The Handsome Doorkeeper

Entering Retirement

2009-11-28T06:39:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I should just face the reality that my blog has run its course and needs to be retired. I started the blog with two main purposes in mind. First, I wanted to have an outlet to record my thoughts and increase my writing skills while in school. Second, I thought it would be a good way to keep family and friends informed about what was going on in my and my families life.

I'm finished with school, and while I still need writing practice the reality is that I am just not going to write in this blog consistently. I do have other outlets for writing now, so the blog is just not necessary anymore.

I am also not convinced that the people I wanted to keep informed about my family are actually reading the blog. I'm sure that is because I just haven't updated it enough and they lost interest.

In reality, the final nail in the proverbial coffin is that social networking site Facebook. Facebook is a much more efficient way to keep in touch with friends and family.

So, goodbye blog readers. Find me on Facebook if you want to keep in touch. www.facebook.com/kenporter

2009-10-10T05:48:00.005-06:00

2009-08-19T05:54:00.003-06:00

Here is a new flyer design for a prison ministry

2009-08-19T05:10:00.001-06:00

We went camping the other day...

2009-06-13T23:50:00.007-06:00

As camping goes, we had a few problems.

Now, we've been camping before and I actually enjoy camping very much although our entire family has not been able to go for quite some time. Serena and I have started a tradition of sorts. For the last several years, Robin, Crysta and Kayla have gone away for two weeks of CEF's Christian Youth in Action training prefacing a summer of missions work. Last year Serena and I went camping during the time the other girls were away and we continued that new tradition this year.

So we loaded the van, bought the groceries, got the fishing permit and worms, ran some last minute errands and headed out of town. Our destination was Stockton State Park, about an hour drive north. We arrived and found a desirable camp space among the mostly empty campground. We registered and paid the fees, were warned of impending storms and then began to set up camp. The first thing to do was to put up the E-Z Up canopy we purchased a year and a half ago. We purchased this primarily for use during summer Bible clubs but planned to use it for family functions as well.

The canopy fell apart as Serena and I tried putting it up. About six of the metal struts were broken in the middle where they passed through hinge pins. I couldn't believe what was happening. The canopy I paid two hundred dollars for not too long ago had been destroyed. The last time it was used was at our church's Fall Festival. Some well meaning but uninformed individuals had attempted to put it away without the proper knowledge and just broke it to pieces. They may not have known they broke it when they put it in the carry bag and I know it was unintentional, nonetheless; there goes two hundred dollars.

The rest of camp set-up went well. I used a small tarp, originally intended as a table covering, and sundry ropes and bungee cords to fashion a suitable canopy over our table. This performed well to keep rain and tree debris off our heads. We enjoyed a nice evening around camp making plans to go swimming the next day. I was tired because I had worked the previous evening and had been awake for around 24 hours by this time so we decided to go to bed when the sun went down at 9:00.

The storms came. It started raining and thundering and lightening. We slept off and on for about five hours occasionally waking to the audiovisual stimulation provided by the storm cells passing through. Around 2am I was awakened to a loud thunderclap. I lay there pondering the elements of the storm: It was raining, hard. The thunder was loud and rolling, the kind you could hear for 10 or 20 seconds. The lightning was occasional but spectacular as viewed through the thin blue nylon tent fabric. I was laying there amazed that there seemed to be no appreciable wind. About that time, Serena rolled over and cuddled up to me. The next thing I knew the wind had collapsed half our tent. This caused the rainfly to come loose and let rainwater filter in through the tent netting. We lay there, getting wet, contemplating our next move. I had decided we would probably need to abandon our tent but was in no hurry because it was raining, hard, and while we were getting wet inside the tent, there was not nearly as much rain inside the tent as outside.

After several minutes of soggy reflection, I realized that our situation would not be improving on its own. So the decision to abandon our tent was made and we sprang into action. We grabbed flashlights and headed out into the pond that was our campsite to the safety of the Villager. We were drenched from head to toe and both had to use the bathroom. I drove to the bath house and, after taking care of business and drying off a much as possible, and decided we would enjoy a drive into town since we were stuck in the van anyway. So we spent the next hour exploring the town of Stockton. We ended up back at the campground and dozed for the next few hours sitting in the reclining front van seats.

That morning was spent cleaning up from the storm. Our tent was not damaged in any way. The flexible shock-corded poles were just collapsed by the wind. It was a simple matter of pushing the inside of the tent up and the poles snapped back into position. I secured the rainfly better and added some tie-downs to help keep the tent from collapsing again. It didn't work. That evening while sitting around the fire another storm front came through and collapsed the tent again. We were not in it this time and things did not get as wet because of the improved rainfly. It did give me an opportunity to learn that the tent was just not stable in high winds. I secured the tent poles to some trees to prevent another collapse. I am getting ahead of myself though.

After the storm clean-up we headed back into town to find a Laundromat to dry all our clothes that got wet. We stopped to take some photos on the way back into the park and just about the time we arrived at our camp site the van started acting up. It turned out that the crankshaft pulley (or harmonic balancer) just busted. This meant that there were no accessory belts to drive the, uh, accessories, including the alternator and water pump. So that afternoon was spent making arrangements to have the van towed home the following day. Thank God for friends that were able to make arrangements to come get me saving me over half what a commercial tow truck would have cost.

The only really sad part of all this was that Serena and I did not get to go swimming. The beach area was several miles away and I was not about to walk there. This saddened Serena, but she soon got over it and made the best of it. She still had a great time and is ready to go back already.

Here is our prayer card...

