Losing My Job...and Never Been Happier

After 16 years with the company, I'm losing my job --- and I've never been happier. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love my job and the people I get to work with every day. I know it's popular to bash large corporations today but how many companies would:

1. Pay for your continued education (MBA - books included) with no strings attached?

2. Grant you 8 months of leave and hold your job while you cared for your sick wife?

3. Help you galvanize a bone marrow registration effort company-wide to save lives? 

4. Allow you to work from home once a week so you can mantain a healthy work/life balance?

This one. I count it a privilege to have worked at one of the greatest companies and some of the smartest people in the world. But my job does not define me. My God does. As some of you may know, I have been in the process of writing a book on marriage and the gospel (some of which I have put on this blog), going on four years now and to date it's about 80% complete. I began in earnest when Kim was sick with cancer and have labored with starts and stops in between. This past New Year's Day my only resolution (and promise to God) was to complete this project but truth be told I still found it difficult to make progress given my busy work schedule, three kids, etc. 

So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that GE Capital was selling off virtually all of their businesses and Commercial Real Estate would be the first to go. I was shocked but not shaken. While the world might see this as an unfortunate turn of events I see it as a great blessing because it completely frees up my schedule to finish the book. I will be getting paid to essentially do nothing until early next year. God has removed the last of my excuses -- a lack of time.


As a bonus, I was only two classes shy of graduating with a Masters degree from Moody Theological Seminary before my wife got sick. I couldn't summon the gumption to go back upon life after cancer. Well, I found out that GE will also pay for my last two classes as part of their job-loss policy. Gumption summoned. God is good. 

After being summarily rejected by all the Christian publishers I knew three years ago I resigned myself to self-publishing. At the encouragement of a friend (and despite my hesitation to re-open an old wound) I attended a Christian Writers Conference in Wheaton last week called "Write to Publish". Once I got over the fact that I was one of the youngest people there, one of only a few males and definitely the only Asian (not on a panel), I pitched my book idea to four different publishers. To my surprise, all four of them shared in my excitement and wanted to see a completed book proposal. It was so affirming to see others in the industry, who have the power to get the word out, see the awesome potential of communicating the gospel through the context of marriage. God's timing is always perfect. Don't worry, I have no aspirations of becoming a full-time writer. I'm just following God's lead -- though admittedly it is a bit slow for my impatient taste.

A generous friend of mine helped me put together a teaser video (pro-bono) three years ago and it has collected dust since then. I hope it piques your curiosity in the project. (though the title has already changed) 

The Big Picture of Marriage from Peter C on Vimeo.

I make no claims of being a marriage expert but in the end this book is not really about marriage -- it's about the gospel and I'm a lover of the gospel. Please pray for me (and Kim) if you feel led. Obviously, this topic is deeply spiritual and though I believe God created marriage to be a light to the world, it has instead become a lightning rod with the world. My prayer is that through this book God would unveil the mystery of the gospel found in marriage so that many might come to understand and experience the great love of our Lord. 

"Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."  -Ephesians 6:19-20

In His Grace & For His Glory,

Peter