Just Getting Started

So this is where it begins!  I am excited for this journey that God has been preparing me for and cannot wait to see what He is going to do through this blog.  But enough of the small talk, lets get down to business.  This being my first blog ever, I thought it only appropriate that I share a little bit about myself and some of my testimony so that you can see where I am coming from, and be encouraged.  So here it goes.

My name is Bailey and I live in Las Vegas (born and raised).  I began going to church at a very young age, and growing up, knew all the right answers to all the questions.  However, as time went on, this life began to wear on me, and I began to walk away from God and His plan for my life.  Things began to really pickup about the time I was in 7th grade.  I began to spit out lies with every word I spoke, steal from people who trusted me, and push away the people who really cared about me.  By the time I reached Freshman year in high school, I was a mess.  My parents couldn't trust me enough to even let me leave the house, and I had lost many people I considered friends because of the choices I made.  This continued on for a number of years until finally, FINALLY, God got my attention this last year.  An old friend of mine came to my youth group on October 13th, and gave his life to God, and it was a glorious day.  Unfortunately, Satan, the King of Lies already had planted a seed in my friend, and he committed suicide that night.  For about a month, after, I struggled to get out of bed in the morning, filled with grief over my lost friend.  It was at this time, that God reminded me nothing and no one can snatch us out of his hand, and that if my friend truly believed in his heart, and confessed with his mouth that Jesus is his Lord and Savior, when he pulled the trigger, he was welcomed into Heaven by his Father.

After a month of grieving, God opened my eyes to the hurt and pain of people around me.  He stirred my heart to become an example in my youth group and to reach out to everyone, regardless of their circumstance, and much less regarding my own circumstances.  It most definitely has not been a walk in the park since then, but we serve a great God, and His mercies are new every single morning.  Now, I say all this not to brag on my past, or to revel in my own strength, but to encourage you that it may seem dark right now, but you are a light in this dark world, and the dark cannot extinguish the light.  Remember what Jesus meant when he spoke about the man who built his house on the Rock, and even though the wind and the waves beat up against his house, it stood its ground only because it was built on the Rock.

I hope this was encouraging, and can't wait to see what God is going to do!

God Bless,
Bailey