Christmas Video 2014

Christmas Video 2013

Advent

As Advent comes to a close this year, I wanted to reflect upon why this Advent has meant so much.

Advent is the beginning of the church year. It is a time of waiting and expectation –– along with this comes wonder and, perhaps, even anxiety. In our own waiting, we recall Israel’s expectation of a coming Messiah. There must have been some serious concern, having returned from exile to a land that was no longer their own, now wondering if God would remember them. We recall the church’s waiting for Jesus’ promised second coming. Themes of hope, love, joy, and peace are remembered as we anticipate this day.

 

We also recall Mary and Joseph’s waiting during Mary’s pregnancy. One can imagine the joy they experienced as they awaited the coming of their child. We can even read Mary’s celebratory song in Luke’s gospel. Maybe they sat and talked about how they would decorate the nursery! One can also assume, though, that there was worry –– worry over what others would think; worry over Mary and the baby’s health; worry over being first-time parents.

 

It is this recollection that has made this year so special, as Lauren and I wait in expectation of our child. It is an interesting time of year for Lauren to be pregnant. We, too, are in the midst of anxiety as we experience similar thoughts. Still, there is great joy. It has been meaningful to think about how the giving of life has created life in her and how this reflects the very nature of God. Even though morning sickness has been miserable and more like “all-day sickness,” it is still meaningful that Lauren is already offering herself (while in suffering) to our child. This kind of offering will, indeed, never end.

 

And so it has been a special season of Advent, as we, in some way, feel a sort of closeness to the story we remember and celebrate.

 

- Matt

Porter Christmas

Now that we have a house and a place to store a Christmas tree, we finally gave in and bought a tree! Don't worry, though, our beloved tiny Christmas tree still has a special place above the fireplace. We decided to just do some stocking gifts for each other and to make the tree our real gift for each other this year.

These pictures are actually from before we finished decorating everything. I may try to get some pictures up later that show the finished product. We got a few more ornaments, and Matt built a wooden crate to sit at the base of the tree instead of a traditional tree skirt. But this still gives you an idea of what our Christmas decorations looked like!

Matt and I have sort of a tradition (or maybe just a bad habit) of opening presents and stockings whenever we feel like it. We've always said that we might as well enjoy it now, before children, when we can have Christmas however we want. We started out this year by saying, "This will be the last year we can do this! We'll have a kid next year!" In reality, though, we realized we could probably still get away with it for one more year. ;)

Penny had a stocking this year, too. She was super excited about it, but it took her a while to figure out what to do with it and how to get the treat that was inside of it. She is a major goof.

 

Matt and I had our stockings, too!

We shared some fun memories opening gifts and laughing about goofy things. Matt gave me four scarves... he told me later that they weren't meant to all be worn at the same time. Ooops!

Of course, little baby Porter didn't get left out of the fun. I was surprised to find a hidden present under the tree that was "To: Mommy, From: Baby," and oddly enough, the baby's handwriting looks a lot like Matt's! I got a beautiful Willow Tree figurine of a pregnant woman and her husband. I love it. I also got a gift for the baby, which was a stuffed fox named Cordy Roy. We plan on using a neutral colored outdoors/woodland creature/camping kind of theme in the nursery, regardless of the sex of the baby. So the fox gets us started.

On Saturday, at Pap's Christmas (Matt's grandpa) Matt's cousins, Ethan and Erin, gave the baby a stuffed elephant named Jorge. Erin has had a stuffed elephant since she was a baby named George and she takes him with her EVERYWHERE, so them giving us an elephant was pretty sweet.

So, the baby is already following in the footsteps of mom by collecting stuffed animals. :) He or she already has Jorge and Cordy!

I guess all of the Christmas excitement wore Penny out. She crashed on the couch shortly after we were done. She sleeps in some of the funniest positions... she definitely loves cuddling with her own feet!