2009-02-27T21:20:00.004-06:00

Missions Conference Banner

2009-02-20T02:40:00.003-06:00

I had the pleasure of designing the banner for South Side's missions conference. It is very basic and very clean looking. I hope you like it. The original banner is 16 feet long by 3 feet tall.

I liked it so much I used the same graphic and similar design for our prayer cards. I'll post our prayer card soon.

We are Missionaries!

2009-02-20T02:07:00.002-06:00

Sometimes you can just tell without a doubt that God is at work and has His hand in your life. I am constantly humbled by the fact that the almighty God wants to use me. While I fail Him on a daily basis He still loves me and is working to make me more like His Son in a never ending time of gently forming me like clay in the Masters hands.

But that's not what I intend to write about today.

We have gone through the application and lengthy interview process with Child Evangelism Fellowship and have been invited to work with them as full time Missionaries. This obviously excites us and is exactly the path we feel God has for us at this time. Robin and I are looking forward to our time working to evangelize, disciple and bring children into the local church.

We are CEF missionaries and are on deputation now. Well, more like deputation light. I am still in school and will graduate this May. The two weeks following graduation we will be at CEF's worldwide headquarters in Warrenton, Missouri for their Missionary Candidate School. We will be trained in effective deputation methods in order to maximize our efforts to raise our ministry expenses.

In the meantime though, we will be working to get a head start on that deputation process. We will be in a missions conference at our sending church here in Springfield February 25-March 1. We have also been invited to present our ministry at Pastor Joe Brothers church in Georgia in March. These events have greatly encouraged us and we are looking for more opportunities to share our ministry with God's people.

If you would like to hear more about our ministry and how you may become a prayer and/or financial partner please get in touch with me and we would be happy to share what God is doing in our lives.

Thank you for reading.

A Change in Direction

2009-01-21T05:52:00.005-06:00

For those of you who have not heard, Robin and I have made a change in direction for our ministry. We both came to the conclusion that God would have us serve as missionaries with Child Evangelism Fellowship.

This is a radical change from our initial pursuit as church planting missionaries with the Baptist Bible Fellowship. We will be working in the USA reaching children for Christ. A major part of our ministry will be promoting the ministries of CEF and starting After School Good News Clubs. We will be training adult leaders to operate and teach in these clubs.

There are many reasons for this change but the most important being the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is a God thing, as testified of by the godly people in our lives who we counseled with concerning this decision. Robin and I are totally at peace with this and are convinced this is what God wants with our lives at this point.

Actually, we have not been accepted by CEF yet. We made application with them two weeks ago and had people send in reference forms. Tuesday morning we had our first phone interview. Everything went well and we expect another more lengthy interview in a couple weeks.

I hope you share in our excitement about this avenue of ministry and will pray with us that God will have His way and will be honored in this pursuit.

More info. to follow soon.

One of my latest designs

2008-10-12T00:59:00.005-06:00

Here's a design for a poster and invitation card for our local CEF. Robin and I are on the board of the local CEF chapter and we convinced them to let me design materials for this years banquet. I'm not sure if they regret that decision now.

What do you think?

Wow, what happened?

2008-10-12T00:47:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was informed that this coming week was mid-terms at school. My head must have been in the sand. I only have an actual mid-term in one class, so it's not gonna be much of a different study week then usual.

It's just that, I had no idea we were half way through the semester already.

The final year

2008-09-03T00:41:00.002-06:00

I started classes last Friday and we had off for Labor Day. Since I am only attending classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday's, today is my second day of classes. I am actually only attending four classes on a regular weekly basis. I also have one Distance Ed class and one Module class. Here is my lineup for this semester:

Physical Science
Apologetics
Personal and Business Finance
Romans
Eschatology (my DE class)
Theology and Secular Counseling (my modular class)

Yes, that's six classes and they are all 3 hours each. That's a total of 18 hours for the mathematically challenged among my readers. This is what I must do to graduate this year.

Well, my fair blog readers, I'm gonna post a few pictures in a new post them get back to work. With 18 hours of in class work I have many hours of homework to do.

Pray for me and my family, please. I greatly appreciate it.

Some Logo Designs

2008-08-14T05:02:00.003-06:00

Here are the logos that appear in the flier below but in their correct colors. The colors are similar because the 180 Degrees is a ministry of South Side and we just decided to use the same colors. I still don't know why the flier will not upload properly. The only thing I can think of is it may be too large of a file to maintain its integrity.

While under my rock this summer...

2008-08-13T03:41:00.003-06:00

I designed this flier for a new ministry of our church, I also designed the logo for the ministry and the logo for the church as seen at the bottom of this flier.

For some reason I don't understand, I can't seem to upload the flier correctly. The colors are all messed up. What you see as dark or royal blue should be a deep red or maroon color and the light blue-green should be a gold color with the big question mark a lighter shade of the gold color. Oh well. You get the idea of my design anyway. This is all my original work with the exception of the Chained Hands image.

What I've been doing under my rock...

2008-08-13T03:19:00.002-06:00

I've poked my head out a few times to photograph the sunrise outside my window at work and have started a series of photographs called The Light Outside My Window.

Here are a few images all taken from the same vantage point outside my office at work.

The Rock I've Been Under

2008-08-13T00:18:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking about crawling out from under the rock I've been hiding under and making another post on this blog. My final year of School is getting ready to start back up and for some reason that makes me want to blog. I don't seem to have the desire to blog during the summer months as the same thing happened last summer. Maybe it's because while summer is a break from school for me, it's not really a break in other aspects.

This summer I have worked many 70+ hour weeks at work, have been involved in a teaching ministry at a boys detention center, and have become a treasurer at our church. Robin and Crysta and Kayla have been super busy doing CEF 5-day Bible clubs which have resulted in more then 40 decisions to accept Christ.

