He is my hope.

I stand on the back porch of the beach house staring out at the ocean.

He is my hope.

Emily and I sit on the beach, a book in each of our hands. Soaking in the sunlight shining on our skin.

He is my hope.

We ride down the road on our bikes to the shopping center to get ice cream. We laugh.

He is my hope.

We go see Little Women the play at the local youth theater. We laugh all the way home. Memories are made. Ones that will never, ever be forgotten.

He is my hope. 

I walk down the beach, my toes barely touching the water. The clouds are pink- cotton candy pink. I think of Lissa's mom. I think of Paige. She would have loved it.

He is my hope.

I hold Harper in my arms. Rocking her to sleep as she cries softly. Paige will never get to meet her. I soak up these moments with her. Because even if I'm not thinking about it now... They're moving. Eventually. And she won't be little forever...they won't be here, close to our home, forever.

He is my hope.

We go into one of the shops. I see the doll we sent her. It was a "Preppy Paige" doll. Completely opposite of who she was is. We sent it because it was funny.

He is my hope.

Sadness fills my heart. I feel cheated. I can't send her pictures of all the beautiful things I'm seeing. I used to share all this with her. Now, well, now I can't.

He is my hope.

I stand beside Lissa in church. Her heart is hurting more than I can imagine today. I hold her sweet girl close to me as we pray.

He is my hope.

I fill out my Summer With the Arts form. Tears come to my eyes. I just think about that week. It makes me sick. And I hurt all over again.

He is my hope.

My birthday without her- again. My 16th of all things. Camp without her. Uganda without her. Summer With the Arts...without her.

He. Is. My. Hope.

Yes. That He is. Always.

HE. IS. MY. HOPE.

My Paige Elizabeth-

Here I sit at the computer after working on my book for a while.

But I can't get this thought off of my mind.

You know that song? The one from the musical for Summer With the Arts...it was called, "I Believe." It went something like this...

I believe, oh I believe in Jesus. I believe He died and he rose again. 

Every time you listened to it- you cried, because all you could think of was sitting there watching all of the kids sing it on Sunday night after SWTA. Watching all those kids cry out how they believed in their Savior, and how much they loved Him. Well, I can tell you, it was great. I cried for you.

I've told you how I'm helping in children's choir this year, right? I'm doing it because of you.

The kids are learning this song. It's called "Bring My Praise." You would love it. I can't help but sit there and just listen to the sweet voices of the kids sing to the Lord in praise.

No one else can bring my praise but me. No one else can bring my offerring. You have put a love song deep inside of me...I love you, I need you....

I now know exactly how you feel about "I Believe." It amazes me to listen to the kids just sing, declaring their need for their Sweet Jesus. I love to watch their faces as they sing their hearts out. It makes me smile.

I think of you every. single. time I hear that song. And when they sing it in church- I'm probably gonna cry, and you know I don't typically cry. So that's a big deal.

I'll cry for you. I'll hug them for you. I'll tell them how proud of them you are. I'll tell them that because the Lord put you in my life and you loved me so much, I love them.

You're great.

I think of you often. I know you wouldn't trade time with Jesus for anything, but selfishly I really, really wish you were here with me.

And I miss you so desperately.

With love and a hug- your Bailey Elizabeth.

SWTA...Camp...and life!

CRAZINESS. INSANITY. EXHAUSTION.

That's my life right now.

I just got back from church camp Friday. It was an ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE week. I miss my small group and my kids at site sooooo much! But I am very glad to be back in my bed and eating non processed non cafeteria food. God moved in so many ways that week, he is such a great God. I learned and was reminded of so much and I'm so thankful for that week and everything he did for me and my youth group.

Summer With the Arts started today! Yippee! I  am the group leader for the 2nd and 3rd graders this week, (though tiring) they are so cute and I already love them so much! It was a really great day and I can't wait to see what the Lord does this week!

 
LUNCH TIME- SWTA 2012


Opening song time(I guess you could call it that haha)!


My brother and his biggest fan Allie :)

Anyway- just a glimpse of the day! Have a great week! But it probably won't be as great as mine :):)

~Bailey

It's Summer!!!

Even though it's technically been summer for quite some time, it's just now feeling like it.

And sadly the business of summer has hit, and though it is wonderful- it is sometimes a bit crazy.

