First Day at North Terrace Church

We've been in Zanesville now for a little over a week but already it is feeling like home. This is true because of so many new "family" members we have from the North Terrace Church of Christ who have gone above and beyond in welcoming us. I'm not going to mention the people by name because there are just too many and I'd hate to leave someone out.

Instead of mentioning the WHOS I will mention the HOWS...

1. One person flew to Orlando and drove the other moving truck all the way to Zanesville. 

2. We were met at the church by a team of people welcoming us to town. 

3. A bunch of people worked tirelessly on a small house next to the church, renovating it so we could have a place to stay until we found a house of our own to buy. I wish I had some "before photos" because they did a serious Extreme Home Makeover on it. 

4. While that house was being worked on another family housed us for a week. Honestly, we didn't really want to leave it was so comfortable.

5. We have visited a bunch of prospective houses with our realtor and were serious about four. One guy in the church came with us to all four of those homes and put his eyes of expertise on them pointing out major red flags that actually saved us from a lot of future trouble and he helped point us to the right house we are in process of buying.

6. One person parked one of his semi-truck trailers outside of our transitional home so we could store a lot of our stuff. After we close on our house in July he will simply connect the cab and drive it to our new home!

7. Some of my teammates in the office scrubbed my office walls and hauled out tons of stuff. Now someone is coming later to paint the walls.

8. There have been so many others who have dropped by to say "Welcome" and who have offered to help in any way. 

9. One family took us out to the local Japanese hibachi restaurant. I can see that place becoming a Mehaffey favorite. 

10. OK I will drop one name. Today I came into my office for the first time and received a little goodie bag from my best friend and head cheerleader, Janie.

Now I know why Bill Meaige has stayed here for 30 years and counting! It is so humbling to be working along side such a great group of people. 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Destination: Zanesville, Ohio!

The waiting is over. Our stuff sitting in storage lockers in Orlando is about to see the light of day again!

We are moving to Zanesville, Ohio!

Just got the call less than an hour ago from the elders at North Terrace Church of Christ with the news that the vote was an overwhelming 99+% affirming me as the new Lead Minister!!! [I think that news is worthy of three exclamation marks.]

Back in January, I was reading the story from Genesis where Abraham's servant traveled to find a wife for Isaac. When he arrived at the well, where all the women came to get water, he prayed that God would show him the right one. God showed him in a very clear way who He had chosen for Isaac...Rebekah. Now he would just need to convince her dad and her brother Laban.

When they arrived at her home he told them what had happened; how God had clearly led him to Rebekah. Then the big question came. "So can she come back with me to marry Isaac?"

Their response was, "This is from the Lord. What can we say?"

My prayer since then has been that God would make it so clear to us AND to the church that calls us that He would basically remove the choice for all of us. It appears God has answered that prayer in an exponential way. 

Words cannot express how grateful I am to God and the leaders and people of North Terrace. Can't wait to see what God has in store for all of us!!!

Mehaffeys to Ohio? We Will Know Sunday!

Sunday is kind of a big deal for the Mehaffey clan. Prayers appreciated. I wasn't going to blog about this until after Sunday but word is out and the news is too exciting for us to keep in any longer. We've come a LONG way since I wrote this blog post...

For the last few months we have been in talks with the North Terrace Church of Christ in Zanesville, OH about becoming their new Lead Minister. As conversations progressed with their search team, elders, staff and current Lead Minister, Bill Meaige we became convinced this was a very special opportunity for me and my family. 

On Sunday, April 14 we visited North Terrace and I taught for the second time during their worship services. This time I was presented before the congregation as their leadership's choice for this position. Bill, who is wrapping up 30 years as Lead Minister, reminds me so much of men I have such great respect for like Howard Brammer, Bob Smith, Nelson Roetter and my father. You can listen to Bill's introduction of me to the church and my message here if you want. They also have the video message online here. The podcast is also up on iTunes [just search for north terrace].

This has been a great process and I can't tell you how much we already love the people at NT. We are so excited about this next chapter and can't wait to see what God will do next through His church in Zanesville. 

Prime Time - TRex

I just tucked the boys into bed for the night and found this little vignette they left on the living room floor. Looks to me like this cheery train ride is about to get a bit more exciting.

I l-o-v-e raising boys.

* Prime Time is a series of posts on DaddyMatt.com where I get up close and personal with my Nikon D7000 equipped with a prime lens.

