“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 

Mark 10:29-30

I was baptized as a graduate student while studying counter-terrorism at Georgetown University, one of the top security studies programs in the country. (Of course, we would say the #1 program, but that’s our bias showing :)). I planned to work in federal government for my entire life, serving the country and traveling the world. I always had a desire to help people, and at the time, I believed stopping future terrorist attacks was the best way to do that.

Four months after graduation, I had the incredible opportunity to accept a job as an intelligence analyst in the federal government. I worked there for more than two years and did a lot of great work with great people. In early 2013 Afa and I were engaged and were asked to go with Jeremiah and Julie Clark to plant a church in Denver, Colorado. We were honored to be asked and couldn’t wait to go. I resigned from my job at the FBI, and Afa resigned from an incredible job at Salesforce. Before we quit our jobs, we made about $150,000 a year with our incomes combined. Afa believed he had a job lined up for the week we arrived, and I believed I would easily find one when we got there since I had a master’s degree and a few years’ experience in intelligence. And we had sacrificed great jobs to help people have relationships with God…so He would take care of us, right? Of course He would! But, as so often happens, it didn’t look the way I expected it to.

When we arrived in June, Afa’s job did not work out as expected, so we both went full time into finding a job. Afa started one within two weeks; however, no matter how many resumes I sent, applications I completed or temp agencies I asked, I didn’t get a single offer. We emptied every account we had and put my student loans into deferment as our bills started piling up with only a single income. Our families sent us money, and our friends at church bought us groceries; and still, I could not find a job. Finally, in September, I got from a temp agency with an offer for data input. I was SO grateful! I worked there for six weeks. It was very far from our house. The work was boring, and the environment was sad and dark. But I was grateful…and even more grateful when I got another call for an interview for a different job. In October of that year, I started working at CDOT for the Transportation Commission. While I worked with great people, the work I did was not especially interesting, and the pay was less than what we needed to cover all our bills. I worked there for about 18 months, and a friend from my job in DC emailed me to let me know that there was a position open at Western Union that I might be interested in.

I started doing some research, and the job looked great. I wasn’t sure I was qualified, but it was investigation work, which I loved, and the pay was significantly higher. There were two problems: 1) I had only had government jobs and moving to the private sector terrified me, and 2) I was 36 weeks pregnant. I didn’t think anyone would hire me, and even if they did, I would not be able to have any time off after Ana Lia’s birth. Because of these fears, I almost didn’t apply. Thankfully, I have an incredible husband who convinced me that the worst they could say is no. So I filled out the application. When they called to set up a first interview, they asked if I wanted an in person interview or a phone interview. Hoping to hide my very advanced pregnancy as long as possible, I asked for a phone interview. The two people interviewing me, who eventually became my supervisors, were so personable and down to earth, that when they asked about starting dates, I felt comfortable enough to tell them that I was nine months pregnant and couldn’t start soon. And my (now) friend yelled “Congratulations!” It caught me off guard so much that I didn’t know what to say. When Afa asked how the interview went, I was still speechless at her response. So, the problem of my pregnancy ended up not being a problem at all!

However, there was still the issue of moving from government to the private sector. So, it’s basically impossible to get fired from a government position, especially after you have been there for at least a year. Moving to the private sector meant at-will employment, translated to mean that they could fire me whenever they wanted. This filled me with a sense of dread. As a family, we had our health insurance through my job, and we were having a baby in less than a month. Where would it leave us if I changed jobs and then lost my job. Again, my husband reminded me that God ALWAYS took care of us, even when we had no jobs and no money; then he suggested we fast and pray. Well, he fasted since I was pregnant, but we both prayed. We prayed that God would make it clear which job I needed to take. Our baby was due on March 18, so we decided to lay out our fleece that if Western Union needed me to start before April 27 (six weeks after baby), then we would turn down the job offer. If they gave us any date after April 27, I would change jobs. When Western Union HR called to get all my paperwork straight, the representative said “Based on the time it takes to do background checks and the initial hires, there is no way we could get you a start date before April 27.” Just recalling the story brings me to tears, and as you can see the details are still so clear to me more than three years later. God answered our prayers so clearly, and even though I still harbored fears, I accepted the offer and I turned in my resignation to CDOT.

My job at Western Union has been the best job I could ever ask for. My coworkers are incredible. My work is interesting and meaningful. I follow the money to identify human traffickers and drug traffickers. The building have beautiful mother’s rooms and liberal time policies so that pumping for my infants was always easy. I became pregnant again soon after Ana Lia was born, and I got 12 weeks fully paid leave with Eliam. Then my supervisors allowed me to move to San Francisco, even though our entire team is in Denver, and keep my job. In San Francisco, the office has free food, which decreases our grocery bill, and I get to work from home, which gives me amazing flexibility when the kids are sick or have appointments. Then in a miracle that I could never have foreseen, when I had my third baby, I got 20 weeks (5 months!!) off fully paid. And that is on top of all the other benefits.

Five and a half years ago, I could have stayed at my federal job. I would have had no paid maternity leave for any of my pregnancies, and there is no work from home option for the job I had. I would not have been able to move to the places that are best for our family or had the flexibility that my job offers now. But I chose to give up a “dream job,” and while I certainly stumbled along the way, held onto the fact that God promises to work out all things for the good of those who love Him. My life doesn’t look the way I expected it to. Far from it – but so very much better. 

This is not a prosperity gospel. Following God doesn’t make you wealthy. While we are exceptionally privileged, we are also drowning in debt of our making and working hard to get our finances under control. But God has been faithful, more faithful than I could ever hope or strive to be.