Hailey's Day

I've tried countless times to write about this day, but after the first sentence I would drown in tears. It looks as though I've come a little further already. This time will be no different I'm afraid as the tears are pouring, but it's pressed on my heart to get it out. To finally put words in attempt to describe something indescribable.

I had referred to it so many times before as "that day", with animosity and trepidation. That day which I feared would be the end of me. A day that I expected to be filled with more pain than a mother could take...more pain than a human heart could bear...

Have you ever been so happy that you couldn't stop crying? Have you ever known a joy and love that could have only come from the place it was made? Well I have...and that is why I can't see right now...

But what I can see is my little girl's face...I can see her open her mouth when I touch her cheek...I can see every strand of hair on her head...I can see her perfect little fingers wrapped around mine...I can see....I can see it all so clear. I can see my angel, safe in the hands of God...and I can see, smell, feel, taste and touch the truth of life that He's shown me.

My tears run thick. They run in memory of the lifetime I spent with my daughter. That lifetime was spent on a single day - June 12, 2009 - in one room numbered 265. That is where we were...holding a life for a time of 42 minutes...

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When I reminisce on "Hailey's Day", as Ryan has declared it, the tears are released. They aren't released by pain and grief. They are released by the joy and love that consumed our hearts that day...

I can't explain what it's like to loose a child...I can't explain what it's like to have one either. Hailey's day is a memory of beauty and peace, of love and of life...the dragonfly's eye view of heaven.

Oh how I miss this day...I miss my beautiful baby girl

Hailey's Day was just over three months ago, but for me, her day is every day. I carry it with me always, and it will forever bring a smile to my lips and a tear to my cheek. I smile because my heart overflows with joy, and I cry because my heart still aches. But every day is Hailey's Day...a day of God's love, His promise, and His plan to give us hope and a future - and those things can only be found when you have faith in Him.

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I need to be honest. Hailey's Day ended much differently than it started. The sun rose to light, and the sun set to darkness. I never knew such pain, just as I had never known such joy. Hailey's Day was the best day of my life - but not the worst. To say it was also the worst day of my life would mean that it would be the one day I would want to go away...to forget and pretend it never happened. Never would I trade June 12, 2009 for a day without pain. This was the day I lived for...on this day I felt the warmth of an angel held in my arms...I captured a glimpse of heaven...and it was the day that brought me closer to God, and brought me to my daughter.

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There are no words to narrate the pain of the setting sun. That's not what Hailey's Day is about. Hailey's Day is about the rising sun and its light that shines brighter than any other star. And when the sun settles into it's place over the horizon, there is one other that eagerly awaits it's fulfillment of light.

Is the day over? No...Hailey's Day was just the beginning...

Testament of Faith

I want to take a moment and introduce you to the man that is my dad. I have been fortunate enough to have been raised by someone who was such a great testament of faith. I have witnessed how God can take an ordinary man to do extraordinary things. It's hard to think of anything more extraordinary than to witness the power of God's children united as one body of Christ...the way God had intended...

Blessings to All,

On August 29, 2009, Missouri's state capital welcomed over 6,000 Christians to the United As One Christian Festival.

Eight years ago, a man named Perry Carey envisioned a choir clothed in robes of different colors coming together to sing and praise God. After many sleepless nights, Perry knew what it meant and what he had to do. It was a calling to unite the children of God, divided by denominational walls, to gather on common ground (the lawn of Missouri's state capital) for one purpose, for one day - to praise and worship our one and only God. His dream, his vision gave way to the United As One Christian Festival in Jefferson City, MO. After seven years, this festival has grown from 500 to 6,500 witnesses to the power of God's children UNITED - united as one body of Christ! That is something that can't be ignored!

"A Man with a Vision" is in memory of Perry Carey, our dad, who listened and obeyed to what God set on his heart to do. And he didn't stop until his dying breath...

The 2008 Christian Festival became the last that dad would see on this earth. On November 21, 2008 dad passed away peacefully while taking a nap. Dad suffered from kidney failure and his condition worsened from other health complications. During the dark days of battling with his illness and trials, he became even closer to God. He always said, "I can't quit on God; He's never quite on me." So he kept going and kept working at uniting the children of God in the community. He succeeded!

Dad had a different view of the Christian Festival this year, but this event wouldn't have been made possible without the dedicated volunteers that continued on to make this dream a reality. Thank You!

And for one day, over 6,000 Christians gathered on the capital lawn to stand United As One!

God Bless!
Rachelle Glavin & Zach Carey

Piece of Trivia: Missouri is one of only two states, Alaska being the other, that allows Christians to organize on capital grounds to exercise the greatest freedom of all.
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For more information about the United As One Christian Festival visit http://www.unitedasone.info/

This year's Christian Festival was also featured in Sunday's paper of the News Tribune. "United as One Christian founder dies, but his event flourishes" http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2009/08/30/news_local/123local10united09.txt

"Divine inspiration led Perry Carey to organize Christian festival"
http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2008/08/25/news_local/128localnews02portrait.txt