my trip to Tuscaloosa + another groovy way to help!

Hello blog-world, friends, family, and fellow prayer warriors! 


Let me especially thank that last group for the support you've sent to Alabama by praying for strength, comfort, and direction for the future.  I think it is safe to say after visiting the Heart of Dixie this past weekend that God has wrapped his arms around that state and is sending so many volunteers & servers to spread His love and I hope that love continues to bring peace and comfort to the many people who are still suffering, lost, heart-broken, and in disarray... as they will be for quite some time but with the spirit that is alive and well in that special place, I see GREAT things in store for the future of Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and the entire state and it's beautiful, gracious people!  I am SO glad I went this weekend. 


Seeing the devastation was the most uncomfortable experience of my life. With our load of donations from Central Florida in tow, Dad drove and I squirmmed around in my seat in every effort to find a place of comfort as I looked at my 'second home' in a complete and utter, tragic mess.  There wasn't much Daddy and I could muster up to try to explain what we were feeling.  All we could keep saying is, "it's nothing like it is on the news, which is bad. But being here and seeing this is WAY worse."  We just kept saying that over and over... needless to say, we know devastation on a completely new and heart-touching level. 


That place -- that special place -- where I have spent the last 5.5 years of my life and where I called 'home' from August 14, 2005 - December 1, 2010 (straight thru without ever coming home for a summer or anything) was and is forever changed.

Here are the photos I snapped while we dropped off the donations & supplies!

Here's the view from my front porch that I last lived at in University Village...

the neighborhood across the street (Rosedale Community) and the neighborhood adjacent to my last apartment dwelling (Forrest Lake) were completely destroyed and where several residents and UA students lost their lives.  Words cannot express my sympathy.

This was a humbling experience and I can't even imagine what it was like in the immediate aftermath and days following the huge tornado outbreak crisis.  It was AWFUL, and I was there a week and a half later.

The state of Alabama still needs your prayers!!!

Like always, though, I was able to see beauty even in the most tragic and ruined of places.  There is a spirit, an emotion that is so present in that town, and I know now that it's not just championships on the grid-iron that fuel that town's fire... that place is not only moved by the grumble of Bear Bryant's voice but the grumble of mother nature's fury and the path it left behind -- each bringing inspiration to future, but marking it's major spot in history - and both bringing a town, a state, and people of every race, religion, and background together...

and if that's an all-around beautiful thing and what the true spirit of God's word is!!!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for the future there and everywhere.  Sometimes (and I know this first-hand), you have to lose the life and the things you knew in order to find the life and the things that awaits you... and when it is something like a fire, or a tornado, an earthquake, or another form of nature's fury, you can find trust that it was constructed by the man upstairs for a purpose.  Somedays it will be hard to see that because the destruction can overwhelm us, but rewards await he who is faithful. 

Trust me.

I want to send a VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to everyone that helped me in my relief efforts by bringing supplies, food, clothes, money, neccessities, and etc. to me so that I was able to make use of my pre-planned trip to Alabama and turn it into a service opportunity.  It is comforting to know that I am amongst friends, family, and a community that is so willing to help out others that are complete strangers... and on a personal level, it means a lot that they know how special Tuscaloosa is to me.  It may not be where my roots are - I am back living there, now - but it is where my branches formed, where I sprung to life as a young woman, where I fell, stumbled, and got back up again and where I learned to embrace myself as Baily.  I am proud and gracious that the Lord made me a server because I was gung-ho on giving back to the place that helped shape me and to the people who gave to me when I was in a time of need and suffering.  I love you Tuscaloosians!! And fellow Central Floridians - thank you for helping me shower T-Town with that love!!! I'm lucky to have been "made" by the experiences I've gained in both places.  I couldn't ask for anything better!  Orlando to Tuscaloosa LOVE!

Thanks, Dad for your help that day and for the moral support you always are.

Except, I think this experience - seeing "ground zero" in our favorite little college town - was just as shocking and life-changing for him as it was for me.  I am glad to have a Dad who taught me how to care for others first!  He is the most unselfish man I know and my Mom is the most unselfish and giving woman I know so it's no wonder they were a perfect match :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you want to know how you can give to the relief efforts in Tuscaloosa in a REALLY nifty way?!?  CHECK. THIS. OUT.

This awesome blog is hosting a Blogger Baby Shower for the little tiny victims and their mothers in Tuscaloosa.  As a mother-to-be with a little sister who lives in Tuscaloosa (sound familiar!?!) she and other blogger-friends of hers are hosting this fantastic virtual party and I invite you!!!

