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

Amateur Predictor

Something this morning reminded me about the bold predictions I made for the 07 baseball season back in April and I looked up that post to see how I did. And the answer is ... not bad. Better than a lot of guys who get paid to make predictions.

I had half the playoff teams right, which in an odd year like this one, isn't too bad. I had the Red Sox, Yankees, Diamondbacks and Phillies right. I had the Sox and Phils as Wild Cards and the Yanks as East champs, so it wasn't exactly precise, but I made it up for it with the bold D-backs pick. That one was solid! Picking the Phillies showed some foresight as well, but the Yankee and Sox picks weren't exactly risky.

I did have the Sox winning the World Series though, so I get bonus points for that, even if that was as much me being a fan as me being a prognosticator. I got close, but missed, on the Tigers, Mets and Cardinals. Picking the Rangers to win the AL West is the lone embarrassment. I don't know what I was thinking. I have no excuse.

All in all, I'm pleased with myself. Maybe I have a thing for this! I won our office March Madness pool back in 2005 despite not getting the winner right thanks to a ridiculous run in the first two rounds. (Yeah, I had Vermont in the sweet sixteen). Back in 1992 I picked every Triple Crown winner in horse racing. But don't worry, friends and supporters, this is strictly for fun -- no money is involved!

Moving on to other topics...
-- The Global Missions Health Conference was a blast, despite my "questionable" attitude going into it. We had more and better contacts than last year. There were several really excellent inquirers with a heart for church planting and a willingness to take initiative and pioneer new work. I'm actually excited to follow up with them and optimistic we'll be able to help some or most.

-- I'm going to become a lean, mean fighting machine. Yesterday I had my first trial kempo lesson and I decided to take up the classes on an on-going basis. Should be fun ... and good for me. And who knows, maybe with enough work I can parlay this into a gig on the UFC!

-- I had something else to talk about here, but now I forget what it was.

-- This wasn't it, but bears mentioning: Anyone else notice how Kelly Kapur has all the good lines on The Office now? (The trash-talking last night was good, but nothing tops "Ryan used me as an object" from a few episodes back). All in all, this season isn't measuring up to the last two, but it's still good for a chortle every now and again.

Random Thoughts

-- A couple days ago I was in my car listening to talk radio and someone mentioned a spreadsheet in a discussion on sports betting. I immediately felt a craving to open up Excel and build a fun spreadsheet using lots of cell formulas. Does that make me a nerd or what?

-- Naomi and I have been going to birthing classes for a few weeks now. Interesting stuff. The most whacked out part of it though: they have a plush baby doll (plastic head, but the rest is squishy), a plush pelvis (for stuffing the plush baby through) and a plush placenta with umbilical cord that velcros to the plush baby's belly (I'm not making this up). All you parents out there are going, "Yeah, so what's the big deal about that?" while the non-parents are probably as astonished and slightly grossed out as I am.

-- We now have a crib living in the corner of my office. A box of diapers is in the closet. The stroller is downstairs next to the dining room table. And the boy himself is doing his best "Alien" impersonation -- it's a little weird to see Naomi's stomach contorting as the boy wiggles around. This is for real.

-- What a great time to be a Boston sports fan. The Red Sox won the World Series in convincing fashion. The Pats are, without a doubt now, the best team in the NFL (with a decent chance to be the first undefeated team since the '72 Dolphins). And the Celtics have the big three and have opened the season with a flourish. I'm enjoying it while it lasts (which could be for a while).

-- Tomorrow I'm headed up to Louisville, KY for the Global Missions Health Conference (GMHC), which is easily my most frustrating regular stop on the conference circuit. It's frustrating because we could be doing so much in combining medical missions with church planting, but we just haven't had the leadership and initiative to do much with it. So I'll meet a number of well-qualified people tomorrow and Friday, but probably won't have the capacity to place them on the field with us. It's just too labor-intensive and I don't have enough time to devote to it. I wish we had a well-placed, full-time person who could concentrate on mobilizing medical-oriented church planters from the U.S. for PIONEERS teams around the world. On the plus side though, I get to spend quality time with Rod Froseth, who at Urbana was sporting the best mullet I've seen since about 1989. I don't know if I like him because of his modern mullet masterpiece or in spite of it.

-- Serious question to chew on: How many excellent missionaries never make it to the field because they are excellent evangelists/leaders/administrators/entrepreneurs, but horrible fund-raisers? How many good people are we losing because we require all our field people to be good at whatever they're going to do on the field AND good at raising funds? I shudder when I think about it.

-- It's really hard to type when your cat is lying across your forearms ... and licking one of them. How much is she going to freak out when we bring home baby?

