Radical Transformation Part 2: Trusting God With the Unknown

Trusting God With the Unknown: That is where this journey went. February 14^th was Paul’s last day with a job. Praying together became essential as we started down the road of trusting God to provide something new. We spent time as a family that weekend, and began reconnecting with recruiters Monday morning. Once the word was out, the phone started ringing off the hook, and interviews were being scheduled. Paul and I both thought this process would be so easy and he’d have his pick of jobs by the end of the week. That first week turned into weeks, and the journey ahead was long and frustrating.

By the end of the second week, my heart started to fill with anxiety. I was having physical anxiety symptoms because I’m a planner and I handle the finances for our family. We received our last paycheck from Paul’s previous company, and we were no longer covered under health insurance. For our family, health insurance is so important because we have children that either seriously injure themselves, or become extremely sick multiple times a year. Each year it is guaranteed we’ll have multiple hospital visits and in this world, a hospital visit can bankrupt a family. This was once again an area where we could trust God to provide, and HE DID!

We went into March knowing that we had a tax return coming, but that was it. I told Paul, we HAVE to have you working to generate an income by the end of the 2nd week in order to have a paycheck in March. Talk about putting pressure on my husband. Did I mention that we have no savings! We have money in 401Ks, but do not have an actual savings account. Oh and debt, yeah, we have debt too. In February, Paul’s car registration came due as well as his student loan repayment plan. Talk about huge expenses with no idea where the next paycheck would come. The tax return could cover almost 2 weeks of a regular paycheck, but in my opinion, there was no way we could get through March without a paycheck! With that said, we tithed 10% of that income tax return with full faith that God would come through for us! People always say, “I can’t afford to tithe.” I’m sorry to inform you but when you are expecting God to take care of your family you can’t afford NOT to tithe. Tithing is giving God back what He has entrusted your family with. Paul and I are firm believers that tithing is essential and so, by tithing while not knowing how we would pay the end of month bills, we were saying, “God we fully trust You!” Guess what? Thanks to a sweet lady hitting my van, causing some damage, and leaving a note about wanting to make things right, we got a check for the exact amount of our mortgage in the mail to cover the cost of repairs!! That is not a coincidence that is God providing! Once we start receiving a paycheck, I’ll get my van fixed, but for now, all of my bills are paid through April 11^th. 

When March began, I had no idea how we would get through the month without a paycheck. With regards to jobs, Paul and I have always prayed for God to close doors that are not in His plan for our family. We prayed that same prayer over and over again together and we watched as God closed so many doors. We were prepared to move to two different states and God even closed those doors. We received offers for jobs, but none felt like the right spot. Then, one door that had been opened for weeks opened wider. We watched as God made it very clear it was the path for our family. It was risky, but the benefits could be great, and it was another opportunity to trust our Almighty God to provide.

Two weeks ago, Paul accepted a contract job with a company to work for a different large company in Colorado. We were ready to get started so we could generate a paycheck by the end of March, but Paul wasn’t able to start until this past Monday. That gave us a week to bring Otto Ops, LLC to life. It has always been our dream to start our own company, but it is also very scary because we need a steady income, and we need health insurance. We’ve already learned what it means to live by faith and trust God with our future, so we jumped in with both feet. After only 2 days in the office, Paul feels this was the best move we could have ever made. The best career move, the best move for our marriage, and the best move for our family. Now, if he needs to work overtime, he bills the company for it. J

I am once again, humbled and thankful for this entire experience. I’m so done with living for my will and plans. God’s plans are greater and bigger than I could ever imagine and He knows what the future holds. The 5 weeks we had while Paul was unemployed were trying and exhausting. They were also the best 5 weeks we’ve had as a family in a very long time! We’ve spent so much time together, and I’m appreciative of the precious time we’ve had. We’ve transformed into a family that spends more time together, and trusts God with what we have. Things I thought we needed were easily forgotten, as we learned what was essential and what was not essential. Paul and I are both plugged into Bible Studies, and we’re working towards really plugging into our church so we can grow. The transformation has just begun and I’m nervous as well as excited to see where this journey takes us.

