In July, I attended a Women of Faith conference in Washington, D.C. And, one of the speakers was Rich Stearns, President of World Vision. At this conference, he shared his story of his professional accomplishments and how he worked his way up the corporate ladder and became very successful in the world's eyes. And, he talked about how he woke up one day after achieving quite a bit of wordly success and realized that he should leave the corporate world behind to join the mission of World Vision. In his talk, he said that he looked at his very successful life and asked himself, "I'm 34 years old, president of a national toy company, and what have I done with my skills for God?"
As I sat in the audience, his question rang through my head. And as I sat there repeating it to myself, I realized that I was in exactly the same situation. I was 34 years old, a professor and researcher at one of the best institutions in the world, and had not done much with my skills for God.
As I thought about his comment and how it applied to my life, I began to reflect on my life. Similar to Rich Stearns and his wife, my husband and I have worked very hard to get to where we are. We like to look back at when we first got married. We lived in a 500 square foot apartment that cost $315/month and we worked all sorts of odd jobs to support ourselves through school. We furnished our entire apartment for $100 and my husband kept his clothes in the trunk of his car because we didn't have enough space in our apartment. But, we worked very hard as a team and we slowly built our life to the point that we would be considered very successful today. As we examined our life in July, we both worked at Johns Hopkins, lived in a 5200 square foot home, had a vacation home on the banks of the Potomac River, three cars, and a boat. We were living the American dream.
But, guess what? When we examined our life, we realized that we were living the American dream for ourselves and living this American dream had its price. You see, my husband and I were always committed to staying at home with our children and not sending them to daycare. So, we agreed that I would work only if we could alternate working from home so that one of us could always be at home with the kids. And, while that worked well for the kids and fit our ideas of childrearing, it was very exhausting for us. I found myself working a lot at night to be able to keep up with the demands of my career and still be there for my children during the day. And, after 9 years of doing this, we were feeling very worn. And for the last couple of years, we both began feeling that the rat race lifestyle was not worth it, no matter how successful we appeared.
So, when Rich Stearns posed that statement about being 34 years old and having not used his skills for God, I was overwhelmed. At 34 years old, I had hit the top of my profession and it became abundantly clear to me that weekend that I was not using my skills and talents for God. I was working very hard for my family and for my career. But, I was not working for God. And, as a result, we were not as fulfilled as we could be. So, my husband and I started talking about how we could simplify our life and we started praying for clear direction.
At the same time, Wendy and I had been talking about how we could use our stories of hardship to help women. You see, over the last two years, Wendy and I have experienced some amazing things. In 2008, I experienced a miracle through the birth of Isabella and Wendy was there through it all. Following that event, Wendy experienced her own life changing event that I walked with her. And through both events, she and I formed a very special friendship and sisterhood. Those of you who have read our blogs over the past few months have seen us describe our friendship. And, we both believe that God knitted our hearts together, much like David and Jonathan, through these events. And, as we began really exploring what we had been through over the past two years, she and I prayed and we began to dream of how we could use our skills and our experiences together to reach women.
Even before the Women of Faith conference, Wendy and I had been feeling that we could use our experiences to help women. And, after Women of Faith, we really started praying that God would show us what our specific purpose should be. I was feeling that God was calling me to quit my job at Johns Hopkins and stay home with my children and write full time. As we prayed for specific direction, we began feeling called to write books together and to start our online ministry, After the Miracle. And, as we developed these goals, we really started feeling that we wanted to be in the same town. We dreamed of working together during the days while our husbands were at work and the kids were at school. And, we dreamed of reaching women together with our stories.
And, we really thought being in the same town would allow us to do that most effectively. The only problem was that the same town would have to be a small town (and I mean really small) in southeastern Virginia, about an hour from any major city. And, since my husband was a computer programmer, we really didn't know how he was going to find a job close to this small town. But, we started looking and praying.
Since my husband worked in healthcare IT, we started looking at the hospitals in the Richmond to Hampton Roads areas. I had a friend who worked at a large hospital system, so I asked her if she thought there were any opportunities. She encouraged us to apply to a few of the jobs listed on their website. He put his resume in and didn't hear anything for about a month.
And then, one day, Silvano got a call for an interview. We were very excited that they were calling, but also a little cautious because this job was located in Richmond, about an hour and a half from where we wanted to live. But, it was an interview and it was a start!
Like I usually do when opportunities like this arise, I started fantasizing about what the job could be like. I remember telling my husband, wouldn't it just be amazing if they said you could work from home for two days a week and then travel for 3 days a week. Wouldn't that be sign from God that we were supposed to move?
Like he usually does, Silvano entertained my ideas and just shook his head saying that jobs just aren't like that and it was unrealistic to think that it would be like that. Even still, I told him, wouldn't it be great?!
Silvano had the interview on a Friday afternoon and it lasted over an hour. I was so excited to hear what was being said, how he thought he did, and what the job was all about. I could hardly stand it! But, at the same time, I was trying to remain calm and kept praying that God knew what we needed and if this wasn't it (and ultimately, if we weren't supposed to move), then please make it clear. And, I remember praying that I wanted His will for our life. But, just in case you didn't know God, I really, really, really want this!!
When Silvano got off the interview, he seemed somewhat stunned. And, when he started to describe the job, I became stunned. One of the first things he told me was that almost everyone on this team works from home. And, they live all over. Some live in Richmond, some live in Hampton Roads. All over. So, we could live anywhere. Then, he went on to say that one of the guys on the phone said that we could even live in Baltimore. Now, I didn't want to live in Baltimore forever, but I did need to live in Baltimore until the kids were done with the school year. So, ultimately, Silvano could work from Baltimore until we moved and then we could move anywhere. We could even move to a small (and I mean really small) town in Southeastern Virginia!
From there, he went on to describe how this job was perfect for his personality, perfect for skill set, and gave him the professional development that he was looking for. I sat there amazed and shocked at what I was hearing. This was the perfect job and it was far better than I even dreamed. And then Silvano said something that I will never forget, "When God gives us something, he doesn't just give us something that's good enough, he gives something that is perfect."
One of my favorite verses is Luke 12:48, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." I have been given much in my life. The Lord has equipped me with certain talents that have made me successful in my professional life. And, He has given me the most amazing gift in the miraculous birth of Isabella. And, I believe that it is now time to use my talents and experiences for Him. And, I intend to use them with Wendy in our new ministry together. And, to accomplish that, we have given the most amazing opportunity to move to southeastern Virginia so that we can simplify our lives and I can work on these endeavors that I believe that I have been called to do.
So, following this academic year, I will be resigning my position at Johns Hopkins University and we will be moving to southeastern Virginia. We will be selling both of our homes and downsizing our life so that we can focus on our family and so that I can refocus my skills and talents from a career that I loved very much to a calling that I believe the Lord placed on my heart this summer. I look so forward to being a stay at home mom and moving to an area where our family can slow down and enjoy the splendor of the world around us. And, I look forward to working with my dear friend to reach women for the Lord. We have many changes ahead and we eagerly await what the Lord has for us in this move. And, we feel so very blessed that we have the opportunity to share our story of how the Lord showed us the need to simplify our life, focus on our family, and work for Him.