The world spins...

The world spins on, and we spin with it. Although right now, it feels as though the spin we’re doing is rather faster than the rotation of the earth! We’re in the process of packing up our lives in Lower Hutt as we get ready for a relocation to Rotorua in the central North Island. I have been to Rotorua several times to visit and for work and like it, but am not sure what it will be like for living in. I have landed a rather plum role at a large NZ manufacturing organisation so it’s a move because of me.

I am in several minds about this move. I want to go because the professional opportunity at my new employer is so huge. It’s a major manufacturer and exporter in an industry where doing safety really matters: if it’s not done right, people die. Literally. The site manager is really committed to sending his staff home safely, and he’s a really lovely person that I know I will enjoy working with.

What I am more scared about is the loss of networks for all of us. We’re moving away from our families, from the networks of external activities that we’re involved in (particularly hubby), from our church, from our daughter’s school where she is really happy, from my professional networks – the lot. It is a HUGE leap of faith. If my family is not happy there, then I know that I will not be happy no matter how good my job is.

However, we all have the feeling that this relocation is being managed, and not by us. So many things have just fallen into place really quickly, including the job itself, the ability to go up there and check it out, finding a real estate agent we like, the timing of the church fair (so we could take a whole lot of stuff down to it) and so on. The real acid test of this arranging will be how long it takes to sell our house. We’ve got the first open home this weekend and apparently there’s already someone been through the house.

So the big things now are selling the house, finding somewhere to live (either buying or renting, we haven’t yet decided), somewhere to worship, sorting the movers and insurers etc etc! I commented to one of my friends here that I’ve got lists of things to do in my head, lists on paper, lists on other bits of paper, and I suspect that I’ll be tattooing lists onto my forearms before long!

However, I am hanging onto God’s promises that he will make our path straight, and the overwhelming sense we all have that God’s hand is in this move. It’s going to be a tough gig, but at the same time I know it will be worth it.