The Ripple Effect

When you drop a stone into the water it makes little ripples that go out, getting bigger and bigger and soon the ripples are more than triple the size of your rock and continuing to grow. 

Most people I meet want the same thing, we all want to do something 'important' and make a difference but on the same hand we are comfortable where we are or we are scared to change. You can't have both. You're either starting a ripple on this huge earth or your still sitting safely on the shore, not wanting to get your feet wet.

I was that person. I wanted to change the world but it looked scary to take a leap of faith into the unknown so I stayed where I was and prayed for God to use me from the shore. Then it happened... God called me to be a counselor to middle school girls and what do you think I said...? "No way!" I had a lot of 'good excuses' like; 'I have to work', 'I wouldn't be a good counselor', 'I can't figure out my own life, how can I help these girls figure out theirs?', 'I can't handle middle schoolers', etc. but God saw through them all and eliminated them all. So I went.

That week changed my life in so many ways. I found my passion, I got the honor of praying with 5 girls to accept Jesus into their hearts and I heard God calling me into ministry of some sort. I left my full time job with benefits and PTO to take a part time job at Freedom for Youth Ministries, having no idea what I was actually getting myself into. I let God toss me into the water so to speak and he used me to start the ripple. 

Again last week I spent the week counseling at Koronis Bible Camp for the second year. I was one of four junior camp counselors and I was in charge of 10 girls ages 8-12. It was a great week and I learned a lot but by the end I was emotionally drained and exhausted. I'd gotten to know all my girls and heard stories of bulling, loss of family, trying to find out who they were, it pushed me to a limit that I'd never been to before. I was heartbroken and all I wanted was to heal their hearts but I couldn't, only God could. I argued with God, why did she have to go through this, she's on;y 12!? As she cried on my shoulder I cried with her because I felt her pain. That was the first time I really asked God why he put me there, I couldn't handle this. For the first time since I felt God calling me I seriously wondered if I was even where I was supposed to be...

I came home feeling lost and confused. I didn't have answers anymore like I used to think I had. So I did the only thing I knew would give me answers I spent time with Jesus just telling him my thoughts and fears and questions. He didn't show up in the way I was expecting though. He showed up through friends that spoke words of encouragement to me and prayed for me, he showed up in a letter from my brother saying exactly what I needed to hear even though he had no idea what was going on and he showed up as I sat by the water at Lake Red Rock, angrily chucking rocks, and asked me a question that I had to think about. Why are you really doing this? Are you doing this for you or for me?

That question brought me back to reality hard and fast. I was mad at God because he put me somewhere I wasn't comfortable with and I didn't have answers. When I took my eyes off Jesus I started going under just like Peter did in Matthew 14. I stopped depending on God and started depending on myself and my ripple had slowly started to die out...

God has shown me grace though this all though and he's now giving me a chance to keep going, this time with a new perspective. This isn't about me, it's about God.

It's hard to start a ripple in this world, it  takes a lot of Faith, vulnerability, and a willingness to follow God wherever he leads you.You will have to make sacrifices, step out of your comfort zone, and maybe lose something you worked hard to get but in the end it will be worth it, trust me.

What are you willing to give up for God?

Katelyn

Training World Changers

My dream was to change the world, I wasn’t sure how that was going to happen or what that was going to look like, but I had the passion and I was ready for God to use me however he saw fit. Little did I know what God had waiting for me just around the corner

I was working at a Life Insurance company and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life but then God showed me an opening at Freedom for Youth Ministries for a Carlisle Site Director and I jumped at the opportunity. I could work with kids and do a bunch of other things that I loved, how much better could that be?! So I applied and God allowed me to get the job and in February of 2017, I started my dream job as the Carlisle Site Director for Freedom for Youth.