I took Serena camping by the Niangua river while Robin and the other two girls were away at the CEF training camp. Robin and I also got to spend a few days in Branson, MO for our anniversary and had so much fun we decided to bring the girls back down for a day to ride the DUKS. We did that while Crysta went to St. Louis to do inner-city missions work. What are the DUKS? I'll post pictures on the picasaweb album for you to go look at and you'll figure it out.

I've tried to spend some time being creative with my camera. Don't know if I've been successful or not. Maybe I'll post some pictures On here and let you decide that for me. We'll see.

I've used the pronoun "I" way too much in this post, but I am too lazy to be any more creative than that.

So, that's the skinny on what's been going on in the Porter family.

Oh yea, I also discovered facebook and have been having fun catching up with old friends and keeping up with new friends. If you don't have a facebook you should just get one. Look me up when you do. I'll be sure to approve you as my friend.

See you sooner or later.

Ken

No New Posts?

2008-05-03T01:28:00.001-06:00

Yea, I know. I've been very busy finishing up classes. Let me get through finals week next week and I'll start posting again.

All is well here, by the way.

He is coming!

2008-04-11T04:21:00.001-06:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a short video clip worth?

She's home!

2008-03-14T20:56:00.001-06:00

Thank you, Jesus.

It's Friday

2008-03-14T05:15:00.002-06:00

She will be home this evening. Yay!

I'm getting butterflies in my stomach.

One

2008-03-12T21:38:00.002-06:00

The early 70's band Three Dog Night sang this popular song that I can now identify with heartily.

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the loneliest number since the number one

No is the saddest experience you'll ever know
Yes, it's the saddest experience you'll ever know
`Cause one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
One is the loneliest number, worse than two

It's just no good anymore since she went away
Now I spend my time just making rhymes of yesterday

One is the loneliest, number one is the loneliest
Number one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
One is the loneliest, one is the loneliest
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
It's just no good anymore since she went away
(Number) One is the loneliest
(Number) One is the loneliest
(Number) One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
(Number) One is the loneliest
(Number) One is the loneliest
(Number) One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do

You see, for some crazy reason I agreed with my wife that she should go away for two weeks to attend a Child Evangelism Fellowship training course.

I must have been delirious at the time.

I knew that things around the house would run smoothly because Robin has done a superb job of training our three girls in homemaking skills and we have worked hard to teach them proper behavior. No, they are not perfect, but the are well behaved so with a little bit of encouragement from daddy I don't worry too much about that kind of stuff.

I also knew I would miss my wife, but this is just too much. I almost took off Tuesday to go see her but I was able to get a hold of myself and meet my obligations at home. Fortunate for me, she will be home Friday evening. That's only two days from now.

I can't wait.

Nikon D40

2008-03-11T02:21:00.005-06:00

As you have probably figured out by now if you have been reading this blog, I got a new camera recently. It is a Nikon D40. It came with an 18-55 kit lens. I also bought the superb 18-200 f3.5-5.6 VR lens. VR stands for Vibration Reduction. This lens is revolutionary in that it pretty much replaces all other lenses for practical uses. Of course, there will always be other lenses that you COULD use or may I dare say NEED for one reason or another, but this one could be the only lens the average family photographer like me ever really needs.

Here is the excellent 18-200 f3.5-5.6 VR lens.

Live, in concert....

2008-03-09T04:03:00.003-06:00

We had the privilege to go see Mark Lowery and Lordsong in concert at High Street Baptist Church Friday evening. It was a good concert and we had a great time. Mark's facial expressions and gestures are ripe for anyone with a camera. We didn't have great seats for photographing but I did manage to get some good shots. You can view the other photo's here.

I'm starting to feel old

2008-03-06T23:17:00.001-06:00

My oldest child turned 15 today. It's difficult to believe that I have a 15 year old child. She's really not a child anymore. In fact, this whole week and next she is the acting lady of the house. Robin is away at a CEF training school until the 15th. Crysta has done an excellent job being in charge of the house and all that that entails. I'm very proud of my 15 year old. Here she is last summer playing with water jets at the zoo. You can see more zoo photos at my Google Picasa Web Album here.

Fun In The Snow

2008-03-04T23:32:00.000-06:00

Yep, it snowed this morning. The girls and I had fun playing in the snow. Crysta and Kayla threw snow all over the place but generally toward each other. They even hit their target occasionally. We had lots of fun. I took over 500 pictures of them throwing snow and building a snowman. You can see all the pictures by clicking here. Enjoy.

I just love the white fluffy stuff

2008-03-04T20:53:00.000-06:00

It snowed last night. It snowed a lot last night. It snowed enough for them to close campus and cancel classes. That was glorious. I needed the time off. This is a picture of our house at 2:30 in the morning while it was snowing. If you look closely you can see the porch light and front door in the upper center of the photo.

This is a picture of our house from the same vantage point after the snow decided to stop falling later that day.

It doesn't look like it snowed all that much from this photo but it was also very windy and much of the snow drifted. That means we had areas of light snow and also areas of 8 to 10 inch deep snow. Anyway, snow is fun and we had fun in the snow that day.

Books, Part Two

2008-03-01T00:47:00.001-06:00

All those books down there that you have been looking at since January are what I have to read by the beginning of May. I was going to add up all the pages and whine a little about how many pages I had to read this semester but I am afraid if I count them all it would be to discouraging. So, no page total.

I should get busy. I have a lot to read.

Books

2008-01-25T06:10:00.000-06:00

Alright, just consider this image for a while. I'll be back later.

What?

