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.

Path to Christianity 1

With our new baby, we started to build a new family. We rented a studio apartment in the community where my wife grew. We really started small. We had a two-seater sofa, a bed and a 14-inch TV. I was then occupying a neat position in government, Director for Transport BOT Projects. The position was great for social stature, but the salary was meager. There were temptations to cross the line in order to bring home big bucks. But I stuck to my guns, and my God. I had this feeling in my gut that if I feed my baby with food bought wth dirty money, she will choke to death. That kept me in line. I was too happy for the miracles I got, and was too scared to disappoint the Lord.

At some point God kicked me out of government, and led to me to a job in a different government. I got a post a Market Adviser at the Commercial Section of the Royal Norwegian Embassy. The travel time was shorter, and the pay was almost double. I feel that I got rewarded for saying no to the serpent who offered me a bite in the apple for so many occassions in so many years. God is gracious indeed!

Miracle of the Disappearing Lump

A few months after my wife and I got married, she discovered a lump on her breast. She was then pregnant with our first daughter. I remember being very scared. I have friends who have told me stories about sisters and aunts who had been afflicted with breast cancer, and succumbed to it eventually.

I called and prayed to my Lord again. I asked that she be healed. But knowing too that God wants us to aso act towards the resolution of our own struggles, I told my wife that we will have it surgically removed and biopsied as soon as she gives birth. I buckled up and got ready for a rough ride ahead, both phsychologically and financially. Meanwhile our attention got refocused on the anticipation of the arrival of our first baby. We bought baby clothes and all the stuff she will need. We went to the ob-gyne regularly to make sure our first baby is healthy.

Aya was born on the 1st of January, 2001, the first day after the end of the first year of the new milineum; portent of good things to come. As soon as we brought baby Aya home, I told my wife we should get ready to have the lump checked and removed. I remember hoping that it did not grow so big during the intervening months. She examined the lump, and looked at me, and said: Dad, I can't feel the lump anywhere at all.

Yes, the lump disappeared. Some doctors later told us that her body must have cured herself in order to protect the baby, which is quite reasonable scientifically speaking. But I have a Big Boss who takes cares of us, and I say, our God healed her.

What You Need Is What He Gives

After God's intervention as regards my brother, I began feeling God's presence in my life. I also became more discerning about things, I looked for the Lord in everything that I did. I realized that God has been with me all my life, it was just that I could not feel Him because I was too busy with my own ambitions. I grew up being told about a dog-eats-dog world. So I clawed my way into everything, always willing to get dirty just to get where I want to go. Until God manifested Himself in my life. I realized that I do not have to cross swords with everybody. If He is with me, I could fulfill my purposes in this world without being an ass.

I started rethinking my position in life. Perhaps my role in God's program is not to become a bigshot. Perhaps He wants me to be something else. So I told Him, "Lord, I think I do not have the mental faculties to fully discern your ways. But let me know what my role is in this whole story about You, and I will gladly fulfill it". In short, I surrendered my life to Him.

And then I started seeing that He provides for my needs. An example I like to tell my friends was about my wedding. Two days before the wedding date I was short by 20 thousand pesos to fully pay the reception expenses. I was to pay this as balance right after the event. For some reason, I was not worried.

The next day, as I went to the office to process my clearance (I was mivng jobs), and the HR guy said, "Sir, what do you want to do with your 20 days leave credits, transfer it as your leave credits in the agency you are moving to or monetize it?". I said, "I did not know we can monetize it, because the agency i'm moving to is an attached agency of this office.". The HR guy answered, "Well, this is the Office of the President, if you want to monetize, I can monetize it for you."

Guess how much did it add up to after the HR guy computed it? Yes. 20K. The HR guy also said, "Well, this is the Office of the President, if we want to expedite release of the check, we can." So I got the money COB the same day. God is so good.

OK, Do Not Worry

My brother was then about to undergo surgery. I went to the chapel at St. Lukes to pray to God, even if back then I was not much of a believer. That day I decided to come to Him for help. I knelt down and started praying. I prayed many times before; prayers of the perfunctory kind. But on this day I really opeend up to God, and I remember vividly that I asked Him to let my brother live. I also promised that if God allows him to live on, I will guide my brother at least until he is able to start a family. After spending about an hour of praying, i felt God's presence in the room. It was the very first time I really felt Him. I felt a warm feeling from my toes that crawled up to my chest. And as I lifted my eyes up I heard His voice. He said, "OK, Do not worry, your brother will live on to build his own family."

This was the first time God spoke to me. And He made good on His word. This was 10 years ago, and my brother now has three kids. God is so good.

The First Time God Spoke To Me

The first instance God spoke to me, there was no burning bush. In fact there was never a burning bush in all the occassions He spoke to me.

I was then about 30 years old. I was having the time of my life.