Reality Check with Ann Downing...

I have a great group of supporters (supporting Ann Downing Ministries in myriads of ways).   I don’t think I’ve always appreciated what real “support” in this case means.   But, perhaps I’m getting there! One very important part of that great group of close friends and loved ones is my friend, Dolly Simms.   I’ve known her since she was in Jr. High when I was with the Speer Family.   That acquaintance lasted on through the Downing years.   Her family made sure they attended most every appearance the Downings made within a reasonable (and sometimes, not so reasonable) proximity of where they’ve always lived…in Lexington, KY. When Paul was in the hospital for two months in Lexington before passing away, Dolly became my best friend.   She stayed at the hospital every night for those 56 nights as we slept on the floor of that waiting room outside the critical care unit.   After Paul’s death, Dolly was a regular at my house and a regular on the road ...

It seems I’ve spent half my life caught in the crossfire between the principalities and powers of the air thinking I was fighting battles with flesh and blood. I gave my heart to Jesus at the tender age of nine. Naïve to what it meant for my earthly future, on the spiritual level a child can understand, I knew it was the right choice… the only choice for me. I’ve had some amazing experiences in my life; God is responsible for these. Just this week, I’ve found He is at it again… bringing parts of my childhood and adolescent years around to meet up with my adult self and allowing me the great privilege of tracing His Hand from hell to high places… urging me toward completing the healing process in wounds almost three decades old. As school starts back, may I remind you… parents and grandparents, classroom teachers and Sunday school teachers… coaches: The children in your care who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ are gigantic neon flashing targets for spiritual wa...

I’ve always appreciated the story of the prodigal son, the wonderful story of promise that God never gives up on the wayward children.   Recently, the scripture grabbed me from a different perspective. Did you ever think about this…there is no account that says the father went out looking for his son who had made the decision to leave and go do his own thing?   Surely the father was brokenhearted, most likely prayed every waking minute of every day for his boy whom he loved dearly, BUT, he stayed home.   I believe God has shown me that the father in the story had faith that He (God) would return the son to his senses and restore him to the family.   The earthly father didn’t have to go begging, making deals, blurring all kinds of boundaries by trying to do God’s work.   He just knew the Heavenly Father would be pursuing and could be trusted to do a work that would be eternal. So what’s the big deal, Ann?   Well, for me (maybe for some of you, too), it ...