Servants of God's Love at 4399 Ford Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 US - One Thing I Ask For

Sr. Christina Frey

As a teen, the Lord gave me a very strong desire to be His servant, and the call to follow Him had been a constant echo in my heart. I responded by telling the Lord, 'I just want to serve you. It doesn't matter how, or in what way.' Although I said those words, I never thought that I would be serving the Lord as a religious sister. See, I already had an agenda for my life. I wanted to go to college, get a decent job, get my own home, fall in love, get married, have beautiful children, and then serve the Lord with my family doing missionary work in a foreign country. However, God is truly full of surprises and He definitely had other plans for my life - as wonderful as my plans sounded to me. Before I began to hear God's call to be a sister, I dated several different guys. Still, I began to have a real thirst and a longing for more of God in my life. I decided that I wanted the Lord to be the center of my life and I wanted to be completely committed to Him instead of to another relationship. I grew tired of being a half-hearted and complacent Christian and also weary of giving God second best when He deserved far more. In college, I often found myself asking, 'how can I give my heart to someone else when I had not completely given my heart and my love to the Lord?' It became apparent to me that Christ needed to come first before everyone and everything. I needed to love Him with my whole heart, mind and soul. It was during this time of earnestly seeking the Lord's will that He began to reveal His plan for me. At a prayer group meeting, I received prayer specifically to know God's direction and will for my life. That day began my discernment process. Jeremiah 29:12-14 states: "When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me, yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you says the Lord." Two of my friends who prayed with me that night had a sense that I had a vocation to religious life. I was totally shocked but I decided to ask the Lord for confirmation of this call. He continued to reveal that this was His will for me. While I was in awe at first, my excitement quickly faded as I thought of all that I would have to give up: family, friends, my freedom, my wants, my desires and my will, but God was truly gracious and continued to speak to my heart beckoning me to "follow Him." During this time the scripture verse that constantly spoke to my heart was Mk 8:34, "...whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." God brought me to a point where He gave me a choice to either choose marriage - which is truly a beautiful call - or religious life. With time, I got to a place where I could joyfully surrender an say "yes" to His call for me to be a sister. I was able to say with great conviction and joy, Ps 26:4 "One thing I ask for, one thing I seek to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the Lord's beauty." Many years I dreamt of having a fairy tale wedding and finding the ideal marriage partner. Yet Christ had been there all the time graciously waiting for me to give my "yes" to Him who is truly the most perfect gentleman. I want nothing more than to follow Christ all the days of my life where ever He leads and by His infinite grace to one day be His bride.

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