Happy 4th Birthday Andrew!

Happy 4th birthday to my newest and youngest nephew, Andrew.
Or should I say, Shēngrì Kuàilè, Youxuan Su!
And now, what would a birthday be without facts about the number!
4 is the number of the world and very often refers to all of the people in the world or all of creation. Here is just a sample of the many, many examples of Biblical fours:- The Garden of Eden was bounded by 4 rivers- Israelites were in Egypt four generations (= in the world)- The tabernacle had four coverings- The four winds from the four corners of the earth are referred to by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John in Revelation- Daniel saw four beasts, four goats, and Nebuchadnezzar's four parts of the statue: all representing kingdoms- Ezekiel and John saw four cherubim with four faces each- Four Gospel accounts record Jesus' earthly life- The parable of the sower and the seed notes four types of soil- Four horsemen of the Apocalypse- All people are often referred to in fours prophetically. E.g.: "families, tongues, lands, nations" in Genesis, "nations, kindred, people, tongues" in Revelation. - Colossians 1:16 refers to everything created and lists "thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers". Similarly, Ephesians 6 refers to the unseen creation as "principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness"- Revelation 5 refers to all creation as "every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the sea, and in the sea"- Also, the universe as we know it was created on the 4th day: sun, moon, and stars- And, of course, the Name of God in Hebrew, given to Moses to represent Him to the world, not pronounced by devout Jews, is the four letter yod-he-vav-he or YHVH.The natural world is broken into many fours. Vertebrate animals are most commonly four-footed or four-limbed. Mammalian hearts have four chambers. Our teeth are in groups of fours (4 wisdom teeth, 4 canines, incisors, corresponding molars). DNA has four chemical bases, abbreviated A,G,C,T, making up all living things. Human blood is categorized in four types (A, B, AB, O).We refer to four main compass directions (north, south, east, west). We have four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter). The ancients broke down all matter into four elements: earth, air, fire, water. Four-sided buildings, rooms, fields, sheets of paper, bricks, etc. are common in the human world in many cultures and are very prevalent in European/American culture.The planets may be broken into four inner, 'rocky' planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and four outer gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). Pluto breaks the pattern, but it has been demoted.Also, although we refer to three dimensions, we also move through time - the 4th dimension. Thus, we have four dimensions which are real to us: forward & back, left & right, up & down, future & past. Other dimensions may exist mathematically, but we have no visible, real-world reference frame for them.In physics, there are four fundamental forces: strong nuclear, weak nuclear, electromagnetic, and gravity. There are also four basic states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.Mathematically speaking, four is the first square (other than one). Four is the only number that results from a number added to itself (2 + 2), multiplied by itself (2 x 2), or to its own power (2^2). 'Four' is also the only number name in English that has the same number of letters as the number it refers to.The 'first' Platonic solid, the tetrahedron (triangular pyramid), has four faces and four vertices (or points).The four basic math functions are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.Many religions note four cardinal virtues: Hinduism, Buddhism, Platonic philosophy, Catholicism, and the Sioux all list four main virtues or attributes to be followed. Buddhism also lists four Noble Truths and several other lists of fours as guiding principles.We have four suits of playing cards, four bases in baseball, and four food groups.Marvel Comics is hugely successful now; their big success began with their first main superhero group: The Fantastic Four. The Beatles were known as the Fab Four.

In China and other Asian nations, the number four is considered unlucky, because its name sounds like the word for death.
But, Andrew doesn't need luck. He is blessed.- Uncle Matt -
(Thanks again~Uncle Matt~)

Andrew and very patient "Manley"

Andrew is 4 years old today!

2-13-09

Andrew enjoying a new toy

Happy birthday Andrew! Just like the 4 Porter kids who came before you,

you are a special gift from God.

"Children are a blessing from the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalms 127:3

Happy 50th Birthday Tom!

http://www.crossdaily.com/cards/viewcard.php?CardID=0902081237217422507705

Happy 50th Birthday to my beloved husband who is the beloved father of our five children. Before you scroll down to look at the pictures stick around for a few laughs. Speaking of pictures, I spent the entire day looking through boxes of pictures. Wow, a lot has gone on in the last 20 something years. We have been on quite a journey. I was hoping to find baby pictures of Tom but it didn't happen. Now a little something to make you smile.

A priest is walking down the street one day when he notices a very small boy trying to press a doorbell on a house across the street. However, the boy is very short and the doorbell is too high for him to reach. After watching the boy's efforts for some time the priest moves closer to the boy's position. He steps smartly across the street, walks up behind the little fellow and, placing his hand kindly on the child's shoulder, leans over and gives the doorbell a solid ring. Crouching down to the child's level, the priest smiles benevolently and asks, "And now what, my little man?" To which the boy replies, "Now we run!" (A Box of Delights, compiled by J.John & Mark Stibbe)

A preacher made a statement in Hyde Park. "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart." A heckler replied, "That's rubbish. Science has proved that the human heart is just a pump."

