Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.

Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

Strengthening Families Across the World through the encouragement of women in their high calling from God as wives, mothers and homemakers.

Nancy Campbell

ARE YOU TOLERATING OR TREMBLING?

TremblingThe church is filled with tolerating people today, tolerating things that God hates, often because they do not know the truth.
 
If we are a believer we have a responsibility to know what God says and if we are truly a disciple we will tremble at God’s word.
 
Isaiah 66:2: “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
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YOUR LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR TEACHING!

LifeMoreImportantFrom J. R. Miller (written in 1882).
 
Parents! You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls!
 
What we want to do with our children is not merely to control them and keep them in order, but to implant true principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christlike beauty, and to make of them noble men and women, strong for the battle of life.
 
They are to be TRAINED rather than governed. Growth of character, not merely good behavior, is the object of all home governing and teaching. Therefore, the home influence is far more important than the home laws; and the parents' lives are of more significance than their teachings.
 
Whatever may be done in the way of governing, teaching, or training—theories are not half as important as the parents' lives. They may teach the most beautiful things, but if the child does not see these things modeled in the life of the parent, he will not consider them important enough to be adopted in his own life.
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Nancy Campbell

BACK TO LIFE AGAIN

BackToLifeHow is your soul today? Downcast? Reveling in self-pity? Or even dead? I have answer for you. It’s God’s living Word.
 
Psalm 19:7 says: “The law of the LORD is perfect converting the soul.” Other translations say either:
“RESTORING the soul.”
“REFRESHING the soul,”
“REVIVING the soul,” or
“RENEWING the soul.”
 
I love Knox translation which says: “. . . it BRINGS THE SOUL BACK TO LIFE.”
 
Don’t you love that? Does your soul need to come back to life? Get back into God’s Word. You cannot expect to keep your soul alive when you don’t feed from it.
 
“But I don’t seem to get time to read the Bible,” you answer. I know it’s not easy when you have little ones around you. When my children were little, I used to keep a Bible beside the toilet, one on my windowsill in the kitchen where I was doing dishes and preparing meals, and one in the place where I nursed the baby. There are many moments when you can receive life and sustenance if you make them happen. Open your Bible to the Psalms or Proverbs where it is easy to read a few verses in context.
 
It’s the same message for our children. We would not dream of starving their bodies. We faithfully feed them three meals a day, and often in-between. And yet we let their souls and spirits starve! Make sure you gather together as a family morning and evening to read God’s Word together. You’ve got to keep their souls and spirits alive too.
 
Blessings to you home today,
 
Nancy Campbell
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IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO LOVE YOUR HUSBAND—DO YOU LOVE MARRIAGE?

DOULoveMarriageI have often shared the following truth with mothers over the years. I believe that it is not enough to love our children; we must also love motherhood. Of course, all mothers love their children, but not every mother loves motherhood. Perhaps the majority don’t. Especially in our humanistic society young women have been brainwashed negatively about the career of motherhood and have been programmed instead for careers outside of the home.
 
However, it is not until we get the revelation that motherhood is the most powerful career in the nation and the career for which God has created us (physically and innately) and we embrace it with all our hearts that we will live in the joy of it—and walk in the fullness of it.
 
Lately I have been thinking that this same principle applies to marriage. Yes, we may love our husband, but if we don’t love marriage itself, we will not enjoy the fulness of marriage as God intends. I believe it is important to embrace and love marriage as God as designed it.
 
Many couples marry because they are in love, but they have no intention of living marriage according to God’s design. They believe they know best. Is this way so many marriages are falling apart today, even in the Christian church.
 
God is the One who designed marriage and therefore He know the way it works. Both husband and wife and equal in creation but created with different and very unique roles which enhance and bless the union. He designed the husband to be the provider, protector, and leader of the home. We see this even in creation when God created the male first. He did not even create the woman until there was a home ready for her and God had also given Adam a job (Genesis 2:7. He created the wife with a very special, physical body and a nurturing instinct, in the likeness of God, enabling her to bring forth children and to nurture and nourish them.
 
