Wait.

Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

-Psalm 27:14

My dear child,

Wait on me; and as you wait, continue to wait. My timeline is not the same as yours. You live in a world full of deadlines and demands but you find yourself constantly waiting in lines, waiting for your food to be ready, waiting for the next opportunity, waiting for that significant other. Waiting can be boring and it can feel pointless. So your world tries to offer you remedies to keep you from getting bored in your waiting. It is constantly offering you new upgrades and new ideas but before you know it you are bored and waiting on the next new thing.  Your world gives up if they don’t see results or answers in a matter of minutes. Your world doesn’t like to wait because it is something that they cannot control and they think that they are all alone. But my child, take heart, I am not of your world. I don’t grow tired and restless and I am with you in the waiting. What I have to offer you is far greater than anything that your world could ever give you. I have something for you that won’t fade away, something that will last. But in order to receive what I have to give you, you must be ready to wait. Sometimes you aren’t ready for what I have waiting for you. Sometimes you need to need to be bumped, bruised, tossed and molded before you can accept what I have to offer. Trust me, my child. Your world tries to tell you that waiting is a waste of time that you must be doing. But I didn’t design you to be like this world. I created you to be set apart, to look different, to act different and to be an example. So when you are restless and tired of waiting on the answer you are praying for, be still and know that I am God.

Love, 

Your Patient Father

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along.

            Romans 8:28 (The Message).

For the revelations awaits on an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait, for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:3 NIV

Prayer:

Abba, show me what it looks like to wait in the waiting. Help me to focus my eyes and my heart on you and not on temporary fixes of this world. Though it linger, I will wait. Amen.

Your Turn

When I started blogging again my hope was that I would be able to update it frequently, keep you all informed of this journey I am on. But life happened, I decided to spend my time building relationships with others instead of staring at a screen trying to put into words what I have been experiencing. It is nearly impossible to tell you what has happened the last few months, and so if you want to know then I would love to sit down and talk to you over a cup of coffee and tell you about the ways that God is working in the youth in Northwest, Ohio. A month ago 95 students from 50+ schools were honored and awarded for being "ALL IN". This picture sums up the entire year. These faces are why I chose to do what I do. 

Last evening I had the opportunity to speak at Montpelier's Baccalaureate service so I thought I would share my speech with the rest of you.

I want to do something a little different for a few minutes and I want you to close your eyes(Now if you are reading this you can't close them for obvious reasons). And I want you to imagine what you were like when you were five years old. I imagine we can all find something to laugh at about our five year old self. And now I want you to think about the answer you might have given someone if they asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, you might have said a firefighter, doctor, president, astronaut, cowboy, professional athlete, batman, vet or teacher. When you would tell them your dream they didn’t tell you that you couldn’t do it, but rather they would just smile and nod. Because you see at that age anything was possible in your eyes. The stars were the limit and there was nothing that was going to stop you. I am sure there were many times that you used a cardboard box as a spaceship or would shoot hoops with an invisible crowd cheering you on. But as time moved on and you grew older you started to realize that maybe becoming Batman or Wonder Woman wasn’t quite as achievable as you once thought. That maybe you should start thinking about what you really wanted to be when you grew up because people no longer just smile and nod when you tell them you want to be a cowboy. And so you began a process of determining what it is you really wanted to be. (open your eyes)

When I was asked to speak to you, I was a little bit surprised and I wondered what I would have to say to you, as just a few short years ago I sat in your place. Prior to tonight I was given a just a little bit of information about your class like your motto, song and colors. Your class song “Hall of Fame” by The Script is what struck me and has been on my mind often as I have prepared for tonight. This song, a familiar tune about fulfilling your dreams, silencing the critics and telling yourself that you can be the greatest and when you do those things people will remember you. Well I am here to tell you that greatness lies deeper than awards and material possessions and it’s something that cannot be achieved alone. If I were to ask you to name the top 5 weathliest people in the world could you? Or what about the last five Heisman trophy winners? Chances are you probably couldn’t, you could maybe guess but you wouldn’t know for sure. The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. The answers to those questions I just asked are no second-rate achievers. They’re the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners. But if I were to ask you to list a few teachers or coaches who aided your journey through school I bet you wouldn’t hesitate. Or if I were to ask you to name five people who taught you something worthwhile you could. These questions were easier to answer, why? Because the people who make a difference in your life aren’t the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They’re the ones who care. Think about it, what was different about these individuals that made a lasting impression on you? These individuals achieved greatness, but it wasn’t a greatness that was all about them.