We had a great Christmas together. We know things will be very different at this time next year, and we're excited for those adventures that are to come.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Video 2012

Christmas Video 2011

Getting Paid to Be a Youth Minister’s Husband

At the end of May, Lauren and I moved from Pflugerville to the thriving metropolis, Canton, TX, population 3,500. Probably closer to 5,000 if you count all of the cows. On June 1, Lauren began working as the youth minister at the Canton Church of Christ, and I started getting paid for her great work… :)

Rather than writing about everything we have done, I thought I would show you some pictures from a few youth group gatherings and activities. Before sharing pictures, let me share a few things we have learned while in Canton.

1.      The stars at night really are big and bright *clap, clap, clap, clap* deep in the heart of Texas. It has been nice to get away from the city lights.

2.      It should only take about 8-10 minutes to drive 10 miles if driving at highway speeds. It has been nice to get away from the city traffic.

3.      Many people are still quite polite, courteous, and respectful. It has been nice to get from the city…in general.

Okay now for some pictures of the youth group.

Lauren and I with the high schoolers for the High School Fun Trip to play Whirlyball and eat at the Magic Time Machine in Dallas.

Jacob getting ready to play a crazy game of Panty Wrestling at game night in July.

Bryce preparing to eat baby food for answering a question wrong in class.

Bryce spitting up baby food.

Lauren, Emily, and Megan, the “laundry crew,” at our end of summer service weekend at Camp of the Hills near Marble Falls.

Brady and Riley, the “digging crew.”

The “fence crew.”

Emily after the pie eating contest during the fall festival.

A part of the group who served at the Single Senior Luncheon at the church

Shelby serving at the Single Senior Luncheon

Catherine and Megan having a good time before the Christmas parade.

Emily and Shelby during the gift exchange at the Christmas Progressive Dinner.

Jarrett wearing his gift…an adult onesie.

Though the pictures seem to reveal otherwise, it has not all been “fun and games.” We have also had very serious times of study and devotion. One of our studies during the summer months was of the psalms, during which we learned about, memorized, and wrote prayers based on the psalms. It was a blessing to get to read these prayers when the teens would accidentally leave them in the youth room.

Most recently we completed part one of a four-part study. This first piece was titled “Genesis to Maps,” and we highlighted the major themes, or knuckles, of the story of the Bible (hence, we went from Genesis to the maps at the back of our bibles). In February, we will begin part two, entitled “Eyes to See, Ears to Hear.” In this part, we will focus our readings on Jesus’ words about the kingdom, which he says is “near” or “at hand.” What I hope we will come to see is that the kingdom is at work very near to us today. If we can recognize it, then we can better participate in it, which will be the focus of part three, “Hands to Serve.” Just so I don’t leave you hanging, part four will be covered in spring 2016, and it will focus on the ethics of our new life in Christ.

Overall it has been a great move for us, and we are thankful for the work God has brought us at the Canton Church of Christ.

- Matt

Christmas Video 2010

Pregnancy Update

I am about four months pregnant now. In some ways it seems crazy that it has already been that long, yet in other ways it feels like I’ve been sick for much longer. I’ve been keeping a very casual journal with week-by-week updates on how I’m feeling and what kinds of things I’m experiencing and I noted during the 6^th week that the nausea “kicked into high gear.” I’m in week 16 now. I have had a few moments recently where I feel a little bit better, so I’m hopeful that the sickness will wear off soon.

 

In the past few weeks there have been some exciting changes that make me forget about the sickness just a little. I felt my belly start stretching and growing, and I’m pretty sure I’ve felt the baby move a couple of times. I am at the point where a lot of people start feeling “flutters” when the baby kicks and moves. I have only felt it twice, but it definitely felt different from normal tummy rumbles. I’m excited for when I can feel them more often and be certain of what I’m feeling. I’m also really excited for when they are strong enough that Matt can feel them, too.

 

If you really like those weekly or monthly belly pictures that some people do, you’re just going to have to get over it when it comes to my pregnancy. We took a picture at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks, but those will not be shared. People, they are just pictures of my belly fat right now. When there is a definite baby belly, maybe I’ll share some.

 

Our next appointment with the doctor will be the one where we find out the answer to the big question – boy or girl? We have talked about it a lot and really don’t have any preference (as if our preference would matter anyway!), and I don’t have any special “feeling” one way or the other. We’re just excited to find out!

