A payback blessing

Taken by MC2 Hart.

What a surprise. During our Christmas party a day ago, I won a Nikon 5100 camera. The reason most people go to a Christmas party is to win the top prizes. USS Blue Ridge gave away plane tickets, iPads, Apple products, Nikon cameras, and 72 hour liberty (that means day-off in Navy lingo) tickets among others.

Do the math. Given there are approximately 800 participants who purchased the ticket, the probability of winning the camera is .125 percent. I was a blessed winner!

Paying 15 dollars for the party is worth it! Considering the prize of Nikon 5100 is 850 dollars, the return of investment is tremendously high. It's just like betting my 15 dollars in a poker game that multiplied 56.66 times that turned out to be 850 dollars.

Before the raffle draw, I was asking God: "Lord give me something. I either want a Macbook pro or a camera." Viola, raffle number 907686 was called. I got it!

A mass communications specialist in the Navy quoted me on his article. Here's the excerpt:

Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Paul Garilao was surprised when his name was called as the winner of a digital SLR camera. “Before I arrived, I had actually been praying for a camera,” said Garilao. “It is something I've wanted for a long time. Since I like to blog about my travels, now I have a great camera to take pictures with.”

Thank God for this wonderful blessings! Last year, I was expecting to get advanced as a petty officer. But due to the small quota (4.28 percent) for advancement in my rate, I fell short by 15 points. Last year too, my Macbook pro was stolen while I was eating at the base galley. It's painful to pay the stolen Macbook pro that I only used for two weeks. Those were the down moments of my life.

This year, God promoted me and gave me a bonus - a camera. This is a payback blessing of God. What can you expect from a God who smiles from heaven and showers blessings in perfect time. If He says "No" to a prayer, it means any of the following:

• There is a better blessing waiting
• The prayer request may lead us to sin more. It may breed "materialism" or greediness in our heart.
• Just wait. Our character is being tested.

In a nutshell: If God knows that a blessing will glorify His name and will bring the best out of our character, he will grant our desire!

With this camera, I hope I can further enhance my skill in photojournalism and video production - some activities that I am passionate to do during my liberty. Later on, I wish these activities will be part of my profession.

The Bible says, "But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!"