Interesting Comparison of Ethiopian and Other Biblical Canons

Gideon and Pastor Ed At the Baptism

Pastor Ed does a fantastic job of doing baptisms of children. One of my greatest excitements is when Ed lifts the child and carries him around the sanctuary for all the church to see and behold. As part of that he reminds the congregation of the oath they are taking to help the parents raise the child to fear and know the Lord. Here is the picture of Ed doing that. I absolutely love this picture!!!

Terwilleger Family at Gideon's Baptism

Yesterday Gideon got baptized along with one of his sidekicks, Asher Jones. Unfortunately, his other sidekick Nathan Pothoven was unable to get baptized due to a sickness in their family. However, after the service we were able to get a couple family pictures. However, unintentionally, no pictures of Kathee's side were taken, and the one we got of the Terwilleger side didn't turn out well due to a setting a had switched. So, hint to any family reading this, if you could send some better one's from the one's you took, this would be a MUCH better post. Regardless, here we all are for a T-family picture

Gideon Meets Cousin Will Steen

Gideon's First Christmas

What a fantastic day, from walking in to his room this morning and seeing him lying in his bed with a big smile on his face, to opening presents with Kathee and I, to Grandpa and Grandma Smith coming from India, to Uncle Jamie, Aunt Sharon, and Cousin Will coming in from Mississippi, to him heading off to bed and going right to sleep, Gideon was great today!

Gideon Meets Grandpa and Grrandma Smith

Gideon and the Vikings

I'm not sure if Gideon was moved closer to the tv because he wanted to or because Mom and Dad (more Dad) wanted to "stage" this video and pictures. Enjoy!

Gideon and Micah

Micah is a young man who was going in to 8th grade when his family moved to our church. Micah is now a junior in college at Norwich, a military school where Micah is being trained to be an officer for our country's military (which will then complete the title for Micah as an officer and a gentleman). There is a good chance that Micah will will be finishing school in five years with undergrad and a master's in architecture. He will also be serving our country as a military officer, and is thinking about becoming an Army Ranger. Bottom line, Micah is a man's man!
And yet, Micah is the best example I have ever seen as a man of meekness. Not the mamby-pampy meekness, but the biblical meekness. You know, like in the Greek New Testament, where meekness is understood as power under control. That is Micah. He is the strongest man I've ever know. And yet he is quiet and peaceful, always under control, being submitted to Christ and a man of self-discipline.
I remember watching Micah when he was in high school sit and pet Riely. He would just sit for a half hour petting Riely and calmly talking to him. And Riely absolutely loved whenever Micah would come over.
And so how neat to see this picture that Kathee took of Micah holding Gideon today. I am absolutely loving having the college kids home for Christmas, as they were the ones we told first that we were adopting. So having them coming home and meeting him, holding him, loving him, and being Christ to him is just awesome!!!
Micah, thanks for being just a man of meekness. You can hold my son anytime, I'd be honored to have you pour Christ into him.

Baby Jesus

Today Gideon made his debut as Baby Jesus in our church's Christmas program during the morning worship service. He was great! He was up in front for about 20-30 minutes and not a fuss. He had the children all up in his space, touching him, etc, etc, and he was great. He seemed to really enjoy having all the children around him. One of the very neat scenes was when Ira, an 80+ year old man who played the part of Simeon in the birth narrative, held Gideon as baby Jesus and read the Scripture that his life was complete for he had seen salvation. So neat.
Kathee and I think he was more relaxed for the two youth playing Mary and Joseph, Gideon is quite comfortable with. Sydney Quandt played Mary, who held him the majority of the time. She has baby sat for us, is at our house on Thursday, plays with him at Catalyst, etc. And Jacob Ryan played Joseph, and Jacob does a fantastic job playing with Gideon and loving on him, too. So it was pretty cool. Enjoy the pictures!



Here's Gideon on the church pew by the end of the church service!

Does Gideon Smile All the Time?

Tell me what you think?

Quality Parenting!

Lap Chillin'

The Little Husker Boy

Go Vikings!

Mindy Molin, a very good friend of mine from college, who now is an admissions counselor at Bethel, sent a couple Vikings onezies to Gideon for Christmas. Thanks Erik and Mindy, you two rock!

How Was Your Daily Time With the Lord Today?

