California Praisin'

Last week I was honored to participate in the West Coast Zoe Worship Conference hosted by the College Church of Christ in Fresno, California. If you are familiar with the Zoe Group then you know my best bud Brandon Scott Thomas is part of its leadership, so getting to spend time with him is always a treat. He brought Rich Smith along this year. Rich is the founder of Levi Ministries in Lubbock and is a man with such a sweet spirit and pastoral heart that I find myself drawn to him and wanting to have long conversations about deep topics. I love people like that! He also has a voice to match his spirit.

Mostly, however, I want to sing the praises of the College Church. Sandra, Lex, Lisa, Bill, Lee, Dee (and I know I'm leaving so many out), THANK YOU,THANK YOU, THANK YOU! One of the ways to know how someone really feels about you is to find out what they say about you behind your back. Well, I've been bragging on you guys for the last two days to anyone who will listen. The food, the fellowship, the servant hearts, the open arms...you model what it means to be a family. I felt at home from the moment Lisa met me at the airport on Thursday to Saturday night when I reluctantly left to catch my plane back to Texas. I felt like I was leaving old friends even though I had only known most of you for a couple of days.

May God continue to bless you and may He be gracious enough to see that our paths cross again very soon!

One Year

It was without a doubt the most difficult 12 months of our marriage.

3 pregnancies. 3 miscarriages.

We fought against the temptation to let it define us, but at times it certainly did. We prayed, we yelled, we questioned, we cried. We were ready to give up or at least take a break from trying.

And then it happened. We were pregnant again.

To be honest, there was little joy when we got the news. We had been conditioned by then to keep our hopes low. We worried that we would lose this one too. We worried about how we would handle another disappointment. We worried that all our worrying was bad for the baby. We prayed until we had no more words and then we let our 4 year old daughter Rainey pray for us. Surely God would pay special attention to her sweet prayers.

Time moved slowly, but we made it through the first trimester and began to see a glimmer of hope. Then we made it to 26 weeks and we allowed ourselves to get a little excited.

And finally, on January 18, 2006 Emily Rose Bailey arrived.

Now, we can't believe it's already been a year since that blessed day. The past 12 months have been as joyful and quick as those 12 months mentioned above were sorrowful and slow.

Emily took her first steps yesterday. She is working on expanding her vocabulary. She blows kisses, gives hugs and has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She loves her mom and adores her big sister. She has survived her first year of crawling around with Ikey the Super Weenie Dog and diving head first into the coffee table (nice black eye).

I remember when my niece Jordan was in an accident with her boyfriend. My brother called to say that he wanted us to know that they were okay. He asked us to pray and thank God that they were not badly injured. He called the same people he would have called to pray if they had been injured. That really moved me.

So today I ask all of you who so diligently prayed for us when we were going through our worst 12 months to lift a prayer of thanksgiving for Emily Rose. She is happy and healthy and an indescribable blessing to our lives.

Thank You God! Happy Birthday Em! Daddy loves you!

MLK, Jr.

As I think about Martin Luther King, Jr. today and the struggle for equality that he led, I am reminded of the battles for equality that continue to rage on in the country where I live and all over the world. What can I do? Well, I can pray and hope and love my neighbor as myself. Regardless of my neighbors race, sex, beliefs, history, etc. And I can forgive and ask for forgiveness. For in forgiveness and grace there is freedom.


I give you these words from James Taylor's song Shed a Little Light.

Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
and recognize that there are ties between us,
all men and women living on the Earth.
Ties of hope and love, of sister and brotherhood.
That we are bound together in our desire to see the world become a place in which our children can grow free and strong.
We are bound together by the task that stands before us
and the road that lies ahead.
We are bound and we are bound.

There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist.
There is a hunger in the center of the chest.
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist.
And though the body sleeps the heart will never rest.

Shed a little light, oh Lord, so that we can see.
Just a little light, oh Lord.
Wanna stand it on up, stand it on up, oh Lord.
Wanna walk it on down, shed a little light, oh Lord.

Can't get no light from a dollar bill.
Don't give me no light from a TV screen.
When I open my eyes I wanna drink my fill from the well on the hill.
Do you know what I mean?

Shed a little light, oh Lord, so that we can see.
Just a little light, oh Lord.
Wanna stand it on up, stand it on up, oh Lord.
Wanna walk it on down, shed a little light, oh Lord.

There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist.
There is a hunger in the center of the chest.
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist.
And though the body sleeps the heart will never rest.

Oh, let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
and recognize that there are ties between us,
all men and women living on the Earth.
Ties of hope and love, of sister and brotherhood.

Listening

Don't you love people who are good listeners? It's a skill more of us could stand to develop. In the Bailey family we joke that at family reunions we have to hire non family members to come so there will be someone there to listen. We like to talk.

When conversing one on one, most of us have developed the ability to at least fain the appearance of listening even if we are actually thinking of other things like what gem of a comment we are preparing to offer the poor schmuck across from us blabbering away about something or other. "How lucky they will be to hear what I've got to say. It will probably change their life."

When sitting in an audience however, some people don't even try to look like they're listening. Perhaps these people have never stood before a group and attempted to communicate something. If that's you, let me let you in on a little secret: That person up in front speaking...CAN SEE YOU! The last time I was in front of a group, several people looked like they were being tortured. Grant it, listening to me speak may be considered cruel and unusual punishment, but this was at a church! The least you could do is pretend to listen. You don't have to pretend to agree. You don't have to even stick around. But if you decide to stay, try not to appear like you want to hurt the person who is speaking.

Anytime someone does something live, in front of a group, it is participatory. Actors, musicians, teachers, preachers, lecturers, comedians, salespeople; they all feed off of the response they are getting from the audience. And again, THEY CAN SEE YOU and THEY CAN HEAR YOU! Applaud, boo, Amen, hiss, nod in agreement, listen with your eyes, but don't sleep through it or scowl at them and then tell them what a good job they did afterwards. It's disingenuous, dishonest and disrespectful.

Try this: Commit to listening as intently as the speaker is committed to speaking. And give them a break, it's not easy to get up there and open yourself up in front of a group of people.

Thus endeth the rant. Were you even listening?

My Muse

I seem to have lost my Muse in the new year. Perhaps she will miss me and return. Until then, here are some pics from the holiday season and why I like them.

The Nativity at Rainey's school. She played Mary. I like this picture because I love pre-school theatre!

This is our family at church on Christmas Eve. Rainey wanted to wear her "Wizard of Oz" shoes, but obviously didn't want her picture taken. I also like this picture because Stephanie made those dresses and her blouse.

This is Em on Christmas morning. I like this picture because it shows Ike the Super Weenie Dog's butt and because Em and the bear have the same tired look on their faces.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Happy New Year!