Off to bed with me now...

32 weeks!

This is Mama and Little D at 32 weeks. Today marks 33 weeks--only 7 more to go! Scary and exciting all at the same time. As the belly grows, so does the anticipation of meeting this active little guy!

More than just a Dad?

I've been thinking a lot lately about how my life is changing this year. I seem to spend a lot of time thinking about, reading about and talking about impending fatherhood, often at the expense of other topics that I care about -- topics which use to consume a lot of my thinking, reading, talking ... and writing. I'm painfully aware, for example, that I've had just one post on this blog not related to the baby in the last four months (and that streak will continue since this post is related to the baby!)

Is my life about anything more than just, well, someone else's life? Should it be, or is it a noble thing to be that devoted to another human being? I'm wrestling with that right now.

Frankly, this whole thing started with me finally making the decision to be less selfish. Until mid-February I didn't want to give up my social life and all the things I enjoy doing with friends. I turned a corner that month and realized I was moving into a new stage of life and needed to accept that and trust that it would bring good things with it too. I'm the last of my close friends to have kids -- most of them have two in fact -- but most of the people I hang out with here in Orlando are single. But in February I stopped trying to live like them and be a part of their world. My world needed to change ... it was time.

But now, eight months later and two months shy of fatherhood, I'm a little nervous. What's my life going to look like when Baby D comes? Will my whole existence revolve around meeting his needs? If it does, will I be content in that, or will I rebel against it (as so many people do -- most publicly, the ones in Hollywood)?

At times I really worry that I'm going to resent the baby because of what his dependency will mean for me. Will I become someone who's whole life is about his kid(s)? But there are other times when I can't wait to be changed by his coming into my life. Perhaps the baby will, like nothing else ever has, compel me to be less selfish, get me out of myself, bring out a gentle, nurturing side in me and help me to understand God's love for His Son and His heartbreak on the day of Christ's crucifixion. This is my hope, and what I ought to be praying for, because I fear there's a battle waging inside of me for my "fatherhood soul".

My roaring 20s (which encapsulates my post-college single days and most of my married-without-children days) were rich times of trial and error, adventure, development and becoming comfortable in my own skin. By the time I "graduated" into my 30s I felt pretty comfortable as a 20-something. Now 31 and on the cusp of a whole new stage of life, I wonder if I have what it takes to navigate these waters.

I can take comfort in looking back though: there has always been uncertainty and doubt at the beginning of every stage. And over time God has always proven faithful to help me get through it and even to thrive in it. May it be so again.

28 weeks and counting!

This photo of Mama and Little D was taken last week at 28 weeks. The belly is ever growing!

More Baby D Pics

Here's baby's face... can't tell if he's smiling ... or frowning because he's being prodded with the ultrasound thingy.
Here's a close-up of baby's nose, upper lip and mouth, and his left hand -- the left hand that'll one day be throwing 99 mph heaters at Fenway Park!
And, finally, here he's showing his powerful left foot ... the foot that will score many goals in the English Premier League. (He's practicing kicking his Momma's belly right now) ...
And speaking of Momma's belly... (24 weeks and counting)

P.S. For all who might be interested or wondering, we're registered at Babies R Us for all those essential items that baby can't do without (and a few that he can, but they were SO cute!)

Fairness and Grace

On this post we finally have something other than a baby/pregnancy photo ... since I don't want to be one of those people who never talk about anything other than their kids. (Not that I know anyone like that!)

Recently I had someone tell me that he wasn't sure he could help me out with something I'd asked him for because, in his words, if he did it for me he'd have to do it for everyone who asked.

Huh?

I've heard this line of reasoning before, and until I went to Austria to work with refugees I actually believed it.

Who made up this rule and what basis does it have in Scripture (for all of us who believe that the Word of God is worth emulating)?

Since when has God been fair, giving to everyone in equal proportions? Grace is anything BUT fair. How is it fair when someone who has followed God her entire life gets the same reward (eternal life in paradise) as a convicted murderer who repents just hours before he's set to be executed? There's nothing fair about that -- but I wouldn't have it any other way!

It's grace -- freely given to us according to our need, not according to what someone else has, needs or deserves. God approaches us with great personal care and specific blessing. He knows each one of us intimately and desires to relate to us individually. He doesn't treat us like automotons or robots, giving us a one-size-fits-all proportion of Himself.

Look at the parable of the talents. He doesn't give the same amount to each person, but gives different amounts in order to test their faithfulness and stewardship, and, ultimately, to give us a lesson in each.