2007-12-22T06:02:00.000-06:00

I just heard on Fox & Friends that Tony Blair, former British Prime minister, became a Roman Catholic yesterday.

That's interesting.

Sweet Relief

2007-12-20T05:33:00.000-06:00

Ok, the semester's over, I survived finals and am now in a recuperate mode.

About midway through the semester I was diagnosed with pneomia. I eventually got over it, sorta. I did start to feel better but have had cold symptoms almost constantly since. I would feel better for a day or two but then go back to feeling bad again. Well, I think my body was just doing what it had to to survive the hectic schedule I was keeping. Since finals were over last Thursday I think my body said, "ok, now I CAN be sick!"

I have been terribly sick since finals. I am starting to feel better though, for now. So anyway, send me your accolades for surviving the semester (yes that's unabashed self-promotion) and please pray that I would get all better by Christmas. I'd like to be well Christmas morning.

Oh yeah, wait till I tell you about Christmas. Our God is good. That's all I can say for now.

Remember, He (Jesus) knows when you've been good or bad, so be good for His sake.

'Till next time...

5 Days left

2007-12-03T07:35:00.000-06:00

Whew... This is it, down to the wire. Five days left in this semester. On a previous post I wrote:

Before the end of the semester I need to write a 10 page research paper, a 4 page opinion paper, a couple 5 page journal article reviews, three lesson plans, four sermons, conduct two interviews and whatever else I can't remember right now. Whew, I better get busy.

Well, the 10 page research paper is done, One of the journal articles is done, one of the lesson plans is done and three of the sermons are done. I still have the 4 page opinion paper, one of the journal article reviews, two lesson plans, two sermons ( I realized that I had another sermon to prepare), both interviews and a couple other small papers to write.

I still have a lot to do and a short time to do it in.

... So I'm gonna get busy.

Later

We would have made the pilgrims proud...

2007-11-24T05:03:00.000-06:00

I know it's now two days after Thanksgiving and this may not be the most timely post, but I am just now able to write about it. Yes, I am all turkeyed out. I have had my fill and we have not even eaten half of that humongous 20 lb. turkey. I do love turkey though, and will be ready for some more in a few weeks or so. I sure am glad turkey freezes well.

We did have some healthy choices this year. Along with the turkey and normal stuffing, Robin made this rice and something stuffing as a healthy alternative. She also made her cranberry salad with no sugar added and no marshmallows and I think she put four or five times the amount of apples in it to add some natural sweetening. It was pretty good even if a little sour. It was even better after I doctored some with a little sugar and Sweet'n Low but please don't tell Robin I did that. She also made a kinda cashew and arrowroot gravy that had a good taste but was a little slimy. Dinner was great however, and the time of thanksgiving afterwards was even better.

We all took turns going around and saying what we were thankful for. We have much to be thankful for. God has really been good to us. I am amazed at His constant provision and protection on our lives.

It is my prayer that you all had a great Thanksgiving day and made some lasting memories.

I'll try not to wait until next Thanksgiving to write another post.

Until later,

It's Almost Over...

2007-11-22T04:21:00.001-06:00

This semester is almost over already. I know it's a little late, but I feel like I need to update everybody on what's been happening at school.

I signed up for these classes this semester:

Algebra
Cross Cultural Communications
Methods of Bible Teaching
Homiletics
Missions Strategies
Christology
Soteriology
Missionary Life and Work

I know, that's crazy. They are all two hour classes except Homiletics, which is a three hour class. That's 17 hours. I couldn't handle it. Algebra was taking me four hours a week outside of class and I wasn't even keeping up. When I came to the realization that I was trying to do too much Algebra was the natural choice to drop. So now I am only in 7 classes, which is still a lot but I am much more able to handle the load. I think I am on track to get 5 A'a and 2 C's. We'll see in a few weeks.

I am really enjoying my classes this year and I think I am learning a lot. I am; however, ready for a break. I get a few days off for thanksgiving, which will be a great relief, although I still have much work to do during the break to complete the last bit of projects before the end of this semester.

Before the end of the semester I need to write a 10 page research paper, a 4 page opinion paper, a couple 5 page journal article reviews, three lesson plans, four sermons, conduct two interviews and whatever else I can't remember right now. Whew, I better get busy.

I guess I should go now and get to work.

Later

It was a great summer

2007-11-07T00:49:00.000-06:00

A few posts ago I wrote about taking my oldest daughter, Crysta, to CEF's Christian Youth In Action training camp(that was in the middle of May). Her training went well and she really applied herself and learned a lot about ministering to children.

Kayla went to the two day Junior CYIA training.

Here are the results of that training and their hard work.

Back Yard Bible Clubs

The girls, along with two other young people, held about nine Back Yard Bible Clubs this summer. They were able to lead about 16 children to the Lord through these clubs.

County Fair Ministry

Our family participated in the Fair Ministry through our church and CEF and we were able to see 13 children come to the Lord. Crysta and Kayla led most of these children to the Lord.

After School Good News Club

Our whole family, along with about ten other people from our church, also ministers to the students at Campbell Elementary School through a Bible club we hold on Monday afternoons in the school. Crysta and Kayla are instrumental to the success of this club and teach in all areas of the club. The Lord has blessed tremendously with six of these public school children accepting Christ so far this year. By the way, Campbell Elementary is in a tough area of town. The residents are very transient and are mostly in the low income bracket. We have seen God do a great work through this club.

The training our girls received through CEF was instrumental in their success this summer. God used them greatly and they really put a lot of hard work to help change the lives of many children this summer.

By the way, Serena was too young to participate in the training and the clubs this summer but she has a real heart for serving God and while she couldn't participate in the training she is learning how to share the gospel through the wordless book and is actually pretty good at it.

