More Brennan pictures

He's now 11 weeks old and discovering his voice and hands. So much fun (but a little loud at times)!

Grab that fish!

Please excuse this face, I just woke up. :-s

Big smile!

Is that a yawn or is he posing for Edvard Munch?

Two hands: one to hold the panda, one to stick in my mouth.

Big, round baby belly!

Our little monk.

Now he's posing for Botticelli.

Rockin' the double chin!

Give me the camera! I want to try!

Something's happening over there and I'm missing it.

Happy Boy!

Story #3: Meet Me in Warsaw (April 2006)

In the Spring of 2006 I took a trip through Eastern Europe visiting a number of our PIONEERS teams, learning about what they were doing, asking them what type of people they wanted to join their team and just trying to encourage them as much as I could. After stops in Austria, Slovenia and Montenegro my last leg was going to be in Poland. Our team leader in Lublin (whom I'd never met) recommended I fly in and out of Warsaw, as it was simpler and cheaper than going direct to their city. So I booked my flights and emailed him my itinerary. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot in the way of communication after that and despite my strong desire to have all the details worked out prior to starting a trip, I got on the plane leaving Vienna without knowing what I'd do once I got to Warsaw.

When I arrived, there was no one there to meet me. I waited around for 10 or 15 minutes and called the team leader's home phone number. No answer. Then I decided to look into bus and train options. I got some information from a woman who spoke English and went outside to the bus terminal to discover that I'd just missed a bus to Lublin five minutes earlier. The next one didn't leave for another hour and a half. I went back inside to look up the train schedule but discovered it wasn't much better and I'd need to go to a different part of Warsaw to catch it. So I went back outside to wait by the bus stop. After another 15 minutes or so I decided to go back inside. There was no reason to do so, but I just felt like I should -- at worst it'd kill some time. Inside I milled about a bit and then passed a man in a Chicago Cubs hat looking rather frantic. With a spark of hope I stopped, turned around and called out the team leader's name. What a relief it was when he responded!

He and his family had driven up from Lublin to pick me up, but had arrived after my flight had landed. If I'd caught that first bus I would have wound up in Lublin hours ahead of them and had nowhere to go and no one to get a hold of. If I hadn't felt the Spirit move me to go back inside the terminal I might have missed them there too. But the Lord made it happen, got us together and we wound up having a great afternoon exploring a bit of Warsaw, dining on sushi at a shopping mall and talking during the two hour drive down to Lublin.

Story #2: Seliman's Savior (July 2002)

Seliman's Savior (July 2002)
I came back from my Spring 2002 home assignment as on fire for God as I've ever been, thanks in large part to two weeks participating in a small group that was going through a curriculum called "Sonship". In my first few months back in Austria the Spirit's presence with me was stronger than it had ever been. That was evident when the Lord used me to lead a young Bosnian teen to Christ and even more so a few weeks later at another teen program meeting. I was giving the talk that night and throughout my presentation I could tell that a young Chechnyan boy was paying close attention as my words were translated into Russian. As I finished I felt a strong impression that I needed to speak to him about what I had been sharing. It was if the Spirit was saying, "the time is now for this one. Go to him." That impression would have been enough -- it never occurred to me not to obey -- but when my teammate approached me and said that she thought I ought to go speak to him more about what I had been sharing I was even more sure this was from the Lord. Well, sure enough, I grabbed the translator and sat down with Seliman and explained the Gospel to him using blocks from the game Jenga. Within a half hour or so the three of us were in a back room praying together for Seliman's salvation. I can say for certain that there's nothing better in life than having an irresistable leading from the Holy Spirit. To know exactly what the Lord wants you to do in a given moment is such a joy and brings with it such a feeling of intimacy with Him.

God has moved...

I recently went through a support raising seminar that challenged me to think through stories ... stories of God's faithfulness and intervention over the years of my ministry. This was good to do, and by God's grace I was able to come up with a few instances in which He truly did show up. These may be familiar to some of you, but the refresher can't hurt. We'll start with one and add on over the next couple of days. To God be the glory...

