'Stretched' blessings

God really has His way of things in our lives. Often I really don't understand how He works in my life, much less wondering how He works in the lives of others.

I began sharing of this recent testimony of God's goodness in my life, when I told Rebecca that she's worth so much more than this blessing that God has most generously given. Indeed, Rebecca is really a gem uncommon in most parts of the developed world these days. People have become so complex that even our local Singaporean men are beginning to feel inferior & threatened by our local Singaporean women. I guess the habit (or worse still - addiction) for personal achievement, image & success does have its undesired detriments on people.

This testimony that I shared is with regards with the income that God has given me for my first & newest perm job beginning soon at StarHub (Tai Seng). I guess every company has its own salary scale, unlike the fixed salary ranges in the Civil Service. I wasn't sure how much to quote for my salary expectation when I applied for the perm position as Internal Account Manager of the Network Wholesale department at StarHub. At my third & final interview, the HR executive insisted that I state my salary expectation. I asked whether she knew what was the commonly expected range of salary for someone of my current qualifications & experience. She diverted my question & replied with another vague question. Giving up asking, I thought to myself for about 2 seconds then writing down $1,800 - $2,000.

In my mind, I was thinking - that's it... if the salary range is too high, I might not even get the job. Its just 'great' that she insisted that I put down my expected salary. Finally, after almost a week later, Kareen Lai (that HR executive) called to tell me that I've been selected & would be given a starting salary of $2,000. My heart jumped! But as usual, I played it cool... & replied casually that it was good & I'm glad to be selected for this position. I still remember trying to get this fact into my 'head' about being hired & paid $2,000 for the next 2 - 3 hrs. It was just unbelievable to me. All my life, I have faced so many rejections from schools, companies, etc. Acceptance is definitely not something common on my mind. In fact, it was extremely rare. Honestly, I wasn't used to it... =)

Coming back to this topic which I shared with Rebecca, I told her that God has been very generous to me about my starting salary. I gave the range of $1,800 - $2,000, worried stiff whether I would miss the job if I had quoted too high. Not only did God gave me this job, He even gave me the top choice salary that I asked for! Honestly, I still remember the night before the day which I was to expect a call from HR. I was consoling myself, saying "Nevermind, don't even think about the $2,000. Even if I'm given $1,800... it would still be much better than my current temp staff salary. Better than nothing. Its still good to get a perm job & start somewhere." Never did I expect that God was so generous to give me the top choice of my quoted salary!

Personally, I perceive blessings as something as beyond the basic needs of a person. That means to say, I'm currently already given a temp job with a fluctuating monthly 'per-hourly-paid' salary that lets me to get by from month to month, for the past 6 - 7 months at StarHub. Honestly, there wasn't much that I could save & yet I still gave to my parents. Once, I even gave them my monthly contribution even before I got that month's pay into my bank account. I chose to give by faith. I told God that nevermind, I'm still going to give my parents. If You are willing, You can bless me with more next time. If I'm right, that was before I got my perm job offer of $2,000.

So you see, God does see our heart's intentions, hopes & dreams. Even if we think He doesn't see or care. It may be difficult to trust at times (I've been upset about my pathetic temp staff pay for more than half a year), I even got depressed of the lack of opportunities available to me, etc. I was on the verge of giving up hope, wondering what the heck am I going to work & spending my life hours away for a few miserable dollars an hour. But still, that doesn't change the fact that God watches over us day & night... & sees His plans for our lives. In short, our moods don't change God's plans for us. Simple, yet meaningful point to note.

Thus, based on my definition of the measure which I'm given before I conclude myself as being blessed by God, this incident is a classic example of God giving me more than what I need. In fact, He even gave me what I wanted. Not just the salary range that I asked for, but the TOP salary that I prayed about! I mean, I really didn't wish to keep up my hopes before the news was broken to me. Why keep my hopes up? Every time I do so, I get disappointed. 98% of the time. Where is my faith when I need it? Nay... I was already depressed & couldn't trust God much anymore, so I just left my situation in His hands. And at that low point of my life, God showed me how much He can choose to bless me. Anything... as long as He chooses to. And this time, He gave me the most of what I hoped & asked for.

It was truly shocking... God gave me what I wanted! The most of what I wanted! Gosh! I think it really seldom happens in my life, that's why I can get this shocked. *Quiet chuckle*. Furthermore, God has been slowly revealing more about this new workplace that I would be moving to very soon. Just two days ago, I was referred to a colleague named Alvin Lee, who is a Christian & attends one of the Christian Fellowship at Tai Seng! When I first heard it, it didn't cross my mind what time it starts & ends, or whether or not I would attend. I was just glad that I was introduced to a fellow brother in Christ at Tai Seng, via E-MAIL. I was glad that there are fellow believers in my new workplace, even though he was from a different department. Nevermind, I'm still thankful. Thank you, God. =)