#WCW: Courtney Saunders AKA Passionate Woman CS

It's been a while since we've had any features here on TSJ Styles but I think it's important to recognize the people in your life that are doing the damn thing! Women are QUEENS and often time superheroes, and we don't celebrate that enough. That being said, this week's WCW goes out to my girl Courtney. I've mentioned her a couple times on here for forwarding me some amazing words of inspiration. Needless to say, she's helped to keep me grounded. Something I've continued to learn is the importance and relevance of surrounding yourself with people who motivate and inspire you to do great things. In my case, people who are Queen-like.

I had the pleasure of meeting Courtney (and the blogging community) through Alyssa, which is super ironic because I never saw myself entering this world of writing & expression. Anyway, Courtney has a very infectious spirit and aura about her, making it hard to ignore her in a room. She has a laugh that makes you laugh even when you don't want to. But more importantly, she has a love for God SO deep it almost makes me embarrassed to say I'm a child of God. In the year that I've known her, I can honestly say I've seen her transform as a woman and as a worshipper. She doesn't even know that her fasting and desire to get closer to God is what prompted me to partake in one this past week as well. I literally saw what He was doing in her life. My pastor once said that God uses your troubles to create an audience for when He's ready to bless you, and Courtney's journey is a testament to that.

Courtney's all about empowering those around her by any means necessary. Let me give you an example – everyone knows I hate reading, but this little miss decided to start a book club which I joined essentially for support. The crazy thing is I got so much more from it than I thought. Other than expanding my mind, the club forced me to be encouraged through the words I was reading, and be more open to dialect and how life's traumas and experiences may have clouded my judgment on certain topics. Another example of her goodness: she has ties to her community, giving back whenever she can – last year she created a giveaway to feed families during the holiday season.

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Although she's moved back to Florida, and I've done horrible at keeping in touch with her (and the rest of the world for that matter), this is just an ode to her – Court, you're doing amazing sweetie! I'm so proud of all you do and honored to have you in my life. BEYOND! Congratulations again on this new journey; I know you're doing great with your new company and you deserve all the good things God has to offer you! I can't wait to see you for your book club next month, xo!

While I have everyone here, please make sure you visit her website, and support everything Courtney's doing including her blog, her book club in both Atlanta and Orlando, and her T-shirts (which directly relate to a post she released some months back called "Winging It"). If you need some words of inspiration or encouragement, her posts are the perfect solution to that. She's a realist, but in the midst of that, still full of so much faith. I'm giving you the link so you have ZERO excuses: Passionate Woman CS. You'll thank me later.