Fast forward a couple months and we had a fully running program for K-5^th grade and had 20-23 kids regularly attending every Thursday night to hear about Jesus, get a free meal, and get help with their homework. I loved it and every single week I looked forward to Thursday nights. But then one week I just didn’t want to do it anymore, I was discouraged and Satan was trying so hard to get me down so I cried out to Jesus and in a way, that only he can do he helped me to re-evaluate why I was doing this and what my vision was. I told Jesus that day that I was doing this because I wanted to change the world, because I wanted to serve him and I wanted to help these kids that I had come to love so very much. After I was done telling him my plans he very gently showed me his plans, he gave me 23 kids (and still growing) for 2-3 hours every week and now my job was to teach them how to change the world.

God had given me the tools I needed to teach these kids and so that’s what we’re doing in Carlisle now, we are starting to change the world. Each one of my kids has a heart of Gold and a servant’s heart. They love deeply and care deeply. They believe they can change their world and I have no doubt in my mind that they will.

What are these tools that they need you may ask? Well, most importantly they need Jesus. They need to know Jesus loves them and have a personal and growing relationship with him. Some of the other tools they are learning are kindness, love, honesty, integrity, thankfulness, joy, and self-control, to name a few, and we teach those every week at Freedom.

So, my new passion is to Train World Changers and watch with pride and joy as God uses them to change the world.

If you have questions about Freedom for Youth and what we are doing or if you would like to get involved, please contact Katelyn Short at kshort@freedomforyouth.org. 

"It is Finished"

By Katelyn Short

Alone with his Father, he wept bitterly

His friends lay sleeping, as he suffered alone

He pleaded with God, not wanting to die

“Not my will, but yours” was his final sigh

Betrayed with a kiss, he was carried away

He was beaten and mocked with a crown made of thorns

His dignity was stripped, along with his clothes

He did it for love when he carried that cross

The nails pierced his skin, through his hands and his feet

The whole world looked on as he struggled to breathe

He cried, “Father forgive them, they don’t understand”

I was the one who put nails in his hands.

Now all alone he hung on that cross

Beaten and bruised for me

My sin poured upon him and God looked away

The sun no longer could shine

His blood flowed freely, his breathing grew short

Jesus bowed his head and he cried,

“It Is Finished.”

And there  in my place Jesus died.

Alone on the cross he did it for me

 He covered my sins on that day

And then three days later he rose up again

Death was defeated and Jesus victorious again

Now the cross and the grave are a symbol for me

A symbol of love and of Grace

I’m his and He’s mine and someday you’ll see

I’ll live up with him in eternity

God Bless you all, Never forget the real reason we are celebrating Easter. Never forget the Sacrifice Jesus made because he thinks YOU are Worth Dying For.

Katelyn

I Stand Amazed

 Psalm 29:1-4 Honor the Lord, you Heavenly beings; honor the Lord for His Glory and strength. Honor the Lord for the Glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his Holiness. The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of Glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the Mighty sea. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.

     I don't know about you, but when I read that it sends shivers through me and makes me want to sing out in Praise to my Powerful, Majestic, and Holy God. Sometimes I just sit in Awe of God, how could someone who made the world and everything on it and holds the planets in orbit and made these tiny little people with so much intricate detail inside of them, love and care about me? 

     My family and I went to the Omaha Zoo a couple weeks ago and I was amazed by all of the different species and colors of animals that I saw and I didn't even see a quarter of all the different animals that God created. As I sat in front of the Aquarium I was in awe, I didn't even know how to really process what I was seeing, it was too much.God made each one of those beautiful, and some not so beautiful (snakes) animals and after all that he decided to make me. He decided that he wanted me to be 5'5" with brown hair and brown eyes. He out me in my family and before I was even born he decided to bless me with two little brothers. He gave me my passions, he knew that I would be allergic to peanuts, he knew I who my friends would be, he knew my name before my parents knew I was a girl and he saw all of this and so much more before I was a thought in anyone's mind. God has caught every tear I've ever cried and He's helped me up every time I've fallen and couldn't get up on my own.

