I believe that every second of our lives is a matter of life or death, make or break situation. The only difference why some situation stands out is the degree of probability on the death or break side of the equation and the supervening unforeseen, unexpected and miraculous force or circumstance that pulled the seeming hopeless scenario to the life and make side of the scale.
Years ago, my wife and I have been in the employ of an entrepreneur in Toronto who believed in us so much that she entrusted the full management of her company. We responded with great enthusiasm. As a result, the business of the company grew so large that we needed to register a sister company to accommodate other business activities that cannot be properly performed by the original company. Unfortunately, some family members and close friends of our employer felt jealous of the way she treated us with great respect and trust. They were threatened by our achievements which they were not able to deliver at the time when they were the ones running the affairs of the company. Their jealousy and spite were so great to a point where it was no longer healthy for us physically and emotionally to continue working with the company. We tendered our resignation but our employer did not want to let go of us. She and her husband opened a branch of the company in St. John's, Newfoundland and asked us to manage the same. We agreed.
We have never been to St. John's. We didn't know anybody there. We didn't even have enough savings to uproot ourselves, but because of the bad situation in Toronto we decided to just go there and make a fresh start. So we packed our luggages, bought plane tickets and flew to St. John's, Newfoundland. We didn't have a prearranged place to stay when we arrived there so we asked the taxi driver to bring us to an Inn we saw advertised at the airport.
Contrary to what we expected, the business did not start well. All the checks issued by our employer were not funded. As a result, we needed to cancel the rent agreement of the proposed office. But by doing so, we had to pay the cancellation penalty which we shelled out from our own pockets. The money that we have been spending came from our meager savings which was quickly drying up. We tried to continue the business from our rented house so we could have a source of income, but we had difficulty recruiting clients without financial support from our employer.
Then, it happened on a snowy Sunday morning of December 2002. We were attending a mass when we realized that we only had less than $10 cash left. The Gospel reading was Mark 12: 41-48 about the widow who gave to the treasury her entire savings. We were so inspired that we searched our pockets, wallets, bags and put in the collection basket all the money (mostly coins) we were able to find. As a matter of fact, the money we put in the collection basket was all the money we had. When I said 'it was all the money we had' I meant it literally. Our savings and checking accounts were in the negative. Our credit card was used beyond the credit limit.
While the mass was in progress, we had no idea that a great blizzard was occurring outside. When the mass was over, we realized the difficulty we put ourselves into. We had no money to pay for a cab ride. The blizzard was so strong that it was dangerous to stay outside. Our house was at least 15-minute walk from the church on a fine day but it would take us twice that long on that kind of weather. Our JJ was just two years old at that time and my wife was 6 months pregnant with JM so walking home on that kind of weather was out of the question. We remained inside the church and waited for the storm to pass. It did not. On the contrary, the storm intensified.
Half an hour gone and we started to become anxious. After an hour, we became fearful. We were staring blankly on the falling snow through the church's glass window when a lady greeted us from behind. "Hello, the storm is heavy outside, I can give you a drive home."
We arrived home safely. We thanked her and she went on her way. That was the first and last time we saw her.
The following days that followed were unbelievably orchestrated by God's Providence. Our food supply was sufficient enough until a financial source came to us out-of-the-blue, a Filipino family availed of our services. The fee for our services was able to support us until the time we decided to fly back to Toronto.
Why am I blogging about this?
Because right now my consciousness is focused on financial need.
But,
Need I still be reminded of an incident during my high school days when I boarded a bus going home from school without any money at all and the conductor just looked at me intently then passed by without asking for my fare? Or the time when we needed to pay for hospital bills and Jun happened to have the money to lend us? Or the numerous times in the past, most have already been forgotten, when we needed money and it just showed up from unlikely and unexpected sources?
What again are the reasons why am I blogging about this?
...because I want to be reminded that God's Love, Providence and Abundance are all around me, in me and through me always.
...because God is blessing me with miracles proceeding from the realm of impossibility.
I believe that God keeps using me for good reasons by working with, and making use of, whatever level of talent, skills, strength or material resources I presently possess. Everything happens for a good reason. I know that God uses me as a channel to bless others in the same manner as He uses others to bless me.
I am allowing God's Abundance to freely flow.
We have never been to St. John's. We didn't know anybody there. We didn't even have enough savings to uproot ourselves, but because of the bad situation in Toronto we decided to just go there and make a fresh start. So we packed our luggages, bought plane tickets and flew to St. John's, Newfoundland. We didn't have a prearranged place to stay when we arrived there so we asked the taxi driver to bring us to an Inn we saw advertised at the airport.
Contrary to what we expected, the business did not start well. All the checks issued by our employer were not funded. As a result, we needed to cancel the rent agreement of the proposed office. But by doing so, we had to pay the cancellation penalty which we shelled out from our own pockets. The money that we have been spending came from our meager savings which was quickly drying up. We tried to continue the business from our rented house so we could have a source of income, but we had difficulty recruiting clients without financial support from our employer.
Then, it happened on a snowy Sunday morning of December 2002. We were attending a mass when we realized that we only had less than $10 cash left. The Gospel reading was Mark 12: 41-48 about the widow who gave to the treasury her entire savings. We were so inspired that we searched our pockets, wallets, bags and put in the collection basket all the money (mostly coins) we were able to find. As a matter of fact, the money we put in the collection basket was all the money we had. When I said 'it was all the money we had' I meant it literally. Our savings and checking accounts were in the negative. Our credit card was used beyond the credit limit.
While the mass was in progress, we had no idea that a great blizzard was occurring outside. When the mass was over, we realized the difficulty we put ourselves into. We had no money to pay for a cab ride. The blizzard was so strong that it was dangerous to stay outside. Our house was at least 15-minute walk from the church on a fine day but it would take us twice that long on that kind of weather. Our JJ was just two years old at that time and my wife was 6 months pregnant with JM so walking home on that kind of weather was out of the question. We remained inside the church and waited for the storm to pass. It did not. On the contrary, the storm intensified.
Half an hour gone and we started to become anxious. After an hour, we became fearful. We were staring blankly on the falling snow through the church's glass window when a lady greeted us from behind. "Hello, the storm is heavy outside, I can give you a drive home."
We arrived home safely. We thanked her and she went on her way. That was the first and last time we saw her.
The following days that followed were unbelievably orchestrated by God's Providence. Our food supply was sufficient enough until a financial source came to us out-of-the-blue, a Filipino family availed of our services. The fee for our services was able to support us until the time we decided to fly back to Toronto.
Why am I blogging about this?
Because right now my consciousness is focused on financial need.
But,
Need I still be reminded of an incident during my high school days when I boarded a bus going home from school without any money at all and the conductor just looked at me intently then passed by without asking for my fare? Or the time when we needed to pay for hospital bills and Jun happened to have the money to lend us? Or the numerous times in the past, most have already been forgotten, when we needed money and it just showed up from unlikely and unexpected sources?
What again are the reasons why am I blogging about this?
...because I want to be reminded that God's Love, Providence and Abundance are all around me, in me and through me always.
...because God is blessing me with miracles proceeding from the realm of impossibility.
I believe that God keeps using me for good reasons by working with, and making use of, whatever level of talent, skills, strength or material resources I presently possess. Everything happens for a good reason. I know that God uses me as a channel to bless others in the same manner as He uses others to bless me.
I am allowing God's Abundance to freely flow.
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