The Porter's?

I just realized that my blog name is "Adventures with the Porters" , but I only blog about one of the Porters. Myself! So for the next few blogs I will actually blog about our adventures together :) I will be loading some pictures of Adam's little bro's birthday soon, and that is an adventure right?! Turning 7 years old is a pretty big deal!

Some Inspiration

I can't believe it's been a month since I have written anything! I have definitely been uninspired lately.

Thankfully, music gets me going and inspires me to be contemplative. I have thought a lot about Jesus for the last few weeks. He is constantly molding me and helping me to see Him in His true light. It's hard to try and figure out who He really is sometimes. There are so many distractions, deceptions, and lies out in the world about who He really is and how He really thinks of us. I'm glad to finally be able to recognize the truth.



Philippians 3:7-8

" But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all this to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord."



To Know Him is to Love Him. My search of knowing God has been rough. I have had to do whatever means possible to get rid of legalism, self-righteousness, and good works as a way of becoming "pleasing" to God. My most precious times with Jesus have been when I have laid it all out on the table and have been honest and vulnerable. When all the 'stuff' gets out of the way, and God just sees me. Plain old me. No people around, no music, no noise, and no busyness to fill the spaces that seperate me from Him. It's amazing to me that He wants to know our heart, not our wordy prayers that we spout out in desperation, or when we just feel like we are doing so well in life that we need to say thank you. But the everyday heart stuff that keeps a REAL relationship working. The way I feel, what I think, what I fear, what I'm happy about, what I'm sad about, when I'm frustrated, angry, jealous, excited, or just random thoughts during the day. And i'm glad that this is the God I know. Not an impersonal one who is out there in the heavens somewhere.



And I guess that's the reason why I am away from Him sometimes. I know that he wants the REAL me and nothing less. And that can be scary. We spend our whole lives distancing ourselves from certain people, putting up boundaries, walls, opening up a few windows or cracks in the door to our hearts but never giving an open door with the welcome mat outside and all the windows open with the breeze flowing through. We have dusty, cold, dark corners of our rooms that we like to make sure no one sees. And yet, that is what Jesus loves. He wants to bring those areas to light, dust them off, and put new furniture in. And that my friends, is scary.



But I'm back where I started. To know Him is to love Him. I'm happy that He wants to know the real me. It's comforting. He wants the beauty that's on the inside to become radiant on the outside, and He wants to do that so that I can be a light and comfort to others as well. What an awesome purpose for my life.



Matthew 5:14-16

" You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

New Year Resolutions

I have never really "officially" made any new years resolutions. So, we will see how I follow through. But here they are:

1) Here is the one that is most famous that i'm pretty sure everyone has on their list...lose 10 pounds! And do it the healthy way...eating good food and exercise.

2) Do a class at my church called Mending the Soul. I have felt like I have needed to take this class for a long while now, and I think it's time.

3) Go on at least 4 vacations (big or small) with my husband.

4) Find a new ministry. Since Adam and I aren't doing youth ministry anymore, we are looking for something new that we can latch on to. Food for the Hungry? We'll see :)

5) Spend more consistent time with my family. Have regular nights that we have dinner, or lunch, or whatever with both of our families. It's really important to us, but it doesn't happen as often as we'd like.

6) I would really like to learn how to play an instrument this year. Possibly the guitar or piano? I love to sing, so it would be awesome to be able to actually make music both ways.

7) I want to be very disciplined also. In my school and my personal life, as well as my walk with God. That was a lot of my problem this last year.

8) Take a few dance classes just for fun. I feel like there are a ton of things that I love that I don't do like this because I just don't take the time.

Well, there they are. All 8 of them. They aren't that exciting to read, but the thought of actually doing them sounds soooo good. Maybe as I go through my year and do some of them (my fingers are crossed) then I will let all of you know how they go :) And that will be inspiration for me to do them. Happy New Years Resolutions to all of you and I wish you all mucho success!

Pictures

Ok, so I decided to put a few pictures I promised before. I am terrible at taking/uploading pictures so this is as good as it is gonna get! This is our room at our new apartment, ...we love it because it's very simple. The other picture is us at my parents house with my little brother Austin. Sorry it's kinda foggy.

Oh, by the way, my New Year's party was soooo much fun :) It was my best one yet! And I stayed up until 4:00am!!! I can't even remember the last time I did that. It was awesome!

Well, I will stay faithful to my comment before about my new years resolutions...it will be the next blog....peace out!