Gideon at our Weekly Couples' Bible Study

Here is a picture of Gideon before Dave, Vicki, Larissa, Natalie, and Nathan Pothoven, Adam, Maharah, Anavah, and Asher Jones, Leah Borycz, and Sydney Quandt arrived tonight at church for our weekly couples' Bible study.

Here is a picture of Gideon when the adults finished Bible study and came into the nursery.

The Boy and His Dogs

Gideon is really getting to dig Solomon and Riely. Right now as I blog he's sitting on the couch with Solomon curled up next to him, and both are as content as could be. We are pumped he's not allergic to, scared of, or indifferent to the dogs. I can't wait until he gets bigger and can play with Solomon (I'm thinking that by the time he's big enough Riely won't be around).

Our Joyful Son

I think Gideon is making a fine transition into the Terwilleger family. He is like this almost all the time. He is quick to smile, laugh, and has a great sparkle in his eye. We love him to death. And oh yeah, Kim, he loves his tiger. And Matt and Katie, he loves the toy you gave him!

Some More Props

I have now decided that anything having to do with the house needs to be bought at Lowes (due to Maharah's comment that Lowe's also has parking for families with babies). I'm not as sold on HyVee as I am still thinking HyVee costs too much, but I nonetheless thank Jen Kronberg for commenting, too.
I think I'll have to keep my camera in the car to snap some sweet shots at different stores having this sweet hook-up. Any comments of other places having this will save me much on gas usage!

I Love Best Buy

I've been to Best Buy this week seemingly everyday. And this parking spot is the GREATEST THING EVER!!! I love pulling in to the parking spot, grabbing Junior, the stroller, and walking into the store. Best Buy, I gotta give you some props!

New Game Day Outfit

Adam, Maharah, Anavah, and Asher Jones came over for dinner and fun tonight. One of the great surprises was an outfit Maharah found in Davenport for Gideon. I think this will look right ravishing on him when Nebraska takes on Clemson in the Gator Bowl on January 1, 2009! The kid is drop-dead handsome!

I Think the Boy Likes To Talk

Gideon seems to enjoy hearing himself talk just about as much as he enjoys watching himself in the mirror. Enjoy!

How's Solid Food Going?

It's a 6-Shot Day

No, no, Gideon didn't drive us to drink today. Rather, we went to the doctor to (re)start his immunizations. We weighed him (15 lbs 11.b oz), measured him (26 inches), and spent some time with Doctor Herr.
Before getting the shots, we found out he has 2 ear infections (to which Doc Herr said he showed absolutely no symptoms). We also found out that we can start him on rice cereal starting tomorrow morning and then start him on veggies in a few weeks. Doc left, the nurse came in and shot him up like crazy. She gave him an oral, then a shot in the arm, and 3 shots in one leg, and 2 shots in the other. I've never heard Gideon cry like that in my life. Wow! What a champ!
Doc ordered him a prescription of amoxicillon for the ears. So naturally we went out for lunch at Chilis and then off to the mall right afterwards... not even thinking that the kid might want to go home.
So while Kathee went to her dentist appointment, Gideon and I walked the mall. We had a great time together, and he slept a bunch. Kathee comes back, we are on our way to JCPenny to look at a suit I need to buy (for a wedding I'm doing in January), and Gideon decides to ralph EVERYWHERE. Okay, so there was no deciding whatsoever. Man, the formula I fed him a few hours early was EVERYWHERE. It was like a geyser! It soaked through his clothes in milliseconds, he cried for about 5 seconds, and then was good to go. So Kathee took him to the bathroom, changed him, and we high-tailed it home.
After dropping them off at home and heading to the pharmacy, Gideon took a turn for the better and is now doing great. He's chirpy, kicking, laughing, and gargling like a champ.
Doctor Herr called and everything is good to go.
Chalk another experience up for new parents! Man, we love this!

Daily Devos Have Gone to a Whole Nutha Level!

Here's the morning routine at the Terwilleger house. Kathee gets up, wakes up Gideon, changes him, feeds him. I wake up, jump in the shower, and come downstairs to do my morning Bible study and prayer time. Kathee brings him downstairs to me and then she goes up and showers. After that she comes down and does her daily Bible study and prayer. And I care for Gideon during the time she showers and does devotions.
Recently, Gideon has desired to participate in my quiet time. So this morning, with camera by the computer during devo time, I shot a bit of video for your enjoyment.
Man do I love this kid!

