Path to Christianity 2

At the embassy, things really changed. I got sent to various countries for conferences and meetings. I got a good break. Everytime they send me somewhere, I got a per diem at Norwegian rates (they call Odin rates). And I started being able to save up. We started buying more stuff in the house, and sent little Aya to nursery school. Things looked rather bright both spiritually and materially. Until I was told the embassy will close down the commercial section in Manila, a decision taken from HQ in Oslo. Many a new dad would have been scared *hitless, but at that time I was already having a strong enough faith in my God who has given me so much. An HR guy came to Manila to tell me that they will give me a package amounting to about a quarter of a million pesos. When I left government 3 years ago, after working for about 12 years as a civil servant, I even owed government about Php14,000. Here I am, after 3 years with the embassy, being sent packing with a hefty Php250,000. Now that is a lot of zeroes after the numbers 2 and 5. The HR guy was perplexed t see me happy, while all the others looked rather sad.

I used the money to co-share with my brother-in-law in buying a lot, and together we built a 3-storey house. I occupied the 2nd floor, a 1-bedroom unit. Finally I own a house. It was a bit of a shell, butwhile it was being constructed I found an opportunity to moonlight. I prepared a feasibility study together with some old friends for a wealthy Taipan, and got paid about half a milion pesos for it. So we were able to make the house look like a home eventually. There was still a little money left, so I also sold my battered 1990 Nissan Sentra, and upgraded to a 1995 Toyota Corolla.

I just have to be crazy not to think that my God is giving me a little boost.