A Physical Manifestation of Spiritual Warfare (February-July 2000)
I took some pride in the fact that I rarely ever got hurt or sick growing up. When I left for Austria the worst I'd had it was the flu in middle school, pneumonia in high school and a broken nose and big toe in college. That was about the extent of it. Then after my first month in language school in Germany I got a tear in my Achilles tendon moving into a new flat. Six weeks later, when I was sufficiently recovered to play some ultimate frisbee, I laid out for one throw in the endzone. I caught it, which was good, but I landed on my head and shoulder, which was not good. I knew right away I'd hurt myself badly. X-rays the next day revealed a torn ligament in my left shoulder (which is a big problem for a lefty). About two months after that I broke my other big toe and bruised my knee playing soccer at my best friend's bachelor party. Shortly after returning to Austria I got bronchitis. It was then that I realized something was up. This was an unnatural sequence of accidents and illnesses. I began to wonder if the Enemy wasn't attacking me in an area that had been a strength for me up til that point. To test my theory I asked my supporters to pray for protection on my health, and I prayed likewise. It worked. Although I got sick more in Austria over the next two years than I did when I lived in the States, I never suffered any more major injuries and the illnesses were spaced apart. Spiritual warfare can take many forms ... we must be wise to identify it and diligent in opposing it with all the weapons available to us (Ephesians 6).

Recent Brennan Pics

Sir Brennan

Up close and personal

Enjoying his new toy...

Getting ready for baseball season (Go Twins/Red Sox!)

Visitors from afar...Brennan enjoyed meeting (and being spoiled by!) his honorary Auntie Mary (from Minnesota) and Auntie Catherine (from North Dakota).

Another family pic...

Mama and Brennan enjoying some quality bonding time.

Launch!

After nearly five years here, we finally managed to get a picture of a space shuttle launch. Atlantis lifted off February 7, and we got a picture from right around the corner of our house. Pretty amazing we can see it so clearly when it lifts off from about 50 miles away!

More Additions to Brennan's Photo Gallery

First professional photo shoot at 12 days old!


Let's take a walk...

All clean and snuggly after a bath

Tummy time with Daddy

The new Downer family

Brennan and Grandma Prechel on the special blanket she made for him.

Brennan and Grandpa Prechel reading the Bible

Brennan on the blanket Grandma made him

Hanging out in the Boppy

Notes from Fatherhood

A random collection of facts and observations from my first two weeks as a Dad.

Gross facts and observations:
* I used to think that getting peed on during a diaper change and getting poo on my hands would be the grossest thing ever. Now I don't even blink an eye when it happens. It's simply a fact of life now. (I do wash my hands WAY more often than I used to).
* Naomi is a wonderful provider for our son's nutritional needs and does a great job burping him and lubing him up with lotion, but I'm a better diaperer, wiper and swaddler.
* A moment in the life: as I write this Naomi is changing him and he's cut muffins four times while she had his diaper off. Then she got the new diaper on and he subsequently soiled that one in about 10 seconds. So she changed him again and he let a fluffy another three times. Then he topped it all off with a belch. Brennan is such a guy.
* That's the worst when he drops a bomb in a diaper that's just been put on him and we have to change him again. It's happened at least four times. Kiss about a quarter goodbye every time.
* How can such loud and long farts come from such a little man? He cracked one off last week that lasted about six seconds. If you don't think that's bad, count off six seconds out loud (one one-thousand...). Yeah, it was like that.
* Praise the Lord for breastmilk, because it's really true that what comes out later doesn't smell that bad.

