Do You Believe in Miracles?

I believe in miracles, I believe that the Christmas Story  was an actual event.  It’s a true story!  It actually happened.  God came to earth as a baby.  He lived among us and showed us the way we ought to live with one another, warts and all!

At Christmastime, I enjoy the stories that show us how we can live a more joyful life.  We hear stories and watch movies of people who have overcome difficult circumstances. They are examples of the kind of person we would like to be.

God never gives up trying to draw us closer to Himself and make us more like His Son. This is the nature of miracles. This is the nature of God.

MyGRKnotes is my story as I observed the life of Greg R. Kelley. When I see what God has done in Greg’s life, I become more convinced that God can do the same kinds of things in my life.  These are my notes about Greg, but they might also be a story about any one of us.

If God can use Greg’s “impossible situation”, and restore him to new life, couldn’t He also take your bad situations or mine, and rebuild us in the same way?

Today is December 26, the day after Christmas

  It is my hope that as I write my future notes on this website, that I can show you what happened to Greg, and how new things might happen in you.  If we are willing to try some of the things Greg has done, perhaps we will experience new things in our lives, too.

This is Greg’s story.  This is my story.  This could be your story.

Bad things happen to all people.  That is what can make us stronger and more dependent on “The One Who makes all things new!”.  In the process we may go through struggle, frustration, disappointment, maybe even extreme sadness or brokenness.  This is what will cause us to become more grateful, more compassionate, more hopeful, and much more patient with the people around us.  We are all broken in different ways.  We need to have more of the “fruit of the Spirit” in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control.” (found in Galations 5:22-23) 

Who is Greg Kelley?

• Greg was was a happy, 18 year old junior at Leander High School.  
• He was getting all A’s and B’s in school and working a part-time job in a local theater
• He was captain of his football team and received severaL all district honors 
• He received full-ride scholarship offers to play football for the University of Texas in SA, Rice University, and Texas State University
• The following is an article from the Austin-American Statesman in 2013:

• Greg Kelley’s  parents had both been placed in a rehab facility outside the Leander School District.  His mother was recovering from a 3rd brain operation and his father had suffered a severe stroke  
• These things happened in the same time period as Greg was a junior in high school
• In order to continue to play football at LHS, Greg temporarily moved in with his friend. teammate, and classmate, Jonathan McCarty
• What is the probability that Greg and his friend, Jonathan, both look very much alike.

“…I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”  (Jeremiah 29:11-13 TLB/NIV/NASB)

What happened to Greg Kelley?

• On August 9, 2013  Greg Kelley was arrested and charged with molesting a 4-year-old boy        
• Greg never saw his accuser after the accusation was made 
• Greg was never interviewed by police 
• The little boy was never asked to confront the person he was accusing

Greg refused to accept a plea bargain

• In 2013, before the trial, Greg was arrested for assault on two boys.  He was offered probation, community service and no jail time, if he would say he was guilty, and register as a sex offender.    He said, “NO”.   (Like Rosa Parks, he wouldn’t move.)
• In 2014, after his conviction, Greg was offered 10 years in prison for assault on 1 boy if he would say he was guilty and register as a sex offender, but he refused.
• Greg told a television reporter after his incarceration, “If I accepted the 10 year plea deal, I would still be lying, so I had to say “NO”.
• On July 16, 2014 Greg was sentenced to 25 years in a maximum security state penitentiary for a period of 25 years, without the possibility of parole and with the possibility of appeal. 
• Greg said he would rather spend 25 years in prison, than admit to a crime he did not commit.
• He refused to lie to make his life easier.  He said, “I’ll serve the Lord in prison
• According to a 2014 article by U.S. District Judge Jed S, Rakoff, “How prevalent is the phenomenon of innocent people pleading guilty? The few criminologists who have thus far investigated the phenomenon estimate that the overall rate for convicted felons as a whole is between 2 percent and 8 percent.”   At 5%, with over 2.2 million people in American prisons that would mean 110,000 people have been unjustly imprisoned.
• In an article entitled, Plea Bargaining and the InnocentBy U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE JOHN L. KANE, he asks the question, “…am I and my fellow jurists doing enough each day to implement this mandate, to replace the mindless practice of assembly-line plea bargaining with a process that is based on integrity and that aspires to justice rather than succumbs to the cynicism of convenience?”  
• When we say “yes” to the Holy Spirit’s urgings and “no” to taking the “easy way out”, somehow, God always provides an inner peace, the peace that goes beyond our understanding. We may not understand it.  It doesn’t make sense. but it makes us stronger.