Radical Transformation for the Ottos: Fully learning to trust God with all aspects of our lives. Trusting him with our time, our finances, and our future. Making God and our beliefs #1 and family #2. Going against the norm of working insane hours to earn a paycheck to working enough hours to survive and then spending the rest of that time teaching our children what it means to live for God. We have 8 years left with our oldest child, and we want him to leave the nest with a firm foundation in Christ, not a desire to work himself to death. 

Radical Transformation Part 1

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Radical Transformation: That is where this journey started. Last October, our pastor started a sermon series on radical transformation. It was a series with “Will You?” commitments every week. Paul and I loved the series, but we had no idea what lied ahead, or how much that series was going to impact our lives.  Looking back, I feel that spiritual growth was preparing our family for a new stage in life where we would need to fully commitment everything we have to the Lord. As a family, we would go against the cultural norms and transform!

The “Will You?” sermon series ended with a commitment….a commitment to God and our church to work towards radical transformation. Paul and I knew our home life needed to most drastic transformation of them all. He had been working tirelessly at a start-up company that expected 24/7/365 from him, and it had been 10 months of non-stop work. Our family tank was empty and we were at a crossroads. Our marriage was struggling to stay afloat, and the kids were constantly complaining that they didn’t have time with dad. See, Paul would come home, but he would need to get back on the computer to work so he was never fully here. He strives to be an involved father, but work was forcing him to put his family on the backburner. I could see the struggle within him to persevere to provide for his family, but falling apart at the seams because he wanted to be the husband and father that his heart desired him to be. The sermon series made it abundantly clear that we needed a drastic change in the Otto household.

We began praying and asking God for guidance, and Paul started replying to recruiters about a new job. For us, Paul has such a unique resume that he is contacted about jobs all of the time. He interviewed and took things slowly in hopes of finding the perfect match. 2014 started with a new sermon series for families called, “Home Fitness.” Once again, we were faced with the reality that our home needed a transformation. What we didn’t realize was how radical that transformation would end up being. Paul took an offer to interview at a new start-up that we were excited about a year or so ago. We didn’t expect him to take the job because he was hoping to take a job with 2 larger corporations and possibly relocate. He walked in, nailed the interview, and they offered Paul a job on the spot! It wasn’t the level of income he wanted, so they asked what he needed to leave his current job. He gave them a crazy number that he didn’t expect them to meet. An hour later, they called with that salary, plus a life-changing amount of stock, 100% free healthcare, and a paid-for vacation. It seemed like a blessing from above and we were so very excited about it all. What we didn’t realize was how far Satan had led us away from the real path we were to be on. We excepted the job offer and couldn’t believe the opportunity we were given.

In the past, Paul has always laid out work/life balance needs to each employer so they know upfront that he is a family man first. The first start-up took advantage of that, and Paul was assured the new start-up wouldn’t do that. Two weeks in, and Paul was feeling an extreme amount of pressure to work much longer than 12-hour days. After a very large argument and some Godly wisdom from a trusted mentor, Paul went into work to talk expectations. What he found out was that the new company needed 80+ hours a week for the next 6-9 months. Wow….there is no overtime pay for those extra hours because he works on salary. I asked Paul to talk to the CEO to make sure that was what the company needed from him. The CEO agreed that was the need for the foreseeable future. Paul made the decision that day to leave the job! No job in place, no savings, no idea where he would go….Paul quit his job! It wasn’t on bad terms that he left, and they even paid him 2 weeks severance with benefits to give him time to find something else. I am so glad the CEO and others respected his decision to put family first. 

Paul left that job that day with the confidence that he would have a new job in a week. This was a journey that started with a lot of pride and confidence, and ended with a family fully trusting and relying on God and with very, very humble hearts. I am extremely grateful for this entire process, for the transformation our family has undergone, and continues to go through to come out more Christ-like than ever. Never in my life have I trusted God in the way that I do now. It has made all of us different people, and I am humbled by this experience.