     I will never understand why or how God loves me but I do know that I have never been so thankful for and blessed by someone's love as I have been by God's love. You know what else is amazing, God feels the same way about you even if you don't know him yet. God loves you. He loves you so much that he sent his one and Only Son, Jesus, to be hung on a cross and die for your soul so that you could spend eternity in Heaven with him someday. That's how much God loves you.

     There are probably days where you feel like you have no one in this world and maybe you even think that if you were gone no one would miss you... Listen to me, that's not true. I know you feel alone but you aren't, God is there with you holding out his hand, asking you to take it. God thinks you are worth dying for, and in my book that's pretty amazing.

     So friends, on those days when everything else feels lost I would like to encourage you to open your Bibles to Psalm 139 and read straight from God's word just how much he loves you!

God Bless you all! Have a great day!

Katelyn

Hope

 Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for Good and not Disaster, to give you a future and a Hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me." 

Hope (v): to expect with confidence. I'm sure at some point in our lives most, if not all, of us have felt completely hopeless. We felt like there was honestly no way the situation we were in could get any worse and then, like the sun peaking over the horizon there was Hope. It was just a small sliver at first but your spirits lifted and you turned your eyes toward Heaven thanking God for pulling you back up, out of the darkness.

But maybe you're still there, lost, hopeless, and feeling completely alone. Maybe your questioning God and your faith. Maybe you just lost someone very dear to you and you honestly don't know if you will be able to cope. Maybe your best friend just moved away. Maybe your boyfriend or girlfriend just broke up with you. Maybe your child is sick and you feel like there's nothing you can do. Where do you turn? How do you pray? Does it seem like God has left you? Well let me tell you something that you may have heard before, there's hope. There's Hope for your situation even though I know that in the moment there really doesn't seem to be any way this could get better. There's Hope.

You might say to me, "Katelyn, you have no idea what I'm going through. How can you say there's Hope?" You know what, you're right, I may never understand fully the pain that you are in but I can tell you about someone who does. His name is Jesus. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He knows, he understands what it feels like to be completely and utterly alone. His very own Father turn his back on Him along with the rest of the world.

Mark 14:35&16 He (Jesus) went a little farther away and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by, "Abba Father," He cried out, "everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering (The Cross) from me. Yet, not my will but thine be done."  Mark 15:33 &34 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until tree o'clock. Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" Which means, "My God, My God, Why have your forsaken me?"

Every time I read that it breaks my heart. Jesus, The Son of God, The Light of the World, The Holy, Perfect, Lamb of God, did that for me. He went to the darkest, loneliest, most hopeless place so that I will never have to know or experience what it's like to be completely alone and Hopeless. Jesus makes us a few promises; John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." Hebrews 13:5 ... For God has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." That is where I find my Hope. I know that there have been and will be times where I don't understand why God is allowing something hard to happen in my life, but I can have Faith and Hope because I know the Jesus has already been there and is walking with me through it. There will be times when you might not hear God or feel him but I am confident that when you cry God will hold you tight and cry with you. When he's silent he's still holding your hand.

There is no promise that God will always show you why something hard is happening but that's where Faith comes in. We will know in God's time, we might not know until we get to Heaven but we can take comfort in the Fact the God has our best interest in mind... even in our darkest days. You are never alone, and that's a promise you can take to the bank.

God bless each and every one of you. You are in my prayers and safe in the palm of God's hand. Have a great week!

Katelyn

What is Love?

We all want to be loved and we all have different ways of showing love and different ways of trying to get love.

One of my favorite words is 'Agape'. Agape is the highest form of love there is, it's the kind of Love Jesus has for his Father and for us. Agape is sacrificial, selfless, and unconditional and Jesus was a perfect example of this when he died for our sins on the cross. He sacrificed his perfect, heavenly home with his father and became sin for us. He became the one thing that he despised the most so that we could live in heaven with him. That's Agape love.

