Monday, July 4, 2011

On His Plan for Your Mate

Today, I will wait. And I will wait tomorrow and I will wait for a thousand tomorrows if it means that I know you will be waiting for me. I am not worried about time because I serve the Author of time. He has the ability to rewind, fast forward, and pause. I will not settle for carbon copies of you and I will not try to make someone else the “one” because people tell me it is time to settle down. I will wait for you.


Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone---to have a deep soul relationship with another---to be loved thoroughly, and exclusively. But God, to a Christian says, “No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone---with giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me---to having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone, discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me---exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires or longings. I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing---one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things---keep experiencing the satisfaction that I AM. Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait, that’s all.
Don’t be anxious. Don’t look around at the things others have gotten or that I’ve given them. Don’t worry. Don’t look at the things you think you want. You just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you’ll miss what I want to show you.
And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would dream of. You see, until you are both ready, (I am working even this moment to have both of you ready at the same time) until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I prepared for you you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me, and thus the perfect love.
And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. I AM THE GOD ALMIGHTY. Believe it and be satisfied. 


"If you respect yourself, he'll respect you. If he don't, put him on the road." - Peggy Yarbrough (My grandmother)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Thoughts on the Bible

Man, I just felt like praising God today as I listened to Chad Sparks (http://chadsparksblog.blogspot.com/) talk about how we got the Bible. It just amazes me how so many people set out to disprove an infallible word. And just how God inspired different people to write the books of the Bible in varying styles and levels of education, but they all say the same thing: Jesus is God who saves and loves us! Even the hundreds of manuscripts of Aristotle, Plato, and even Aesop's Fables have many discrepancies in them, sometimes jeopardizing the meaning of the passage and changing the story. But, the Bible, in its hundreds of different manuscripts has so few discrepancies between them, that all the differences (which is just word order and spelling issues, no story changing here) would fit onto one-half of a page in your Bible! It's amazing how God's hand is seen in the passing down of the Bible; from its conception to thousands of years later, it is the same. God's Word is completely true. It does not disprove itself or have discrepancies within itself. Just check out Psalm 119. "The Word of the Lord is flawless," says Psalm 18:30. Psalm 19 talks about how God shows himself to us. Praise God for revealing himself to us through his creation, through the prophets, through the scriptures, and through his Son. Praise God that he, as our creator, did not just leave evidence of himself to be observed by us, the intelligent beings he created, but he intentionally communicates himself to us. I can truly say I believe in the sole authority and inerrancy of the Bible.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

My Life As of Late

Well, I haven't blogged in a long time... I figured I was better expressed by Facebook. But, due to my lack of classes that require extensive essays, I feel as if I should practice my writing skills. Because people only want friends who have skillzzz, nun chuck skillz, computer hacking skillz, blogging skillz (Thanks for tolerating my Napoleon Dynamite reference.). Also, a lot of my friends keep blogs, so I feel as if I should join.

Well, 2011 is upon us, and I can't believe its already March! It's incredible, I only have two months left of my freshman year of college! I'm loving my classes. I'm so glad I switched to graphic design major. I have three studio art classes alone. This consists of 2D Design, Drawing I, and 3D Design. It took a while to get used to the three hour class; and I have these each twice a week. That's 18 hours in the studio alone! Not to mention the extra time it takes to finish a good project. But I'm lucky to have some good friends in those classes that I spend 12 hours a week with. And possibly a little more because I like them.

Within my group of friends, called "The CRU3", we all have functions. Early last semester, I was deemed "mom," mainly because I send out the texts saying when we're having dinner and where we're hanging out. But I guess I also have a "mommy-ing" personality. According to them, I make mom comments all the time, including, but not limited to corny jokes, caveats, and scoldings. We also have the absentee dad, Joey; the creepy grandpa, Drew; the cool, "alcoholic," rebellious aunt, Lindsey; the cousin, Alex; the responsible older brother, Josh; the bitter middle child, Meagan; the annoying "incestuous" three year olds, Chandler and Courtney P.; the dog, Haley; the dumpster twins, Ben and Courtney R.; the angsty teenager, Colby; the rebellious older brother who never shows up to the family holidays, Andrew, and the younger brother who looks up to him, Andy;  then a couple others that don't have defined family status, but are open to suggestions.

(Most of the CRU3 at Christmastime)

I also have a fantastic hall of girls that I live with. We call ourselves the "Dungeon Damsels" because we live in the basement of Lyon Hall. We write on each other's doors, walk into rooms unannounced, cook food together, have a soccer team, and make loud noises late at night. And somehow, our hall had the highest GPA of all dorms on campus. How? I'm not really sure because honestly we don't sleep. And we scream a lot. But really, the honors dorm is fantastic. Interesting people are always around. Our dorm hosts all of the foreign exchange students, and I've met people from Japan, Germany, Sweden, France, and many other places. There was a hardcore metal band that would practice in our hangout room, the "Lyon's Den." We have an abundance of, what I call, "Lobby Lurkers." You can almost guarantee these people are in the lobby, up all night. I've loved dorm life here.

