A Year of Faith

This year has been a long hard year for the Bailey family. We began last December praying and asking God for our mission. We had given a talk on Fr. Robert Barron's 7 Deadly Sins, 7 Lively Virtues program. We knew that each and every one of us has a call to be holy. We also knew we all have a vocation in life (religious, married or single). But on top of those two important calls we also have a mission that is unique to each of us. When we realized this we started to pray that God would reveal this mission to us (granted I had NO IDEA it would be foreign missionary work). Over the next several months we felt that God was calling us to minister TOGETHER as a family and be united in our ministry as husband and wife. We felt a call to community life and to simplify. We had many doors close on us and felt very unsure of where we were being called. But God always knew and gently guided us where we needed to be in order to hear Him better. At the Come and See week at Family Missions Company God opened a door wide and WE had to decide if we would walk through it. Can you give up the comforts of your life (your bed, your food, air conditioning, I better stop because I can think of a lot!), seeing your friends and family regularly, your things you are so attached to and "Come and follow me?" Once I was able to open my heart to God and really be "willing to be willing" then I could clearly see where He was calling our family. The fear I felt melted away and was replaced with a great joy and excitement for the plans that God has for us.  Are we still afraid? Yes. But it is different. We are filled with hope and joy knowing that God's plans for us are so much greater than the plans we had for ourselves. We know that we can completely trust in Him and KNOW that all that we need will be provided. When you can completely surrender to God there is the paradox of joyful freedom.