Introducing Jackson Cooper Mehaffey

Here is the first picture of many to come of our new son.  He definitely has Chase’s nose and full head of hair.

And let’s just be clear that we named him “Jackson” in  honor of Janie’s dad (Jack), and not Yankee great “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson.  But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jackson was born in October and now the Yankees are World Series Champs!

Taiwan Adoption the Sequel

Our world was rocked last night.

I think my heart skipped a beat when I checked the caller ID on my iPhone and saw a very familiar phone number from Taiwan.  Ted Skiles, founder of The Home of God’s Love, (a Christ-centered orphanage through whom we adopted our son, Chase from earlier this year) was calling with some completely out-of-the-blue news.

He told us Chase’s birth mom had recently given birth to another baby boy, put him up for adoption and that the little guy is now residing at THOGL.  Since he is Chase’s little brother, Ted asked us if we would be willing to be his parents too (which is the easiest question we’ve been asked since Ted asked us last Christmas if we wanted Chase)!  I’m not sure reality has fully soaked in yet but we are so thankful to God and everyone at Ray of Hope and THOGL who are being used by Him in huge ways.

This has caught us so off guard we do not have a name for him yet!  We’re kicking around some ideas and will post later what we decide.  Can you believe that Janie vetoed my “Fabio” suggestion?  The process of adopting Chase was one of the best experiences of our lives and we loved sharing it with everyone as it happened through this blog, Facebook and Twitter.  So buckle up with us and enjoy the ride cause here we go again.

Habakkuk – When God Seems Unfair

We are kicking off a new series at The Pursuit on November 1. We will be studying the book of Habakkuk which wrestles through many questions we still ask today.

Ever get the feeling God isnʼt fair? Ever wonder why bad people seem to get away with taking advantage of the weak? Ever been curious why there is so much injustice, war and suffering in the world?

We see tragedy everyday. Discover how an Old Testament prophet can inspire a modern day faith in Godʼs Promises.

Sunday, November 1 Habakkuk (pt. 1) Title: Where Are You, God?

Sunday, November 8 Habakkuk (pt. 2) Title: In the Dip

Sunday, November 15 Habakkuk (pt. 3) Title: Climbing Out of the Dip

(much love to lifechurch.tv for the killer resources!)

SOAP Bible Study Works for Me (for now)

I’m not usually one who likes to do anything systematically.  I like to forge my own way through.  But lately I have felt my quiet time (someone needs to come up with a better name for this … sounds like punishment) has become stale.  I show up but I’m not fully present.  Ever been there?

And then I remembered a simple practice that Dr. Wayne Cordeiro, Senior Pastor at New Home Christian Fellowship in Oahu, taught at the Exponential Conference in Orlando a couple years ago.  He called it SOAP (for Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer). I remember writing it down in my Moleskine and thinking, “I will never use this.  Acrostics are SO 1980s.”

What can I say, I was desperate so I gave it a shot.  Each morning with my freshly brewed cup of coffee I have been doing the following:

Talk to God, saying something like, “God, I’m showing up again. Give me Your insight into your Word and give me something fresh that I can apply today even if it stretches me.”

Then I would read through a chapter of a book (this week I’ve been in Habakkuk & Titus) and every time at least one verse jumped out at me.  I then wrote those verses down in my Moleskine journal.  Here is my walk thru the SOAP method from 10.19.09 (Monday):

[S] Habakkuk 1:5 “For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” – GOD

[O] Habakkuk sees the wickedness all around him and it seems as if God is allowing it to flourish. From Habakkuk’s perspective God is sitting idly by but God tells him He is doing a work that wouldn’t even be believed if he was told.

[A] God is God and I am not. He sits on the throne and the entire universe bows to His authority.  He is just.  Nothing goes on

without  His knowing.  Even if we can’t see it in the moment we can trust that He is going to be a just God.  I can concern myself with things I cannot control or I can focus on loving & obeying God.  The choice is mine.

[P] This one is between me and God.  But believe me this is something I needed this week.

Truth be told I will probably drop the SOAP method (yeah I went there) eventually when it gets stale.  And I’ll try something else for awhile.  That’s how I am wired.  But for now it’s exactly what I needed to fuel up.

Proverbs 22:6

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proven Wi$dom For All of Us

Here in South Florida, we all know someone who has been ravaged by the recent economic crisis. The words “foreclosure,” “bankruptcy,” “loan-modification” and “bail-out” are now a part of everyone’s vernacular.

We all could use some proven wisdom these days.