 

I wish I had more exciting news, stories, and updates on the pregnancy, but my story thus far has mostly been, “I feel sick… almost all the time.” As things continue to progress, though, I’ll try to share some updates and pictures!

Meet Penny

Let me officially introduce you to Penny Lane Porter. We adopted her from Take Me Home Pet Rescue in Richardson, but picked her up at Circle Star Pet Resort in Murchison, which is where she went through 2-3 weeks of training before we brought her home. We think she is a Doberman and Whippet mix, but who really knows. We researched both of those breeds and definitely see characteristics of both in her. She is around two years old and shouldn't get any bigger. She weighs about 40 pounds.

We don't know exactly what her story is, but when she was found she was pretty torn up. Her rescuers said she was afraid of everyone and would only belly crawl to people. They worked on her social skills and she really bounced back. They went on and on with us about how they can't believe how much she loves people and dogs, considering she had clearly been through some tough times. They assume she was attacked by coyotes, but Matt and I wonder if she was being used as a bait dog for dog fighting. Someone tried to clip her ears, but did a very poor job. She also has scars all over her back legs. That poor pup went through something terrible as a puppy. It really is amazing how loving and gentle she is. She is very hesitant, though. We sometimes joke about the random things she is terrified of (buckets... she is so afraid of buckets), but we try to be patient with her, not knowing her past. So though she is timid, she warms up pretty quickly and loves on everyone she meets.

She is not as training-focused as Ginny was, so I don't think she'll be learning all of the goofy tricks that Ginny knew (like bow, crawl, speak, close the door, etc.). She is, however, more focused than Ginny when you give her a command, so overall, I think she is more obedient than Ginny was. She is also a very quiet dog. She rarely barks, and hardly makes any noise indoors. Matt and I both had to get used to that, because Ginny was so vocal about everything. She graduated from her training at Circle Star and knows all of the basic commands, plus some!

Penny is definitely Matt's dog. She latched on to him right away and they have been buds ever since. She still reserves plenty of play time and cuddling for me when I get home from work, so I don't mind it.

 

 

We took her to Gainesville over Thanksgiving and we were so pleased to see how sweet she was with all of the kids around. We knew she liked kids, but she hadn't been in a situation with that many kids around. She was afraid a few times, but she warmed up quickly and was very sweet with all of them.

She has really been a great pup, and we are thrilled to have her home with us. Get used to seeing pictures of her on this blog, because I can guarantee there will be many more to come!

2014: YEAR IN REVIEW

Obviously I have been away from the blogging world for quite some time. I wish I could just reassure you all that nothing exciting or eventful happened over the past year, and use that to excuse my absence. The truth is, though, a lot has happened over the past year. The year started off in a difficult way for us, which led to (what I thought would be) a short break from the blog, but as things continued to change for us, the blog just slipped out of mind. However, 2015 is about to begin, and we are excited about the things that are to come, so I want to start blogging again. None of our story makes sense, though, without a “2014: Year in Review” post, so buckle up!

 

Just before Christmas last year Matt and I found out we were expecting a baby. It was very unexpected news, but along with the feelings of nervousness, we were really excited. When we went to our first appointment in January, we were saddened to hear silence instead of a heartbeat when doing our first ultrasound. We had experienced a missed miscarriage, and two weeks later the pregnancy was officially over. It was a difficult time, but we were surrounded with love and encouragement from our family and church.

 

The news of a baby, though, got us thinking about our situation, and we decided it was time for Matt to actively pursue a full-time congregational ministry job. We had known for a long time that we were headed in that direction, but it just hadn’t been the right time yet. We started praying about it, and Matt started applying. That, in itself, was an interesting process, and often led us into both laughter (some of the application questions were… well, questionable) and tears (when one we thought was surely for us didn’t work out). After a lot of talking and praying, Matt decided to apply for a job as the youth minister in Canton, TX. That decision took a lot of talking and praying because that is the church where Matt’s parents attend, and almost all of his family live very close to Canton. And as you can imagine, the thought of living that close to his family!!!! Well!!! Wait… do they read this blog? Moving right along, we decided that was something we could work with, and believed we could serve alongside the church in Canton, so we went ahead and pursued the opportunity. Things moved pretty quickly and over the next couple of months, Matt accepted the position, and we started packing up to move from Austin to Canton. Matt’s first day on the job was June 1^st.