The greatness that was in them was put there by God. The truth is, we cannot talk about greatness without talking about God. You can be the best of the best but if you don’t have Jesus Christ none of that matters. Bobby Bowden, former Florida State football coach tells a story from his baseball career at Howard College. Allow me to tell his story…Coach Bobby Bowden dreamed of the day that he would hit a homerun in fact he was the only member of the baseball team who had never hit a home run. In a home game against Auburn, Bowden hit the ball hard, and, although it didn’t get high, it was a line drive between shortstop and second base. "It gets through," he said. "I flip that bat and take off for first base. All I want to do is hit the inside of the bag and get to second, so I sort of slide my foot against that bag as I’m going to second. "I can see the ball. It got through the centerfielder and the left fielder, too. It’s rolling, and they’re running and chasing the ball. I hit second base. I can’t see the ball anymore, and I look at the third base coach. He’s waving me home. I hit third base, and I start for home, and he says, ‘But hurry.’ Boy, I start running to home plate. Meanwhile, the centerfielder gets the ball and fires it to the shortstop. The shortstop takes it and fires that ball home. "Their catcher is squatted down and blocking the plate. I’m running as hard as I can. All of a sudden, his eyes start getting big, and I think, ‘Oh, that ball is about here.’ "I hit him as hard as I can hit him. I try to run right through him. About the time the ball hits his mit, I hit him, and that bull jumps up in the air. We scramble around. I reach over the top, and hit home plate. The ump says, ‘You’re safe.’ "It’s a home run. I’ve never had one. I’m so excited and get up to brush the red mud off me. The players come off the bench and start shaking my hand. "Then, the first baseman yells to the catcher, ‘Hey, John, throw me the ball.’ The catcher gets the ball and throws that thing to the first baseman. He touches first base. The first base ump says, ‘You’re out. You missed first base.’ "I distinctly remember getting second...and first, I guess I missed it. I was out. I never got a home run in college.” "Here is the significance of that story, Coach Bowden said, If you remember anything I say, remember this, as you go through life: First base is Jesus Christ. If you do everything else you could think of, to get to heaven, it won’t work. You must touch first base. "

In a few years from now, some of you might be discovering a cure for cancer while others are teaching and leading the next generation of young people. Whatever it is, greatness is possible but greatness doesn’t matter unless you touch first base. In Mark 10:27, Jesus was talking to his disciples and he said to them “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” Dreams, greatness and success are all impossible and mean nothing, humanly speaking. But dreams, greatness and success are possible and mean everything with God.

You are about to leave a place that you have always known, a place of comfort. You are about to embark on your own journey, a journey that has been 17 years in the making. A journey that looks daunting, scary and a maybe a little unclear. You will no longer have your parents, grandparents, friends, coaches and teachers alongside of you telling you what to do every step of the way. Your parents can’t tell you what to do all the time because you won’t be around them. It’s your choice whether you make your bed in the morning or if you wash all your clothes together in one load or whether you get up for church on Sunday mornings.

 It is now time to make decisions for yourself. As Bobby Bowden said, “if you don’t have faith in Jesus Christ, everything else doesn’t matter.

I am not sure if you realized this or not but the world wants you to fail. There are statistics after statistics that say many of you won’t finish what you start, that you won’t get a job, make enough money, or that you will even lose your faith during the college years. Well I am here to challenge you to prove those statistics wrong, to not let the world define you and it starts by making your faith your own. It is time for you to realize that it is now your decision to pursue Jesus or not. The easy part is over. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. You have already been chosen by Christ, now it is your decision to choose him. The world is always going to be pulling you in the opposite direction of Jesus. The world wants you to have nothing to do with a God who saves and everything to do with a world full of temporary titles and month to month plans.

If you want to be the greatest, if you want to be the best, then you first have to choose the greatest. Choose Christ to be the center of your life. Choose to pursue a personal relationship with him, choose to make it your very own and not what everyone else says.

The scholarships, awards, degrees and promotions that you achieve in the coming years will mean nothing unless you have first stepped on first base, unless you have first chosen Christ. There are two lessons things that we can learn about greatness from Jesus. The first is that greatness was never about him. While Jesus was made holy like God, he was also human like us. He ate, drank, talked and walked like us and he knew that whatever he did was to bring glory to his Father. Colossians 3:17 says “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” We were put on this earth to manifest the glory of God. In each of you is a light, a light that reflects the love and grace of God. That light was meant to shine and not meant to be hidden. Jesus tells us again in scripture that, "You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Intead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house." You were born for greatness that comes from Christ, but if you don't allow yourself to achieve that greatness you are robbing God of the glory he deserves. Letting your light shine won't always come easy. In fact if you want to become great, if you want to become successful you have to force yourself to be uncomfortable. You have to allow yourself to be used by God in situations that aren’t always easy and that aren’t perfect. Success is the result of how you work and prepare and practice and how you strive to become better every day. It’s a commitment that the best make every week, every day, every hour and every moment. When you strive to get better, you will. And it is in our desire to be uncomfortable and get better that we are making those around us better too. Marianne Williamson says in her famous poem “Our Greatest Fear” this, “And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” When others see us striving to become pursuing they want to do the same.

