Commitment - Honoring Years of Employment Service

Commitment is a dedicated promise or firm decision to remain loyal, faithful, or devoted to a person, purpose, or principle—especially when it requires sacrifice, consistency, or perseverance.

It’s choosing to stay the course even when feelings fade, circumstances shift, or challenges appear. Commitment is the daily act of showing up with intention.

Earlier this week, I attended my first Service Recognition Luncheon for The Ohio State University.  This event recognizes staff members with "25 years plus" years of service.  I had 25 years back in 2020 which was the COVID pandemic so I received my service pin in the postal mail.

There were over 750 employees eligible for recognition and 330 were in attendance at the luncheon.  I don't normally take lunch breaks.  The luncheon itself was one and a half hours and when you add in travel time, I was away from work for over two and a half hours. Since this was an OSU event, I was not required to take any leave, however, I worked very hard to make sure I had plans in place for my work to be covered.  I don't like to speak ill of anyone but some of my coworkers need a cattle prod and I'm the cattle prod so I had to be clear that I was going to be away and not "minding the store."  

Psalm 37:5

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.”

Thankfully, the time away from work was uneventful.  The one thing that did crop up was handled without my prodding. While planning for the time away was stressful, it was a honor to be among other employees to celebrate our years of commitment to The Ohio State University.  Each one of us received a recognition pin and a handshake from OSU President Ted Carter. 

Part of me has to chuckle when I think about how stressed I was to be away from work.  Yes, my work is important and our web application firewall can block users and temporarily prevent them from completing their task(s). However, if staff from the OSU Police department as well as doctors, nurses, and other staff members from the OSU Wexner Medical Center can take time away from their jobs which are deal with "life and death" situations, I deserved the opportunity to celebrate my 30 years.

My next opportunity to celebrate, God willing, will be in 2030 with 35 years of service.  That's a ways off so let's take it one day at a time.

Resources:

Pictures:  My personal photos of the program handed out plus my 30 year pin.

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