Fun facts and observations:
* Not surprisingly (if you know how we are with our cat), Brennan already has several nicknames. Naomi favors "Bubba", "Pumpkin" and "Sunshine Boy". I tend to call him "Little Man" and "Stinky Boy". So far only one of our friends (Kevin Hass) has busted out "B. J.", but I'm sure that will increase in popularity. I knew when we chose Brennan James that we'd get B. J. once in a while, and was perfectly happy with that. But I knew Naomi wouldn't care for it too much so I wisely never pointed it out.
* Brennan Downer sounds like an author to me. B. J. Downer sounds like a quarterback. Hmm... I'm torn.
* Esther, who we so often treated like a human, has never been a cat to us more. And now we understand why people rolled their eyes (subtly) when we talked about her like she was our first-born. We still love her and regard her as one of the family, but she's definitely a cat.
* She's also a cat who's definitely been feeling left out lately. She's moodier than usual and has taken to sleeping right up by our heads during the night so she can be close to us, since during the day the baby gets more of our lap-time. We are doing our best to give Esther affection too though.
* Brennan now weighs 8 lbs. 5 oz. -- a full 5.5 oz. above his birth weight, which is great. He sleeps like a champ at night but doesn't care much for napping during the day. We have our friends' and pediatrician's blessing to let him sleep as long as he wants during the night, so we'll see how soon he'll go the whole night without waking up. We were hoping that'd happen by week 8, but we might well get there sooner.
* Brennan does NOT like being naked or getting wet, so bath time is his least favorite thing in life.
* Breastfeeding is one of the great wonders and tragedies of this stage of life, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
* I never met a baby that I wasn't perfectly happy to give back to his/her parents until Brennan came along. (Apologies to all my friends with kids and my niece and nephews. You/your children are all very cute and special and I do love you/them a lot but it's just not the same and I'm sure you all know that but my non-parent friends are probably a bit scandalized by this remark)
* If I lived in Hollywood I would get Brennan an agent. I think he's that cute.
* Yes, I am that guy: My kid is the cutest ever!
* Naomi had never changed a diaper when Brennan came along. I changed his first diaper so she could see how it works. Now she's done it about a hundred times -- in the daylight, in the dark, with help, without help -- and can hardly remember what it felt like not to know how to do it.

Some more serious facts and observations:
* Nothing makes you feel more significant than holding your baby in your hands, knowing he's completely dependent on you.
* Nothing makes you feel more powerless than holding a crying baby in your hands who's been fed and is wearing a fresh diaper.
* We are so thankful for the three baby showers we had and all the generous people in our lives who've given us gift cards, diapers, clothes, toys and other things. I don't know how we'd have done it without all that help. We feel so blessed! It helps to know that we're not alone in our care for him. Lots of people love him too, and love us and stand with us in wanting to provide for his basic necessities and more. That's really comforting to know.
* On that theme, I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a provider for my family. I am keenly aware of how many people leave full-time ministry or never get into it because they can't see how they will provide for their families while on support. It's a major issue for many young men coming out of college. They want to go into missions but feel pressure from society, culture and family (even well-meaning parents who are Christians) to get established in a career that will allow them to provide for a family down the road. Raising support just seems incompatible with that goal. (I am thankful that my parents were always supportive of my plans to go into ministry and to raise support. They've been 100% behind me all the way.) I never felt that "incompatibility" in my early years in ministry, but then the stakes have gotten higher over the years. When I started out it was just me. I only had to provide for myself, and I didn't need much to be content. That changed a bit when Naomi and I got married. At that point I needed to look out for her needs too, and some of those were really different from my own. That's been a journey over the last four and a half years and I've had to learn and grow a lot in how to care for her, provide for her and, frequently, put her needs ahead of my own. Now, with Brennan, that's gone to a whole new level. With Naomi and me, there's an exchange. We care for each other and submit to one another's desires and preferences in the daily dance of compromise. With Brennan, it's totally one-way. We give to him and that's how it goes. All that he has comes from us (more or less). And we delight to do it! It's not a burden. It's a joy. We want to give to him. We want him to have everything we had -- and more. We want a life for him that's as good or better than our own. I think every good parent must feel that way. So I find myself asking if I can provide that for him. Can I provide for my son the way my parents provided for me? This is, of course, not only a material question but a spiritual and emotional one. I feel adequate in the latter two areas, but unprepared in the former. If I'm honest with myself, the answer to the original question is "no" -- at this point I can't provide for Brennan the way my parents provided for me. I feel bad about that. So what do I do? Do I need to ask God to change my expectations for parenthood? Do I need to take a hard look at my material desires? Do I need a refresher in the difference between needs and wants? Because indeed the Lord has always met my need in the last eight and a half years. Will He not meet Brennan's needs and Naomi's needs? My faith is being tested. Having a child at the same time as Naomi taking maternity leave and preparing to double our support to go to England is an intersection of events that have me questioning my role as provider for my family. Am I making wise choices? Shouldn't I be looking for a job that will pay me more than I make through support raising? If I am obedient to God's call on my life, can I trust Him to take over the role of provider for my family? Is that how it works anyway!?! This is the same journey I've been on since going on full support in August of 1999, but it's a new journey altogether because of the two people who accompany me now. I need a new kind of faith to take me further down the road that I'm committed to traveling with Naomi and Brennan.

