Thoughts From a Blurry Weekend

In the last four days, I have met with three churches about stepping up their involvement in the care for orphans around the world as well as represented World Orphans at an adoption & orphan care conference in Indianapolis.

As an introvert (and proud of it) you would think I would be exhausted with the steady stream of people. The truth is I wish I had the open doors where I could speak with church leaders every day so I could encourage and help them to strategically rethink their involvement in the global orphan crisis.

During the conversations I have had the last few days I have observed the following:

1. The wave of people who want to speak up for the Orphan continues to grow rapidly.

2. The U.S. church (as a whole) isn't responding fast enough to direct the passion of the people who are ready to take action.

3. Beth Guckenberger is the real deal & she is a new hero of Janie's.

4. The Answer the Call Conference is a must attend event. If you live around Indy you need to get there in 2013.

5. Meeting many awesome people who represent several other adoption/orphan care ministries at the conference was a welcome reminder there are many ways to fight for the orphan and we are all needed.

6. I am exactly where God wants me to be.

Gone Camping

Wednesday morning we started our drive from Orlando to Indiana so I could represent World Orphans at the Answer the Call [orphan care & adoption] Conference on Saturday. Usually I drive through the night on a trip like this but the downside is I am useless the day we arrive. This time we decided to stay over night in Chattanooga. Because we travel with a 100 lbs dog our choices are limited as to where we can stay. Most hotels don't allow pets and the ones that do attach a hefty pet fee.

I think I gave my wife quite a shock when I suggested we camp out. To be honest, it kind of shocked me as the words came out of my mouth. An outdoorsmen...I am not.

I'm not going to lie. There were several times I was tempted to alter course but it was too late. We had already told the boys and it was all they could talk about.

We chose to camp out at Harrison Bay State Park, not to far off I-75. Our camp site was steps away from an amazing view of the bay.

The boys had no interest in helping mom and dad set up the tent. All they wanted to do was get the fire going. They were a big help in that job because they gathered tons of sticks I used for kindling.   

Because I'm such a novice when it comes to things like camping. I get a bit uneasy when things don't work as planned. The tent went up without much hassle but because much of the wood surrounding us was wet the fire took longer than expected to get started. Once the fire started to catch the wood and began to rise Chase exclaimed, "Daddy, you're a genius." After those words he could have asked for anything and I would have given it to him.

Janie grew up camping with her family and knew exactly what to pack. As usual she set us up for a win.

Cooking their own hot dogs pver the fire and carrying around their very own flashlights were the highlights of the trip for Chase and Jackson.

Don't expect many more camping experiences on the blog. I still prefer hotels and resorts over rustic experiences but I do want to give my boys as many adventures as possible.

Jackson's 2nd "Gotcha Day"

Two years ago, my little wild man officially became a Mehaffey.

We started the celebration as usual by watching Jackson's "Welcome Home" video.

We also showed Jackson three video messages from some very special people who helped take care of him during his seven months at The Home of God's Love in Taiwan (from top: Bev "Shr Mama" Skiles, Jess Waechter, and Ted "Shr Baba" Skiles). I am so glad we thought of shooting these little videos for both of our boys. As they get older I am sure they will mean even more.

At this point we were all starving so we celebrated at Cracker Barrel over pancakes and followed that up with a trip to Target so Jack Jack could pick out a toy.

To quote from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, "He chose wisely." So wisely in fact poor Chase had a tough time being completely happy for his little brother. Don't fret for Chase cause his "Gotcha Day" is in less than a month. But in the next two photos notice the longing in Chase's eyes as he waits for Jackson to get bored with his new dump truck.

Grapes and watermelon made everything better.

Who ever first defined boys as "Noise with dirt on it." Got it right.

And we wouldn't have it any other way. 

Our make shift car wash was the perfect way to end the day. Happy "Gotcha Day" Jack Jack!

For this post, I chose NOT to edit my photos using Aperture 3 on my iMac. Instead, I edited them on my iPad using the Filterstorm app. I am in no way connected with the makers of this app. I just love the way it turns my iPad into a fairly robust piece of editing software. I actually prefer several of the features over Aperture 3 and Lightroom. 

The One When Chase was the Only Child

I can hardly remember life with only one child.

When we brought Chase home from Taiwan in June of 2009, thoughts of bringing home another child was only in our distant future plans. God had other ideas. 

Five months, after our little Chase-man hit U.S. soil, Ted Skiles from The Home of God's Love called me, one quiet November night, and rocked our world for the second time in less than a year. Chase's biological, little brother had been born and was waiting for us to come back. 

Six months later we welcomed Jackson home too. 

My computer is full of video clips and photos of both my boys and from time to time I like to put our memories down in a video montage. This latest one is dedicated solely to first born son, Chase. This is one of the few things you don't have to share with your bro.

Little man as I've told you hundreds of times, I am so proud to be your daddy. 

By the way, the music in this video is:

Road to Perdition by Thomas Newman

"Good Life" from Waking Up (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version) by OneRepublic

"U.F.O." from Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay

"You and Me" from Lifehouse  by Lifehouse

A Book For Every Dad - The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

Looking for a can't-miss-gift for Father's Day (yes it's next month) or even a graduation gift for guys? Look no further...

Every dad (or potential dad) raising boys needs to read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. The first two chapters are devoted to "Teedie's" life as a young boy through those awkward adolescent years. 

The following exerpt struck me like a fist to the face:

Recrossing the Atlantic in late October, Teedie turned fifteen. He was now, if not yet a man, then at least a youth of more than ordinary experience of the world. He had traveled exhaustively in Britain, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, visiting their great cities time and again and actually living in some for long periods. He had plumbed the Catacombs and climbed the Great Pyramid, slept in a monastery and toured a harem. He had hunted jackals on horseback, kissed the Pope's hand, stared into a volcano, traced an ancient civilization to its source, and followed the wanderings of Jesus. He had been exposed to much of the world's greatest art and architecture, become conversant in two foreign languages, and felt as much at home in Arab bazaars as at a German kaffeeklatsch, or on the shaven lawns of an English estate.

At first, the focal point of this paragraph appears to be on the 26th President of the United States of America but really it is not. It is on Theodore Roosevelt, Senior--Teedie's father. After all, he is the one who made these adventures possible. Most of us think of President T. Rooselvelt as the rugged, Rough Rider. You might be surprised (as I was) he grew up a sickly and scrawny youth but greatly because of his father's leading he became a sturdy man with great character and aspiration.  

It is not surprising our former President would later write, "My father was the best man I ever knew."

Dads, I don't want to wake up one day and see my boys as young men of 15 and 16 and realize I have not given them a great story. If we do not offer our boys a starring role in a story full of adventure, travel, intrigue and learning they will try to find a different story on their own--and often that story will be a poor substitute.

Here are a couple links to either download the ebook from Amazon's Kindle Store or purchase the hard cover from Amazon. And if you use one of my links, I will receive a percentage of the cost so I can take my boys on adventures of our own.