Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

By Nicole Guttermuth

I’ve heard Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” many times in my life never knowing the name of the song or the lyrics; I liked the way the song sounded; however, for whatever reason, I never looked it up on Google, YouTube or iTunes until recently.

While I am not entirely ready to share the impetus that prompted me to finally search out the lyrics to this song and to listen to every available version of it on YouTube (K.D. Lang’s live performance during the Juno Awards in Winnipeg, 2005, is by and large my favorite version), I will share the epiphany I have had listening to it over and over again until I have committed each verse to memory.

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

By Nicole Guttermuth

My divorce was final on July 26. At the very end of the proceeding, the judge (Ironically, I don’t remember her name) asked if I wanted to change my name. Without much thought or hesitation, I offered an emphatic yes.

I am, once again, Nicole Trista Guttermuth. Folks, I know the name isn’t much of an upgrade. I grew up being called “gutter-mouth.” But it is my name. The name I was given at birth. The one I “gave up” for what I thought would be a more complete life. And it only seems fitting that I regain my old name to go with the new version of me as I officially turn the page and begin a new chapter in my life.

Obviously I didn’t consider what a pain-in-the-you-know-what it is going to be to have to change all of my identification, and they just ordered business cards for me at The Parenting Place. Thank goodness for Sharpies! It is all worth it to shed my former name because, as much fun as it was to listen to people butcher it in a desperate attempt at pronunciation, it simply isn’t, wasn’t, me.

Being Guttermuth again is like slipping into my favorite pair of blue jeans. The name is comfortable, and it is well-fitting. “Gutermuth” means “good spirit” or “good cheer.” It comes from Middle High German “guot” (good) and “muot” (mind, spirit).

Guttermuth is a name for an optimistic person, and I can’t think of a better-fitting name for my spirit and personality.

I would be untruthful if I said this last year did not come with moments of utter frustration and days when I felt like I wanted to give up and throw in the towel. Yet I am a firm believer in the notion that what does not kill us makes us stronger.

With complete honesty, I can say I am a better person for everything I’ve endured, and I firmly believe that I have God to thank for this because I did not survive the rugged terrain of this journey on my own. I had a guide holding my hand every step of the way, and every time I lost my footing or stumbled, He was there to pick me up and steady me so I could continue.

If I can offer any piece of wisdom to my readers, I would echo the sentiment of Winston Churchill when he said, “Never, never, never give up!”

Believe me: I know there are days when quitting seems like not only the best, but also the only option. Don’t. Those are the days when you must dig in, dig deep and push through.

I am living proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel that opens into an amazingly beautiful new day.

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

Most of us remember the first job we ever had for which we received actual money. There weren’t many summer jobs for teens in the rural south that weren’t related to agriculture. We grew up in a region where farming was the way of life and few men weren’t farmers. Soy beans, lespedeza, cotton, tobacco and corn were all money crops. Still, getting a job off the home farm was seldom a possibility.

Imagine our excitement when Pioneer Corn Company from Indiana leased hundreds of acres for corn cultivation and began recruiting teenagers for field work.

Olivia Fowler

On the Way

By Olivia Fowler

A story in the news last week both astonished and worried me. And if you’ve ever attended a little league game when parents were distressed about the umpire’s call, you would take this pretty seriously.

Apparently during a soccer game in Brazil the referee made a call that was disputed by a player. The player in question had an altercation with the ref and struck him. The referee then stabbed the player, who died on the way to the hospital.

After the player was stabbed, fans stormed the field and stoned the ref before beheading him and quartering his body. It was also reported that after the decapitation, the head was mounted and displayed in the center of the field on a pole.

Nicole Daughhetee

Life As I Know It

By Nicole Daughhetee

My brain is so analytical in nature. I’ve often thought (and I certainly don’t mean for this to sound arrogant or pretentious) that being intelligent has its downfalls, because one can think things to death.

Faith can be a challenge at times because the human mind can think of so many best- and worst-case scenarios for any given equation in life, and yet there is that one variable in the equation that the human mind, no matter how intelligent, cannot fathom: God, in all of His infinite purpose, wisdom, grace, love, truth and possibility.

I have wanted, needed, craved love from a man my entire life. I don’t blame my father or hold this against him; it simply is what it is and there is research and anecdotal evidence to solidify the unequivocal and undisputable fact that girls need to have fathers in their lives. The absence of one in mine (and my grandpa did his best to fill in those gaps for me in the best way he could) made me long for approval from men; I hungered for unconditional love and acceptance; tenderness and gentility; I have always needed to be genuinely “wanted” because I felt like my father never wanted me.

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

I realize that for the past several summers, we have been sitting around, worrying because we did not ever have any rain to speak of.

The television weather girl would give us some unreasonable number on how much rain we were missing out on.

“We’re around 49 inches below our normal rainfall for the year,” she would say on the nightly broadcast.

Which was a lie. Sure, we’ve had some rainy seasons, but the figures quoted on the news must go back to that year when an old fellow named Noah gathered a few pets together on a big boat.

Nicole Daughhetee

Life As I Know It

By Nicole Daughhetee

I have a new job and I absolutely love it! Before I go any further, however, rest assured that I have no intentions of leaving the Courier, as I love wearing the writer’s hat too. The combination of both jobs is what I need to be able to pay my bills. That is simply the fact of the matter.

Two weeks ago I started at the Parenting Place in Pickens County. We are a non-profit organization on a mission to prevent child abuse in our community. Did you know that Pickens County is ranked No. 1 in the state of South Carolina for cases of child abuse and neglect? Startling sad. But true.

Many of my readers know that I have struggled to find work. I sent out resumes and received no response and then, voila, I had the most amazing answer to prayer and find myself in a job that is so well-suited to my

Olivia Fowler

Own The Way

By Olivia Fowler

We’ve owned many dogs over the years. There have been bird dogs, barn dogs, yard dogs and house dogs. They all had distinct personalities and varying degrees of intelligence.

Perhaps the smartest dog we ever owned was King, a beautiful German shepherd who could be counted on to babysit children in the backyard, guard our possessions and patrol at night.

He was like a policeman in that he’d clearly taken an oath to serve and protect.

He thought the world of his humans but was not impressed with our skill set, clearly disapproving of what he considered our lack of good judgment.

Ben Robinson

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

I am currently attempting to change my sleeping habits. It is not as easy as it would seem.

Every night, when I try to go to sleep, I cannot fall asleep for some reason.

I wish I could lie and say I am just too sore from the day’s work, but generally that is not true. As most of you know I am currently unemployed, which means I do not have anywhere I must go early in the morning. The people who make decisions on who to hire and when generally get off work around 5 p.m., and they do not like staying after hours just to tell some fat slob they are not hiring. So I must make my attempts at returning to the world of the employed during the day. People generally prefer to turn me away during regular business hours.

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

Today is a tough day for me. I should be in Middlesboro, Ky., going to and enjoying a Bible School class, then spending time with my friends, sharing stories of the day’s adventures. Instead I am still in a hot bedroom in Dacusville, planning for my several partial jobs and hoping to replace them soon with an actual fulltime job.

Let’s go back in time, close to 25 years ago. I was looking for something meaningful to do with my extra time. Some folks at my church — Nine Forks Baptist in Dacusville — were part of the Pickens First Baptist annual mission trip to Bell County, Ky. The group would conduct Bible School at several small churches. Some would also work on construction projects, but that did not apply to me. I am only good at building animosity.