guitar-carrying dude he had gone and woken up. A sound system was hooked up, microphones on, ready to go. Don't really know how I dodged that bullet, but NO singing with drunken bar owners ensued...thank goodness! Then, we met some new friends, and one fireman tried to be Dr. Phil to Reese. Needless to say, she decided to escape with my other friend. So it was only me and Bucky for a bit. Then, we decided to leave too (after playing some spectacular jukebox jams), only to realize Reese, the friend that left an hour ago had taken both of our keys (not on purpose, just looking after them...without telling us). And of course, she wouldn't answer her phone. So we had to call Channing, our friend who had also already left....in order to dissuade the owner (who was trying his hardest to get us to drink some mystery beverage out of a mason jar. i'm not even kidding) and his offers to drive us wherever we needed to be. I would have walked before getting in a car with him. Anyways, Channing the Angel showed up. Our only plan of action was to drive downtown to Reese's and bang on her apartment windows and doors til she woke up. So we trekked downtown and began to beat on windows, only to realize she didn't live in Apartment A, but in fact Apartment B. Thank goodness no one lived in A, or we would have gotten shot. So we moved down one door, and she awoke, gave us our keys, and we were on our way. An hour later.

I finally made it home, and needless to say I didn't quite wake up in time to get back for class. Oops. But hey, I'm only a senior in college for so long (ok, i'm in my second senior year, but who's counting?) so I'm allowed one or two skips. I hate feeling irresponsible, but Sunday night was definitely one of those once-in-a-million nights, so it was worth it. Where was the polaroid when we really needed it?! I did make it back for the most important class of the day, which was at 5:30 pm. YES.

And I undoubtedly blame the absurdities on the chopsticks curse! Only problem is, someone's gotta figure out how to UN-curse us! ;)


All in all, the weekend was unbelievable. My next visit home has a lot to live up to (although I'm not quite sure I want it to...). The best part of the weekend? Definitely the company. I say it a lot, but I'm incredibly blessed with a band of entertaining, inspiring, caring, slightly crazy, beautiful friends. Each of my friends offer something different to my life, and enrich it in so many ways they don't know. (Family is included in this word 'friends' too!) I'm richly priveleged to be surrounded by such people, especially in such a beautiful setting as Charleston.

Life is good, the Lord is good, and SO are my great friends.

whew!

What a week! (insert immense sigh of relief here).
I've got a few minutes before yoga class, so I figured I'd update the blog.
First of all, if every week is gonna be like this, I'm gonna lose my mind before I graduate, and no one's gonna want to hire a crazy person. haha....seriously though, I am now a master multi-tasker. I can even be in starbucks and lab at the same time ;).

But amidst all the craziness, I've been constantly reminded all week of how blessed I am to have such great friends and family!

Graphics is a relatively small major here at Clemson, so all the people in my class have become a sort of rag-tag family. We're all real close, and remind each other that we couldn't do it without each other. We get stressed out and bombarded with projects and tests, etc., (all the while the ever present job search lingering)....but at the end of the day, always seem to think, you know, today was actually sort of fun. So if I complain about all the stuff I have to do...don't give it much though, I actually do love my major :)

And, BONUS, I got to see my cousin this week! She came up to lecture to some classes, so she rescued me from my 6 hours of lab on Wednesday. Usually wednesdays aren't the best, but this one was definitely the exception. I even had a presentation, that I'm pretty sure I aced :).

And this morning, I had an exam, that wasn't quite as good as the presentation, but the day is quickly turning around!! I'm about to go to yoga, then head to my beloved Charleston later for a great weekend. It's gonna start tonight at the music farm....my old roomie/one of my closest friends is playing at the music farm! (emily lynch...i've talked about her before) I'm so proud of her and can't wait to hear her tonight.

Gonna be a busy weekend, but so so great. Can't wait to see my Charleston Mag friends, my high school girls, and my family!

I'm blessed beyond measure. Have a great day, ya'll!

the New Dabo Song

just a little clemson pride this evening :)
Apparently, some redneck Carolina fan wrote a "Dabo Song"...but leave it to some Clemson students to avenge it with "The New Dabo Song"



my favorite line is "Come, Mr. Spurrier, please throw your visor..." hahaha!

and probably the best Dabo Swinney quote I've heard (this even trumps the "dang toilet bowl" comment pre-gator bowl!)

"We're not a broken team. We're not an old jalopy, hoopty car that we put a new paint job on and some new rims; we got everything on this car. We got a six-disc CD changer, we've got a moon roof, cruise control, nice paint job. When you see this car, you're going to say, 'Man, I'd like to drive that one."

What a fun coach :)
Can you tell I miss football season already?!

what i love about sundays...

i actually like the whole day :) it's been a very relaxing one for me! Church, then a family at my church who "adopted" me and some others (Thomas Austin, Preston Stone) had us over for some great lunch....then I just relaxed with Charlie for the rest of the day...it's been great to slow down after the past week i had!

