Ch. 299 - The Commitment, Revisited

On January 7, 2008 I wrote in my journal about a commitment I was in the process of making. This was a commitment to serving God and doing His will; it was spurred by a devotional - which, technically, stated the very commitment:

'I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes with God's people on God's planet for God's glory. I will use my life to celebrate His presence, cultivate His character, participate in His family, demonstrate His love, and communicate His word.'

Intense.

At the time, I felt that call to commitment was an answer to prayer and I feel the same way today. I had been praying about what it was, exactly, that God wanted me to do and I had really felt a tug towards ministry. That, to say the least, was the beginning of a new journey. I mean, look where I am now. I was taken out of beautiful and wondrous Salt Lake City, Utah and placed at a small school in might-as-well-be-the-middle-of-nowhere, Missouri. Not to say that Moberly isn't beautiful and wondrous in its own ways, but I loved Salt Lake. There's no going around that. But it was a necessary move, I feel, and I don't regret making the decision to transfer. It was a difficult decision, yes... and challenges continue to manifest themselves, but that's life and challenges are going to present themselves to you regardless of where you are and what you are doing.

I feel that God placed this commitment on my heart entirely and I was completely ready when I decided to go with it and make it mine. Of course, I went through a few ups and downs after I did so, including a decision that I was not going to spend my time in a life of servitude to God, but instead go back to my original plan... the one that I knew for a fact was not God's plan for me. But I didn't care and I was going to go for it anyway. Well. As you may imagine, God said, "Nope." And I started to reply, "But, God -" That was as far as I got. He answered, "Natalie. NO." So I decided to completely embrace the act of trusting in God and doing His will. I committed my life to God once more and I have not looked back since. That was not a difficult decision to make whatsoever.

Here is another portion of the commitment of the devotional:

'Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home awaiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.'

Sublime.


'Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.'
[Philippians 3:13b-14]