The preacher asked, "Are you married?" The man said, "Yes." "Then go home and tell your wife you love her with all your pump!" (J.John & Mark Stibbe)

"The most aggravating thing about the younger generation is that I no longer belong to it.

Albert Einstein

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

Time for the standard birthday factoids............

Time for the standard birthday factoids for my oldest brother-in-law.Fifty years! Five decades! Half a century! A twentieth of a millennium! Six hundred months! Two thousand six hundred nine weeks! Eighteen thousand two hundred sixty-three days! 438,312 hours! 26,298,720 minutes! 1,577,923,200 seconds (give or take)!Fifty is the number of the year of jubilee; the wonderful time recorded in Leviticus 25, when all debts are forgiven and all possession returns to its original owner. Every 50th year, after seven sabbath years, the Israelites were to celebrate a year of jubilee. There is no recorded time in the Bible where they actually celebrated it, mind you, but God ordained it to point to our final freedom at His return. We await the true 50th year of jubilee!Similarly, Shavuot, or what Christianity calls Pentecost, happens 50 days after the Sabbath which occurs during Passover, or the Sunday seven weeks after the resurrection. It was then, of course, that the Spirit was poured out upon all flesh and our Lord fulfilled His promise to send the Comforter and dwell with us.So, spiritually, 50 is an important number - the "8th", if you will, after seven sevens. When Jesus walked among the seven candlesticks in Revelation 1, there were seven seven-branched menorahs with Him being the Light in the middle - the 50th.Mathematically, 50 is the smallest number that is the sum of two squares two different ways: 1^2 + 7^2 or 5^2 + 5^2. 1 + 49 = 25 + 25 = 50.The classic geometry right triangle has sides length 3, 4, and 5. The sum of the squares of the sides equals the sum of the squares of the hypotenuse: 3^2 + 4^2 = 5^2. Adding all three squares together gets 9 + 16 + 25 = 50.The moon is approximately one-fiftieth the volume of the Earth.The ancient Sanskrit alphabet, one of the very first that could be called an alphabet and surviving in modern Hindu and Buddhist languages, had 50 letters.Other religions have grabbed onto the significance of 50 as seven sevens + 1. The I Ching uses 50 equal-length sticks; Kabbalah recognizes 50 levels of consciousness; "New Age" has seven chakras in humans with a total of 50 petals; and certain Indian prayer bead rosaries have 50 beads.In the movies, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore had 50 First Dates.
Happy half a century, Tom. May the next half be even more blessed.- Matt -

Tom Porter a 1977 graduate of Eden Prairie Highschool
Tom standing in front of his favorite home on
Willowcreek Rd, Eden Prairie Minnesota

Tom doing something he has always enjoyed. Spending time on the water.

Tom & Heather a few years back


Tom and his parents Bob & Shirley

Tom and his family
Sister Barb & Brother Bill
Mom (Shirley) & Dad (Bob)





The wife and kids

"A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be."

~~Author Unknown.~~

For Robbie

For Robbie,20 = no longer a teenager. In Old Testament law, 20 years old was counted as old enough to be a warrior and be fully responsible for adult things and counted in censuses as adults. Levites began service at 20 years old. Jacob served Laban for twenty years; Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver; Samson judges Israel for 20 years; and the temple was 20 cubits wide; in fact, the Holy of Holies was 20 x 20 x 20. Spiritually, it seems to denote either a doubling of the order of 10 (like the temple examples) or an expectant waiting (like Jacob's work, the 20 years Solomon took to build the temple and his palace, the 20 years Jeremiah prophesied Babylonian captivity, etc.).Mathematically, 20 is a tetrahedral number, meaning that a triangular pyramid of oranges (or any balls) 4 levels tall has 20 objects in it. [Picture a triangle of 10 like a bowling pin configuration on the bottom, the next layer has a triangle of 6, the next has 3, with 1 on the top.]In physics, 20 protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus is considered a "magic" number, with a complete atomic shell and a very stable nucleus.20 = 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 (who do we appreciate?)The ancient Mayans had a numbering system with base-20. (Ours is base-10, of course.)Humans have 20 amino acids in their bodies.Clear sight is called 20/20; 20/20 is also a long-running news show.A classic game is Twenty Questions.Twentieth Century Fox is outdated now, of course. And there's the band, Matchbox Twenty.A period of 20 years has its own word: a score.
So, score! You're a score old.Happy birthday, #1 nephew.
(Thanks Uncle Matt!)