In my life, I know that all that I have comes from God. And he's given me things that he hasn't given to some of my friends or coworkers or family members. And he's given them some things that he hasn't given me. Rather than accusing him of being unfair, I ought to thank him for what I have and consider it a sign of his grace and blessing in my life.

God has an endless supply of blessing, but he doesn't give everything to everyone. He parcels it out in unequal amounts, giving some things to some people and some things to other people. He does this with great wisdom in order to accomplish plans we don't always understand.

Us created beings -- we have limits on what we possess and can give away. We have to be wise about it as well, and discerning. To say that we must give equally to all who asks is a cop-out -- an excuse not to listen to the Holy Spirit and apply wisdom and discernment to each situation we encounter. We can do better than that.

If my friend doesn't want to do something for me or give me something after he's thought it through and, hopefully, prayed about it, that's fine. God may not want me to have what I sought from my friend, or may want me to get it somewhere else. But if my friend says no because he is worried about setting a precedent for all those future situations he may or may not find himself in, then I would boldly suggest that he is taking the easy way out and abdicating his responsibility to carefully consider each situation like this on its own merit, allowing God to speak to and through him (directly and through his Word).

The moment we start to apply this kind of blanket philosophy to our relationships with one another, we run a terrible risk of stifling growth, squelching life and squandering opportunities.

Strong words, I know. Any counter-points out there? Comments?

20 weeks!

more baby pics

The upside to having to see a specialist because of a little hiccup in Baby D's development is we get more pictures of our little boy! Enjoy...
It took a while (and a little poking and prodding) but Baby D finally turn toward us so we could get a good picture of his face.

Here he's waving at us. You can even see his little metatarsals! He's got the right number of fingers!

It's a boy (but this is not the picture that shows it)!

This is Baby D looking right at the camera. You can see his feet at left, hands/arms in the middle, and head (cranium -- kind of looks like a skull -- I hope our little boy isn't Skeletor!) on the right. Not the cutest pic ever, but he's our boy and we love him anyway!

4 months down ... 5 to go

My beautiful bride's beginning to show!

Our friends Brent Vallee and Wendy Seymour got married this weekend and it was a blast. So great to spend quality time with them and a few of my other good friends who were in town for the wedding. Here are some highlights:

Photo Time

We got this lovely little surprise for our anniversary today: our first look at Little D and the sound of his/her racing heartbeat. The sound you'll have to imagine, but here's the picture (baby is actually 3.52cm long). Baby appears to have the proper number of arms and legs, is the right size for his/her age and, best of all ... there's only one! (There was some doubt about that since twins run in both our families).

Observations from Europe

A few notes from my recently completed trip to Europe -- some random, some not; some totally forgettable, some ... not so much.

-- I made one of my best-ever language gaffes on this trip. I meant to ask my German-speaking Armenian friends if their son was awake yet (aufgewacht) but instead asked if he was resurrected yet (auferwächt)!

-- I don't think there's a better place on earth in May than Austria. Naomi and I spent a super-idyllic afternoon sitting in a rose garden across the street from the Parliament building just soaking up the day in between meetings.

-- Gerard Pontier is right: no matter how bleak the weather in Britain, you'll nearly always get a break at least once in the day when the clouds part and you can see the sun and blue sky. That makes the dreariness of gray and rain easier to take.

-- After a while driving on the left doesn't seem too strange.

-- But, inevitably, heading for the car in Nottingham I went straight for what in Britain is the driver's side. I think I've done that every single time I've come to the UK -- and this was trip #7.

-- I've made more separate trips to the UK than any other country in the world.

-- I wonder how many Americans and Europeans from the continent got mowed down on English streets before they started writing "Look Right You Twit" on the pavement. (OK, they don't add on the "you twit" part).

-- In-flight movies were much better this time around than on my last two trans-ocean trips. Saw "The Holiday", "Children of Men" and "Music & Lyrics", all of which either take place in England or have very English stars. Hmm.

-- United took care of us. While in Chicago on the journey out I noticed we had middle seats for the flight to London. I approached the guy at the desk in Chicago and mentioned that Naomi was pregnant (ed. note: how's that for an announcement y'all) and needed to make frequent trips to the lav. Not only did he find us an aisle and one next to it about 10 rows up from our original seats, he also upgraded us a level and got us the same seats for the flight back yesterday. He did right by us and it won't be forgotten.

-- So, yeah, Naomi is pregnant. We're very excited! And very happily, she didn't get sick much on the trip, even though this is the dreaded first trimester. Little D is due in mid-December. On the aforementioned flight to London we had next to us a couple traveling with a 3 month old and we took notes. Their little girl hardly made a peep the whole trip. We hope it goes that way for us since we'll most likely be traveling with a 4-month old. I'm already praying we don't become the people everyone glares at.