Please pray that God would continue to use our girls and they would continue to want to be used of Him.

Why am I blogging?

2007-11-04T02:28:00.000-06:00

I started blogging last year for two reasons. One, to keep my friends and family up to date on my goings on and stuff. Two, because I wanted a medium to help persuade me to write more.

While I have enjoyed blogging, I feel like I have badly neglected keeping it up to date and I'm just not sure if I should continue. It wouldn't be a big deal except I feel guilty about going weeks or months between entries.

With all that said, I'm going to try to bring the blog up to date over the next week or so. Only time will tell how successful I am.

Let me know what you think. Do you mind coming here only to find there are no new entries or should I just shut it all down?

Am I whining? I feel like I'm whining?

Ok, so I was surfing around this morning...

2007-08-18T03:21:00.000-06:00

...and I followed a link on Hall Young's blog to Scott Brown's blog and found this article:

The Success of Youth Ministry

Over the years many studies have documented the staggering number of youth who leave the church after their high school years. I know many who have concluded that the failure of modern youth ministry is no longer disputable.

Mike Yaconelli, one of the founders of the modern youth ministry movement, and founder of Youth Specialties stated it this way just before his death in a 2003 edition of "Youthworker" magazine,

"The success of youth ministry in this country is an illusion... So let's be honest. Youth ministry as an experiment has failed. If we want to see the church survive, we need to rethink youth ministry."

I found this interesting because when our oldest daughter was approaching junior high age, we made the decision to keep her out of the youth group. There were many reasons for this, one of those reasons was because, while the youth department said their job was to support the family, we felt they were going about it all wrong. In fact, it seemed as though their unintentional results were actually fragmenting the family.

This was evidenced by the fact that almost without exception, within a few weeks of graduating into the youth group, we witnessed a marked change in those young people. Some of those changes were:

A radical change in their dress style trying to conform to pop culture almost without regard for Biblical modesty or appropriateness.
Going from sitting with their parents in church to sitting with their peers and a lack of interest in the service.
A change in their character from sweet approachable young person to someone who didn't want to have anything to do with adults.

We were not about to accept this. Instead, we got Crysta involved in ministry to teach her the importance of serving others and God. She did a great job and does not regret not being in the youth group.

Here's the rub:

It's not the youth pastor's job to train your children in Godliness. It is the parents job to disciple and train their children. Now, this means you must have the kind of relationship with them so they will listen to you. This comes partly from training and discipline but mostly from spending quality time building your relationship bit by bit. There is NO substitute for time spent with your children. The all-to-common excuse of "it's not quantity of time but the quality" is a lie of Satan. There, I said it. If you're offended, well, take that as a hint.

By the way, Crysta is now in a youth group. Although she doesn't just do everything they do. In order for her to participate in her youth group activities the activity must be in line with our goals for her life. Oh yes, and partly as a result of our teaching her the value of ministry and serving God, she has spent this summer teaching neiborhood children about God and salvation and has had the blessing of leading many children to Jesus this summer.

That's enough for now.

Which one are you?

2007-07-07T17:12:00.000-06:00

As much as I dislike forwarded emails, this came to me the other day in a forward. I think it's pretty cool. Instead of forwarding it on, I thought I'd just post it here.

Enjoy-

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Conservative."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Liberal."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met but, somehow, now it's my fault."

Is it really June 21st?

2007-06-21T03:06:00.000-06:00

There have been a lot of things going on but I have not been feeling very bloggy lately. In fact I started a new post the other day only to discard it before finishing. Sometimes I guess I'm just not in the mood to share with the world (however small a part of it actually reads this) what is going on in my life. Well here it is.

My New Job

As I stated in my last post, I started a new job. I am the night Front Desk clerk at a local hotel, the Springfield Inn. I work from 11pm to 7 am five nights a week. It's taken me a while to get used to the hours. Staying up through the night was not the problem; what I did have a problem with was sleeping. The first week I could not sleep very much during the day. I guess I had to train my body how to sleep when it was light out. I've got that whipped now and I sleep very well.

My Baby's Growing Up

Two Sundays ago, the 10th, Robin and I drove Crysta to Hannibal Missouri to attend the Child Evangelism Fellowship's(CEF) Christian Youth In Action training camp. This is a two week training camp where they teach young people how to conduct the CEF's 5 day camps (also known as back yard clubs). Now this is not your average youth camp. In order to go to this camp, you need the recommendations of two spiritual leaders (other than family) in your life, like your pastor and Sunday school teacher. You need to memorize two whole pages of Scripture verses before the camp starts. You also have to make the commitment to conduct at least 9 Five Day Backyard Clubs during the rest of the summer. It's a pretty big commitment, but, then again, it's excellent training.

This last school year, Robin, Crysta and the girls have been doing the after school CEF club at the elementary school by our church. This is a great time to teach kids about Jesus and reach them with the Gospel. Did you know the CEF actually won a Supreme court case to guaranty them access to the public schools. If a public school opens it's doors to any outside group, they must also, by law, allow religious groups in also. You need to check this out. If your church isn't getting into the public schools this is the way to do it. Go to their web site and check it out at www.cefonline.com.

Anyway, it was very difficult for me to leave Crysta at this camp for two weeks. We have been training her for this her whole life though, so this is really just the next step in learning to walk on her own two feet spiritually. I think the reason I had such a hard time with this is because it reminds me of that day when I am going to have to say goodbye to her permanently, possibly in as little as 5 years. That's almost impossible to imagine, but it's not too far off. Lord help me, please.