(Our awesome soccer team)


I've had some awesome experiences this semester. This past weekend, I had one of the best weekends! I helped lead worship with some of my friends for Belle Aire's One Weekend (a DNOW type thing for high schoolers). That was a lot of fun to sing and hang out with some really awesome kids. Then Friday night, our CRU3 had our own personal rave! For some reason, the guys have sweet sound systems and strobe lights laying around their dorm. Well we put them to good use.

(RAAAAAVVVEEEE)

Then Saturday night, we joined the One Weekend kids for a night at the Rec Center. The worship band had our own team and played in a basketball tournament. Our excuse for losing miserably? We're musicians. We called ourselves "Audio Failure" because after losing house sound during a worship session, the MC said "Thank goodness for Audio Failure." And this lady thought that was our band name. After our basketball game against who became the champion team, I played basketball for an hour more.

(We're ballas, shot callas)

By the time we left the Rec Center, it was 12am. Then we went and hung out with our friends from the CRU3 until 3am. It was a fun night, filled with delusional rantings due to exhaustion.
On this perfect weekend, I ate at Olive Garden twice... mmm. Then to top it off, went to a free concert to see the extremely talented Elenowen, featuring Seeing Skies (Check them both out and get their CDs, they're fantastic). There, we got to witness history. A camera crew was there to video Elenowen getting their letter saying that they had made it to the final round of The Voice, the NBC version of American Idol. So, look out for Nicole and Josh as they belt it out on NBC. And I might be clapping in the crowd.

Lately, we've had beautiful weather, except for the two days we had tornado warnings and pouring rain. Those days are the worst because I have to carry around a cumbersome portfolio, and I also found that my rainboots have a hole in them. But on these unseasonably warm and sunny days, I've strung up my ENO hammock and just relaxed. I would highly suggest investing in one of these. Currently, I'm hanging in my hammock in Peck Forest writing this blog. And a photographer just walked up to take my picture for MTSU's brochure or something... haha. Too bad I didn't take much time to get ready this morning...

(They criticized my decision to make a hammock chair, and I struggled making it, but I did it!)

But I love sitting on campus just watching people. It's funny that there are so many people on campus, but yet I see some of the same people everyday. There's the guy, Tyler, who never wears a shirt and always roller blades all around campus. He has long blond hair and hugs everyone he knows. It almost never fails that I see him and give him a good wave. Last semester I started seeing this one guy almost everyday, and now he's in my astronomy class. I have several other people that I see almost daily, and I don't know their names! There are always very interesting people on campus, and I love to just sit and watch.

Well, as this MTSU photographer continues to take pictures of me, I'm gonna sign off blogging, promising to blog more and update you on my life. Leave comments if you have any questions of what I've been up to, or if you want me to blog my thoughts about anything :)

Peace and blessings.
~kg

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Haiti: Going back in time...

I heard about this trip to Haiti on August 29, and after hearing the price, my mom said "You're going." Mom went to Haiti back in November 2009 and loved it. I was so thankful to receive this amazing opportunity to go to Haiti. By the help of Belle Aire Baptist Church and the Baptist Convention, I was able to go at a very good price with some wonderful people. We went through a ministry called SMI Haiti. They have a wonderful vision for the city of Guitton, and they are definitely impacting Haiti in a great way. Check them out: SMI Haiti.
But I am so honored and humbled to have been able to go to Haiti and be impacted by the people and see God in a tangible way. Thank you so much to the people who have supported me through this.


And now I'm going back in time to my journal to recall the events of Haiti...

