Actually, I don't think luck has anything to do with what happened recently...
A few months ago rumors were swirling that the governor was going to give 2% raises to all state employees. The word "raise" hasn't been used (in a good way) for quite a few years around the office. I decided to figure out what a 2% raise would mean for me...$17 more a pay check. Well, $17 is $17, so I decided I would be happy for it. Then the story hit the papers and it seemed to be true.
More rumors started to swirl that the president of ISU would match the state raise for people who "merited" the raise, which I thought meant that they had to have an "exceeds expectations" performance review or higher . Because I've only worked here for three years, I only get "meets expectations" reviews, so I pushed that extra 2% out of my mind (this really has nothing to do with how long I've been working for ISU, but rather that whoever does my employee eval feels that because I have only been here for so long, I don't deserve an "exceeds expectations" rating).
Time passed, and our HR office sent out an email saying our insurance premiums were going to go up. "Oh great," I thought, "give us a 2% raise and then take it away with higher health insurance." The increase in premiums wasn't that bad, at least not for me ($10 more), but it still would have meant that I was only making $7 extra each paycheck. Well, as long as they aren't taking money OUT of my paycheck, I remain grateful.
Then, at the beginning of this week, all employees got a blue envelope in their mail boxes. I opened mine to read (something like this) "Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that you will be receiving a salary increase. You will receive a 9.4% increase to your base salary." I thought...wait...9.4 is a lot more than the 2% we were told we would get. The letter continued, "Your new hourly rate will be $12.30." That's when it hit me. The number 9.4% meant pretty much nothing..my brain doesn't compute in percentages...but as soon as I saw that $12.30, I knew exactly what that meant. I just couldn't believe it. I quickly read the rest of the letter which said something about having a good performance appraisal and raising the minimum income to meet poverty guidelines, blah blah blah, and I quickly pulled out the calculator and figured out how much more a month that would be for us. My paychecks would go up about $100.
I instantly said a prayer in my heart and thanked Heavenly Father for watching over us and giving us this special blessing. In the last 3 months I have gotten more money than I thought I would make in a long time, 1-because my position was reclassified to a higher pay rate when I took over new responsibilities, and now 2-this raise. While we are still under the federal poverty guidelines, this increase that some might think as small will make a huge difference in our lives. We will be able to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck and hopefully be able to pay off debt a little quicker and to do more things we've always wanted to do. It's no fortune, for sure, but it may as well be to me.
I know I am not the only one who got a raise like this. It was campus and state wide, but I really feel that because I worked hard to get a bachelor's degree and that I do the best job I can at work, this increase in money is deserved. But most of all, I know that it is because I am doing my best to fulfill my church calling, to do my visit-teaching, and because I am a full tithe payer. I've already had a few posts like this within the last 6 months, and I will never stop saying it...being a full tithe payer has brought us more blessings than I can count. We've had a lot of financial ups and downs in the first half of this year, and this is definitely a big UP. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for continuing to bless my family and making my testimony stronger than it already is.
As a side note, we recently found out that both of our cars need brake replacements, transmission oil changes, and my car needs new tires. The raise couldn't have come at a better time!
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