When life takes an unexpected turn, it’s easy to dismay. Vonna Laue shares how she’s become grateful for not knowing what God was up to!
Elisa

You’re Fired!
By Vonna Laue
When I decided to leave the CPA firm and my twenty-year career, I only had four months to wind things down. I committed to not looking for a job or entertaining any offers during that time. I needed to finish well, and that required my complete focus on the task at hand.
When January rolled around, I began to think and dream and just give myself some space. I had worked since I was thirteen, and to not have the everyday commitment was strange but nice. I focused some of my quiet time on the concept of “Be Still.”
I’m a list person, so I compiled a couple of lists. The first was of people who could speak into my life. These were individuals I respected and had enough of a relationship with that they knew me and could provide wise counsel. The second was ideas of opportunities I might like to pursue. These weren’t jobs that were open but more general ideas of things that held an attraction for me. The ideas ranged from running a foundation and giving away money to being on a church staff.
This was a sweet time. Our oldest daughter was wrapping up her senior year of high school and our youngest daughter her final year of junior high. I had more opportunities to just be Mom than I had in the past and enjoyed soaking up time with my husband, myself, and the sun.
As I sifted through opportunities and listened to counsel, it was exciting and scary. We realized in the fall that we were likely moving away from sunny Southern California yet had no idea where. The president of an organization located in Virginia had reached out that fall and again in December. Both times, I had said I wasn’t going to consider anything until after December 31.
As I prayed and sought counsel, the focus on my future narrowed. As I was nearing a decision, I had three people in one week suggest I should consider the organization in Virginia. None of them knew anyone else had suggested it, and they didn’t even know I was considering it. They just provided those unsolicited suggestions. It became clear that was where I needed to go.
I accepted the offer in April and then put them off again, saying I wanted to start on August 1. That gave us time to finish the school year, pack, and move across the entire country. Our oldest daughter dropped off her boxes and we took her to college. Our youngest daughter settled into her new school and joined a 4-H club where she became very active. Work started, and I loved it. We had a hard time settling into the community and a harder time finding a church home, which was difficult because we had come from an amazing church where we were plugged in and serving.
As time went on, we grew more accustomed to our new environment. Then the world stopped for me one afternoon. Each of the individuals on the executive leadership team where I was serving made monthly plans and shared them with each other. One of the other executive vice presidents was leaving, so I asked to meet with the president to go through my monthly plan before sending it to the others. I wanted to make sure it reflected the shift in responsibilities everyone would have. The president put off the meeting a few days, and then on the appointed day, he said he wanted to meet later in the afternoon. When the time came, he brought a folder into the conference room, which I thought nothing about. He started the meeting by informing me that people would probably think he was crazy, but he’d decided that was my last day with the company. I found out the folder contained my severance paperwork.
I was devastated! The myriad of thoughts that went through my mind in the following minutes, hours, and days are still a blur. I felt failure and shame, shock and anger, confusion and frustration. Honestly, my most prevalent thought was that my family had moved from a place we loved to a place where we were struggling to settle—and for what? This!?
It took time to heal and recover. Mostly, I wanted answers to explain the why, which never came. If you go through something painful like that, you want to learn and grow from it so you can avoid it in the future. I felt like that closure never came. However, the results were still more than I could imagine, and the outpouring of love and support from personal and professional friends around the country was amazing.
I loved the organization and the people there—and still do. By God’s grace, I have continued to maintain a professional relationship with the organization through my consulting practice and a personal relationship with many of the individuals who work there. The Lord protected my heart from bitterness, which I can truly credit only to him.
Glad I Didn’t Know
I am so glad I didn’t know that I would lose the job that moved us across the country. I guarantee I would not have taken the job. The result of the move was that our youngest daughter had her high school years in Virginia, where she grew in amazing ways and had opportunities that would never have been hers in California. She thrived in ways that launched her into college and prepared her for the time beyond that. It also pushed me to begin consulting with ministries, which was a step I was too apprehensive to take, and the result has been such a joy.
Through these very unexpected shifts, I have learned to trust the process and to trust God. The Lord sees all the results in advance. As a sports fan, I see that I have a role to play. The Lord, as Coach, sees how the role I play fits into the plans he has drawn up. I can’t see that; I’m just looking at what is in front of me rather than the big field or court.
In reality, none of us knows what’s ahead of us, but somehow God uses each step to prepare us for the next.
“But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you” (1 Samuel 12:24).
Adapted from Glad I Didn’t Know: Lessons Learned Through Life’s Challenges and Unexpected Blessings, by Vonna Laue, ©2025.

Vonna Laue was raised in South Dakota and never imagined the opportunities that lay ahead. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and an MBA. She is the author of Glad I Didn’t Know: Lessons Learned Through Life’s Challenges and Unexpected Blessings. Vonna writes for various publications, speaks at regional and national conferences, and has assisted in developing various training programs. She loves serving churches and ministry organizations in operational areas and does so through consulting and board roles. She has been in all fifty states, twenty-plus countries, and 111 airports and counting. She has an amazing husband, two fabulous daughters, a fantastic son-in-law, and an adorable grandson. She loves the beach, watching sports, and traveling with her husband in this season of life, which they describe as #thriving.
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