Forgive me for a sports post ... we'll return to our regularly scheduled Brennan posts in a moment

I've got to get this off my chest. Have a look at these career stats for two retired MLB players:

Stat Player A Player B
Seasons 23 16
Games 2777 2089
At-bats 9778 8225
Runs 1272 1249
Hits 2732 2452
Doubles 505 373
Triples 79 79
Homers 379 382
RBI 1652 1451
SB 49 58
BA .279 .298
OBA .341 .352

Player A is former Red-Expo-Phillie-Red Sox 1B Tony Perez, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000, on his 8th try.
Player B is former Red Sox LF Jim Rice, who was passed over for the 14th time this week.

The stat comparison alone is compelling, but keep this in mind as well:
* Jim Rice was an 8-time All-Star in his 16 seasons. Tony Perez was an All-Star 7 times in 23 seasons.
* Tony Perez finished in the top 5 of the MVP voting once and in the top 10 four times. Jim Rice finished in the top 5 five times and in the top 10 six times, including winning the award in 1978. * Jim Rice led the league in homers, rbis and total bases numerous times. Tony Perez never led the league in any offensive category except double plays grounded into.
* Jim Rice finished in the top seven in batting average six times. Tony Perez did it twice.
* Tony Perez has the 9th highest total for career strikeouts. Jim Rice comes in 56th on that list.

The only advantage Perez has over Rice (other than some miniscule statistical edges) is that he played on teams that won more. Perez was a major contributor on the great Big Red Machine in the mid-70s. But the Hall of Fame isn't about how good your teammates were -- it's about how good you were. And Jim Rice was a better player -- albeit for a shorter time -- than Tony Perez.

If Rice isn't elected next year, in his final year on the ballot, it'll be a travesty. It's already a travesty that he isn't in, but it'll be worse -- a mega-ultra-hyper-super travesty.

(Source for stats: www.baseball-reference.com)

Quotable quotes from "Amazing Grace"

We just got Amazing Grace on DVD using Christmas money (Thanks Grandma Ganun). I've seen it three times now and each time I pick up more and more good quotes in it. Here are a few of my favorites, and my reason for liking them:

1. John Newton: Although my memory's fading I remember two things very clearly: I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.

(What a wonderfully simple statement of two foundational truths of the Gospel. If I can remember those two things consistently, I'm sure it will go well with me).

2. William Wilberforce: No one of our age has ever taken power.
William Pitt: Which is why we're too young to realize certain things are impossible. Which is why we will do them anyway.

(I wonder when it is that we come to believe that certain things are impossible, and stop striving for them. How many wonderful advances in society and technology would not have happened had someone believed that they could not accomplish what they set out to do? I am challenged to ask myself if I've settled in any way. Are there things I myself believe impossible that are nothing of the sort. Have I simply used that as an excuse not to try anymore?)

More Brennan pics!

Brennan in his ubiquitous pose -- hands up. It's like he's being robbed or cheering something; I can't figure out which.

Mother and Son

The whole family getting ready to leave the hospital.

First car ride!

Brennan and Grandma!

Brennan looking grumpy

Those pants are just a bit too big!

More pictures

He's here!

Brennan James Downer was born at 7:02pm today, December 27, 2007. He was 7 lbs. 15.5 oz. and 19 inches long – a big boy! Mother and baby are resting now – Mom in the recovery room and Brennan in the nursery where he’s being treated for a slight fever. We got to the hospital at 7:45am and were officially in labor from 10:30 until he came. Not bad, all things considered. There were a few bumps along the way, but it all turned out well in the end.