Of course, there is so much more in God’s word, plus the glorious revelation that our marriage relationship is to reveal the picture of Christ and His church. However, my main point today is that it’s not enough to just love your husband. To walk in the fullness and glory of married life, you must also love marriage. Meditate on this more. You’ll be amazed what a difference this will make.
 
Be blessed,
 
Nancy Campbell
 
 
Painting by James Coates
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Nancy Campbell

TWO OF YOU!

PrayingCoupleDon’t you like these words? TWO OF YOU—that’s you and your husband. God gives a great promise to the two of you. It’s found in Matthew 18:19 where Jesus said: “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”
 
I know that TWO OF YOU can relate to any two people who agree together. But it is tailor-made for marriage. As husband and wife, you have the privilege and opportunity to agree together, pray, and expect God to answer.
 
It is sad that many couples are not aware of the power they have as a married couple to see great answers to prayer. We all face many challenges as we raise our children, but God has given us the “two of you” power in prayer. Don’t waste this privilege.
 
Can I ask you: do you pray with your husband each day? Praying together is the foundation of marriage. And can I ask you another question: if you both don’t pray for your children together, who will? No one cares as much for your children as you and your husband. This is the greatest thing that you can do for them. Pray for them. Nothing is as powerful as praying for them. Nothing will accomplish as much as praying for them!
 
Instead of complaining about the difficulties and challenges of parenthood, pray together about them. You’ll be amazed at what happens.
 
Be blessed today,
 
NANCY CAMPBELL
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Nancy Campbell

SOUND DOCTRINE

SoundDoctrineGod’s word gets to the nitty gritty of life. It’s not only theological doctrine but that which pertains to life. To love our husband is sound, biblical doctrine. To not love them is not disobedience. Are you sowing love to your husband?

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Nancy Campbell

HURTS AND BITTERNESS WILL DESTROY...

SweetBitterWhat great advice from my friend Rosa Brandt. To hang on to hurts and bitterness will destroy your soul and those around you. Let them go! Yield to the life of Jesus who dwells in you to flow from you, His love and forgiveness.

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Nancy Campbell

A CHEERFUL HEART

CheerfulheartA cheerful heart will make such a difference to your home atmosphere. But you don’t FEEL cheerful? That’s not the point. I hope you don’t live by your feelings. It’s such a miserable way to live, isn’t it? In fact, it is a false way to live. Feelings are deceiving. They come and go. But truth is real. And the truth is that if you have received Jesus Christ into your life, you have living joy bubbling up within you. Jesus, who lives in you, is JOY. Hebrews 1:9 tells us that Jesus has more joy than anyone else in the world—and He lives in you!
 
Confess your joy today because it is the joy of Christ. Happiness is only dependent on circumstances; true joy is the life of Jesus Christ who lives within you (Colossians 1:27).
 
Jesus said in John 4: 14: “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water SPRINGING UP into everlasting life.” The words “springing up” literally mean “to gush up, to leap up, to jump up.” That’s not passive; that’s active!
 
Therefore, whether you feel like it or not, speak joy and cheerfulness into your home today. Speak it by faith, whether you feel like it or not. As you speak cheerfulness, joy, encouragement, and blessing it will change the atmosphere of your home and the behavior of your children.
 
Yes, your attitude will change the behavior of your children.
 
Blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell

PRAYING FAMILIES ARE...

PrayingFamsIt’s wonderful to gather your family together morning and evening to pray. Pray for one another, pray for the nation, and the countries of the world. Imagine what could happen if every God-fearing family began to cry out to God for this nation each day.

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Nancy Campbell

WHAT KIND OF EARS DO YOUR CHILDREN HAVE?

WhatKindEarsDeception is such a subtle thing, isn’t it? It is so subtle that we usually don’t know we are deceived. We can not only be deceived by the encroachment of our humanistic society, but we can be self-deceived. William Barclay’s translation of James 1:22 says: “You must not only listen to the word, you must act on it. Otherwise, you indulge in self-deception.” This is very challenging to me. To daily read God’s Word and yet not put it into action is self-deception. The more I do this, the more I deceive myself. I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit working within me will keep me from this deception.
 
