Giddy Up!

This morning Bill McKinley, a friend from church and husband of Rhonda (who redid Gideon's bedroom as a gift, and has purchased TONS of items for little Gideon), came up to me before church started and handed me this little pair of cowboy boots (I assume he means these to go to Gideon and was not making a statement about my small stature).
Kathee and I put these little boots in between us during the service and found ourselves looking at them an awful lot during appropriate times during the service. We are so ready for him to be home and coming to church with us each Sunday.
We are also excited to have people like Bill and Rhonda McKinley pouring into our son. As Bill and Rhonda are a bit on the Western side of life, and as Bill has horses about a half hour from Moline, sits on the Rock Island County Fair Board, and has many friends who live on farms, Bill and Rhonda have already shared that they'd love to be able to take Gideon with them out to the farm.
I was sharing with my Aunt Beth a few weeks ago at lunch how excited Kathee and I are about this possibility. As I was quite small when Beth and Larry moved off the farm, I feel like I sort of missed out on a lot of the good memories of going down and visiting Beth and Larry at the farm (like my elder brothers Aaron and Nathan got to have).
I have had many people ask how people in the church are responding to the adoption. Um, this is just a small example of how excited people are for Gideon to get home. Today we were asked by 3 couples "how much longer" before we left the sanctuary after church. The body of Christ is super-excited to have little Gideon home, and are just as excited to pour the love of Christ (and their love, too) into Gideon.
I am excited to have the nursery workers pouring love into Gideon. I can't wait to have people like Ms Darlene (who is Rhonda's mother) and Ms Jane Ann teaching Gideon in Sunday School. I am super-excited for the teenagers in my ministry love on him and look out for him. I am super-excited for all the adults in the church to love on him and help us bring him up in the fear of the Lord.
And here is something else I'm excited to be able to do. Today our great friends Adam and Maharah came up to us after church while we were still in the sanctuary. Their 3 year old daughter (tomorrow) Anavah has two things she has to do after church. She comes up and says hello to Kathee and I, and the most important thing she has to do is have her Dada take her up to see Pastor Ed. Now, who knows. In no way are we going to force Gideon to be like Anavah. But how cool if Gideon, each week, asks his mother or I to take him up to see Pastor Ed? To have our son desire to visit Pastor Ed at the end of each service... how AWESOME!!!
As you can see, when Gideon comes home to our house. As he is baptized into the body of Christ at First United Presbyterian Church, you can see that he is not just gaining an immediate family, but will be experiencing the body of Christ...ALIVE... and in action! To this, Kathee and I stand in awe and amazement at the goodness of God in our lives!
So whether he is spending time on the farm with Bill and Rhonda, is being held and loved by the servants in the nursery, is learning Bible stories from great women of faith like Ms Darlene and Ms Jane Ann (as Anavah calls them when I ask her each week what she's learning in Sunday School), is hearing great stories of Nebraska football in the 60s from former Husker Ed Syzpulski (a member of our church), or is playing with the other two of the three amigos (Asher Jones and Nathan Pothoven) at our Couples Bible Study, he will get to experience the love of Christ in a great community of faith!
And although I won't be using Bill McKinley's nickname for Gideon (Giddy Up), to all that I do say, "Giddy up!"