Reality Check with Ann Downing...

My neighbor across the street has two oak trees in their front yard....they seem like good friends of mine 'cause I love watching their progress in the spring and in the fall in doing what oak trees do. The one on the left always starts to bud out in that faint green first each spring..and the one on the right just sits there for a few days before you see even a leftover leaf drop. Then swooosh, it takes off and before you know it it's as green as his brother over there...doing, again, what oak trees do...providing shade and a beautiful "arbor" for the front yard belonging to Ray and Gail. Of course, in the fall, you guessed it....Friend Tree on the left starts to bow his head and start turning a different shade before Mr. Righthanded Tree, but they both end up with the browns in their "resting time" for the winter. Now, I'd like to be first in "gettin' it", wouldn't you? But maybe I'm to remember that it's not about w...

Recently, I've thought quite a bit how privileged I am to have a lot of people loving me....now, I hope that doesn't sound as if I'm bragging that I have more folks loving me than anybody else. Noooo, the beauty of this line of thinking is to realize that there are scads of people who love us...they just love us. So, when we're confused, feeling like a failure, wishing things were different, have a struggle, struggle, struggle, let's not forget to ask ourselves.."hey, feel those arms of love wrapped around you?" Let that squeeze you real good so you'll once again be assured that you aren't walking through this world alone....you got a whole bunch of neat folks on the journey to Heaven with you who really do care about you. They may not get around to reminding you very often...in fact, you may not have heard it at all...but right now, this very minute, embrace it...believe it...YOU ARE LOVED. Of course, He created that love! John 3:16

Why write a song? I’d asked that question a million times to answer someone else’s question. I’d been asked over and over and over if I wrote…I’d say, “oh no, I just enjoy interpreting what someone else has already written”. Not a bad answer, but it wore thin, and God finally got my attention. When Paul passed away and I made the decision to go back out on this singing/speaking ministry, I started doing everything. I did all the booking, packing, setting up, tearing down, travel plans, correspondence and all office duties…along with trying to have a minute here and there to spend with friends in an attempt to build a new life as a single woman. I would give myself the excuse, concerning songwriting, that I just didn’t have time. I even said to God several times with confidence that if I had some part-time help, I could possibly have time to concentrate on writing. Well, one day THAT part-time help came along…what was I gonna say now??? Then one day I was sitting at my kitch...

I’ve often said that one of the most glorious parts of God’s creation days was when He created friendship. I’ve also heard it said that if you have one good friend you are rich….if you have two good friends you are a millionaire. But of course you can’t put a monetary value on what friends mean to us, can you? I think I caught a glimpse of that several years ago at sweet Roger Bennett’s funeral. When I walked into the foyer of the church I immediately felt better because I started one by one seeing friends I don’t normally see. One of the downsides of what I do is that I’m usually doing it alone, not with other artist/ministry friends. Of course that’s one of the real upsides of being a part of events such as those Gaither video tapings…we get to hug, pat and catch up a bit on what’s going on in each others’ lives. It was difficult for me as I watched Debbie walk back up that aisle behind Roger’s casket, leaving for the burial. It brought back a million painful memories of...

I’m a dreamer…and I’ve been known to look back a lot, too. Know what that means? It means I don’t live TODAY to the fullest. We don’t have a promise of tomorrow, do we? We can’t go back and redo yesterday, can we? What can we do? We can live today, experiencing every second!!! I love how Bill and Gloria Gaither have always written songs like “We Have This Moment Today”…taking those very ordinary things such as a cup of coffee, ketchup on their kid’s nose, playing baseball with a grandmother to encourage us to look at it all….those ordinary events that can whiz by, if we aren’t careful, and we’ll miss something that could be lifechanging. I don’t know why we look for the big stuff…missing the little stuff. And hasn’t God been “guilty” of talking more about those ordinary daily things like playing with children, fishing, plowing in the field, etc. to get His point across than parting seas, rescuing from lions’ dens, feeding thousands with hardly nothing. Of course those a...

Written a few days ago... On the plane somewhere between St. Louis and LA…..all I know is it’s a gorgeous day, which means no bumpy stuff . Flatlands are everywhere…probably ranches, maybe a farm or two….then waaaay out there to the right is a beautiful snow-capped mountain risin’ up as if it’s waving to us. I sooooo love God’s creation(s), and yet I know I have my eyes shut waaaay too much of the time while riding or flying. Makes me think of something my wonderful friend Bob Benson said more than once, before going to Heaven…..”if you can walk the equivalent of a city block and not see God or hear Him or ‘feel’ Him, then you aren’t looking, listening or allowing yourself to feel”. I don’t want to miss HIM in all his “works”, do you? He’s there….He’s talking to us, providing new surprises in His beauty, reminding us that He IS a creative God, and it’s all for our enjoyment and His glory as we experience every second and mile of this journey.

Tonight I'm in Anderson, IN.....some of my best friends live here...Bob and Kathy Blume. They found out my schedule was bringing me to this area (since they always seem to keep up with where I'm gonna be :) ). Kathy got in touch, they were busy today and tonight, I wasn't going to be getting into Anderson until rather late tonight, but Kathy wouldn't have it any other way but for them to meet Karissa and me in the lobby of the motel when we arrived, just to say "hi", hug and catch up a bit. Kathy is an early "go to bedder"....but she said for Karissa and me she would stay up later :). Now I realize that that isn't the biggest sacrifice on the face of the earth that she's made, but it sure felt she cares about me. And in addition to catching up, sharing some stories, adding to each other's lives by just celebrating our friendships, I was reminded "hey, I'm not going to Heaven alone, it really matters to at least two people ...

Several years ago a friend shared with me that his route to work every day took him through a toll booth....and he tried to always choose a certain booth. This is because the gentleman manning that booth was an elderly man who always had something "bright and sunny" to say to him. Every morning my friend would hear "Have a good day, no matter what!" Now, there were days my friend drove up to that toll booth with zillions of questions in his head of how he was gonna make it through a challenging day that was always before him when he arrived at his workplace. But he just kept those words in his head...and heart..."Have a good day, no matter what". Now, that's a choice, isn't it? "No matter what"???? I don't know about you, but I honestly don't find that coming naturally to me...it's a struggle to find sunshine on those cloudy, dreary mornings...'cause it just doesn't show up in my eyesight. But, that's w...

Here I am on the "middle day" of a good week to begin, with a bit of fear and trembling, another way to stay in touch with whoever wants to be in touch :). I do believe connections are important...can't imagine that anyone would wanna live in a cave, attempt to make it one hour without knowing that somebody was somewhere in their lives. One of the comments I hear often in describing an AnnD concert is "I appreciate you coming out into the audience with us"....I think they're saying "I like to be 'noticed' and feel involved". Sooooo, let's be "noticed" and be "involved" here. I'll be "rambling along" from time to time...jump in and "ramble" with me, ok? Happy Wednesday all day long..... ad