The second thing about greatness that we can learn from Jesus is that greatness is not achieved alone. Take a moment to look around you at all the familiar faces. These are the faces of the people who have loved, supported, encouraged, cheered and challenged you over the last 18 years. There are the faces of the people who have raised and molded you into the person that you are today! Jesus too knew that he could not do it alone and so he too surrounded himself with others to help him. He had 12 guys who stuck with him through thick and thin. Put even the guys closest to Jesus weren’t perfect. One betrayed him and another denied him. If you want to be great then you need to recognize that you cannot do it alone. So surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers but most of all surround yourself with those who see greatness within you. Surround yourself with followers of Christ who are going to encourage you as you continue on your own journey with Him. Ecclesiastes 4 reminds us the importance of community, "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble." These are the people who understand, they know where you are and where you are going. They understand and relate to the challenges, the set-backs, and the effort it requires to build or rebuild. It is a painful and lonely journey with no one to talk to or relate to. You are soon going to be leaving the community that you have known for the last 18 years but you will soon find a new community that will support you in your next season of life.

As you leave from this place tonight and this community in the coming days, weeks and months, go and be students, be teachers, be politicians, be preachers, be believers, be leaders, be astronauts, be champions, be truth seekers. But remember you were born with the light of Christ inside of you and by achieving greatness you are allowing that light to shine, but it cannot be done alone. The best make Jesus Christ the center of their lives and realize that apart from him they can do nothing. Go and achieve greatness…Christ-like greatness. 

Afresh: in a new or different way.

I woke up giddy this morning. There is really no other word to describe the feeling so that is the word I will use. So there I was still laying in bed trying to search for reasons for this excitement that can be compared to a little child on Christmas morning bounding down the stairs to find a room full of brightly, wrapped Christmas presents. So I began a process of elimination: 1. It's game day but I have felt game day excitement before and this wasn't it. 2. I still hadn't had my normal two mugs of coffee yet so it wasn't a caffeine buzz. 3. I had just been offered another part time job the day before, but in all honesty I wasn't that excited about adding another 20 hours to my work week. 4. It's Thursday which means the weekend is right around the corner, but I don't get excited about the weekend like this. Nothing I could think of could explain this giddiness that I was feeling. And then the Word of God was impressed upon my heart, I was reminded of two verses from the book of Lamentations. 

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! 

His mercies never cease. 

Great is his faithfulness; 

his mercies begin afresh each morning. 

-Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT

My head began to spin as I tried to wrap my mind around this idea of a love that never ends but goes on forever. Forever. A word that my human mind cannot even begin to comprehend or ever understand. If that wasn't enough I thought of the end of those verses: "his mercies begin afresh each morning." The definition of afresh is this: in a new or different way. Now think of this definition in terms of the love, grace and mercy of God. Each morning his love and mercy is new, different than it was yesterday. We don't serve a God of leftovers, but a God who gives us his first every single morning. I am reminded of the Israelites in the wilderness as I think of God's newness each day. They were in their second month of freedom from Egypt when they started to grumble. Now let me be honest for a minute, I don't think I would have lasted even two days without grumbling. Sure they were under the rule of Pharaoh but they gave up a life of comfort where they ate what they wanted to and now they were in the wilderness starving to death. I think they had every right to complain, I mean I love my food just as much as the next person. Anyways, back in the wilderness the people were complaining to Moses that they would have rather died in comfort then starve in the wilderness. That is when the LORD told Moses that he would rain down bread from heaven and that each person would have enough for just that day because the next day he would do it all over again. In the evening they ate quail and in the morning the glory of the Lord appeared and there was bread for them to eat. For FORTY years God provided food for his people without failing. So why do I question when after a bad day that God didn't provide. If he provided for the Israelites all those years won't he provide for me exactly what I need for that day? 

