God's Grace is a Kingdom - week two of Smoky Mountain Summer Mission

 "Word Of God Speak"

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say 

It's hard to believe so much time has already gone by, but I am remaining optimistic because there is so much time left!  The Lord is certainly showing up in places I would have least expected, but that's just how it works...right?  This past week we finally began our "normal" schedule, and if you know me, you know I love consistency (keep reading to find out how God has been working on this aspect of my life).   Because our schedule is becoming normal, I was able to work my job at LandShark from Tuesday through Saturday.  My job has also allowed me to have really awesome conversations with some of my co-workers.  It is incredible how once I trusted God to step outside of my comfort zone, conversations just fell into my lap and the Lord began to work.

So far we have met many international students and there are still more to meet!   Gatlinburg is a magnet for international students to come here for the summer and so we have been taking full advantage of that. After last week's game night, we were all anxious to get to know some of the international students a little better.  Friendships are beginning to form, not only with international students, but with some co-workers also! Everyone is very curious as to why we are here for the summer and it becomes a great segway into other conversations.  If you would have told me a year ago, heck six months ago, that I would boldly be proclaiming God's name at my job I would have thought you were nuts.  But God has a great way of opening up doors and allowing himself to be seen through them.  And here I am, proudly proclaiming God's name to people I am just meeting.

God has been teaching me a lot so far this summer.  We recently read an article on the Holy Spirit and one of the subtitles of the article was "Keeping Christ on the Throne," something I struggle with regularly.  It convicted me in ways I would have never imagined.  But as I was reading it, the Holy Spirt was working on me.  I realized that in certain situations  I was not keeping Christ on the throne, I was the one trying to control all of my situations.  I knew this is something I struggled with, but I was never fully able to admit to it.  Once I saw the diagram from the "Knowing God Personally" book, one of our ministry tools, it felt like a punch in the gut.  I was so selfish with specific parts of my life.  I was not living a life that was glorifying the Lord, I was trying to make it glorify myself, because I wanted my plan to be the best plan, when in reality, God's plan is the best plan.  Now, I am not saying that I got it all figured out and I have surrendered everything to the Lord, but grace.  That is what is so breathtaking about our God.  No matter how many mistakes we make, his grace is there to cover us.  This is becoming more apparent to me through my quiet times with the Lord.  Being quiet is sometimes the best way to find God.  Part of our schedule on this summer mission is a  planned night of reflection, which means we just sit, listen, and hear from God.  When I open my heart to the Lord, he just speaks to me and shows me what I need to be doing and things I need to learn.  The night of reflection will quickly become one of my favorite nights of the week.


I have made some great friends who have already been able to pour into my life.  We were sitting on the balcony one evening overlooking the town of Gatlinburg (and this beautiful sunset pictured to the left) getting to know each other a little bit.  Our conversation turned to God rather quick.  We began talking about God's plan and his timing.  I think sometimes we know in the moment the reasoning behind certain situations, but other times it takes weeks, months, even years, to realize what God was trying to teach us, but there are some things we are not to know the answer to right away, if not ever.  But that is what faith is for, faith that God only wants what is best for you.


I am continuously amazed that I have this opportunity to be here, in a community with other Jesus lovin' people.  The training we have received about how to spread the gospel has been so enriching.  The materials we were given makes me so excited to share it with the people here in Gatlinburg, but also back on Bloomsburg's campus.  I am already on fire for the Lord, so I cannot wait to get back to Bloomsburg and share what all I have learned.  And to use this information to reach people on my own college campus.  I can honestly say that being here, learning, and embracing everything God wants me to learn, will be the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Committing my entire summer to God was by far the best decision I have ever made and I still have many weeks left!  I am looking forward for what is yet to come!

Check in next week for another update!

Keara