John 15:12-13 reads "My command is this: Love each other as I have Loved you. Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." We don't often use the words 'Love' and 'death' in the same sentence but throughout the bible we see God putting those together quite often, so maybe he's trying to tell us something? If we are willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ, that would mean that we would think of them as better than ourselves. We would have to value their needs/wants more than our own and want what is best for them without giving ourselves a second thought. That is the definition of selfless, and selfless is used to define Agape.  

John 13:35 says 'By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you LOVE ONE ANOTHER.'  As we can see it is extremely important to God for us to love each other. When asked what the greatest commandment of the 10 were, Jesus replied, 'Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.' Mark 12:30-31. So I would say that if Jesus picked that one commandment out of all 10, shouldn't that give us some idea as to the importance of loving people?


It's really not easy to put others before yourself and in all honesty it really doesn't come naturally to anyone. It's something we have to put a lot of prayer, time and intentionality into. Prayer because we could never do it without God's help. Time because Loving others takes extra time and energy. Intentionality because it's something that we have to conscientiously think about and follow through with.

So here's my challenge to you and myself. Every morning when you wake up pray and ask God to help you love the people he put in your life and also the strangers you see at the mall or the grocery store or on the road. I can pretty much guarantee that by doing this your day will get a little bit better too!!

I hope y'all have an AMAZING day! God bless!!

Katelyn

For the ones who "Have it all Together"

We've all had those days where it's bad from the beginning and it just gets worse from there. Or those weeks that turn into months where it just seems like an unending stream of disappointments. Or that one day you look forward to all year and you're disappointed every time because it never goes how you imagined. We've all been heartbroken, betrayed and almost alone.

Today was one of those days where I almost burst into tears a couple times and everything went wrong from the time I sat down at my desk till I walked through my front door. I was discouraged and disappointed and I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Satan took this opportunity to kick me while I was down, in a sense, and remind me of past hurts and rejections and whisper lies like, "No one really cares about you. Your job isn't important. You can't actually make any difference in this world. People just think you're stupid, and they're right..." These are lies that Satan was telling me all day and he was loving the fact that I was actually believing them. Let me tell you another lie that I'm sure he's whispered in your ear a couple times too, "Your problems don't matter, there are other people who have way bigger problems so don't even bother getting help with your's..." That is not true at all and let me tell you why.

God cares about your problems, God cares that you have a heavy heart or that you had a rough day at work of school. He knows and he cares. Let me tell y'all a little secret, sometimes the ones who seem to have it all together, the ones who are constantly reaching out to and encouraging other, are the ones who need the most encouragement. They're the ones who are trying to fight the internal battles of a broken heart or depression or anxiety or loneliness or discouragement alone. Sometimes the battles you can't see, or you don't know about, are the ones that do the most damage.

Look at your pastor or youth leader or mentor, who mentors them? Who pours love and truth into their lives? Has you ever thought that maybe your pastor might actually have their own hardships that they are facing almost alone because 'They are the ones who are supposed to have it all together'? I heard someone say once "They don't need a mentor because they have it all together, they already have a strong relationship with God. They don't need me." If you ever see those people who seem like they have it all together ask them to go to coffee with you, ask them how you can pray for them, if you show them you care soon you will see how broken they really are. Be prepared for them to break down in tears and be prepared to pour love and encouragement into their broken hearts that have been needing that for years. Take that girl or guy that always has a smile and sit them down and show them how much you care.

To the one who "has it all together", God's always there even when no one else is. He knows what you're going through and he cares. He wants to hear about it, ask him to send someone to encourage you. I know how hard it is when all you really want is for one person to show an interest in your life and it seems like no one does... Keep your head up, have faith, and don't stop praying. Someone will come and they will come when God knows that you need them the most.

I hope y'all know and understand how very much God loves you. I hope you realize what you're worth. You're worth dying for, each and every one of you. You're precious and you're a child of God.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!!

Katelyn