God's gentle leading

Recently I've been thinking about how the LORD has been fulfilling a promise I started clinging to the day we found out we were expecting Sara:

"He shall feed His flock like a shepherd:

He shall gather the lambs with His arm,

and carry them in His bosom, and shall

gently lead those that are with young."

-Isaiah 40:11

Several times I have been reminded of that last portion, that He, Jesus, will "gently lead those that are with young." I'm with young! I have little children. LORD, lead us gently. That has often been my prayer as a mother concerning the things that lay ahead of us in God's will.

We have been praying about going to Edmonton for what seems to us such a long time, and even in that I see how God is looking out for us and our children, that it be a gentle transition. But beyond that, in a greater picture, I recently realized how the Lord moving us out of Serbia in 2007 was part of what He's doing with us today.

You see, the laws in Serbia have changed during the past year in such a way that, even if we had returned to live in Serbia in 2008 as we initially thought we would when we left, we would've had to leave last year anyway. A couple we know who are also a Serbian husband-American wife pair were unable to live together in Serbia since last fall. The wife was living in Hungary, unable to re-enter Serbia, and in December she flew home to the U.S. They are currently waiting for her husband to receive his green card so he can join her and they can continue their married life here in the States.

I am amazed that, though it didn't make sense, and though we had to leave Serbia so quickly in 2007 (we departed 6 weeks after the decision was made), I am so thankful that the LORD directed us to leave then, when it was just the two of us, instead of last year, in haste, when we had a toddler and I was pregnant with our second!

He has settled us here as a family, given us a vision and hearts for church planting in Edmonton, and we have been so blessed to be part of the fellowship of Calvary Chapel Pocatello. Though we didn't see it at the time, GOD saw these legal developments, and He transitioned us to North America in His perfect timing, not ours. That is His gentle leading!

We're headed North tomorrow for a week or so, and I'm curious to see how He will continue to bring things together in His gentle way. More to come...