I Got Another Year Older

Yes, it's true. I turned 38 this month. That means only two years to the dreaded 4-0, Over-The -Hill and all that. You know, I still think of myself as 18 until I look in the mirror, or climb a flight of stairs, or get out of bed for that matter. It makes me that much more dedicated to getting in shape and getting healthy. I don't think it's going to get any easier as I get older. Wow-this post turned sour real quick, I'm getting off this subject now.

I guess I'll go now. Please keep Crysta's father in prayer. I really need it.

Love you guys...

Whew...

2007-05-20T01:30:00.000-06:00

Here it is the middle of May already and I've neglected my blog yet again. I can't say it's totally without cause though. I have had to finish up projects for classes, study for and take finals, and attend the BBFI fellowship week activities. It's been a rather busy time. We got to see one of our pastors from Mid-Way in Raleigh, Brother Bob. It was nice to make that connection again and get to visit and fellowship with our pastor. O yes, I've also started a new job. It is as a front desk clerk at a local hotel called Springfield Inn.

All in all it's been a busy but enjoyable month so far. I am looking forward to a great summer. I am planning to work as much as I can and enjoy summer activities with my family. I'm looking forward to doing more fishing than I've done in the past few years and maybe a camping trip or two.

Gonna go for now. Be good.

Do You Freecycle?

2007-04-28T23:04:00.000-06:00

What?

What in the world is freecycle you ask? Well, it is the ultimate form of recycling. When you freecycle, you not only keep stuff out of the landfills, you also save the energy it takes for industry to recycle that stuff.

Keep Your Britches On

Now before you go thinking I've gone to the other side and am running with the tree hugging and frog kissing crowd, think again. Being good for the environment is only one of the good things about freecycling.

We all have things we don't need or want. Right?
We all need or want things we don't have. Right?
We all love to get things for free. Right?
We all love to give things away and bless people. Right?

Freecycle gets the people who have things they don't need or want together with the people who need or want the things other people have so the haves can give freely to the have-nots and that just makes everybody happy and giddy inside.

From The Freecycle Website

How does it work?
When you want to find a new home for something -- whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door -- you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of the local Freecycle group.
Or, maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member's offer, and you just might get it. After that, it's up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure.
Our main rule: Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.

Non-profit organizations also benefit from The Freecycle Network. Post the item or items you want to give away and specify that you wish the gift to go to a nonprofit cause. It's entirely your choice! It's a free cycle of giving. The Freecycle Network is incorporated as a nonprofit organization and is tax-exempt under the IRS 501(c)3 ruling.

Cool Huh?

Robin and I have been Freecycling lately and I gotta tell you, it's a blast. It's for a good cause, and it's free. Can you beat that? I don't think so.

Go check out the national Freecycle site and get involved today. It's fun! Do it now. Come on, you can read the rest of my stupid blog later, go check out Freecycle now.

VT students returned to classes today

2007-04-23T23:07:00.000-06:00

OK, I have held my toung, err...fingers, for a week on this. I've tried not to be reactionary and wait to see what happens, but now it's time to speak.

While I'm admittedly a bit disconnected from the everyday news, there are a few things I've noticed.

It wasn't the gun's fault

So, I haven't watched that much news about this event, but I have seen numerous stories about the guns and how easily available they are. The stories seemed to highlight the fact of the high capacity magazines available for the 9mm pistol and the fact that you can buy one with an instant background check without a waiting period. They almost seem to blame the gun for the horrific things that transpired that day.

The fact of the matter is this: bad people do bad things. This wasn't the gun's fault, it was the gunman's fault. It wasn't the universities fault, it was the gunman's fault. It wasn't the professors fault, it was the gunman's fault. It wasn't the security officers fault, it was the gunman's fault. It was the gunman's fault!

I know I said a few...

...but that's all I want to discuss now. Maybe more later.

Thank you for reading

Calling all prayer warriors

2007-04-09T19:09:00.000-06:00

I just found out that a friend of the family, Marlene Travis, has been diagnosed with cancer. It is in multiple places including her brain. She is getting chemotherapy treatment. Please pray that God would heal her and that the doctors will know the best course of action to take in her treatment.

Until next time...

Would you see this in USA?

2007-04-04T16:12:00.000-06:00

Guess where this picture was taken? Let me just say that this is one of the reasons we want to go to Ecuador. They are a people who need Jesus to make a difference in their spiritual lives as well as their physical lives. We want to go and introduce these people to the life changing power that only Jesus can give.

Would you please pray for us as we prepare to go and help these people; and would you also pray for the Ecuadorian people that they would realize their need for Jesus and his life changing work on their souls.

Until next time...

DON'T WORRY, You're at the right place!

2007-03-27T15:11:00.000-06:00

I got a little bored the other night and got out the miter saw and nail gun and did a little remodeling. What do you think of the new look? I think it's a bit more, uh, refined. Maybe more professional. It's me with a tie on. Ok, I just went a little too far, I'm sorry.

I'll go now...

Take a gander over to the right----------there------->

2007-03-19T16:22:00.000-06:00

In an effort to make this place a little more interesting and to share with you some of the things I do on the net, here's a new section of links that I goto on a regular or at least semi-regular basis.

If you want some thought provoking words go visit my friend John Young's blog. He's much more intelligent than myself has some interesting things to say. I think you'll like it.

I'll add some more items later.

Until then, keep looking up, He may be back very soon.

So, how many is a few anyway?

2007-03-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

I know in my last, uh, post, I said that I would post an update in a few days. And it has been a few days. And a few more I guess. Anyway, here I am posting now.

The Real Update!