That wisdom is closer than you might think. In the month of September, both locations of The Pursuit Christian Church (Pembroke Pines & Century Village) will be going through a series featuring financial expert and New York Times bestselling author, Dave Ramsey (via video). You are invited to join us as he shares timeless advice that brings proven results.  Now is the time to learn how to take control of your financial future and launch a personal economic revolution during this upcoming series.

Click here for more details.

Putting Your Rep on the Line

So Michael Vick is a Philadelphia Eagle now.

Vick is excited. PETA is outraged. And Philly fans are well, Philly fans.

To me the most intriguing part of this saga is Tony Dungy. Here is one of the most admired men in all of sports, going before Michael Vick, putting his own integrity and reputation on the line. Listen to Head Coach of the Eagles, Andy Reid, who admits that Dungy’s vote of confidence in Vick is a key factor to why he is now on the roster.

Not to get all Biblical on you, but this reminds me of the relationship between Barnabas and Saul. Saul, a man who went from executing Christ-followers to becoming one, tries to see the leaders of the early church in Jerusalem. They want nothing to do with him. What if this is a trick? What if he relapses? What if…?

Along comes Barnabas who has this Dungy-like reputation among the disciples, who sees something in Saul and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He builds a relationship with Saul and goes before the church leaders on Saul’s behalf (see Acts 9:26-27). Saul, later known as Paul, goes on to become one of the most influential Christians whose letters make up almost half of the New Testament.

As a follower of Jesus, I am rooting for Michael Vick. If anyone should be a fan of grace, redemption and second chances it ought to be a people who receive all of those gifts in limitless amounts from Jesus. Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to write people off for past mistakes and instead walk with them and point them to the new work that only Jesus can do in them.

Back to School

This past weekend, The Pursuit was at its best.

Led by some of our amazing servant leaders we collected school supplies for the foster kids at Children’s Harbor in Pembroke Pines.  The result was a few hundred book bags stuffed full of goodies for school.

We are convinced that God has blessed us and in turn we are to pour out that blessing on others around us.

Then on Sunday we celebrated by doing the other thing that our church is really good at.  We partied.

Adoption in Retrospect pt. 2

Many people have asked us about our experience with international adoption. I’ve heard so many horror stories of shady dealings with government officials and awful living conditions in orphanages. We had completely the opposite experience.

The Home of God’s Love, the place Chase spent his first 8 months of life, is appropriately named. We are so grateful Ted and Bev Skiles followed God’s call on their lives to move to Taiwan to care for kids who were abandoned by their birth parents.

Ted has become a personal hero of mine. The guy is in his 60’s, bikes 20 miles thru the mountains every morning, is incredibly generous, learned to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and has a faith in God that I crave for myself. We were at the home for 5 days and I am not sure I ever saw the guy sit down. Rumor has it that he actually sleeps. One day he took us to the breath-taking Taroko Gorge and we hiked one trail that was about 10-15 miles. He left us in the dust. Ridiculous.

We met so many amazing people at THOGL and miss them very much.  Hopefully one day, we will be able to go back so Chase can see his home away from home again.

On a side note, below is a video of Chase and his buddy, Micah.  They were the two oldest baby boys at the home and loved to play together.  Micah’s parents live in Colorado so hopefully one day they can come and visit us in Miami for the beaches and we can visit them and teach Chase to ski!

Adoption in Retrospect pt. 1

Adopting Chase has been one of those hold-your-breath faith journeys God has used to teach us He is in control and we are not.  Over the next several days, I will be blogging that journey in retrospect…

On June 17 Janie and I got on a plane for Taiwan not knowing that we would be able to bring Chase back home with us.  The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) was still waiting for The National Visa Center in the U.S. to send Chase’s approved paperwork.  The days leading up to our trip I had been on the phone at least 3 times each day checking on the status and hanging up frustrated each time.  My prayer journal was full of ink on the subject.  I did not want to leave the country with this unresolved.  God did.

I learned thru this process that what God does in us while we wait is as important as what we’re waiting for. As we boarded our flight to Tokyo I wrote these words:

Father, we still do not have all the answers we are looking for … There is nothing we can do now, but I rest in the fact that this is completely in your hands…

After giving my concerns over to God, I committed to enjoying the journey and living in the moment rather than worrying about the stuff I had no control over in the first place.

On June 19 (June 18 in the U.S), we landed in Taipei and the paperwork had still not arrived, but that was the furtherest thing from my mind.  I had a feeling that Chase might very well be at baggage claim.  He was. Ted Skiles, the founder of The Home of God’s Love, brought Chase and Alex (another couple adopting him arrived 15 minutes after us).

Here is the moment, we met our son for the first time.

As only God could orchestrate, once we got in the van and left the airport, Ted called the AIT and got the news our paperwork arrived and everything was in order.