However, just because God provided for the Israelites in the same way doesn't mean that he will do the same for me. His mercies are afresh (new or different) each day. Our God is unpredictable and it is when we expect to experience him the same way each day that we start to miss Him. Ann Voskamp says in her book One Thousand Gifts "If God didn't withhold from us His very own Son, will God withhold anything we need?" It's true, God gave us His Son, the one he loved the most to come and save us. If he gave us Jesus, will he not provide for our every need? But his provisions aren't going to look the same as they did the day before or look the same as the person next to us. Each day God is going to give us exactly what we need in a new or different way. I am reminded of a sunrise when I think of God's mercies. A sunrise never looks the same as it did previous day. There is always something different about it but unless we train ourselves to look for that something different it is just a sunrise. My prayer is that we would start to wake up giddy each morning because the love of our Savior is too great to fathom. Giddy because we don't know how God is going to provide for us each day and we cannot wait to encounter Him in a new and fresh way. 

Blessings. 

anywhere but here.

Let me brutally honest with you for a second, there are some days when Northwest Ohio is the last place I want to be. There I said it. I've traveled enough to know that I love it! I crave newness, the anticipation, freedom, the language barrier and the deep dependence that I need to have on God in order to get through it. I watch the news and see the struggles around the world and long to do something about it. I talk to my host family and friends in Liberia and hear of the daily struggles that they are facing, doing all they can just to stay healthy. But then after a few solid minutes of complaining God seems to remind me of the calling He has placed on my life. You see after graduation I was offered three different jobs, in three different states, far from Northwest Ohio. But none of them felt right, all of them made me feel as though I was running yet again. Instead of moving far away, I came back home. 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

I came back home. Home to my Jerusalem. The place that raised me, taught me, encouraged me, held me and loved me. God warmed my heart once again to my Jerusalem and brought me home.  So here I am back where I never thought I would return doing something that I never thought I would do and loving every minute of it. As I stated earlier there are days when I wish that I was somewhere else and then there are most days when I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here. Wednesday, October 8th would be one of those days. That night across the nation students were gathering at athletic fields to pray, read scripture, hear testimonies and worship together. Previously Archbold and Wauseon student FCA leaders had met to plan and prepare for a Fields of Faith that was held at Biddle Park. Students volunteered to share, read and invite their peers to commit to a relationship with Jesus Christ. The day of October 8th brought with it strong winds just like any other day in NWO, but by the time students were supposed to be starting to arrive the wind had quit and God was beginning to paint an incredible sunset. To say that, that night was awesome would be an understatement. That night 200 students from 11 different schools came together on one field to worship one God! That night rivalries, upcoming games and differences were set aside and everyone was equal. That night the voices of 200 students were heard praying for their teams, campus', communities and the world. That night God was victorious. 

So on days when I want to be somewhere else I remind myself of those 200 students, because I have 200 more reasons to keep doing what God has called me to do.  

Don't You Quit on Me

I was at the office this morning catching up on some emails and enjoying my favorite drink from Stella Leona (if you haven't been there before, GO! It's even National Chocolate Day so why not stop in TODAY!) Anyways, as I was sitting in a quiet office the phrase "Be encouraged, you are not on this journey alone" ran through my mind. My initial thought was, how wonderful it is to know that there are people on this journey with us, but this was not exactly the message God was trying to covey to me. I then got tired with the overly quiet office and so I put on some music by one of my favorite groups, Penny and Sparrow. The song that came on first is one of my favorites, entitled "Brothers." The chorus goes like this: 

Don't give up

Don't you quit on me

Don't give up

Don't you quit on me 

While I don't know if this song has any spiritual meaning, I took it as though it might. I felt as though God was saying "Don't give up! Don't you quit on me!" How easy it is for us to give up on something or someone so quickly because we don't like it or it's not exactly what we wanted. How easy it is for us to give up on our callings because it's too hard or not something that we want to do. I think I talked in my last post about how much I loved my job and it didn't feel like a job, now don't get me wrong I still love it but like any job it comes with it's challenges. I currently meet with 10 teams on a weekly basis, this puts me in contact with over 100 athletes and coaches. That's over a 100 different names to memorize and 10 different schedules to keep straight. Some days I walk away from a practice wishing I had stayed in bed all day, or some mornings as I drive to work I think about what it would be like had I taken a different job that I had been offered. But instead here I am, at a job that pushes me outside my comfort zone every day. And once again I am reminded of how faithful our Savior is. 

