Edit: I totally forgot to mention this, but I just remembered – I filed for bankruptcy five years ago, about two years before I came to this church. So, when you read this, I hope you can realize how far God has brought me! And that we can give Him the glory. ❤️
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I wanted to share some good news and a testimony! God has really blessed and covered me financially over the past few months. This is especially incredible to me because I’ve been dealing with so many of my flaws and mistakes, so I see more than ever how undeserved my salvation is and I really feel touched by His love and mercy.
Last December, at my last job, the CEO suddenly announced that they were laying off all non-remote employees who would not commit to moving to New York City by March. Of course, I knew that I would not be doing that, so I asked Pastor Steve if I could leave early when they offered me a three-month severance(!), and he approved it and gave me permission to take a full month off.
A few days later, I was sitting on the couch and thinking of the price to cover COBRA for my policy, which was 850+ a month out of pocket. I thought, with this expense, plus having the severance taxed at a bonus rate, my cash reserve would be lower than I expected, and it made more sense for me to start the job search earlier, after all. I didn’t pray about it, but a few hours later, a former coworker messaged me and let me know that the company had increased the severance payout to 5 months and encouraged me to ask for it. When I emailed, I discovered they had already planned to give it to me. With this in mind, I set a boundary for myself not to search for a job for a full month and disciplined myself to slow down and relax more 😊🙏🏻🙌🏻.
Fast forward a couple of months, when I negotiated my job offer, I included my starting bonus from my last job and the anticipated year-end bonus in the yearly salary I quoted to them, and they offered me a higher salary than that as a base, which for me was a 31% raise! Then I asked my new boss to give me a starting bonus of 10% of my base salary, and he agreed! So now I really need to learn some new budgeting skills in order to manage my much larger paycheck! What a good problem to have, no? This is an area where I really need to grow, but I believe that God will give me grace 🙌🏻
I also talked with the pastors, and they approved /recommended that I consider leasing a Lexus hybrid SUV. I was having trouble converting on a good deal at the dealership, but Pastor Steve showed up and discovered that they had a 15k rebate on the fully electric RZ450e, which I purchased. I don’t really know how to shop for a good car deal, but I’m so grateful for his help!
I want to say thank you, God! I’m so overwhelmed and just taking it in. God is really good and forgiving! And I hope this testimony is a blessing to anyone who reads it ❤️
Crystal Lemire