An epiphany: sometimes it’s ok to jump into the fire🔥

Many times we let the comfort, the familiarity of history and the busyness of the present stop us from taking huge leaps into the unknown future!!

idauhahine, Apr-2022

I started off this blog with the quote and captioned pictures above. That was back in April 2022 when I was determined to embark on a new adventure – take a job offer and move interstate, Adelaide to be more precise. Excited and beyond relief would be an understatement!

I saw it as a challenge – a new job, new city and new beginnings. It felt better than the other choice of taking redundancy. My family and I had discussed and they were in support of the move: additionally, whomever wanted to come with, was more than welcome to join me in Adelaide!

One could safely assume that – for me – the beauty of change, stepping into the unknown, is a challenge! Think about it, it will remain just that, an unknown, if you don’t take that bold step and you’ll be left forever wondering, why, how, what, etc!

Fast forward to a Friday morning in May this year – as I sat in the emergency room (ER) at Campbelltown Hospital, one of my favorite places it appears 😏 I had an epiphany. Yes, unfortunately I ended up at ER early hours of that Friday “the 13th” morning – with chest pains, blood pressure (BP) reading 190+ over 100+ and a very high blood sugar level (BSL), you don’t want to know how high 😔!

When you present yourself to ER with those symptoms, you get triaged very quickly. A few echocardiograms (ECGs), blood tests, BP checks (truth be told I lost count), a drip, medication and eight plus (8+) long hours later, the oncall doctor (Dr) – or Medical Officer (MO), as indicated on her name tag – confirmed I was not having a heart attack nor in imminent danger of one.

Apparently, it was the high BSL that caused the chest pains and rise in BP, putting me at risk of a cardiac event. I admitted guiltily to the MO I had not been taking my prescribed medication regularly and infact had not taken them at all for a few days leading up to this episode. She wasn’t impressed with that admission but discharged me anyhow, with strict advice to take my medication regularly 🙃 and to follow up with the GP and cardiologist within 48 hours!! A little side note, folks:

… if you’re on medication for whatever chronic condition, don’t be like stupid old me, and take them whenever or not take them all. Be wise, take them religiously and as prescribed. And if, for whatever reason you decide not to take them, at least make sure you’re keeping a healthy diet and maintaining some sort of physical, spiritual and mental well-being activities!! Trust me 🙏😇

idauhahine, May 2022

Two days later on Sunday 15.05, while feeding our one week old 2nd granddaughter with her bottle – I had another epiphany: hey, I’m no Archimedes nor am I Newton to have discovered significant, earth shattering ones. Yeah! Nah! 😅

But my “sudden and striking realizations” over the weekend of May 13, helped me to see that both options (interstate move/job versus redundancy) at my disposal were unknown challenges, and each had it’s own pros and cons. It was up to me to decide which one was formidable instead of just exciting! Or, which one was “maintaining the status quo” compared to “jumping into the fire” challenging. And I don’t mean jumping in the fire literally, please remember it’s a figure of speech 😊 Stay away from real fires 🔥.

I realized that taking the new job, although exciting and promising, simply, was me maintaining the status quo of life – having a regular job/ income, paying the bills, mortgage and blah, blah blah! It didn’t feel formidable at all.

The prospect of being unemployed with a 5 year old mortgage looming over our heads, rising inflation/ interest rates, etc, on the other hand was scary, and posed even more challenging! And there it was, my epiphany. It dawned on me that this is ‘the unknown’ I had to face boldly. That this is what the quiet whispers were about: what the small voice in my head was telling me, since December 2021, to take redundancy if it was on offer!

I sat down with my husband for another good discussion on the options and we agreed that I should turn down the job offer. On the morning of Tuesday 17.05.2022 – I took a giant leap of faith in God 🙏 and sent an email to my bosses, regrettably advising I would not be taking up the job offer in Adelaide.

As easy as it may seem, this was not a simple life decision or choice to make. A lot of thought and discussion with prayers were involved. My encouragement is to PRAY about it, READ God’s word (the Bible) and ASK for His guidance & strength.

Dear readers, the sense of relief that morning after sending the email was overwhelming – felt like a whole weight fell off my shoulders! I knew I had done the right thing by ME and not just for my family. We let our family know later that evening and they too were relieved to hear of the decision I had made ❤️🙏 I thank God for granting my family and I, the strength and courage to step out in faith.

Whether you are a believer or not, I want to encourage you that if something does not feel right, never ever doubt your instincts – gut feelings – those will never prove you wrong!! They’re there for a reason! Listen past or block out the noise and you will discern the voice of God 🙏

When I say noise, what I mean is that a gazillion unanswered questions, feelings and emotions will be racing through your mind and your head! Like 🤔 ‘will I find a job in time? How will I help pay for the mortgage? Whose going to hire a 50 something year old? Will I ever be able to land a similar 6 figure, well-paid job? Is the future scary?‘ 😔 And many more!! As soon as I was able to look past all the doubt and uncertainty of being out of a job soon, I was able see what God is telling me to do 🙏❤️

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:4 NIV

Amen to that! We all have nothing to lose and so much more to gain by taking delight in the Lord 🙏

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8 NIV

I don’t know what life will be post 15.11.2022. I have been working since finishing high school, over 30 plus years ago. The first job I had was working as a shop assistant at my cousin’s shop in Ela Beach, Port Moresby. And have never looked back since then: always working during uni breaks. I’ve worked full time since December 1993 (a month after finishing Uni), serving only two (2) employers, gone through five (5) mergers, and survived more than five (5) company restructures.

I look back on my journey and am forever grateful for everyone I have worked with or for. I thank God for PNGBC now BSP and Chevron/ Oil Search now Santos. With my family, we are forever grateful for the colleagues who have become lifelong friends – seeing our families grow over time – what a journey, what a blessing!!

God has surely shown me over the past 30 odd years as a full-time working mum: every success, failure, pain, joy and so much more, throughout my life, God’s hand has been at play. I thank Him always for my husband, our children, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. As a family we’ve boldly jumped into the fire knowing and trusting God’s got us. And so I’m looking forward to being a stay-at-home mum (at last) 😊 and grandmother, and spending time with my family, especially our two beautiful grand daughters.

Finally I want to share with you verses from Proverbs about some little things in life. These are the verses I read on that morning which helped me make that final decision about my future. Hope they inspire and bless you, as they did for me.