Porter's Scriptures

In needing some healing moments I went into Porter's room and looked through his things.  Porter had two sets of scriptures.  His nicer set he used at church and his paperback Book of Mormon he read from at night in his bed.  We put one set in his hands in his casket and the other is still setting in his room.  

Upon opening his scriptures a paper fell out and this is what it reads:

Elder Rex D.Pinegar, then a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, said:  "Over the years the prophets have taught that at least twice a day, morning and evening, we should find a private place, kneel down, and pour out our hearts to our Father in Heaven.  Then, throughout the day, we can do our best to keep a prayer in our hearts.  As we do, if our hearts are right, we will find that our prayers have increased power and focus, and we'll discover that we're in a better position to receive answers"

Elder Gene R. Cook, a member of the Seventy, said:  "The peace God speaks to our minds will let us know when decisions we have made are right, when our course is true.  It can come as personal inspiration and guidance to assist us in our daily life-in our homes, in our work.  It can provide us with courage and hope to meet the challenges of life.  The miracle of prayer, to me, is that in the private, quiet chambers of our minds and hearts, God both hears and answers prayers."

These quotes are powerful, and I felt a lot of peace in reading them.  What I appreciated even more was the fact that this piece of paper was important enough to Porter for him to have it inside his scriptures.

I love you Porter♥

He's Home

From a few posts ago I talked about Kali and the baby coming home. Well, they have been here a week and a half now and we are enjoying them so much. Wade, Kali's husband was the brave soul who drove all of their belongings across the country in a big Budget Rentals truck. He left from Boston last Saturday, late afternoon, and arrived here in Utah on Tuesday evening. That's some pretty quick driving.

You can now see what I will be spending a lot of my free time doing.  Enjoying this little guy and his family!

Your and You're

I consider myself a pretty easy going person. I don't get my feathers ruffled easily.  So why should I care so much about the use of this word?  I cringe every time I see it used incorrectly.  It's actually pretty simple to get straight.  If you can say "you are" in a sentence then you must use you're, not your.  The word your shows ownership and simply doesn't work for this sign, unless it read "Your smile is on camera".  That would have worked.  I saw this sign at a professional establishment and was surprised that even the company who was hired to make the sign couldn't get it right.  What is up with that?

Okay, my feathers are calm now.  Have a delightful day.

Odometer Reading

Porter and I shared a car for the last few months of his life, which was actually working out nicely, if you can believe, for an 18 year old boy and his mama. Porter would have liked seeing this odometer reading so I snapped a photo to always remember, and to document. Our family was actually driving home from our friends, the Weisenberger's, cabin when this happened. We were coming down the canyon and actually had to slow way down so we wouldn't miss it. Good thing Mark was driving and I had the camera. Also, good thing nobody was behind us on the road.

Porter's Temple Work

Art work by our good friend, Aaron Bristow

I absolutely love this piece he did and have a copy of it displayed in my home.

We are so excited to be able to get Porter's temple work done soon. We have gathered the necesssary items and will be attending a morning session at the Timpanogos Temple on Saturday July 31st.  Any family members or friends, who are current temple recommend holders, who would like to attend the session with us are more than welcome. (We haven't decided on the time yet) Porter loved people and knew how to make them feel comfortable and smile.  We would feel honored to have his loved ones around for this special occasion.

I'm sure Porter is thrilled and anxiously awaiting for us to gather together in his behalf and have this special, sacred ordinance performed for him.  I'm so happy that we don't have to wait a full year to get this done for him. 

Usually there is a waiting period after a person has died before their temple work can be performed, but Porter's situation was a special circumstance because he was already a worthy member preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and would have been 19 in a few months.  We talked personally to the Temple Recorder and he told us that all we needed to bring to the temple with us is the Bishop's recommendation letter and a family pedigree chart, which we have in hand and are ready to go.
 

 I love you Porter♥

Porter in Sarah's Coat

I don't know a lot about this picture, but it makes me smile a lot. It shows his silliness to put on a girls coat and then let his photo be taken. I think it was at a Secondhand Serenade concert when they were here last at Thanksgiving Gardens.  Porter's friend, Sarah, sent it to us.  She went to concerts with Porter and he had a great time taking her and a friend of hers.  Sarah's mom, Karla, trusted Porter more than anyone to be with her daughter at concerts.   Porter wore contacts the majority of the time but occasionally would wear his glasses. I love that I have a picture with him wearing them.  He was wearing them when he fell off that cliff.  We still have his glasses so miraculously found and saved, by his daddy, at the bottom of the cliff still in tact and setting in the living room by his pastel picture.

I love you Porter♥

You're Gonna Miss This

Driving in the car and thinking about Porter is oftentimes when those "waves" hit, those times when the grief hits so powerfully and suddenly that I almost have to pull over to see the road.  Today it happened as I was listening to a country station which is something I rarely do.  As I was listening to the words of this tender tune it reminded me of days long ago when my four young kids (born between 1986-1991) were so little and I thought the diaper changing, fighting, messes, potty training, etc. would never end.  Now that they are all grown and I think about those early mothering days it only seems like yesterday and those years really have gone by so fast.  This song made me yearn for those early years when the kids were so small and our family was complete.  If somebody would have told me then that I was going to miss it, I wouldn't have believed them.  The chorus of this song just hit to the core of my aching heart and I realized it's really true.  I miss it, I want it back, and I wish those days hadn't gone by so fast. 

  

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this

Trace Adkins

Occasionally I wonder if I would have known that Porter would have only been here on the earth for the short 18 years if I would have mothered him differently?  I'm sure I would have, but I couldn't have known he would pass away so young.  Would I have taken more time to really relax and enjoy each day to its fullest?  I can only cherish the memories I had with him and continue to make more precious memories with those around me still.  

I do miss this!

I love you Porter♥