Emery's Milkshake

Last week in church the paster talked about the importance of fathers in the lives of their daughters.  Specifically, how studies have shown that girls with positive paternal input are more likely to succeed, and those girls without positive paternal input search for it in other males that do not have pure and honest intentions towards them.

Our  pastor also shared a story about orphaned male elephants that were living on a wildlife reserve in South Africa.  The biologist on the reserve began to notice strange behavior from the young orphan male elephants.  They were secreting a strange liquid.  They would also stab hippopotami with their tusks, and then force them under water, and drown them.  As it turns out, in the wild this liquid is a sign to older male elephants that this young male is looking for a "father figure,"  and the older male elephant will take the young male and teach him how to be a mature elephant.  These orphan elephants did not have that positive male role model, and were struggling to figure out how to me a mature responsible elephant.  The connection from elephants to humans is not that much of a stretch.  Young humans with out a positive male role model do the same thing.

All this to say, I decided that I needed to actively try to be a positive role model for the girls, and that as part of that I would come up with ways to connect with each one of them.  So that they would know that I love them, and when tough times come they can think of this connection, and know I am always there for them.

Emery and I created a secret hand shake.  However, she refers to it as our secret milkshake.  Here we are in action...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IGaYOkTnIE