Prime Time - Tongues

* Prime Time is a series of posts on DaddyMatt.com where I get up close and personal with my Nikon D7000 equipped with a prime lens.

Two Months Ago Outside a Storage Facility in Orlando...

[I actually wrote this post over two months ago on February 5, but I just didn't feel real comfortable letting people peek into this part of our life yet. It's not that we don't want people to know what we've been up to the last couple months, actually it's just the opposite. We just wanted to hold this precious time to ourselves. Standing where I do today, April 9, I can't make up my mind if the last two months went by fast or painfully slow. What I do know is my family is remarkable resilient and we are crazy excited about the great opportunity just around the corner. I can't wait to tell you! Stay tuned.]

I'm sitting outside on a beautiful day in Orlando as I write this. 

Think I'm bragging? Think again. 

While I am sitting on one my patio chairs I'm not on my patio. No, I'm actually sitting outside a public storage locker watching all of our earthly possessions get tucked away by a moving company. When all of it will see the light of day again ...only God knows.

You probably have a few questions right now. Join the club. 

Are you moving? Yes.
Where are you moving to? Don't know.
Are you staying in Florida? Doesn't appear that way.
Has Janie threatened bodily harm to you if you take her north of the Mason Dixon Line to a chillier climate? I best not answer, but if my blog goes mysteriously silent...

Here's what we do know:

A. God is up to something.
B. I have been exploring a few opportunities at some great churches around the country.
C. I am currently still working for World Orphans and I am still a huge fan. They were among the first to know all that I am writing here.
D. I am pumped and completely honored to even be considered for the positions at the churches who are seeking "God's man" for the job.
E. Our lease is up on our house on February 7 and we needed to move out. We really don't want to waste $$$ by having to enter into another lease only to break it in a couple months. 
F. We are crashing at our friends - Nate & Meredith's house - for a couple weeks here in Orlando while these churches continue through their processes.
G. We would like to keep said friendship with Nate & Meredith so if the process takes longer than a couple weeks we will crash at my parents' house for a couple more weeks. 
H. If the process takes longer still we will most likely bite the bullet and try to find a place we can rent month to month. Or we might just come knock on your door.
I. God has timed all this as only He can because I have been studying about God's call to Abram "I want you to go and I will show you where as you do." I love your sense of humor God. Really I do.
J. Wherever we end up we believe will be the place our boys' will graduate high school, Lord willing. 
K. We would love for you to pray for us during this faith journey.
L. Chase and Jackson (and Jeter) are troopers and are super excited about moving to a new house.
M. If you were tired of seeing our photos at Disney World on Facebook every week this is a great day for you!
N. The past year and a half with World Orphans and our time in Orlando has been an incredible chapter in our story.
O. We are really going to miss our Orlando church home - Real Life Christian Church. How this church is not more on the radar in our movement outside of Florida is beyond me. A lot could be learned from them.
P. We believe the next chapter is going to be even better than the last.
Q. I married the most beautiful woman inside and out. That has nothing to do with our move. That's me bragging.
R. The head of the moving company keeps smoking around our stuff. I'm about to extend the right fist of fellowship to his jugular.
S. In the last hour, I have thought more than I care to admit how much our storage units would go for on an episode of Storage Wars? Yuuuuuuupppppp!
T. I am SO excited to see what comes next.
U. God is up to something.
V. I'm so close to getting to Z but I'm ready to wrap up this post. 

OK. There you have it. Obviously right now I can't say where we might end up cause it's not really in our hands. And that strangely enough is what keeps us steady. 

Good bye stuff! See you when we get to __________________!

Transition

Today is my last day as part of the World Orphans team. My exit interview was yesterday and my projects have been placed in capable hands. It's always refreshing to leave an organization and still feel passionate about what they do. I signed on with World Orphans because of their effective strategies and experience in rescuing vulnerable children around the globe through the local church. In two years, I've seen the evidence to the fact that what they do works. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have worked for World Orphans and to have traveled to different countries to witness the awesome work being done there. I especially loved my time in Iraq. I never would have dreamed I would have an Iraq stamp in my passport but I'm so glad I do. I count myself blessed to know Billy Ray and his family who are some of my biggest heroes. [Read about my travels to Iraq here.]

