More Than What I Could Have Imagined
By Harrison Niap
In 2019, I was in a rut — my startup’s sustainability was dwindling, I wasn’t earning much, and I wasn’t motivated to really make a move in my life.
Come 2020, I wanted to start the year right and set goals for myself. I decided to pursue what matters to me in my life — providing a comfortable life for my future spouse and family, and serving God. That means:
I needed sufficient income to pave the way ahead, I planned to propose and I planned to look for a house.
In Q1 2020, I searched hard for a job — I wanted something that could match my previous salary (which was ~50% higher than the local industry’s average) and still allowed me to stay in Penang to settle down and continue serving the church. It was an ambitious goal, but I believed that God would come through. I had to turn down a job offer that could match my financial expectations and career direction but required me to relocate to KL. Rejecting that was a challenge by itself!
Right during the week that the world plunged into critical status and MCO was announced, I received a job offer that allowed me to work remotely from the comfort of my home, with a salary that was slightly more than twice my previous salary — in fact, it was about the combination of my previous salary and my then-girlfriend-now-fiance’s salary, which worked out perfectly — she unfortunately lost her job a month later, but through this opportunity God blessed us with perfect sustainability. One of the reasons I got this job was also due to the fact that I had previous experience starting a company — the past 2.5 years of entrepreneurship was in fact in God’s plan after all.
In May, I started to look for a house. I stumbled upon a double-storey terrace house that was going for about 30% less than the usual market price. I received a lot of advice against purchasing a house at the time, due to how difficult it would be for me to get a loan — my 2-month-old job would not reflect job security and my tax statements would reflect my lack of income over the past year. I decided to proceed with the house booking anyway, trusting that if it is God’s will, then it shall be.
After signing the booking contract, which usually lasts for two weeks as the buyer applies for a loan, it turned out that there was an outstanding legal process that was delayed due to MCO, and had to take place before the property can be sold off. This allowed for an extension of 5 months on my booking contract — a perfect timing that only the Master Designer is capable of. During this time, not only did I manage to save up more for the house — I reached the 6-month mark in my employment, reflecting the much-needed job security, and managed to lock in a loan for the house.
The overflow is real. As the year wraps up, I reflect upon what God has done for me during the year, and it truly has been more than what I could’ve imagined. It was an overflow.