We've had VBS this week, and I've been with three year olds, and wow. I am so tired. They are CRAZY. But I love them and I constantly have a cloud of little children surrounding me and about four children asking to hold my hands. Apparently they don't understand that when I have one kid on each hand it means I don't have any more hands to go around...so they just grab my arm instead. But I'm totally okay with it...mostly because I just love them :)

This weekend is going to be packed and I'm so excited about it!

I have a 16th birthday party for one of my best friends at the lake on Friday, Amanda and Nick find out that same day if lil' Land is a boy or girl(what do you think??? Tell me please!). I think that the baby (who is already moving inside it's mama!) is a boy! I plan to go scrapbook shopping Saturday for more scrapbook stuff for this lil' peanut...We of course have church on Sunday and who knows what else it will bring!

Oh, but yesterday- I finished Little Women. It was tragic. But yet amazing. Very bittersweet. And that's all I can say. I just LOVE that book.

Oh and it's almost been a year since the Taylor Swift concert :) Such WONDERFULLY AMAZING memories :):):)

We've been swimming a whole lot this week- in fact we are going swimming today with some friends!

I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has to hold- and I can barely wait until Summer With the Arts!

What have you all been up to this summer so far?

Have a great rest of the week!!!

~Bailey

Counting down....

I'm counting down the days....

Until school is out...that is six.

Until the pool is open so we can spend long days there just hanging out.

Until Summer With the Arts 2012, which is going to be incredible(thanks to the wonderful Paige).

Until I get to spend unending hours with my best friends giggling and talking...and giggling and talking some more.

Until I can work on my book for hours on end.

Until my 15th birthday and I get my permit...speaking of that I FINISHED DRIVERS ED!!!!!!

Until we know if baby Land is a girl or boy...which is around 26ish days...not that I'm excited or anything :).

But...I'm also trying to savor each day and find the little treasures and things the Lord brings me through each day.

And each day the Lord is bringing me more joy than I ever thought could be possible. It's been great. Especially now that my favorite college students are home and they just drop by for a few hours and we all talk and laugh and have a great time, fun times.

And yes, I'm counting down the days until each of the things above happens, but more importantly I'm searching and seeking daily the things God brings me each day to bless me and bring me joy.

What are you most excited about this summer?

~Bailey

A summer in review...

June 4th- the summer started out with Amanda and Nick's wedding, in which I was a bridesmaid! It was a beautiful wedding and a great weekend!



June 30th- THE TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT!!! Me and Emily Grace went to the Taylor Swift concert as my(suprise) birthday present! You see, my dad surprised us with tickets 3 days before the concert! We had the best day together and will always remember it!





July 18th-22nd- Summer with the arts! It was so much fun and I had a great time with all of the kids in my group! Sadly, I have no pictures! Sorry!

July 25th- 30th- MFuge at North Greenville! I was there on my birthday so I got a little surprise bday party! We had the best time! Camp was awesome, one of the pictures is of my small group, which I got very close to throughout the week and one of my and two little girls on mission site one day! Over all camp was AMAZING!


Thats all the girls that came to camp in my dorm at my party!


Me and two of the little girls on site, Darcy and Julia.


Me and Amanda, who came with us!


My small group from the week.


My dorm on my bday!

August 6th-13th- We just got back from the beach yesterday and it was amazing! So- here are a few pictures, some of the only ones we took...I mean when you are having such an awesome time when do you stop to take pictures(except at a Taylor Swift concert!)!!!







And now...August 14th, as summer comes to a close, and school starts on Tuesday, I look back on this summer and see how blessed I have been to have such an awesome summer! And- most of you who read my blog, have been part of it! I'm so thankful to have had such an amazing summer with my friends and family! I hope that you had just as fun of a summer as I did!

~Thanks for reading~ Bailey~Psalm 56:3~

I'm alive....

I really am alive, I promise! I have been so busy the last couple of weeks, its been insane! I just got back from camp on Saturday at about 2:30, and it was amazing! I learned so much and grew in my faith tremendously! We all had such a great time, but I don't have time to do an in-depth post about it now. Then before I left for camp we had Summer With The Arts, so I am exhausted! School starts back very soon and i can't say I'm dreading it or excited about it. Just somewhere in the middle I guess, it's just sad to see the summer coming to an end so quickly! Oh- and Emily Grace and I hung out today and I saw Hairspray for the first time...AMAZING! I loved it.

Anyway- just wanted to leave you a quick note saying I'm alive and well!

~Bailey~Psalm 56:3~