Thursday, October 14
It's Thursday and I've been up for 16 hours - since 3:30am this morning! We're in Haiti, safely, thank God.
Yesterday we left Murfreesboro at 12:30pm for Atlanta. Got there at 5pm, ate really fast, and caught the plane to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Got there at 11pm. Bunked that night with my friends Kinsey, Tatum, and Ashely. That sleep was just a tease because it was only three hours long... we had to wake up at 3:30am and to go to the airport. The bins we took as each of our second checked bag took forever to check in. Then we headed to Haiti on a 6:50am flight. It was a rough flight, and my ears popped constantly, however I did get some sleep.
We arrived in Haiti at the Toussaint L'Ouverture airport in Port-au-Prince around 8 that morning. We got instructions on how to walk quickly and say "nau mezi" to people who wanted to help carry our luggage. This airport was partially destroyed by the earthquake, and we arrived in a big temporary building that surprised me, because it did not look like an airport at all. I pushed a cart, and we made it to the bus and started on a very bumpy hour and half ride.
I saw a extreme of poverty I had never witnessed before. People were living in tents made of cardboard and tarps. They told us that those people's shacks would be washed away when it rained. We passed by a mass grave where more than 200,000 people are buried, casualties from the earthquake. A single black cross marks this spot.
In Haiti, the drivers are so aggressive, and I'm so thankful we didn't wreck! The car horns are used excessively, the median line does not exist, and the speed limit was not acknowledged. And I thought Murfreesboro drivers were bad... Apparently, the bus rides were the most dangerous part of the trip.
In just under two hours, I saw so much of Haiti. We went from Port-au-Prince through a town plastered with "vote for so-and-so" graffiti and posters because of the upcoming election. We saw acres and acres of land filled with tents made out of blue tarps. Women walked around with huge baskets on their heads. We drove through the country with roaming cows and even a dead, rotting one on the side of the road whose smell was overwhelming. Then we were driving in between roads that were lined with the "nicer" houses of Haiti. I saw people bathing, washing their clothes, and cleaning their dishes in a gutter. Unclothed children walked about shamelessly. Then we passed through the mountains with the mass grave and where the tents could be washed away by the rain. I saw the Caribbean for the first time. The contrast of the mountains and sea is just beautiful. Then we went through the craziest area of Haiti I'd seen: the marketplace. It was crazy; the people darted in and out of the chaotic traffic. Loud speakers projected Creole advertisements. Then, coming into camp, I played my own personal game of "Wave at the Haitians." That was fun. They would yell "blanc, blanc!" (which means white) and would wave back.
Finally we arrive at this really nice (nicer than I imagined) house. This mission house, which has room for 50 people, was finished in the spring. It sits on a gated compound that has a church and also a nice little soccer field. During the day, they open the gates and let the children come in and play, and right after we unloaded, that's what we did. We played with the cute kids. At this point, it was only 10am! We played "football," and I learned a little Creole. I met this cute little boy named Job who liked to sing, and we sand "Shawty" as he called it (more commonly known as "Replay" by Iyaz). The Haitian teens were also playing a radio station with popular American songs and were singing along. They knew no English, but they imitated the lyrics.
Then we had lunch and were introduced to these wonderful sodas in glass bottles. They were the only cold things to drink, and we each had 2-3 a day. After eating, we went to work in the hot, hot sun. We had to transport 150 30lb cinder blocks in an assembly line. And we did that twice. After moving brick, I painted the outside of this school. And keep in mind this is in the heat of the day, and we had had 3 hours of sleep...
After 3 hours of work, we left the work place, which was about a 15 minute drive from the compound. I rode in the back of a truck with some Haitian boys. That was fun. Even though we were all exhausted, we still played soccer with the kids: Haitians vs. Americans.  We had dinner, and I took a cold shower, the only temperature. Then I even fell asleep before our devotion time. During our first devotion time on the porch, a missionary from SMI Haiti prayed a great prayer over us. He prayed for protection and for our interactions with the Haitians. I really think that prayer and God's grace protected us on this trip.
He also reminded me that God is the same in Haiti as He is at home. Where can we go that He is not there?

~kg

Friday, October 22, 2010

Remember Haiti

Haiti is heavy on my heart right now. I have just heard of this breakout of diarrhea that is killing and sickening hundreds. Read it here: http://www.haitiquotidien.com/news.php/335 or here: http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-+&idq=%2Fff%2Fstory%2F1001%2F20101022%2F7630.htm&sc=+&ref=nf
But it says that the Haitians should drink only bottled water and make sure food is cooked thoroughly; well, if they had that option, would they have not been doing this all along???
Even my friend Rebecca Jean, whom I met in Guitton, Haiti, has updated her status on Facebook: "Need Prayer for HAITI the are in epidemic killing the people since yesterday had more than 50 people pass away in L'ARTIBONITE :'( " This is not okay with me. People should not have to live in conditions like this. People that I have met and interacted with these past 6 days, people I love.
I implore you to pray for Haiti. I am, and I know my group is. 


It's amazing how fast the world comes back to you after going on a trip like this. I've only been home for 2 days, and I've already whined about my appearance, whined about food. It makes me mad at myself! Because especially since I've seen how Haitians live, any of them would love to have the things I've been blessed with, as I was reminded by my roommate. How could I so soon forget this? It's my selfish, American, sinful self coming out, and I had hoped I left that in Haiti.
Romans 12:2 - "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." This is my prayer, and I hope I will not forget it as quickly as I have.

My heart is heavy for Haiti.
~kg

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Beginning

So I've finally given in and created a blog at the encouragement of my father. I know, Greg Greer telling me to make a blog? Kinda weird. But I know he had good reason: he told me that it would help family and friends keep up with my life. Not only my new college life, but my recent trip to Haiti. So I want to share this incredible experience with all of you and thank you for praying for me. This might be a big challenge for me to write about such a personal and impactful experience, but I will try, though it might take numerous posts. So here it goes...

~kg