So what are you going to do after you leave? I had announced my resignation from government service, and naturally people were curious as to our next steps. Over and over I gave the same vague answer, "umm... I am not sure." Months before my wife had heard the Lord clearly speak to her: "Get ready to sojourn like Abraham."

We received many confirmations of this word but still didn't know where this sojourn would take us. The firmest plans we had were to visit Israel to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and see what the Lord might say once we got there.

I woke up one morning about two weeks into our Israel trip with the clearest sense of the next step - we were to move to Israel, to make Aliyah. I felt such relief from finally hearing the answer to the "what are you going to do" question that I quite forgot the implications of leaving all that we love behind.

My wife also clearly heard the Spirit's voice but the answer did not bring her such relief. For days afterwards I could see the anxious turmoil on her face as she counted the cost of leaving her children (we have three adult children) and homeland. I prayed for wisdom to help lighten my wife's load; the Spirit's answer was: "Don't try and fix this, just be kind."

Our last night in Israel we spent exploring old Jaffa, killing time before catching our flight home. As we wandered through the narrow stone alleys I again heard the Spirit speak with distinct clarity, "Tell Sue, everything is going to be alright." Simple words but instilled with such promise and hope.

We arrived home to no job, no money, no plan, but a word of promise. My mind is used to figuring out what needs to be done, making the necessary plans and checking off my list of "to do's." I was helplessly beyond figuring out what to do. When I asked the Lord for guidance, He told me, "Enjoy this time of uncertainty." This was not the answer I was looking for - I wanted the plan, first Step 1, then Step 2... what was I to do! Have you ever tried to enjoy uncertainty? It cuts across the patterns stubbornly entrenched by years of worldly thinking. Our Heavenly Father knows how to temper reproof with comfort: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures..." These were the words that would guide me through this time of uncertainty. "Lord, I want to get up and pace but you make me lie down."

To lie down in the Chief Shepherd's pasture is not to resign oneself to inactivity. We received the word. "I am sending you..." now we had to go. The Lord's commission takes on substance as we respond with action. The path was only lit just a short way up the road but somehow we put one foot in front of another and followed the light ahead to the next turn, from there we could see the next turn and from there the next. I couldn't really tell at the time but little by little we were moving forward. Looking back I am amazed at the intricate details of Yeshua's sovereign providence smoothing out the rough places and opening and closing doors to fulfill His purposes. We would have never seen these wonders if we did not first respond to His promise. Obedience means persevering by seeing "Him who is invisible."

Along the way we have met so many wonderful people whom Yeshua has linked to us as friends and partners. This has been such an unexpected and beautiful dividend of journeying by faith.

Almost a year to the day that we set our hearts towards Aliyah, we flew back to Israel: this time on a one way ticket. Settling into any new culture has it's bumpy moments, but through it all we testify with Nehemiah, "the gracious hand of our God was upon us." Over and over we see how He has guided our steps.

Throughout our preparations for Aliyah, wherever we went, people had the same word over and over for Sue. "No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29,30).

My precious wife has left all these and even now we see this word coming to fulfillment. We are country folk and the Lord provided a lovely little home for us with trees and a garden. Sue is a "horse person." If you have a special someone in your life who is a "horse person" then you know this is not just a hobby or recreational pastime. The bond between horses and their owners runs deep (Sue left two beautiful quarter horses behind). You wouldn't think that urban life in the Kryot would have room for horses, but on the edge of town there is a little stable where Sue gets to ride to her heart's delight. This may seem like a trivial matter in the scope of eternity, but to us this is our Heavenly father's smile, delighting to give His children bread.

We are settling in, learning to cope with Israeli traffic, exercising patience in the supermarket checkout lines (Israel is famous for lines!) and struggling through learning Hebrew. Aliyah is not the final destination but the beginning of a whole new journey requiring the same faith and patience that originally moved us here.

When we initially set out to make Aliyah, I saw our own circumstances almost as a test case. That is, if we could do it - anyone could. Often when we hear testimony of the Lord's exploits through His sons and daughters we look to these folks as if they were heroes with extraordinary spiritual pedigrees and endowments. I am here to tell you that we bear no such unique attributes. We are as common and ordinary as any believer.

There is no short cut for being led by the Spirit, but if we open our hearts to hear Him, what might He say? I expect it involves something about trusting the One through whom we lay claim to the most uncommon and extraordinary acceptance and provision. Stepping out of the boat was not just for Peter.

I know there are wind and waves out there but also such a sure hand... He will not let you slide under. Perhaps you have heard the Spirit's whisper about Aliyah, but you have been intimidated by all the obstacles and roadblocks. I understand, from time to time we all feel like grasshoppers. Remember, the Lord is pleased with you; He will lead you into that land (see Numbers 13:30-14:9). Take a step, and then another - see what is waiting around the next turn... and while you're at it learn as much Hebrew as you can.