daniel...

went to the doc yesterday... 15lbs 14oz... 27 1/2 in... what a stud!

abiding in the vine (jn. 15)

i am so thankful for the way that jesus tenderly (although it does not always feel that way) deals with us and prunes us in such a way that we might bear much fruit. so many times when we are under the discipline of the lord we think that he is mad at us, or disappointed with us, and we are being punished because of our being messed up.

however, throughout the new testament the picture of the lord's discipline on our lives have such a different spin. especially here in john 15. in our broken and fallen human condition so many times we see discipline/punishment/trials/testing as the end, because of something we have done. maybe it is in the way we have learned to deal with others, or have been dealt with by others.

yet, the discipline which comes from the hand of the lord is not an end in and of itself. there is such tenderness, such love, such compassion in his heart at every moment. can we actually get our minds around the fact that he does it for our own benefit? he prunes so that we can bear much fruit. he prunes so that we can continue to abide, or further experience the truth of v. 9, that as much as god the father loves god the son (infinite, amazing, experiental) he loves us!

i do not have a lot of great insight into this, it is just something that strikes my heart. his discipline comes because of what he sees in us, and what he wants to bring forth from us (ultimately true intimacy and partnership with him in his infinite grace). this is the grid which he leads, this is the tenderness with which he prunes.

oh that we could embrace the disciple (heb. 12) and glory in the fact that an eternal weight of glory (2 cor. 4) is being formed within us!

r

friends from ssi

today two of abby's dear friends from st. simon's island came in to town today. we are really excited that they will be here with us for a few days. kim belt, who worked with abby at the gathering place in ssi, has been here several times and is so excited to experience the prayer room again. bevy was one of abby's spiritual moms throughout life, and she is so excited to have her here to reconnect and share again.

i am going to be busy for the next few days working on the school project, trying to get most of mt. 11-20 done in the next couple days. ahhh!

r

here is a free one...

darn that kid is cute... just thought you all would be interested to see one of daniel's new favorite activities. hope we are not breeding a socialite from too young of an age!

still here...

a few things:

1. we still are going to post to this... right now has been uber busy because of school

2. we have opened it up so that anyone can comment now, so if you read this and want to comment, PLEASE DO!

3. i am really trying to get abby to post to this from time to time as well, i think that will be a fun little addition to our blog.

4. mike is starting Song of Songs this week on friday nights! AWESOME!! watch here

r

well we finished the newsletter yesterday afternoon. what a wonderful feeling. it feels like taking a big breath after having been held under water for a really long time against your will; not that that has happened to me or anything (hmmm...).

well abby is truly excited about the new newsletter, and the format looks great. i love that she loves stuff like that (she wanted to go into magazine publication).

i forgot to mention the last post about the newsletter that she worked for the school yearbook, which apparently won several accolades in the great state of north carolina.

well, everyting is good, nothing too spectacular to write about this morning. last night daniel was sitting in his bouncer and hitting this little mirror that is attached to it back and forth. abby and i could have sworn he was doing it on purpose (we still are not one hundred percent sure if they can do that this soon in life) but we were mesmerized for a long time just watching him. it was pretty cute thats for sure. we undoubtedly began to have thoughts about him being a genius baby who is soaring above all others his age, so advanced, so grown up...

till next time...
r

a new newsletter...

oh what fun. my wonderful wife abby has decided: new year, new newsletter. she loves stuff like that, designing fun forms and documents, so it is a perfect fit. hopefully the new and improved, updated newsletter will be out sometime next week. hmm, i wonder if i can post it on here for all those who would stumble accross this wonderful site? that might be a brilliant idea, almost too brilliant!

ron

well i still think that no one reads this blog... maybe one person one time somewhere, but who knows. sorry that it has been a while since the last blog you lone person of unknown location, who comes and reads in obscurity this rant which at this point is created with a slight sense that no one is reading it.

anyways, things have been pretty good in the downing home. we have slipped back into normalcy, and it is absoultely beautiful. daniel is growing like a weed, he is in the 95th and 97th percentile for weight and height respectively. like i say, he must get it from his dad.

the changes around ihop are wonderful, and we are excited to facilitate the cameras for god tv coming april 1st. it is such a new and exciting thought that we will be leading corporate prayer meetings for people throughout the globe. it is such an honor that the lord would entrust such a wonderful gift to a bunch of weak people who just showed up.

i think that i will truly be more faithful to post now... i do not know why, but maybe it will happen

ron