But mothers, we face another challenge. This challenge is not only for ourselves but for our children. God has given us the responsibility to train our children to obey when we speak to them. This trains our children into the habit of obeying God when He speaks to them through His Word. If we are lazy about training our children to obey, we set them up for the habit of continually disobeying God’s Word.
 
One of the secrets of teaching your children to obey is to firstly teach them to listen. If we do not teach our children how to listen, they will not learn to obey. Make sure your children hear what you tell them to do. Make eye contact with them. You may need to get them to repeat it back to you. Then expect them to do it! True hearing results in actions.
 
When your children learn to listen, they will learn to obey.
When they learn to obey you, they will learn to obey God.
 
Get them into the “obeying habit” now so that when they hear God speak through His Living Word, they will automatically respond and obey.
 
What kind of ears are you training your children to have? Lazy ears? Dull ears? Defiant ears? Resistant ears? Gullible ears? Or are you training them to have diligent ears that are quick to hear and obey you, and ultimately God’s words?
 
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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LOOK BEYOND TODAY

LookBeyondOur power and influence as mothers not only affects the destiny of the nation, but future generations. It is easy to get bogged down with the grind of daily activities in the home, isn't it? There can be times when you feel you are stuck in the mire with no hope of accomplishing anything. But dear Mother, you are not only training children for today, but for the future.
 
Begin to see your mothering in the light of future generations. As you mother your children, you are also affecting grandchildren and great-grandchildren to come. Your influence is powerful and far-reaching.
 
Rev. Edward Taylor Sullivan spoke these words in a sermon: “I walked down the furrow in the field,” said a humble mother who lived on a New Hampshire farm; “I walked down the furrow with the Governor of New Hampshire in my arms, and the Governor of Massachusetts clinging to my skirts.” She said that afterwards, long afterwards, in her old age. For she knew not then, and no one knew, that her two baby boys would be governors of two New England states.”
 
I love the words of this song, written by a friend of mine, Robert Bridge:
 
“Mothers of children, can you not see,
The world of tomorrow asleep on your knee?”
 
You cannot even dream what God has ahead for your children as you are faithful to nurture and train them in God’s ways and His Word of truth. Psalm 22:30, 31 (NLT) says: “Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.”
 
Be encouraged today,
 
Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell

SIT DOWN A LITTLE MORE

SitDownAre you nestled in your home? God wants you to nest, rest, and invest in your home. He made the home for you. He created the home for you to raise your children. Before God created Eve, He first prepared the home for her. When she woke up to life, she was in her delightful home of Eden. Adam had already been created before the home, but not the woman!
 
Whenever God talks about the home, he invariably uses the Hebrew word “yashab.” It means “to sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to continue, to abide, to keep house.” That doesn’t sound like gadding about everywhere, does it?
 
Interestingly, the Geneva Bible of Titus 2:5 where it tells us to be “keepers at home” describes this phrase as “not gadding up and down.”
 
In Hosea 11:11 God uses the word “yashab” and says: “I will settle them in their own homes, declares the LORD.” Are you settled and nestled?
 
The KNOX translation says: “In in their own home, the Lord says, I will give them rest.” Are you feeling overwhelmed? Are you running ragged? Too much to do? God always has the answer. Stop running around so much. Come back home. In your own home God gives you rest.
 
It’s not only we who get tense and stressed out. Our children do too. When we hustle them around to go to this place and that they also get restless and upset. Did you notice one of the meanings of “yashab” is to “sit down.” The Young’s Literal translation of Psalm 113:9 renders it literally: “Causing the barren one of the house to SIT, a joyful mother of sons.” Even in the home we can be so busy running around that we don’t take time to SIT DOWN with our children.
 
Children need mothers to SIT DOWN! When your little ones get out of control, instead of screaming and feeling you are going crazy, stop what you are doing and say, “Come, let’s sit on the sofa and read a story.” Grab your baby to nurse and gather your little ones all around you and read some stories to them until they are all relaxed and settled. They will then be ready to play happily again. I did this many times a day. There’s nothing like sitting down with your little ones to bring peace and calm. And you become calm in the process too.
 
