chas and june

i've been wanting to make mention here how grateful i feel to have had june. she has blessed our lives in various ways, but recently she has given us a blessing beyond compare in my opinion. and one i hadn't expected.

chas is a great brother to june. he loves her and takes care of her well. they are closely connected to each other. but i've begun to realize that june is a great sister to chas. she already has helped him so much in her little life. this year has been full of hormones, changes, and lots of emotional rollercoasters for chasbo. he is weathering it all well -- the middle school years -- and that's thanks, in part, to junie (chas calls her "shoonie" like it's a french name).

june seems to be able to center chas when he's out of sorts. she calms him and loves him unconditionally. she sits with him and lets him hold her. it's almost like how a dog or a cat knows when its owner is in need of some extra love. june just senses chas' needs and it really cool to watch her help soften his heart.

really, it's like watching God himself i would imagine. one of my favorite blessings i've seen yet in my life.

chas' ordination to the Priesthood

very few things get a capital letter in my life. God, Christ, and Priesthood are pretty much it. i love the Priesthood -- the gift God has given us -- the access to His mighty and endless power.

chas was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood by his father, devan stapley porter, on march 17th, 2013 during the third hour of church. tom prescott, our home teacher, accompanied devan. as did a few others. most notably, parker pixton and adam teuscher participated in the circle. they are two of our priests. that was an incredible spirit lifter. what a way to unify the young men, but through Priesthood ordinances and service to one another.

the Spirit was present and i felt happy and calm. chas received a wonderful blessing that reminded him of the great faith of his family and ancestors. how blessed he is to have been born into a family that honors convenants. he was admonished to serve others and bear his Priesthood worthily.

i always get the feeling about chas that he has a mighty spirit in him. a spirit of service and love. i can see him recently struggling against the idea that his life will be one of service, just as i did for a time when i was young. but God needs him to be faithful. i believe he will influence many throughout his life -- to choose God. i am excited to see him come into his own and yield to that calling of service.

chas reminds me of the brother of jared. i wonder if he will one day rend the veil.

i love chas. he is thoughtful and kind to others. he knows deep in his heart what is true and right and good and has a deep down goodness about him that i admire. he's incredibly smart and has more common sense than most adults i know. he's also got a fantastic laugh and smile that nearly instantly make me happier when they happen.

i felt God during that ordination.

a place to heal

sitting in my lawyering for social change class... teacher is discussing how few places there are in our culture that allow people to find healing and peace. a place to just sit and be and de-stress. a place to find center again. she said most people drink, smoke, have illicit sex, or do any other number of extreme things to find a way to cope with working in a social change field.

and immediately as she described this place she searches for a picture of the temple came into my mind. places do exist where we can go to be healed and refilled. where we can find center. where we can be recharged with the power we need to help others in a continual sort of way.

the temple.

i've been healed there. felt peace there. found center there.

but more important...

i am healed and feel peace and center everyday over and over again because i go to the temple regularly. when i leave the temple, i leave with power. literal power to do and be more than i can on my own.

i feel so grateful to have this eternal gift of access to God's power and peace.

it took all my effort not to raise my hand and tell everyone that there are places of healing available to them. come and be healed! since that would have been inappropriate to do in class i wrote here.

here's to the chance that i'll get to share the idea with my teacher at some point.

i saw God today.