Watermark Blogs

“I spent my 20’s chasing worldly things,” said Laurie Zeleny. “Climbing the corporate ladder. Defining my life by career success. At times, hanging out with my church friends on Sundays, then living apart from God Monday through Saturday. In 2001, I had the opportunity to move to London with the corporation I was working for. From the outside, it looked great. I worked in a grand, historic building in the heart of the city. But I’m not proud of many choices I made during this time in my life.”

“My first wake up call came when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. The first year she underwent treatment, we thought she’d be OK. I moved back home the following year when they found her cancer had spread. She died a month to the day the doctors found cancer cells in her brain fluid. During her last days, we were blessed to be able to say everything we needed to say to each other. I finally had a full understanding of what a godly woman she was, and the grace she’d experienced from the Lord throughout her life.

“Losing my mom actually connected me back to faith in Christ. It moved me to continually seek time in God’s Word and pray. I started asking God about the choices I was making and the people I spent time with. I went back to church. God changed me slowly, and every day He seemed to be writing something new into my life.

“The next wake up call came when the division of the company I worked for was sold. Because I was in human resources, I was part of over 200 layoff conversations. I had to lay off people I’d coached, trained and worked with for almost 10 years. It was a defining moment – one that made me realize my whole identity was wrapped up in my career. I wondered what would define me if I didn’t have work. So one day I asked God to help me slow down and show me what He really wanted me to be about. Over the next seven months, God built in to me. In a lot of ways, He got me ready.

“It sounds funny, but I never really thought I would lose my job. I’d always thrown myself into work and prided myself in my performance. But in June of 2008, I was out of a job at a company I loved. Even more surprising –  I felt at peace, because God had prepared me. I knew He had something for me. I just didn’t know what.

“Unemployment made me reevaluate my life and opened my eyes to how much I had that I didn’t necessarily need. I started looking at how I could steward my resources better, and asking God what a godly woman really looked like. God gave me a greater understanding and more comfort with the role He gave me as a woman. I started spending  daily time in God’s Word and getting back to the discipline of prayer. The two verses that I found myself going back to were Proverbs 3:5-6 and Matthew 6:25.

“God also used this time to allow me to pour into others. I spent time with my family and got involved with a Bible study for women. I helped with a summer camp offered by Voice of Hope, a mentoring ministry that Watermark partners with in West Dallas. Those were all things I would never have been able to do had I been working. I also participated in Careers in Motion, the jobs ministry at Watermark. That gave me spiritual support during my job search and the chance to use my gifts and experience to help others who were looking for jobs. The relationships I built there helped remind me that God’s hand was always at work.

“Today, though my job search has taken unexpected turns, I live with so much less fear.  Other passions are coming to life for me, and God is giving me opportunities much bigger than what I was doing before. I’m leading a community group,  serving at Mercy Street in West Dallas and mentoring a 13-year-old girl named Alexis. It’s such a humbling experience being trusted to help shape her into a godly young woman.

“I don’t doubt that all of this is in God’s plan. He has helped me break free of titles and companies and think about making an eternal impact by serving others. Work is now a function of my life — it doesn’t define me.

“Now that I strive to put God at the center of my life and decisions, I’m starting to understand where the grace that I saw in my mom comes from. And I can tell you it was worth it to have lost a job but to have gained peace from the Lord.”