Take time to sit with your older ones to talk to them too. You mother much better sitting down than running around the house doing all your own projects! Remember, you are a mother before everything else you do. This is your highest priority.
 
Love and blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell

FOR GLORY AND BEAUTY

GloryBeautyModesty and beauty should go together. Both enhance one another. Modesty does not have to be old-fashioned and drab. There are some dear Christian women who feel they must wear plain and drab clothes to be modest. But we don’t find this anywhere in the Bible. Far from the truth.
 
The Proverbs 31 woman was dressed beautifully in “fine linen and purple.” When Sarah went down to Egypt, the Pharaoh of Egypt noticed her and brought her to his harem (she would have been clothed in garments suited to royalty). When God designed the clothes for the high priest, He said “Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2).
 
God wants us to dress for GLORY and for BEAUTY. God delights in beauty. “God has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He created us for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11) and I am sure He loves us to look glorious and beautiful. He clothes His animal creation with beauty and color. He creates trees and flowers with glory and color. How much more His highest creation of male and female?
 
However, did you notice the other word God used about clothing? He said: “You are to make HOLY garments.” In other words, we must make sure we are covered. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they became aware they were naked and sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. But they weren’t fully covered. So God came, shed the blood of an animal, and made them “coats of skins, and CLOTHED them” (Genesis 3:21). God was the first clothes designer.
 
The word “coats” is the Hebrew word “kethoneth” and means “a robe, to cover (generally with sleeves and coming down to the knees).” It comes from the root word “katheph” which means “from the shoulder, the upper end of the arm from where the garment hangs.” In other words, the garment is from the shoulders down. No bare shoulders! This is the first time God speaks about clothing and “the law of the first mention” is considered very important in Bible study.
 
In Mark 5:1-15 we read the story of how Jesus delivered the man who was possessed with a legion of devils. After Jesus delivered him, the Bible says the people found him “sitting, and CLOTHED, and in his right mind.”
 
I am troubled by the immodesty among God’s women today. It’s nearly impossible to go into the doors of a church without confronting cleavage! I beg your pardon? Are we going to a secular function or the house of God? Didn’t Jesus die, shed His blood, and give His life for the church to SANCTIFY and CLEANSE her (Ephesians 5:25-27)? The word “sanctify” means “to make holy, to set apart from the world.”
 
I know that many do it ignorantly because they follow what everyone else is doing, and because no one says anything about it!
 
Sometimes the cleavage is bold; in others it is borderline. Not too much, but just a little showing? God’s people should never be borderline! Never compromise! Never sit on the fence! We are either one thing or the other. James 4:4 clearly states that if we are friends with the world, we are an enemy of God. We should always lift the standard high.
 
I am also saddened by many Christian women who publish pictures of themselves on social media, showing cleavage and dressed immodestly. And worse still. So many other Christian women LIKE it! Help! Do they love to see fellow believers showing themselves off? Or do they have no godly standard at all? Or are they so conditioned to immodesty that they don’t even notice it? When we LIKE something on Facebook, we affirm we agree with it. And everybody sees we like it!
 
I am also saddened by many Christian movies that bring a wonderful message of truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet some of the actors are often dressed immodestly. It makes a double standard.
 
Forgive me for my little rave, but we each have a responsibility to keep each other in line, don’t we? We are our “brother’s keeper.”
 
Can I end on a positive note? Let’s dress for GLORY and BEAUTY. I often fall down on this one, especially around home! This doesn’t mean we have to have expensive clothes. You can make anything beautiful. And you make something beautiful even from a second-hand shop.
 
Each year, our family and friends celebrate BREEZY’S BALL. Breezy is our granddaughter, Serene’s daughter. We began this when Breeze was only four years old. She always loved to dress like a princess and so Serene decided to have a Ball for her party where all the children and ladies could dress up like princesses and the men like princes or warriors! It was such an amazing event that we have made it an annual tradition. She is now 13 years old, and we are still continuing the tradition!
 