Here's how it works:

Simply visit the baby registry that they have set up at Amazon.com.

CLICK HERE

Then, pick out what you'd like to donate! 

Amazon will automatically send and deliver the package to a church in Tuscaloosa who has volunteers that are assigning the supplies with the correct needs of each mother and baby.

By doing this, we are able to help the hundreds of mothers who are in desperate need of these basic neccessities in order to care for their infant.  Knowing what it is like to be displaced, without a home, and amongst destruction after losing everything - I can only imagine what it would be like to have to care for and worry about the needs of an infant baby being met when it is so often a struggle just to get back on one's own two feet. Pray for these mothers and pray for these babies!!

Items start at just $8.99 at this super-cool e-baby shower, so there is something for every budget!

Plus, by purchasing something to donate, you are automatically entered to win some pretty cool prizes (like a $50 giftcard to HomeGoods by The Insprired Housewife and a $25 giftcard to At The Picket Fence)

Props to these ladies for hosting such a wonderful baby shower and service project!

May God shower them with many blessings!

Peace & Love

Baily

#AllinForAlabama

Hebrews 13:16

Do not neglect to do good and share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

James 2:14-17

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.



I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone in my Central Florida community that contributed to my little #AllinForAlabama Tornado Relief Efforts!  I received so many donations and we are packed full.  I am blessed to be around so many giving people who put others first and know the true meaning of helping others and doing good for the service of people with needs.  The Lord has given me the best family and friends I could ever ask for and I truly mean that. 

Over the past year, I have learned so much about life, about myself, and about my enormous need to give affection and compassion to the world.  I don't advocate "peace" and "love" because I think it's hip or cute, I advocate it because that's what the Gospel is all about and Jesus was the most peaceful and loving person to ever live and as a Christian I try to be Christ-like.  I want to serve others and the Lord has made that clearer to me this year through struggling with the fire, my depression, and many heartaches.  Nothing heals me more than helping others and offering compassion during a time of suffering. 

The City of Tuscaloosa and the State of Alabama are SO SPECIAL to me and I wanted to do my part to give back.  That community, those people, and all the special places that lie in rubble are all part of who I am and each had their roles in my life.  It was a no-brainer that I wanted to do something to help.  I am thankful to the many people that helped me collect donations to bring to Alabama.

Peace, love, compassion, and kindness are things that mean the most and are what get us through these hard times.  They are the qualities that the Lord wants us to possess in order to glorify Him.  Serving others is what that spirit is all about.  Thank you thank you for the prayers and support!!!

peace & love

bjj



MUST READ! Must, must, must...

Ok friends!

Grab an after-dinner treat...

and read this...

A Tuscaloosa student's AMAZING first-hand account of tornado!

I'm not kidding... you will be so glad you read this.

It is intriguing, so well-written (from a medicated, personal perspective) and it leaves you in awe of what it must have been like to be in that deadly tornado's path & to be one of the blessed survivors that is alive and able to tell amazing stories like this.  I've read is 3 times and still can't even imagine what it was like.

Bottom line: I've never read anything like it.

Enjoy!

Peace & Love

Bai

I'm off to Bama-land tomorrow to bring donations from Central Florida!

Say prayers for us as we travel and pray that God's glory is revealed to those whose lives we might touch as we go to Alabama. Service of this kind is God's work... and I want that to be apparent as we head that way! God Bless! :)



WILW... It's been a while!

I haven't linked up for WILW in a while, so I decided I should jump back on board...

(link up!)

I am loving all the Audrey Hepburn quotes I see floating around Twitter today.  She's #trending today since it is her birthday.  Here are a couple of my favorites...

"I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing... kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."

"As you grow older, you will discover you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others."

I am loving all the support that has been shown to the Alabama tornado victims.  Please continue to show your support, donate, pray, and spread awareness of the needs that so many towns, families, and people need in order to begin the journey to rebuilding.  Thank you!!!

visit http://www.givetuscaloosa.com/

text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10

donate to UA Greek Relief at http://www.uagreekrelief.com/

I am loving my little piggie.  Millie had been so excited about turning 2 years old on April 28th, but when the events unfolded on the night of April 27th and we were told so much was in ruins and that our close friends had lost their homes... we decided to forego the doggie birthday celebration and we've donated that money to relief efforts in Tuscaloosa and other parts of Alabama.  We didn't forget about the puppy love in that state... so we sent our part to

The Humane Society of West Alabama via

 http://www.humanesocietyofwa.org/

I am loving fabric!

