Jeremiah 29:11 “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future and hope.” (NRSV)
Many of the facts and stories I am passing on to you have come from my father’s family history, “We
Downings, Warts and All”. Rev. Ivan Paul Downing Sr. self-published in 1989. After dad typed it using an Underwood typewriter, he copied and placed it in notebooks for each of his six children. Mom (Helen) and he traipsed the countryside interviewing family and friends and taking pictures so we would be able to visualize important people and places. They had no idea I would be passing our story on into the twenty-first century. Because I am a Celtic storyteller, it is my duty to keep the tradition and memories alive. This is how I remember it, each of my siblings has their own version. As C. S. Lewis wrote, “You see things from where you stand and what you experience”(My interpretation) How true.
The year was 1914 as Caroline Elizabeth Crump, age 21, stood on the deck of the Steam Ocean Liner Baltic and watched the skyline of Liverpool, England drop from sight on the horizon. I wonder what she was thinking and how she was feeling as she left home and headed to America as a “Living in Girl” working for a Baptist missionary couple assigned to a church in small-town Earlville, New York. She would be trading the sooty pea soup fog that filled the London streets for the clean fresh air of the farmlands in New York State. She was escaping the bombings of WW2 and the country life in the new world would seem peaceful and quiet compared to London. She would find farm life more peaceful but far from quiet. More about that later.
Meanwhile, in Earlville, Charles Albert Downing, a young Scots Irish farmhand, was going about his daily routine. He didn’t know that Caroline was on her way to New York. Country boy would soon meet city girl and begin a new life together. The Downing clan, as we know it today, was about to become a reality.
My name is “Little Carol” and my story begins on September 20, 1942. I am proud that I am English, Irish, Scots and full of the devil. I came into the world crying loudly and hungry as I announced that “I had arrived.” Seventy-seven years later, I am still loud and hungry. I am the eldest daughter of the eldest son of Charles and Caroline (Carrie). I am a Downing!
Faith Break Moment
Jeremiah 29:11 “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future and hope.” (NRSV)
We are living in difficult times and it is important that we stand strong in our faith and live each day with love, hope, and trust in God. Centuries ago, God sent word to the Israelites who were exiled in Babylonia that he had not forsaken them. God has not forsaken us but is with us. We may feel like exiles in our own home today but we will be set free. We are not alone but in this together. Hold fast!
God Bless You,
Rev. Little Carol