I don't think that many of you know this, but I have experiencing pain in my joints for the past five or so months. It has ranged from almost debilitating to just mildly annoying, but I have had the pain almost 90% of the time. Mostly in my ankles and knees but also in my feet(like a toe or something) and elbows. One of the worst parts of this is that I could not get my primary care provider (who was a Nurse Practitioner) to take me seriously about this.

Through the college nurse, I finally got hooked up with a good sports medicine Dr. He has diagnosed me with some form of arthritis, probably gout, which has been exasperated by my working conditions and some other medicine I'm taking. He was also able to set me up with a much better primary care Dr. She is an internist in the St. Johns medical system and actually shares an office with the Sports Medicine Dr. so they can easily confer with each other about my problem.

I can finally say that there seems to be some relief in sight for this problem. That excites me. I feel like I've been hurting forever.

On Another Note

This semester is about half over, I'm excited about that also. Don't get me wrong, I am thoroughly enjoying most of my classes and am learning some good stuff, but life gets very hectic with this sort of schedule plus trying to maintain all the other things in life you should be doing. I am looking forward to the summer.

Until Next Time

I promise (I think) it will not be as long between posts next time. I'm going to strive to post a couple times a week, really.

Thanks for visiting.

OK, so, I'm sorry...

2007-03-06T21:02:00.000-06:00

I really do not want to be a drive-by blogger! I'll post a real update in the next few days. Can you forgive me?

Back in the swing of things

2007-01-29T22:00:00.000-06:00

Well, the ice has receded from our land. What's left of the trees are generally not drooping anymore. And school has started back up. I'm carrying 15 hours this semester, looking for another job, and as busy as ever. Robin and the girls are now watching some friends children for around 6 hours in the morning. They are really not much of a bother, and generate some much needed extra income. They are actually quite pleasant to have around the house. I am looking for a job that would be a little more conducive to me doing school work/studying while at work. I think I've identified the type of job that would work, I'm looking for a hotel front desk/night auditor position. I've investigated it and even talked with someone in the field and it seems that this job would afford me some time to do school work while at work. The job I have now is good and steady, but allows no time to multi task and study while working. At least not without depriving my employer of work to be done.

I need to keep this short. I promise I'll try not to be so long between posts next time. Maybe I'll also be able to post some pictures of the cleanup effort after the great ice storm of '07.

Come back and see.

And the final count is...

2007-01-20T12:38:00.000-06:00

WooHoo, we have power back. Actually we've had our electricity back since Thursday evening but I've not had time to blog about it. It came back on at around 8:00pm. It was very nice to come home to a warm, well lit house.

You know, there are so many things we take for granted that we use in our everyday life. Electricity is just one of them. This whole experience has made me so much more thankful for the nice thing God has given us. Things that make our lives so much easier to live then just a hundred or so years ago. There are also lots of illustrations and analogies resultant from this whole experience that have been dancing around in my head. Maybe I'll write about those later.

For now, just know that all is well with the Porters in Springfield. Thank you for your prayers. I hope to be able to see you, my friends, soon.

Staying Warm,

...........still counting

2007-01-18T12:07:00.000-06:00

It is now 12:00 Thursday afternoon and we still do not have power. That's 134 hours or 8040 minutes or 482400 seconds. Yes, I am counting.

It was my intention to post updates daily, but it got cold. Monday we decided to take some friends up on an invitation to stay at their house and their internet was down. They did not have power but did have a gas stove that kept their house warm. As it turned out, their electricity was restored about twenty minutes before we arrived. We had a good time while we were there.

Wednesday some other friends had their power restored and offered us the use of their generator. We also finally found a kerosene heater. Actually, Robin's mother and brother were the ones who found the heater. They had to drive around twenty miles away to get kerosene, and then it cost $40.00 to fill up two 5 gallon containers.

So, to make this long story short, we were able to come back home Wednesday. Still no power from the utility company, but with heat and a generator.

I've got more updating to do, but I need to get ready for work now, so I'll post some more later.

Stay warm.

And the ice came...

2007-01-14T19:31:00.000-06:00

I took these pictures today, from around our house.

45 Hours And Counting

2007-01-14T18:05:00.000-06:00

It's almost 7:00 pm Sunday evening and we have not had electricity since Friday at 10:00 pm. It's starting to get a little chilly in the house, but not unbearable. The word of the day is layer. We are layering the clothes on and layering on the blankets. Last night the electricity came on for a few minutes then flickered on and off for the next 15 or 20 minutes or so, but thats all. It gave us some hope that we would have electricity before nights end, but to no avail.

Right now we are watching the "new" Miracle On 34th Street, have one light on in the house, and have my laptop and DSL modem powered by my 1000 watt Cherokee inverter running off my van battery while my van is running to keep it charged. Not the most efficient use of gasoline, but, when times are tough, you do what you have to do. We thought we would run the van so we could watch a movie and have some much needed diversion from our current reality. Tonight, we will all sleep in the same bedroom to use our collective body heat to keep warm.

I just noticed that I can see my breath when I exhale. I'll try not to dwell on that thought too much.

Until next time, stay warm and be good.

Shoot me an email sometime or leave me a comment on this forum.

Out of the mouths of babes...

2007-01-09T14:04:00.000-06:00

Robin and the kids and I had the opportunity to attend the opening session of the Missouri Independent Fundamental Baptists Monday evening. We had a good time and got to hear some good preaching. There was a pastor and a missionary preaching, and a single missionary lady sang the special music. After the first preacher was done preaching, the host pastor had all the pastors and missionaries stand and introduce themselves. There were probably about twenty-five pastors there. Well, this must have got Serena, my youngest daughter, thinking about things because about halfway through the second preaching session she looked up at Robin with a worried look on her face and whispered,"Mommy, are all the preachers going to preach tonight?" After regaining her composure and explaining to me what all the fuss was about; she reassured Serena that this was the last preacher tonight.