Rosa Kelley’s connection with Jake Brydon 

• On the evening Rosa learned her son was to be incarcerated for the next 25 years, she spent the night crying out to God.  She had no resources, no money, and no idea what to do next.  
• She had sold her home, her furniture,  and everything she owned in order to pay for Greg’s attorney.  The only thing she owned was a 12 year old car. 
• Her husband was in a rehabilitation center and she was recovering from a serious brain operation.  She had moved in with her oldest of her four sons.  
• The only thing she could do was to cry out to God.  She asked Him for help. She couldn’t even sleep.  But, at 1:30 in the morning, God gave her a reassurance that everything would be taken care of, and she finally found some peace.
• On that same night, at 1:30 in the morning, Jake Brydon couldn’t sleep.  He didn’t know who Greg Kelley was, but he was greatly disturbed by some things he had had heard and seen on television.  As Jake told me, it was unmistakeable…   He felt God was telling him to call Greg’s mother and help her with her problems.  
• Next morning, Jake called his old football coach, David Anderson, asking him what he knew about Greg Kelley.  Then, Jake called Rosa, who had to be persuaded by her son to speak with this man she didn’t know. He wanted to talk with her in his office. 
• When Rosa and Jake responded to the Spirit of God, many, many lives were about to be changed.

Greg Kelley’s exoneration journey is a special miracle for these 7 reasons:

1. Greg Kelley had agreed to the 25-year prison sentence with no possibility of parole and no possibility of appeal
2. Appellant Judge Larry Gist said, “Even if the Court believed that the defendant was actually innocent, the court would be specifically prohibited from granting the relief sought.”
3. Exonerations by the Court of Criminal Appeals is extremely rare.  Over the past 3 years, almost 13,000 writs have been submitted. Only 2 have been granted.
4. 16 District Attorneys Attorneys across the state of Texas submitted briefs opposing Greg’s exoneration. 
5. 3 attorneys from the Actual Innocence Clinic at the University of Texas Law School opposed Greg’s exoneration.
6. Greg’s own trial lawyer opposed Greg’s exoneration. 
7. The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), 24,000 member  law enforcement officers’ union submitted a brief to oppose Greg’s exoneration.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.   …He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:…              A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at they right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”  

Psalm 91:1-7 reminds us that no matter what the odds are, … God is greater than any statistical numbers. 

The timing of events surrounding Greg’s exoneration, demonstrates God’s participation. 

TODAY, Greg was exonerated.  He is a now a free man. Is anything too difficult for God?   If God could rescue Greg Kelley from this terrible situation, then, could He not also save Daniel in the lion’s den?    Couldn’t  a young David defeat an enormous  Giant with only one smooth stone?  Couldn’t God bring Joseph out of false imprisonment and make him into a leader in service to his country?  Can’t God help you with your problems? Would it be too difficult for Him to help you in your time of need? With God all things are possible! Do you believe He can help…?

See Greg Kelley’s “Breaking News” video from KVUE-TV on 11/6/19. Copy and paste from… https://www.facebook.com/KVUEinsider/videos/342597093232849/

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Thousands of additional stories demonstrate God’s participation.

The recent timing of events surrounding Greg’s exoneration has been a great miracle for me, personally. 

1. After studying and compiling notes about the Greg Kelley case for more than 5 years, I finally mailed a 32-page document to Governor Abbott, explaining why I believed he should be exonerated. My stuff was mailed last month, on October 1, 2019.
2. I have been wanting to place the notes about the case on my website for the entire 5 years.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to build and maintain the site, so nothing happened until our Grandson, David Herrera, came to visit us during the week of Oct 26-30, 2019.
3. Many people prayed that I could finish enough of the site so it could go public.We wanted to share Greg’s story. You can read the contents of my letter in the sections above. The site is still unfinished, but, it was  sufficient to go public on Tuesday, Nov. 5th.
4. On Wednesday morning, November 6th, I awoke from a vivid dream at 5 am. I dreamed that my friend, David Anderson, my Bible study partner, who is also Greg’s future father- in-law, had called me. He paused, like he was ready to cry, then he said, “Greg is exonerated”.
5. I dismissed that dream as a wonderful wish.  Later, that morning, I went to the Men’s Bible study and on to Chick-Fil-A for my personal devotional time.  While there, I received a cell call at 9:15 am.  It was REALLY David Anderson.  After a long pause, he said, “Greg is exonerated.” Then, it was my turn to cry. 
6. I’m sure my letter had nothing to do with Greg’s exoneration, but the timing of that letter, the answer to our prayers for the completion of the GRK website, the dream that was given to me at 5 am, in advance of the actual announcement which is not published until Wednesday mornings at 9 am from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and then, the call from David Anderson to confirm Greg’s exoneration, …all this was definitely a miracle to me.

Exoneration Hearing on 11/27/19