Christmas miracle

This is your Christmas miracle story for the day, but I have to keep it quiet. I had to tell someone, since I can't tell B yet.

Christmas is light this year, since we bought a house and had several unexpected things come up (B's daughter's wedding out of state, the girl's medical crisis). I was worried about it, and about bills that, while they were getting paid, weren't getting paid very fast.

This morning my HR guy came to see me.   He's one of those guys that you never want to see coming - it usually doesn't mean good news.  He had a rolled-up sheet of paper in his hand.  It looked like something official.  My pulse went up about twenty points as he came in and sat down.  "I have something I need to talk to you about." he said.   My mind raced.  Yesterday I had a migraine, and spent most of my work day with my overhead lights shut off and the monitors turned down low.  I figured he was here to talk to me either about the fact that my leave was perilously low, or that people thought I was gone since the office was dark.  I thought fast, meaning to tell him that I was here despite feeling miserable, and if anyone had complained about my lights being off and the office looking a bit unconventional, well, that's what it took to make sure I was able to be here working rather than home in bed.

"I heard you weren't feeling good yesterday."  he said.  "Want me to make you feel better?" 

I sat back in my chair, nonplussed.  He's never been my best friend, and I couldn't imagine why he would come to exchange pleasantries.  I watched him unroll the paper, and wondered why he was suddenly the one who looked uncomfortable. 

It turned out the story was this: 

Last April I got moved into my new postion at work. When you move into a new position, you have to go through a year of probation all over again, just as if you were a new hire, and you're at what they call "B step" for pay - which is a percentage of the full rate for the job. When your year of probation is up, your supervisor makes an evaluation, files a paper with HR indicating department approval, and you get moved up to "A step" - the full rate.  It's called 'getting the bump'. 

I'll back up.  This year has been SO busy and SO crazy between work and home that I did not even remember that April 13 was my anniversary date. Evidently neither did my supervisor, nor the HR guy, so no one put in for my bump. It was discovered on an end-of-the year audit (I suspect).  He was extremely apologetic, and not sure how it had happened, but made certain to assure me that it was remedied now - the paper in his hand was my official department approval notice - and that I would be getting my raise retroactively on the next check. 

Our next payday is Christmas Eve. On that payday, I get all of my bump differential retroactive to April 13 (about $1.06 per hour). 

GOD IS GOOD. And prayer works. Believe it.

I am SO overwhelmed right now. B and I will be going out tonight to the nearby 'big city' to see Mannheim Steamroller.  It's our joint Christmas present, and we've been looking forward to it for weeks - a night out just for us two. I think I'm going to tell him then.  I'm having a hard time believing it this morning. 

 

God bless all of you, my friends.  May your Christmas miracle be right around the corner, whatever it is that you've prayed for and needed badly.