Grades are in...

2007-01-02T11:04:00.000-06:00

My grades from last semester are all finally in. I have to admit, I'm rather pleased with myself. In stark contrast to my last stint at college in the early nineties, I got all A's and B's. My cumulative GPA from the early nineties was 1.73. I know, that's terrible, and actually I'm ashamed to 'fess up to how poorly I did. However, I've been reformed, seen the error of my ways and all that, and now have a wife who actually knows how to study and who helps me.

So here are my grades for this semester

Personal Evangelism.................A+
Public Speaking........................B+
Spanish I..................................B
Biblical Theology of Missions......B+
Biblical Foundations of Ministry...A

My Term GPA is 3.33
Not too shabby for a reformed flunkie.

Count Your Blessings

2007-01-01T11:10:00.000-06:00

Just like that, in a flash, 2006 is gone. I can't believe that we have already been in Springfield for five months and completed one semester of school. Christmas has come and gone, and God has richly blessed our family.

The Hymn writer, Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote:

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings,Name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done

and Psalms 40:5 says:

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done...

My list of blessings just since we have been in Springfield:

When we first got to Springfield, God provided a very nice and affordable place for us to stay while I got a job and we looked for a house.

We found a very nice partially furnished house to rent from a single missionary who is charging us the minimum she needs to rent it out.

We have been given furniture to help furnish the house. Things like bunk beds with nice girly bedding, bookshelves, comforters and bedsheets, desks, dining table and chairs.

Robin's father blessed us with a carload of food and toiletries from his church's pantry ministry.

God provided a piano teacher for Crysta who will not let us pay her anything and who also is letting us use her digital piano until we can get our own.

We came home to a huge box from some friends in North Carolina containing a bunch of clothes and shoes for Robin and the kids, and some chocolate and popcorn that I claimed for myself.

We received a basket full of food from the college. (The faculty and others at BBC was able to do this for every married student with children)

We received a basket full of food and some Christmas presents from an older couple in our church here in Springfield who said they remembered what it was like when they were in college.

We have received cash gifts from friends and JCHE in the amounts of $25, $50, $75 and $150 ($300 in all)

I'm sure I'm forgetting some others

I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for being faithful to me even when I don't deserve it.

Thank you Lord!

Ok, some things are just amusing...

2006-12-18T15:18:00.000-06:00

...and this amuses me.

It's Finally Over...

2006-12-14T21:38:00.000-06:00

Although this semester has gone by very quickly, I'm glad it's finally over. Today was the last day of finals. I've stayed very busy this year with working 40+ hours a week and going to school 13 hours a week plus all the homework and trying to maintain my proper role in my family. It's been exhausting. I must apologize to many of you for not staying in touch better. I hope this blog will help with that. Please give me feedback and respond to my posts if something strikes your fancy. I'm going to try and post some things that have happened this year now that I have a little more time available.

This Spanish textbook cost me $109.00, the companion workbook was about $60.00. I'm not sure why I told you the cost of these except for the fact that it still makes my mad that it cost so much. I think it's a racket. You have to buy them and they know it, so they charge you an outrageous price for them. Someone should do something...

Anyone up for the challenge?

Home sweet Home

2006-12-12T13:38:00.000-06:00

When we first moved out to Springfield from North Carolina we stayed in the basement apartment of some friends house on their 85 acre mini farm. This was truly a blessing because we did not have anywhere else to stay, so it gave us time to find a house. After much searching, we finally found a house right off Division street. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a 2 car garage. It is actually the house of a short term BBFI missionary. She rented it to us for a great price and it was partially furnished which saved us from having to buy a lot of furniture. God was really good to us when He worked this out.

The Yellow School Bus

2006-12-07T09:03:00.000-06:00

I was leaving for class this morning and ended up behind a government school bus. That got me thinking: What is it that would cause a parent to put their child on that yellow school bus and send him off to a day filled with teaching from fools and a foolish system, pressure to conform to the fads of the day by their peers, and being picked on by the class bullies. I wonder if these parents ever stop to think if this is what they really should be doing, or are they just doing what everybody else is doing. After all, their parents put them on the yellow school bus and they turned out ok, right. Is that the right way to approach life. Unfortunately way too many people do approach life that way. They don't really think things through.

My motto is: Question everything. Why am I doing the things that I am doing. There has to be a better reason then, "that's how we did it when I was growing up." There are so many absolute truths contained in scripture that we can have a definitive reason for why we do the things we do. The problem is for the most part we are too lazy or complacent to take the time to search out the scriptures to find out what God wants for our lives. Yes, God's Word even speaks to the topic of whether we should educate our children.

For those of you questioning my statement above about government school students being taught by fools in a foolish system, consider this verse from Psalm 14:1: "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. "

Good day

Fun at Sams

2006-12-05T12:25:00.000-06:00

There is a wealth of fun you can have even if you are poor. Take our recent trip to Sam's Club. You can go to Sam's and on a good day have a complete lunch for free. Even on a slow day you can usually get a few good snacks. They give out all kinds of samples ranging from pizza to shrimp and cranberry juice cocktail to yogurt. There are all kinds of neat things to look at. Their shopping carts are huge. Big enough for a little girl with a broken shoe to be wheeled around in. And then there are the people. You can see all kinds of people doing all kinds of stuff at Sam's. Check out this man, he was snoozing in that chair for at least 20 minutes. His wife must have been shopping and just wore him out.