(my quilt on my bed... Doesn't it look like a big bohemian soccer ball? So me!)

I am loving this little crafty cuteness with fabrics, too! I found this at Apartment Therapy.



I am loving that I'm country strong, hard to break... like the ground I grew up on!

#PrayersForTheSouth

peace and love

bjj

Tornado Outbreak Relief!!!

Dear Friends,

Please say a prayer for my "other home" - Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Say a prayer for the entire state of Alabama and the Southeastern region that was drastically affected by the tornado outbreak on April 27, 2011.  That is a day that is forever sealed in my memory, and I often wonder what it would have been like to still live there and be a part of that. 

I wasn't... I moved back to central Florida this past December after my own drastic year of losing everything in a house-fire and a continued battle with depression and anxiety.  I witnessed so many days in Tuscaloosa that looked as if "the sky was going to fall out" and I witnessed the heightened sense of fright when severe weather was reported, but there's no way to describe what is happening in that place right now because few have ever experienced something like that.  It breaks my heart, and I am doing everything I can to help out despite me not living there.  For the past five and a half years, Tuscaloosa was my home and I wasn't done there.  I plan to go back, to finish school and to part in the way that I set out to. 

But then April 27th happened and that town will be forever changed.

The destruction is almost unbearable to look at and the numbers of those lost, missing, and without a home are too high to comprehend to be the result of mother nature.

The entire state is in a state of emergency in what an EMA official described  the damage and destruction as: "Katrina without the 3-day warning." 

My heart is breaking for so many, but I know that good can come in crisis.  My learning experiences throughout my personal journey this past year is a constant reminder and personal example of good coming from crisis and I know how much can happen when people unite for the good of humanity. 

I am driving a load of donations up to Alabama from Orlando and I'm encouraging anyone in the area to message me if you can make donations such as clothes and supplies that I can take up on Thursday afternoon.  For folks that are out of town, please donate $10 by texting REDCROSS to 90999.  If you'd like to donate more - so much is needed!!! - please visit www.givetuscaloosa.com.  

Thank you so much.... so many good people appreciate your help! 

Please be praying for my friends, and "home away from home" as so many are experiencing huge losses. 

I love you all! God will provide! 

(The path through Tuscaloosa. Just missing my old place.  Many of my friends homes were destroyed.)

(A main street in town. You're not supposed to be able to see those building through that neighborhood of homes, apartments, and trees.)

(Holt.  Remember when I taught my JumpStart pre-k class for student teaching that summer?  Holt Elementary School was where I taught.  It was also in the tornados path.)

Matthew 6:25-34

PEACE AND LOVE

and lots of hope for Alabama

Bai

These are needed if you are in the Orlando area and can contribute to my efforts: 

baby diapers

wipes

premade formula

clothes (underwear & socks, too!)

toiletries

pop-top non-perishable foods

canned foods

can openers

tarps

shoes

women's hygiene products

first-aid supplies

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

wednesday: frame your mind

Happy Wednesday!

It's good ole "Hump Day" in the middle of the week...

I hope you are finding yourself in a 'glass half-full' mindset today and not the 'glass half-empty' kind.  I know that's an old saying but I really am aware of how much attitude, perception, and outlook can determine the actuality of circumstances.  For instance, the day that I decided my past could and should be the very thing that fuels the fire that will blaze my future trails, I almost instantaneously began making strides toward a healthier lifestyle.  My attitude cleared the way and my mindset has kept me along this safer path.

I think of my mindsets that I have had over the past five years and it is clear to me that the happier times, the times I felt the most loved & included, along with feeling good about myself were the phases in my life when I had a positive attitude about life in general. 

It wasn't that life had neccessarily stopped throwing curveballs at me during those times - because life never stops throwing them, but it was the mental fitness I had that helped me determine whether to swing, let it pass me by, or catch it and throw it right back at wherever it came from.  Just like being up to bat.  It's all about the mental aspect at that point.

When Dad was sick with cancer, I studied his mind and body mastery.  His attitude triumphed over his circumstance.  My father was (and is) heroic in the way he showed me that attitude always wins. He showed me that bad circumstances need really really good attitudes in order to be handled best. He taught me that good circumstances need humble attitudes and grateful attitudes in order to be blessings and not self-destructive distractions.  Like all things in life, this too, must find balance. 

