When the bad news keeps stacking up, is it still possible to be grateful? Kelly Green on the year that nearly broke him. About this episodePastor Kelly Green was knocked out cold officiating an American football game and woke up in hospital with two brain bleeds. That was only the start. Over the months that followed came skin cancer, a benign brain tumour, the loss of his mum, and surgery after surgery. His wife nicknamed it "the Year of the Dragon." In this honest conversation, Kelly tells Matt why, in the middle of all of it, he found himself more grateful and closer to God than in 40 years of ministry. This is not a story about pretending it was easy. Kelly is open about breaking down, about the fear, and about the daily work of trusting God when everything feels like it is crumbling. If you are in your own hard season, this one is for you. What you'll hearHow a single play on the football field ended with Kelly in hospital with two brain bleedsGrowing up in the Lutheran church, the "you're worthless" moment in front of the mirror, and coming to faith at 2440 years of ministry, being bivocational, and why calling matters more than the celebrity culture creeping into churchThe pile-up Kelly calls death by a thousand cuts, and why it is the small things stacked on top of each other that take us under"The Year of the Dragon" and the wife who walked every step of it with himThe one message Kelly would preach if he could only preach one moreWhere to find Kelly's three books and how to reach him The moment it all startedKelly was the crew chief, the "white hat," standing 15 to 20 yards behind the play when two players collided into him. He doesn't remember the impact, only holding up his hands. "I woke up on the sideline again to the EMS saying, hey, we're going to load you and take you to the hospital."A CAT scan at Grant Hospital in Columbus found two small brain bleeds. It could have been far worse. Kelly is clear that he came away believing God had spared him for a reason, to tell others about the hope we have. When the small things stack upThe injury was one blow. Then came skin cancer and surgery that took 38 stitches. Then losing his mum, who had dementia, at almost 96. Then a benign brain tumour that has to be watched with regular MRI scans. Kelly names something a lot of us feel in a hard stretch. "It's not the major things in our lives, the major trauma that takes us under. It's all the small things stacked on top of each other."He is honest that he has broken down more than once, and that things affect him more deeply now than they used to. His answer is not a tidy formula. It is turning to God again and again, and leaning on the people God places around us. The Year of the DragonKelly's wife gave the season its name. "She said, we're gonna name this the Year of the Dragon. She said, I've been dragging you from one doctor's appointment to the next."Matt reflects on watching his own wife, Sharon, go through skin cancer, and how her relationship with God deepened in the hardest of circumstances. Both men land in the same place. You would never choose the storm, but there is something God does in the middle of it that changes you. Grateful in it, not for itKelly says the words plainly. "I'm thankful for my injury."He isn't celebrating the suffering. What he is grateful for is what God did in the middle of it, drawing him closer than 40 years of ministry ever had. Rather than asking "why me," Kelly landed somewhere freer. "Why not me? Who am I? I'm not special. God can do what He's always done without me, but I'm thankful that He invites me on the journey with Him."The one messageWhen Matt asks what Kelly would preach if he only had one message left, the answer became the heart of his books. "We can be wounded, find healing, and be sent, because our wounds do not get to write the final chapter of our lives."It is why he writes and why he tells the story. Not to be known himself, but so that people who are struggling are given faith, hope, and a reason to keep going. Key referencesThe disciples in the boat and Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41)Paul calling himself the worst of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15)How to Be Born Again by Billy Graham, the book that helped Kelly come to faithScars Beyond the Surface, Healing Beyond the Surface and Beyond the Healing by Kelly E. Green Today's guestKelly Green (Kelly E. Green) has pastored for around 40 years and lives in Zanesville, Ohio. Bivocational for much of that time, he also substitute teaches to supplement his income. After a serious head injury while officiating an American football game, he started writing about the wounds people carry beneath the surface. He is the author of three books, beginning with Scars Beyond the Surface. Substack kellygreen232127.substack.comFacebook "Pastor Kelly" (search Kelly E. Green)Amazon (search "Kelly E. Green") Kelly would love to hear from you, especially if you need prayer. Reach out through any of the above. LinksMore real stories of faith at whatsthestorypodcast.comFind out more about Crowd Church at crowd.churchNew to faith or full of questions? A good place to start is the Alpha course, a relaxed 15-week online exploration of the basics of Christianity, with people joining from all over the world. Find it at crowd.church. Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.
