FAITHFUL TO FULFILL.

A week ago, 

Was the day.

A day of great emotion as I walked away from the best job I have ever had. I walked away from great relationships. I walked away from great opportunity. I walked away from great laughs, friendly customers who knew my name, the everyday 7-4 full-time job that was consistent, and not to mention a huge part of my life for over a year. 

The day one door shut so another could be opened.
 
This day was the day that I had time to be still.

Sit. Think. Ponder. Realize. Dream.
 
This was the day, that it hit me – head on and hard.

The last 3 months of my life have consisted of long 15 hour days most of the week.
With this in mind, I haven’t had much time to wiggle or even contemplate what is about to take place.
 
Since last Friday, my tear ducts have ran faster and longer than they have in I don't know how long.
 
My dream is quickly becoming my reality.
Let me repeat.
 
My Dream….

The life I have longed to live for 4 years is knocking at my door.
Step by step, I am approaching this door. I have glanced through the peep hole,
anxiously awaiting what’s on the other side. My hands reach for the dead bolt and now swiftly turn the lock that will soon give chance to what lies on the other side of the single slate of wood. All that’s left to do is to open the door. To walk right into what I see, the hand of JESUS saying, “Follow me.”

                                                              …. is quickly becoming my reality.

 
I can look back on my life and see that there have been times that I’ve been let down. I was and have been given promises that were empty and hopes that were quickly crushed. I can remember being told one thing, yet directly seeing the actions of something else very contrary to what was implied. In these times, layer by layer the veil was growing thicker and thicker over my eyes. The lies were being engraved deeply into my heart. The idea to not trust and never dare to believe the words of others quickly became my way of life.
 
Through finding Christ, I have been able to allow the Lord to lay His healing hands and unconditional love on these wounds that once festered and tortured me with pain. It's been a process to learn to not filter and distort my image of God through my past or even present experiences with others.
 
However, here we are. Or should I say Here I am.
Amazed that God is a God who is faithful to fulfill.
 
He’s different than any man.
His promises, which are Yes and Amen, remain true.

 
It’s been about four years ago that I felt called to foreign missions.
 
It was in Haiti.
I will never forget the audible voice that came to me like thunder and lightening.

It shook the earth with is boldness in declaring,
“You will do this forever.”

I knew immediately that this was God.

However, after my internship God called me home to pursue an education.
 
“Education?!” I thought.
“Who needs an education to love?
 Surely, God, you’ve got the wrong Natalie.”
 
Four years seem like a million when your heart's burning with a fervent passion in another direction in life.
 
But one thing I learned during that time was I had a choice.

That was either to give up on my dream and what He has promised me
or to trust in his faithfulness to fulfill.
 
A couple of days ago, I was having dinner with a friend. As most of my conversations these days go, we were talking about the World Race and all that it entails. Then we somehow started talking about prophetic words that have been spoken over us throughout our lifetime.
 
The Lord graciously reminded me of a time when I was at a conference in Baton Rouge, LA, where Cindy Jacobs was ministering.
 
Side note: This woman is my role model in ministry. Well, at least one of them. It's a tie between her and Heidi Baker.
 
She asked for those filled with a passion to do missions and orphanages to come up to the front. As I walked up there, I felt in my Spirit something was about to happen. I felt it. A Shift was coming. A pivitol moment that would serve as a catalytic experience in my life was in the making – – right this very second.

Well, I couldn’t have felt it any better.
That was exactly what took place.
 
She laid her hands on me.
She prayed the most touching, impactful, providential three words over me.
Yes, THREE WORDS. I will never forget them.
 
These three words I have taken as my own.
These three words changed my life.
These three words were a promise from God.
 

 

 
I recall strutting back to my seat overwhelmed with the goodness of God and reflecting on what exactly that meant.
 
So much to grasp in those three simple words.
Simple, yet very powerful words.

How in the world was I suppose to comprehend the depths of someting like that? 
Where do you even begin?
 
“How would I ever do this?”
“What does this look like?”
 “When?”
“How in the world will I ever reach this point?”
“God, are you sure me?”
 
Those exact questions were flooding through my mind a bilion miles per second.
 
Four years later.
 
I am currently less than a week away from Training Camp and a little over a month away from traveling to the nations, doing what I burn for… 11 months and then forever.

My dream and my reality have now collided and it's never felt so right.
 
In tears of joy, I am remembering the promises He has spoken over me.

Promises to prepare me.
Promises to lead me.
Promises to confirm to me.
Promises of purpose.
Promises of His will through me.
                                                                                          
Promises that can’t be broken.
 
And now…
 
NOW.
 
NOW IS THE TIME
That I can see face-to-face the reality of the promises.
I can see He is faithful to fulfill.
I can answer all the questions that once captured my thoughts.

NOW IS THE TIME, FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.
 
I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around this.
He is so faithful, so faithful, and ever so faithful.
 
And just as He has proven Himself faithful to me, He is also to you.

 
May you be encouraged today that it’s never too late to dream.
Never give up on what’s been promised to you.
He delivers what He promises.
May your heart be trusting in His ability, timing, plan, and purpose.
And finally, may you rest assured –