Gideon Crashes During Catalyst!

I have to give props to Robin Kruckenberg for taking this picture last night at Catalyst. We ran the vaccuum cleaner, took everything down from Catalyst, reset 10 tables, and 35 people talking and hanging out in the same room... and the kid didn't even move! I love my son!

We Absolutely Love the Kids at Catalyst!

Tonight for youth group I had planned for us to head to Reynolds, Illinois, a cool 38 minute drive from church. We've done it the last three years and tonight was scheduled to be the night. Each year we head to a farm out in boonieville and have a Christmas service. The barn isn't heated, there is no electricity, it's normally freezing cold... and each year the kids love it! And this year, I'm SUPER-EXCITED about the teaching that I have in store. However, it snowed like 5 inches today and although the roads are fine in town, they are pretty nasty on the way to Reynolds. Whether my brain has frozen permanently from my years living in Minnesota or not, I couldn't cancel completely.
So I decided to make tonight movie night at Catalyst. And rather than give you the blow-by-blow of the movies and whatnot, I wanted to blog about just how amazingly cool the youth at Catalyst are in my opinion.
Kathee told me on the way home from church tonight that the kids actually had a system down for who was going to hold Gideon and for how long. Anyone wanting to hold him was able to do so, and he just worked the room. It was fantastic. And boy did he make the rounds.
The kids are incredibly good with him, and they just love him to pieces. And here's the really cool part, if the first part wasn't cool enough. The fellas are just as interested as the ladies. And it's awesome for me as his father to witness and see.
We have loved the kids at Catalyst like they were our own from very early on in my ministry here in Moline. And what a joy it is for my love of them to grow as I watch them with Gideon.
We delight in how God continues to undeservedly lavish His love, grace, and goodness upon us. And tonight was just another night proven to us again!

Miriam Giving Gideon a Smootch

My sister-in-law Jenn sent this picture this morning of her daughter all up in Gideon's grill!

Gideon Lookin' Fly With His First Babysitter

Today is my bride's birthday. So I thought it would be nice to get dressed up and head to Biaggi's Italian Restaurant for dinner. So we got dressed up, Kathee all decked out and I even wore a tie, and headed out. Sydney Quandt, a young lady in my youth ministry came over and watched Gideon for a couple hours while we were out for supper.
Kathee had the prime rib and fresh vegetables. I had the Callipini di Mare (angel hair pasta with shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels), and oh, it was so good. I called ahead and got reservations right in front of the fire place, which it turned out was the nicest table in the restaurant.
Man, we had so much fun. What a joy that my best friend is also my wife. We talked like civilized adults, ate at a peaceful rate, and enjoyed each other's company.
On the way home we stopped by Whitey's Ice Cream so Kathee and Sydney could enjoy some of the Quad Cities' finest! Okay, so I broke down and had a dip of Turtle Tracks.
So we got home just before 8pm, and sat and shot the breeze with Sydney for about an hour or so.
Sydney loved on Gideon, changed a poopy diaper, and walked around with him when he got bored sitting. And since Sydney is like 5'11", he got a totally new view of his house when he was being held.
What a great night, and how great to have such a fantastic person babysit Gideon so Kathee and I can go out on a date! Thanks Syd!

That's it for tonight!

Gideon and Jacob

Last evening Jacob Ryan, a young man in my youth ministry stopped by to drop off supper for us. As a fantastic blessing from our church, church families sign up to bring families with new children a meal for 4 weeks. So last night Jacob brought supper and spent a little time with Gideon. Seems to me like they both enjoyed their time together!

Gideon and Most of the Cousins Over Thanksgiving

Gideon with Otto (Nathan and Kris' youngest son)


Gideon with Ava (Nathan and Kris' daughter)


Gideon with Jonah (Aaron and Jenn's second oldest by mere minutes)


Gideon with Noah (Aaron and Jenn's eldest by mere minutes)


Gideon with my niece Miriam (Aaron and Jenn's daughter)

Samuel and Elijah... we are sorry we didn't get pictures with you and the "Gid-man." Ask your mom and dad if they have any and I'll edit this post and put you in

Time with Grandpa and Grandma T