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for us along the way!

Skip to the end of this one if you're not into "bathroom" humor

You've been warned...

So I'm in the bathroom this morning getting ready to do my, uh, business, and I notice when I lift the toilet lid that there's a "floater" in there. (Eww! I hate it when the flush doesn't take!) No matter though, I'm sure it'll go down when I flush. So I sit down, do my thing, get up and suddenly see that it wasn't a "floater" in there at all but rather the biggest tree frog I've ever seen (about as big as my hand)! I shout out "oh my gosh!" (seriously... I didn't swear) but no one hears my exclamation. I drop the lid of the toilet right away while the options for "next course of action" start to scroll through my mind. I quickly find my options boiling down to: a) try to rescue the poor creature (somehow) or b) flush the frog back from whence he came. Option "b" seems slightly mean to me, but is far simpler, quicker and, well, less messy. So convenience trumps animal altruism and I push the lever down. I spend the next few moments contemplating the recent proximity of my backside to the amphibious invader and count my blessings that he didn't try to escape the bowl while I was over top of it. As the sound of whooshing water subsides and the tank above refills I decide to verify the success of Operation Froggie Flush. I only manage to get the lid up about four inches when I see that Froggie escaped his watery exit by jumping up onto the front inside edge of the seat, mere inches from where I'm holding the lid. Mercifully, he did not notice his opportune chance for total toilet exit and I dropped the lid with a bang once again. I made a quick assessment of the space between lid and seat and seat and bowl rim to determine (to my relief) that the fat frog wouldn't be getting out of his porcelain prison with the lid down. After that I decided to distract myself from the problem at hand by carrying on with the morning rituals ... putting in contacts, taming the hair, etc. ... in preparation for going out for morning errands with Naomi. Then I did what any self-respecting adult male/head of the house would do: I got my Dad (visiting for Christmas with my Mom) to take care of the frog while Naomi and I went to a doctor's appointment and then out for some day-after-Christmas shopping. Being less freaked out by slimy/jumpy creatures than I am, he had little trouble relocating the frog to the front yard (if by little trouble you mean he escaped several times, explored a good portion of the bathroom but eventually did get carried outside in my dad's cupped hands ... which he washed thoroughly afterward).

So thus ends the saga of the tree frog who took a wrong turn in the plumbing ... and thus begins a careful inspection of all toilets in the Downer household prior to each and every use.

...

Oh, by the way ... no baby yet. But we're on call for when a bed opens up at the hospital. As soon as the call comes we're off to get induced. So maybe tomorrow...

As we look ahead to a new life entering the world we are deeply saddened by another one exiting. Our friend Wendy Vallee (wife of Brent)'s father passed away early this morning in Savannah, GA. Even if you don't know them, would you please say a quick prayer for Brent and Wendy and her whole family as they grieve. Thanks.

Merry Christmas to all my readers, whoever/wherever you are. I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating with friends and family.

Any day now...

Baby D is nearly here ... and Momma is ready! The little alien is kicking and poking and squirming and the womb is just too small a space for all that movement. So we'd just as soon he come on out and get to know the world out here. Tomorrow we go in for our next doctor's appointment to see how things are progressing. Naomi had some contractions on Saturday, but virtually none yesterday. Today they've been sporadic, but starting to get longer. So he could come in the next day or two, or it could be several more days. Bottom line: you just never know. We're both done working ...for the immediate future (in my case) and several months (in Naomi's case), so we'll just hang out till he decides to grace us with his presence.


Here's one last pregnancy photo before we post baby pics...


After all these months I'm glad we've held onto his name and kept that a secret. Keeping gender a secret would've been hard and it's been fun to plan for a boy and not an "it", but it's nice to have something secret that people are really eager to find out about. The name really is important as it'll stay with him his whole life. We want it to mean something -- to both tell him something about where he comes from and cast a vision for where we hope he goes.

So here it is. You've waited long enough. His name is going to