I was always a believer growing up, but it wasn't until the dreadful diagnosis of stage IV non-Hodgkins Lymphoma that I found the personal relationship with the Lord.  I was learning at a very young age that life was a series of tests except it wasn't like school where you get taught the lesson and then are tested on it.  In life, you are tested, and then you learn the lesson.  This is sometimes a frustrating concept to grasp, but I know now that it was preparation for my future. 

Since that day in February 1999, my Savior has continued to rescue me, keep me afloat, and get me safely back to shore.  I trust my Lord that He will not give me more than I can handle, at at times, I have wondered why He has such great faith in me because He sure does work in mysterious ways with me, but the main thing I can be grateful for is that I learned the kinds of things you just need to throw back and not lug around with you throughout your whole life.

Like a dark past.

Like a big mistake.

Like a group of people who go out of their way to hurt you.

Like friends who didn't care enough to get to know the real me.

Like the ghosts of boyfriends' past.

Like the silly stuff that doesn't matter.

"I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." -Maya Angelou

peace and love

~bjj~

Read this blog post from April 13th last year >>> click here.

I wrote about my personal testimony and how my preparation for the big lessons in life were learned throughout my Daddy's twelve years as a "cancer patient"...

Only hours later did the irony of that blog post really hit home.  Literally, hit home.

Later that night, I lost everything in a house fire.  God was listening to me as I shared my testimony to the blog world and He gave me my next big lesson because I plain out asked for it. I needed direction, and he gave it to me admist chaos, smoke, and flame.  I've found my direction - to follow Christ and have that intimate personal relationship with Him and not wander on my own like I did for so long.

I've learned, and I'm ready.

Lord, have your way with me.

Her Dance Needs No Body

Her dance needs no body, no body at all.


She is both darkness and light.

I love when people send me music, and I especially love waking up to something like this on a Monday morning.  Knowing that someone thought of me when they heard this song, and it being my favs - Widespread Panic - makes me so darn happy and proud that my darker days AND shining moments have been influential and inspirational to others.  I love hearing about me inspiring others.  I love knowing that when music moves someone, they like to tell me about it because they know I've been moved and danced along to a musical journey throughout my battle with depression.  From cloud 9 to the flaming glimpses of hell I've gone through, music has been my constant therapy.  The Lord has been my bass player.  I have been the dancer.  And now I'm ready to be the singer.  I'm ready to take over and sing the song that the Lord wants me to and spread it to others. 

It is Spring and almost Summer...
and you know that means I'm in jam mode!
Go ahead and be prepared for music taking over this blog ;)

Peace Love and Music
Baily

HAPPY EARTHDAY!

love one another.

love the earth.

leave it better than you found it.

recycle.

be green.

don't be greedy, remember the needy.

love you all.

peace and love

bai



#randomthursday

Get ready for random...

* I'm stoked about having my laptop back in business.  I had been blogging from Mom's laptop, or at work (after I was done with my assigned tasks, of course) and it was a little weird because I am used to my graceful typing on my own keyboard... I felt like a beginner on Mom's because her keys are in different places... and at work I just felt like I was annoying the hell out of everyone because they keys are old school and make a tid bit more noise than most and I type pretty fast.  Anyways, my laptop was out of biz because the power cord was messed up... but my favorite man got me set up with a new power cord (thanks, Daddy!) so I'm back in the comfort of my own home-keypad...
- Speaking of typing fast: I was at LabCorp getting some bloodwork done a couple of days ago and this senior-citizen aged man nudged his wife and pointed at me (speaking much louder than his hearing aid allowed him to realize) and said, "Good Lord, look how fast that girl's a typing on that iPad thing."  I don't have an iPad, but I have an iPhone...   ;)

* I'm loving my new routine of going to bed early and rising early.  I've been much more pleasant to be around (so says Momma, and Momma knows best) and I've felt better about myself.  I'm going to get myself in the habit... but I'm also going to relish and relax in the moments that I get to take a step back and have "me time" which these days has been reading, blogging, frisbee with Millie, and hanging out with super cool friends.  One of the main things that I realize during my times of reflection is how blessed I am to be around such awesome friends. 

*I just learned that I am going to get to see my Sissy, Elena, and other friends in Alabama soon!!! I'm going to go up with my parents the first weekend in May to help Sissy set up the baby nursery for little Baby Grayson and Mom and I are both anxious to meet Elena's little baby Piper. 

*This is the dress I am going to wear in Jackie's wedding... I love it :)

She's using this really cool site, Weddington Way, that makes it easy for us to order, rank, coordinate, and do all sorts of wedding business on - bride, bridesmaids, mother of bride, etc.  It's a pretty neat website, although I won't be needing any time soon other than Jackie's she-bang! But you love birds looking to get married (bleh)... check it out, it's a really cool site.