Yes, there are a lot of changes going on in my family's life (I really look forward to sharing what is coming NEXT). However, one thing that is not changing is our passion for "pure religion" (James 1:27). The Bible teaches that God, the Father to the fatherless, prioritizes those who are most neglected in our world and through our adoption journey God broke our hearts for the things that break His heart. I can't thank World Orphans enough for growing my heart and vision for the children of the world. Our passion for adoption, foster care and orphan rescue will never change.  

If you would like to learn how you can partner with World Orphans click here.

THOGL Reunion 2013 - Kentucky Edition

Last weekend we were in Louisville, KY to see family and friends. Our timing couldn't have been better because several families who also adopted from The Home of God's Love were getting together.

It's always fun to get together with THOGL families because our shared experiences have created a strong bond between us. It seems to be that way among our kids too.

It is so cool how intertwined all of our stories are. Most of us followed each other online when we were going through our adoption journeys. One family we met for the first time at the reunion was at THOGL when Chase was just a one-month-old baby and was being called "Gabriel." So they got to hold him seven months before we did!

Actually our stories connect with all of these kids in some way or another. For example, the only girl at the reunion, Libby is the same baby girl Janie is holding in the photo below. We were in Taipei in June 2009 to bring Chase home and we met up for lunch with one of our heroes, Juanita Hebard (Executive Director of Ray of Hope), who was bringing this newborn baby girl to The Home of God's Love. 

Also, two of the boys at the reunion were at THOGL when our Jackson was there in 2010. Here is Cooper and Jackson F. with his "Hoosier-crazed" family.

Here is a shot of me and my wingmen on a walk near The Home of God's Love from May 2010 where we have our Jackson plus Cooper and Jackson F. in the double stroller. What is even more ironic is our son's full name is Jackson Cooper Mehaffey!

I love that our boys are going to grow up buddies with so many of the kids who they met as babies in that very special place on the other side of the world. 

These Little Piggy Banks

One area I so want my boys to be prepared for in life is how to handle the finances God gives them to manage. When Chase turned 3 last year we decided it was time for him to start doing jobs around the house--some jobs to earn his weekly allowance of $2.50 (in quarters) and others as part of his responsibility as a member of the family. 

About a year ago, we got this Magnetic Responsibility Chart by Melissa & Doug to help keep track of their chores and I also surprised Chase with his very first piggy bank. Of course the first lesson Chase learned was out of the ten quarters he receives the very first goes back to God as a way to show Him that we love and trust Him. The other nine go straight to the piggy. So far Chase has proven himself to be quite a little saver. He has only splurged so far on a Thomas the Tank Engine train and a couple apps for his LeapPad 2. 

For those that think chores at 2 and 3 is too young, here is video evidence that these boys don't just do their chores but enjoy doing them.

This year it is Jackson's turn. To celebrate Jackon's first allowance I took him to Epcot for two purposes. The first was to play the Great Piggy Bank Adventure at Innoventions West, which I would highly recommend on your next Walt Disney World vacation. Sure, it's a little old for Pre-Ks and I don't quite expect Chase and Jackson to fully understand concepts such as diversification and inflation but that hasn't stopped them from wanting to do this attraction over and over again. I just discovered that there's an online version you can play (although it definitely seems geared more toward older children). 

The other reason for our Epcot visit was to stop by the Mexico pavilion because they have these sweet, hand-painted piggy banks. One was painted to look like a classic  Chuck Taylor Converse sneaker. I so wanted Jack to choose that one but he ended up choosing the piggy with the outer space theme.

Still a good choice, son. 

You Belong With Me - Video

Friday's post about synergy sparked my memory and reminded me there was unfinished business on my iMac. Last year, when I first heard the song "You Belong With Me" by The Lumineers, it inspired me to gather photos and footage of Chase and Jackson from 2010. 

While every adoption story is unique and remarkable, Chase and Jackson's story continues to blow my mind. The super, condensed version goes like this:

After we brought Chase home from Taiwan in June, 2009 we received another call from The Home of God's Love (the amazing orphanage where they both spent their first months) in November sharing with us the shocking knowledge that Chase's baby brother was just born and wanted to come home too. So in May, 2010 we traveled back to Taiwan and our two little guys' found each other.

It should have been impossible for these two brothers (yes, from the same birth mother and father) to have found each other but God's work shows up best in the middle of impossibilities. 

Now the video is finished.

2010 -- The year our boys' stories merged together.