I think of Jesus' trusty disciples and the people that followed him. How many times did Jesus want to give up on them because they just didn't get it. How many times would have he rather walked away from it all than to be crucified on a cross, because he just didn't want to do it? How often do I want to give up because someone just doesn't get it? How often do I want to walk away from something because it's just too hard? Sometimes I feel as though we think it is better to try to avoid or walk away from a hardship rather than take it head on. But why? Why should these things scare us? Why do we let the enemy win and we just quit? Be encouraged! You are NOT on this journey alone! If God was able to raise Jesus from the dead than He will be able to handle anything that you are going through! Philippians 1:6 says, "God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns." How good it is to be reminded that God is not going to quit on you. So I challenge you with this, don't give up, don't you quit on HIM. Be encouraged, you are not on this journey alone. 

All in, 

Alexa

ALL IN

Let me begin by first saying that I LOVE my job so much that it doesn't even feel like I am working. I mean I get to set my own hours, I have my own office, I work with some incredible people who make the office fun, I get to talk to people all day long, I get to go to sporting events, talk sports, and study God's Word. So all those people out there that tried to scare me with the whole "working world stuff" obviously were just joking. But in all reality I know that I truly am where Christ has called me to be. After one week (and it wasn't even a full week) I am having the time of my life and I haven't even started my field work yet! I found this quote the other day when I was working on some things and it said this:

"It's a beautiful thing when a career and passion come together."

This week I have realized what a beautiful thing it is to see both passion and career come together. It has been a whirlwind of a week as I have been bombarded with new information, meetings, conference calls, learning new software, and preparing to begin field work. However, I know that without a doubt I am where God has called me to be! 

In my last post I had talked about how I need to raise my funds to be on staff on at FCA. This has been one of my greatest challenges so far. If you really know me, you know that I hate talking on the phone, and that is one of the main things I have to do to raise this money. However, on an exciting note I have raised just over a third of my funds needed so far! Praise the LORD! But that still means that I have two thirds to go! With that being said I could use your help! If you feel led to help support me financially on this journey please visit the link below! It's my personal page that talks a little bit about what I am doing, and how you can support me! 

https://my.fca.org/5314-short-alexa.aspx

The theme this year for FCA camp was "ALL IN" and it is based on two verses:

And whatever you do, whether in word or dead, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. -Colossians 3:14

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. -Hebrews 10:39

This theme is going to carry into the Team Times that I will be doing as well. So as I will be challenging athletes to go ALL IN. I want to challenge you to go ALL IN. Chose to go ALL IN, whether it is at your job, in your friendships, your marriage, or your relationship with Christ. Make the choice today to go ALL IN. 

Exciting News!

Family and friends, I have exciting news to share! God has called me to serve in a full-time ministry with the Buckeye Border Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). After much prayer and counsel, I'm pursuing an Area Representative position with FCA.

FCA is the largest sports ministry in the world. Since 1954, FCA has challenged athletes and coaches to impact the world for Jesus Christ. FCA currently reaches approximately two million people annually on every level-professional, college, high school, junior high and youth. FCA's staff has grown to more than 800 in over 400 local offices across the country. FCA's efforts are focused on our "4 C's" Ministry: Coaches, Campus, Camp and Community. You can read more about FCA on the links I posted.

It's incredibly exciting to join this awesome team to build Christ's Kingdom in our community. We're committed to winning, building, training and sending out coaches and athletes to minister for Christ. In fact, coaches are one of the most influential people in our world today. We'' reach hundreds of thousands of young people for Christ as we encourage, equip and empower coaches. My official start date is August 19, 2014, where I will begin as a full-time Area Representative for the Buckeye Border FCA office. I'll have many incredible opportunities to serve by:

• Ministering to Coaches in the Area-through relationships, encouragements, and Bible studies
• Develop and support Campus ministry-training coaches, leaders, students to reach their campuses for Christ. 
• Minister and support local teams-through team building, bible studies, and encouragement
• Women Ministries-equip and lead women of all ages to rise up and accept the calling that Christ has placed their lives. 

The task of impacting athletes and coaches in Northwest Ohio is too large for me alone. Please consider partnering with me to make a difference for Jesus Christ. In order for me to begin serving on staff full time, I must raise $2,500 per month. I'm seeking faithful teammates like you to invest with me in the FCA ministry. Your prayers and financial support provide the foundation to serve. 

If you are interested in learning more about FCA or teaming with me on this journey, then feel free to send me an email at alexaleighshort@gmail.com or send me a message on Facebook. I would love to talk with you more about this opportunity and the passions that God has placed on my heart. 

I hope to use this blog as a way to communicate with all of you the things that are happening with FCA, and what I have been up to. 

I pray that you will experience the love of Christ in a brand new way today! 

Blessings, 

Alexa