 

During the move and transition, our sweet Ginny stayed with Matt’s parents in Athens, which was tough. They took good care of her, but I sure missed her! Unfortunately, near the end of the summer, her hips had gotten really bad, and she started showing signs of a stroke. Matt and I knew she wasn’t ok. We took her to the vet and they confirmed that (1) her hips were bad and her muscles were weak, (2) she had suffered something similar to a stroke which led to loss of function and vision in one entire side, and (3) she had some kind of mass near her stomach that we weren’t aware of, that could’ve been cancerous. The vet told us that we could do all sorts of tests and surgeries, but even then, her quality of life would not be great. We made the very difficult decision to let her rest. That was one of the hardest days of my life. I am sobbing right now as I write this! She was a good pup, and we still laugh and tell stories about her often.

 

We lived with a family from the church for the first couple of months after we moved while the church prepared a house for us. I spent the summer searching and applying for jobs and working alongside Matt in getting to know the youth group. Near the end of the summer, things were starting to get a little stressful for us. I still hadn’t found a job, we were about to move into the church’s house and have to start paying bills again, and everything just seemed up in the air. About a week before we moved into the house, I was offered a job in Tyler managing some office tasks and was excited to accept it. Things seemed to fall into place just in time.

 

Once we were in the house, we were ready to start the dog search. We went to several shelters, met up with several people who were fostering dogs, and believe it or not, I wanted to take every single one home. I know. Matt was surprised by that, too. We were doing our best to be patient, though, to make sure we got the best dog for our situation. We’d been told about a place near Canton that boards and trains dogs, and were told that they usually had a few that were up for adoption. Matt called them to see what they had, and they described a dog to us named Cinnamon. She sounded like she might be a good fit for us, so we drove out to meet her. Since I had been the one to always fall for a dog right away, I was surprised when Matt immediately made a connection with this dog. He gave me that sweet grin after playing with her for a few minutes and I knew he was hooked. She finished her training with them, and we brought her home a couple of weeks later. We changed her name to Penny, and she has been a wonderful addition to our family. She loves when the youth group comes over and usually gets some extra loving and spoiling from them as well.

 

September rolled around and we were really feeling settled in. Matt had formed strong relationships with the youth group and things were going well. I was settled into my new job and things were going well. We were in our house and it finally felt like a home. Penny kept us busy and entertained and provided those sweet puppy cuddles that I love at the end of the day. Then…

 

“I think I’m pregnant.” Everything changed. We decided not to tell anyone for a while. We wondered how long we could keep it a secret when, at 6 weeks (only about 2 weeks after we found out) nausea kicked into high gear for me. At 9 weeks it went from just nausea to throwing up several times a week. We got creative with our excuses for why I was missing out on things, and kept with our goal of not sharing the news until around Thanksgiving. During that time we had our first two doctor visits and got to hear the heartbeat and see the baby. Hearing the heartbeat, especially after our experience earlier in the year, was incredible. We still laugh about how the doctor turned to Matt, with the heartbeat thumping away, and said, “Hear that, dad?” I don’t know which was more overwhelming for him – hearing the heartbeat, or being called dad! Over the Thanksgiving break, we shared the news with our family, then shared with our friends over the next couple of weeks. It has been exciting to share the news with those we care about. Now if I can only get over this morning all day sickness, I would really be a happy woman. The due date is June 1^st, which is also when Matt began his ministry in Canton.

 

So, in a (big) nutshell, that sums up 2014 so far. We’re excited to start giving regular updates on church work, pregnancy, and goofy things that Penny does. Matt and I are excited about the things coming up in 2015, and are looking forward to sharing some of that with you here.