-- It's still to-be-determined where that flight next April (Lord willing) will be headed. I think England is the front runner right now, but the jury is still out on Austria. Next weekend some of the powers-that-be for Europe will meet to discuss my job proposal and decide if it's something they want and can support. If it's a go from them we'd need to figure out where exactly to live and how to make it work. The deal in England is pretty much set. I know what I'd do and they're very keen to have us. England would cost about 2/3 what Austria would, so that's a factor as well. We hope to make a decision by June 8th. Stay tuned.

-- I have a friend named Anne Frank (really). This is for her: Louisville Billy Club!

back from hiatus

So the craziest thing happened to me on April 3rd -- the day after my last blog entry: I got kidnapped by a rare Central Floridian Yeti while out on a walk in my neighborhood. Said Yeti held me captive in his swamp-like lair for for one month until I was able to escape by climbing onto the back of a passing alligator. My friends and family were all very surprised and relieved when I showed up at home yesterday, safe and sound, but a little wet and stinky.

So that's why I haven't been able to update my blog in so long. True story.

Before I transition into something serious, here are a few thoughts that I just have to get off my chest (things that were on my mind while out in the swamp):

1. I try to eat salad for lunch. It's good for me. But I really can't stand the crunchy "spine" pieces of lettuce. After several irritating experiences where my bag of salad was just filled with those things I discovered, to my horror, that there was a name for these: hearts of Romaine (and they actually sell whole bags of this stuff). The name makes it sound so nice, and yet.... When I want a salad, I want something leafy! If I want something crunchy, I'll have potato chips, Cap'n Crunch or even an apple. And, to add insult to injury, the "hearts of Romaine" also happen to be the first part of the salad to go brown. Yummy. If there's a salad totem pole, hearts of Romaine is at the bottom.

2. How 'bout them Red Sox!

OK, now onto something serious: Naomi and I leave for our survey trip to Europe on Monday. We're definitely stoked. For Naomi it'll be her first time in Europe since her summer trip in 2000 -- when we first met! We'll be in Austria Tuesday through Friday next week. Saturday we travel to northern England and we'll be there through Tuesday the 15th. We'll be doing some mobilization for PI-Europe at a Bible College north of London on the 16th and will hopefully get in some site-seeing in London before our return flight on Thursday the 17th.

The point behind this trip is to investigate two different options for future ministry. We are exploring one possibility that would allow us to settle in Vienna and we've been invited to join a team in northern England. We are praying for safety, good health and plenty of energy, but also that the Lord would clearly speak to us about where we should go.

We'll give a full report once we're back, provided I don't kidnapped by that Yeti again.

Superlatives, vol. 3 + MLB picks

In case you care...

Favorite albums of the moment:
"Eyes Open" Snow Patrol -- simply excellent. Not a bad song on the whole thing.
"Dusk and Summer" Dashboard Confessional -- heard one song off it so I got it from the library. Very good. I'm new to this group so I can't compare this offering to their earlier work, which I understand is much mellower.

Favorite songs:
"Make This Go On Forever" Snow Patrol
"Window in the Sky" U2 (great video too)
"Stolen" and "Reason to Believe" Dashboard Confessional

Most overplayed song:
"Sweet Escape" Gwen Stefani. I wish this song would make a sweet escape to the dustbin for at least three months.
Anything on Z 88.5. Tuned in for a few minutes this weekend -- all the same stuff still playing from my last try about six months ago.

Favorite movie:
"Amazing Grace". Please go see it! We need to support good stuff like this so more of it'll be made.

And, just for the fun, my picks for the 07 MLB season, which starts in earnest today:
AL East: Yankees (because they always do)
AL Central: Tigers (great combination of offense and pitching, even without Kenny Rogers)
AL West: Rangers (Angels are the popular pick, but I think they'll get hurt too much, so I'm picking the Rangers to finally get their pitching together enough to pull it out).
AL Wild Card: Red Sox (they won't fold like last year, but they won't have enough offense to keep pace with the Yanks)


NL East: Mets (ridiculous offense makes up for lackluster starting pitching)
NL Central: Cardinals (tempting to take the Brewers, but I'm going safe here)
NL West: Diamondbacks (the Dodgers are the sexy pick, but if they do it it'll be like 1988 when they had no offensive star; I don't think it'll happen so I'm going with the young D-backs).
NL Wild Card: Phillies (they'll finally put it together this year)

ALCS: Red Sox over Yankees
NLCS: Mets over Cardinals
World Series: Red Sox over Mets (revenge for 86!)

From my fingers to God's ears...