School is now in full gear - getting stressful and busier by the day! Just gotta remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel...May 8th can't get here soon enough! This semester is gonna be tough, but I also want to enjoy my last one in tigertown, so I'm gonna try not to stress too much....diet coke and chocolate help a lot :)

Let's see what else is going on in life...I'm starting to help out with worship up here at Crosspoint (my church) and sing with them starting this coming sunday...I can't wait! If you know me, you know how much I love to sing...so that's a huge blessing to be able to help lead worship there! I definitely miss worshipping at FBC and LifePark in Mt. Pleasant though!

Also, it's been so so so good to be back in the swing of things and getting involved at FCA again...I didn't realize how much I missed it! Seriously, if you've never experienced Clemson FCA, you need to come visit me and go with me. (I could get on my soapbox and go on and on about how passionate I am for our FCA!) Or you could check out the website too. (It's clemsonfca.org) This past week at FCA the message was about suffering, and why bad things happen to good people...a question so many of us ask at some point or another. It was a great message for me to hear! Last Friday, we had to put my faithful lab Carl down...and it was crushing! He was seriously the best dog...loved everyone, was patient with everyone - and all around had a great personality and demeanor about him. We've had him since I was in 7th grade...and now I'm in 17th grade at Clemson ;)...so needless to say he was old, and it was time, but it was tough. Then this past Wednesday I got word that an old friend from home (in recent years, he had become more of an acquaintance) was killed in a car accident. So I was a bit down this past week (especially on Wednesday...which I've been advised to start skipping ;) ) and Thursday night was very refreshing! Matt, the speaker, turned the question around to ask why do good things happen to bad people. I have to admit, I have never viewed that question in that light before. It made perfect sense though - naturally, we are a sinful people. We deserved death, and nothing more - but we have been given the amazingly good and merciful gift of eternity in paradise! Why would something that good be given to people so unclean and filthy with our own selfishness? You know the answer - Jesus and HIS grace. He took what we deserved - the bad...worse than we can possibly imagine! Pretty amazing stuff. Matt also pointed out that ultimately, all suffering brings glory to Christ - which it does, whether we see it now or later down the road. I've seen that played out before, like when I struggle, I always tend to pour myself into the word and prayer...and I grew immensely in my faith. One particular instance I found that I grew more in a few months than I felt I had in a few years (and my roommate told me she saw that change too...so there's some of that glory for ya!) I'm not gonna lie though, there's still some tough stuff that I've been through that I haven't seen the glory of God revealed yet. I'll let you know when I do ! :)

So yeah - if you're wondering why bad things happen to good people...check the fca website, because they post the messages you can listen to...I promise it's worth it!


Final note, I have the sweetest puppy alive. He's snuggled up around my feet under my desk right now...think he loves attention? :)

Be blessed and be a blessing!!

grump face

Yesterday was just a plain old bad day. I was in class from 8:30 to 5:30 - in the same building. It was miserable...welcome to my wednesdays :/. Not to mention, on a campus of 17,000+ undergrads, i ran into the one person i didn't care to see at all. ever. and that was in the morning, so it sort of set the tone. then, i was in class all day, getting stressed out about projects and such...it was great. Then, I thought, ok I'll just go to Fike (the gym) to work out my mood and stress. I thought I was in luck, there was a fitness class, so I wouldn't even have to think about working out, I'd just mindlessly follow the instructor. But oh no, every new-years-resolutioner was in fike last night...so i couldn't even get in the class. So I decided to just run the track...but lasted a little over a mile before I was tripping over more new years resolutioners trying to run/walk. This is why I don't make resolutions, because give it a good month, and the gym will again be near empty in the evenings. (Can't wait!) So my frustrations were rising, so I decided to leave. I didn't feel like going home, so I went to Cooper (the library) to print some slides off for class, but can you guess what happened? Of course, the printer ran out of ink. Thank you budget cuts. So, now thoroughly frustrated/depressed/and generally on the outs, I went home. American Idol provided a brief escape from the day, and then I was exhausted and decided to go to bed. And I was then in full feeling sorry for myself mode, and then got mad at myself for pouting all day (i know, i'm a crazy person). But then, I was praying myself to sleep (as I often do, either on purpose, or accidentally...) I just got the feeling that, "Courtney, it's ok. It's ok to have a bad day every once in a while. Everyone's not happy all the time. You can't control everything. Sometimes the gym's crowded, the printer's broken, and so are some people and your relationship with them. You can't always fix your surroundings." So, then I listened to my amazing roommate's music (Emily Lynch - go find her on myspace - I promise it's worth it!) and actually went to bed at peace.

Point of my rambling: It's ok to have a bad day. It's ok to be grumpy, and even shed a few tears.

You know what else helps? Little orphan Annie...and her great tribute to "Tomorrow" :)