Gentle Leading

I had a really difficult, tiring day yesterday, so this morning Nathan was really sweet and offered to watch Susanna for an hour while I went for a walk by myself before he went to chapel. (I came back and found Susanna sitting on his lap, listening to him read from the Rhyming Bible. She was so engrossed that she merely looked up to see who had come in, didn’t even smile, and went right back to looking at the book - which is a highly unusual response to Mommy! She was just enjoying some good ol’ Daddy time)

Anyway, while I was on my walk, the passage from Isaiah 40:11 popped into my head, where it says, “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom; and gently lead those that are with young.” I was just struck today by that last phrase “and gently lead those that are with young”. Isaiah could have picked any group of weaker sheep to mention… “and gently lead those that are crippled, those that are blind, those that are sick, etc.”, but it’s those that are with young that he chooses to name. Now I know that these are symbolic for all who are weak and burdened and slowed down in general, which means that it applies to all of us for some reason or another. But he the group he specifically mentions in this instance is those that are with young. And in all literalness (other than the fact that I’m not a sheep!), that’s me! I’m with child, and I have a young child to lead, too. And as much as I would like to be Superwoman, I’m not. I’m tired, I seem to break down very easily these days, and I‘ve got a little, fairly helpless child who spends half of her waking hours clinging to my leg (try getting anywhere quickly in that state!) and another teeny tiny one who is using all my energy so that (s)he can grow properly. I mean, children are a blessing from the Lord, but I think part of that blessing is in the fact that through child-rearing, parents (at least those Christians who continually seek God’s grace to do it) are sanctified to be more Christ-like. You want to learn patience, compassion, long-suffering, continual joyful service, unconditional love, caring for the helpless, selflessness, grace, discipline, consistancy… have some kids! Parenthood is certainly one of the more sanctifying experiences in life! And in the midst of this constant discipline (though it comes with much joy), I don’t want a leader who’s always thinking about how to get his staff around my neck, to be strong-armed into compliance, to be lectured on my sin and failures, to be beaten with a rod of anger. That kind of leadership would make me want to give up, to sit on my butt and let the flock go on without me. But this passage says that the kind of shepherd who leads me is a gentle one, one who takes me carefully over the rough places, who understands the role he’s given me as a mother and leads me accordingly, one who‘s not looking for Superwoman, but simply wants to care for his weak ones.

So I’ve been encouraged today. And it helped too that I was told by another mom who’s expecting #2 that she often doesn’t even manage to get dressed before mid-afternoon… I’m not the only slowpoke