Robert Donald Bailey Jr. (Donnie, Dad, Paw Paw) February 1951-November 2008

For those that don't know, Rob (my husband) lost his dad to cancer this month. He was a godly man who loved his Lord first, his wife and family second, others third... then hunting! We miss him greatly, but we also rest in the fact that he is with our Lord in heaven because he excepted the free gift of salvation given to us through Jesus Christ's completed work on the cross. (Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5-7, 1 John 4:14-15, 1 Cor. 15:3-4)
Thank you to all who have served our family in any way this past year. We are overly and abundantly blessed by our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Robert Donald Bailey Jr./Donnie/Dad/Paw Paw

Happy 9th Birthday, Tessa!

Pilgrim's Progress- VBS 2008

Jude's VBS teacher, "Everyone line up. It's time to go hear Mrs. Bailey read to us!"
Jude, "But I thought my mommy was reading to us."

We just finished part 2 of Pilgrims Progress VBS. It went smooth and wonderful! Pilgrims Progress makes such a great VBS. The lessons taught through the story are life lessons for any believer! I would encourage anyone who hasn't read it to read it. We used Dangerous Journey (the story of Pilgrim's Progress) revised by Eerdmans because the origional 1676 John Bunyon version is very difficult to understand because it was written so long ago. Even Eerdman's version uses words hard for young children to understand, so I revised it even more.

To briefly highlight a little bit of the story, Christian has a burden and lives in the City of Destruction. The book that he's reading tells him that his city will be destroyed and he wants to know what he must do to be saved. No one else sees the danger or has a burden. His family and friends don't want him to leave, but Evangelist tells him to go to the wicket gate and there, he will discover how to be saved. He tells him not to leave the path, the Kings Highway. Through the wicket gate, he walks between the walls of salvation up to a cross where his burden rolls off into a tomb. The Shining ones appear an give him new clothes and a parchment which he must not loose or give away until he reaches the Celestial City.
In the story, he makes wise and unwise decisions. Sometimes he leaves the path, and sometimes he is wise and doesn't.
At one point, he must go through Vanity Fair, a fair that never closes and was put up by Apollyon, the prince of demons, in the town of Vanity. He put it there because he saw that all pilgrims must go through this city on their way to the Celestial City. He put it there to tempt them to love the things of this world more than the King. Christian must fight Appollyon at one point as well.
Another chapter is about Christian veering off the path, when he is weary and despairing, to Doubting Castle where he it tortured by Giant Despair until he remembers his Promise key which he uses to unlock the dungeon door and escape.
In the end, he is received in the Celestial City with trumpets and angels because he has his parchment paper with him which shows that he was invited and came on the right road through the wicket gate.

The story allowed each day to have different themes and characters, which made it exciting for songs and crafts and games and Bible verses. We had a wonderful time.

So even though Jude didn't know who 'Mrs. Bailey' was, hopefully he learned a few lesson about the christian life!

Camping

Ever been camping with a 1 week old baby? I have!!!


My parents came from Alabama to visit with us and the new baby- we decided to go camping!! My children were entertained while I recovered either in the rv or in a lounge chair. It was very refreshing and relaxing- I didn't have to stair at all the things that weren't getting done at home!

Our New Blessing!... And My Birthday Present!

Solomon Booth Bailey, May 12, 6:42 PM, 8 lbs. 2 oz., 23 in. long

Work Out Your Salvation

	"Whoever gives thought to the Word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, " Proverbs 16:20.
	What does it mean to 'give thought to the Word', or as in Jude 17, 'Consider the Word of God'? It means that we need to be daily reading, meditating, and memorizing the Scripture! Jude 20 says that we need to be building ourselves up in holiness- Working out our salvation. This is what a believer does. Do we really believe this, or do we see these people as seminary students or missionaries or pastors or ministers? According to the Word, this is not a characteristic of some super/sub Christian (as Bruce Walker put it), it is the responsibility of everyone who has been saved by grace through Jesus Christ. We need to be renewing our minds with the Word of God. We need to know the books of the Bible, know the ideas of each book, know about salvation and how it works, and know about being a new creation (Col. 3). We need to be working out our salvation with the continuing grace of repentance. Unconfessed sin grieves God and clouds our discernment. It hinders our growth. We need to be in prayer. We need to be praying that God's will be done. To know God's will, however, means we need to know the Word. That is the way we know God's will. The revelation of His will was completed with Scripture. We must know it to know His will!! Be devoted to prayer- speak to our Creator. These were the truths taught out of Jude at the retreat. They are truths we should all be reminded of so that we don't become slothful Christians caught off guard by a catastrophic event or unable to answer an inquisitive non-believer or unable to discern unbiblical teaching that seeps into our church or home. We must be on guard and ready. This is not the job of a super, extraordinary Christian, but the job of all believers.

She's 2!

Happy
April 1st birthday, Rose! You're 2 now!

Locks of Love

Tessa has been asking me for about 3 months if she could give her hair to Locks of Love. This is an organization that makes wigs for children under 18 who loose their hair because of diseases. I gave her a little time to make sure it was a real desire, but after that long of asking, I told her she could- after Easter pictures. She is very excited about her decision and wrote to Locks of Love and told them that she hoped her hair would go to someone special.

He cares for you

"While we have no right to walk around smacking our gum, likewise, we should not worry either. John Piper writes, 'Anxiety shows that we are too close to the world and too far from God. So don’t be anxious—the world has nothing eternal to offer, and your loving heavenly Father knows your needs now and forever.' The way I faced my last birth was this: I clung to Jesus. When my strategy failed and I proved ill-suited to face it, I would tell Him all about it. Those were some long nights before the birth.

... We will always be tempted to worry. It is my choice to coddle my worries or to hand them over."

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. I Peter 5:6-7

The quote above was taken from Amy's Humble Musings March 17, 2008 post. How timely these words of wisdom are for me. With my 6th baby coming in May, I have been full of fear. I was not fearful of my first birth at all (had no idea of what birth was like). My last two were home births. The first home birth, I was totally out of control and in a panic. Everything that I had prepared to do to help the pain went out the window. With the 2nd home birth, I felt I was wiser. I knew what I did wrong the first time and was prepared, mentally, the second time. Yes, I did manage the pain better and was in control of my panic, but the pain was the same or worse. With the 3rd home birth right around the corner, I have let the fear of what will ensue in a little more than a month take control of me. I need to rest in my God and his provision for me. James 1:3 tells us to count it all joy when we face our trials. It promises me that this trial will produce steadfastness in me. If my savior, the founder and perfecter of our faith, could endure the cross for the joy set before him (Heb 12:2), I can surely endure child birth. And more than that, I am to lean on Him who has endured pain.

With all this said, however, look at the blessings, in the picture above, that God has given me! I would go through it all again if I had to for those sweet babies of mine. A short time period of pain is worth it, in the end; when you hold that warm, soft, helpless babe who knows your voice and your feel right away.

In summary, Cast all your cares upon Him because HE CARES FOR YOU!

Easter 2008