Jennifer Bailey believes in God’s enduring grace
Published:Wednesday | October 7, 2015 | 2:22 PM
Have you ever lost something dear to you? Can you remember the heart-wrenching pain you had to endure? Then imagine losing someone you love ... like a child, then your parents.
The clichÈd words, 'weather the storm', are an understatement for what Jennifer Bailey from Duckenfield, St Thomas, has had to endure.
"I dropped out of high school in third form when I got pregnant with my first daughter. When she was seven, she died in a crash. I was devastated and bitter at the same time, because the driver kept lying about what happened," Bailey said.
The tragedy took place on the road on which she and her two daughters (the other one was four at the time) lived.
"I couldn't pass the spot without crying. I couldn't even manage to pass. I kept having dreams of the day it happened," she said, adding that she had to move from the area.
By this time, Bailey was on anxiety medications.
"I thought that nothing good could happen to me, but my pastor kept encouraging me that 'thieves don't break into an empty house' - meaning there is good in me. I graduated with good grades at HEART Academy and so I started believing in myself and the power of God to change lives.
"I eventually sat and passed seven CXC subjects. I got pregnant and had my son. I started teaching at a basic school and have been teaching since. I decided that I must go to college," Bailey said, adding that this was put on hold while she financed her daughter through the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE).
Things were looking up again for Bailey and her family. She had a job, had a plan, her daughter was almost finished with college and after much prayer and fasting, she was off the anxiety pills. God was working in her life.
But then, "In my daughter's final year (at college), my father got ill. It was a struggling period and he eventually died some time after," Bailey told Family and Religion.
And there's more.
"I started the Mico Teachers' College a year after my father passed and my mother took sick a month after. Every time I had a major presentation, she got worse, but God always saw me through. She died a few months later."
a plan for my life
Bailey, who is now in her final year at Mico, credits God for her strength and endurance.
"God's grace and mercy kept me sane and alive. Before I met God, I didn't believe in myself, couldn't have reached where I am today. It was when I got saved [and] I realised that God has a plan for my life. He allows me to be successful. I depend on Him fully. He's the one who brought me through all the loss I endured. If it had not been for Him then I wouldn't have lived to witness my parents' deaths; I'd have lost it from my daughter passed. People say I'm strong, but my strength is in the Lord. It is because of God why I'm in my right mind today and I give Him all the glory," said Bailey holding back tears.
According to her, "I know that the devil is really trying to mess me up now that I can really see the finish line. He is trying to put roadblocks in my way, but I know through the power of God and support from my family and friends I'm going to make it."