*I'm glad that today is Thursday finally.  All day yesterday I thought it was Thursday... I don't know what made me think this, but I was just so giddy about tomorrow being Friday.  Well tomorrow is today and today is Thursday.  But at least that means tomorrow really is Friday.  And it also meant I got the day off today.  Boom! #winning

*

peace and love

baily

I'm sure I'll write more later, since I have the day off and all...  



A year for the books.

As I look back on this hellacious year that I have frequently dubbed as my 'twilight zone', it is sometimes overwhelming to me to think about everything has happened.  Everything that has chabnged.  This year was a series of new beginnings, but that also meant it was a year of losses.  I'm alone, and for the first time - I love it. 

Last year at this time I was a resident of Room 214 at The Fairfield Inn in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  My best friend Jackie was in a room downstairs.  Our other best friend found herself blessed by the love and helping hands of her ex-boyfriend, whom she got back together with as a result of. 

Now, they've been married for months and have a 3 month old baby girl.

Jackie is engaged and I'm ordering my bridesmaids dres for her wedding. 

This time last year, I was in the beginning stages of seeing life from an entirely different perspective.  I thought I was in love with my best guy friend in college.  He had adored me, admired me, befriended me first and foremost at freshmen orientation, and had held out for me for so long - 5 years... through all the turmoil and pure hell I put him through, and he was the one I called when my house was on fire last April 13th.  He was the one that drove an hour from Birmingham at 10:00 at night to be by my side that evening when I lost everything, when he had to be at work almost 2 hours away at 7am.  He had a constant friendship with my family - even grandparents.  I thought since all that was happening to me - losing everything in the fire and him being the one that was there when it all went down - that it had to mean he was, indeed, my soul-mate.  He brutally informed me otherwise one Sunday night in the middle of July.  The darkest of all valleys began right then and there... life was changing too fast for me to catch up.  I couldn't even keep with the day to day, let alone try to figure out what it all meant.  I'm glad I had God, because I felt like I had nothing else.  I could almost feel myself suffocating but the only thing that kept me going were the last three words he told me the night we broke up... 'stay inspired, Baily.'

I'm known as that girl... the creative, funky, inspirational, zesty for life, kinda chick!  I hated the pale, wrinkled, fatigued, fire victim and broken-hearted fool I had become.  I knew I wouldn't stay in the dumps forever, and I knew I had a life that was far more blessed than distressed... but sometimes when life overwhelms you with the constant pits, it's hard to truly see that until afterward.  But for me, Little Miss High and Low, I wasn't surprised when I found myself handling things in a manic, life is gnarley, lets take big risks type of way.

I drove to Myrtle Beach and fell for a boy that swept me off of my feet.  I admired our match-maker so much that I trusted her when she told me he and his family were amazing.  I have full belief that he is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  I had a very meaningful adventure with him, and I will forever be grateful for his presence in my life and wish it didn't go away the way it did.  But, I should have listened more carefully to the other part of the contradictions I'd been told about his family.  For some reason, despite my effort to be the Southern guest, lady, and generous human that I like to think that I am and have otherwise never been told that I wasn't, they didn't accept me and love me the way that he did.  I know that he knows it, too, because it was the only reason for any complication during that blissful period.  So my heart was crushed by rejection and hope was lost for a short time.  But I never cried over this beautiful person in my life.  I guess because by that point, I was at home. I was strengthened, I was anew.

This year brought me home.  The people involved in this year, brought me home.  I finally brought myself home.  I guess what I am trying to say is that I am thankful for this grueling and turbulent year, for the South Carolina sunrises and the dark lonely nights at The Fairfield Inn, for beauty and the beast, for unwritten stories and hopeful happy-endings, and for the lessons that I learned.  I'm thankful for God's grace.  I'm amazed at the power of prayer.  I'm stronger, wiser, and more happy with myself than I ever have been.  I'm a year older, but feel younger and more free in spirit than ever. 

I'm joyful - and that is something that I was not a year ago. I'm home, and that is something I definitely was not a year ago.  I love myself, and I hated myself a year ago.  I'm better than I was a year ago.

I can finally celebrate this year, not feel the pain of it.  I love the Bob Marley quote, "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet."  I felt the rain, but now I've got sunshine.

But most of all, I've got love for myself - and I'm pretty sure that's the key to happiness... if it's not, I'll fill you in on a little secret - it sure as hell unlocks the door anyways.

peace and love

baily