All the family arrive in their beautiful dresses, but no one spends much money. They beg, borrow, or transform something from Goodwill into something lovely and everyone looks amazing!
 
Make modesty beautiful! Drab and boring is not biblical.
 
Have a wonderful day,
 
Nancy Campbell
 
 
Painting by Susan Rios
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A NEW INCARNATION

EverychildEvery new baby is a fresh revelation of God to the world. What a privilege to bring an eternal soul into the world.

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THOUGHTS FROM A YOUNG MOTHER (Jaela Anderson)

ThoughtsYoungMomWe are a young family, with three little ones (3, 2, and 9 months) and another precious little one on the way. My husband and I feel strongly about having the Living Word daily in our children's lives. This is a very busy season, and difficult at times, but the Lord is gracious.
 
Isaiah 40:11 tells us God gently leads those with young. I love this verse. It gives us such comfort! We pray for a large family and to keep growing in the Lord. In 2023 it seems many people have lost their way. It saddens my heart to see young people not wanting to live a biblical life.
 
I was born again at age 24 and gave my life over to Jesus! Shortly after that I got married to the love of my life. As a wife and mother I feel so full and rich! I was raised in a "Christian" home, but we never read the Bible or prayed together, which is the case in many families today. They call themselves Christians but never have time for Him in any area of their life.
 
There is true freedom in giving your life to Jesus and living our roles as husband and wife. It is the most beautiful thing on this earth. My prayer for married couples and families today is for fathers to be courageous and take charge of their families and be the provider and spiritual leader of their wife and children.
 
Mothers need to come home and love their husbands, love homemaking, love their children, and must add, to see their worth in Jesus and dress more modestly. What is so wrong with a pretty skirt or dress? They would look so feminine, and it glorifies the Lord! Husbands love it too.
 
About three years ago I decided to throw out all my pants and replace my whole wardrobe (thrift store finds) with skirts and dresses. I don't want to look like everyone else or fit in with a trend. I want to exalt Jesus!
 
He has truly blessed me on this journey. Training our children and disciplining them is a very big deal too. My sons are young, but I can see how unruly children can be without direction. It takes all our effort and mental capacity at times, but the Lord wants us to do it. He commands us to do it in His word (Proverbs 22:6).
 
In a time where everyone is addicted to social media, we have been off it for years now and that is a blessing also.
 
I believe that social media is ruining our society. Young people have so much pressure to look like everyone else and be glued to their phones. Mothers also need to set their phones down. I barely have time to call my husband during the day, let alone sift through countless YouTube videos. I know there are some good skills to learn from YouTube, but it is so destructive and causes discontentment in young mothers. Let's take a stand against what the world is trying to turn godly families into (Revelation 18:4).
 
My husband and I want to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, learning lost skills and building character along the way. My husband has a humble job, a pizza delivery driver, and we live in a very small town in Wisconsin in an inexpensive but lovely home. This allows my husband to be home with his family and to pour into his children more.
 
We read the Bible with them daily and my sweet three-year-old son has already memorized more scripture than I ever have. We are memorizing together. It is so wonderful for all of us to be hiding the Word in our hearts together (Psalm 119:11). He is instilling these desires in our hearts.
 
Even in these deceiving times we can live out our convictions! He is WORTHY to be praised and honored with our daily lives. Holiness is a big deal to the Lord, and we have lost sight of that concept. We desperately need godliness and holiness back in family life. We have become way too relaxed in our culture and it's a shame. I am saying this from a young mother who is still learning every day. I need Jesus more and more every day to guide me into the truth.
 
I love this verse in Jeremiah 9:24: "But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
 
JAELA ANDERSON
Adams, Wisconsin, USA
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Bart and Jaela have three sons, Johnse (3), Matthew (2), Samuel (9 months) and new baby on the way.
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Nancy Campbell

THE INESTIMABLE VALUE OF THE CHRISTIAN HOME

ChristIsHeadToday, I am sending you a message to all fathers and mothers from my husband, Colin, about the VALUE of a godly home.
 
THE INESTIMABLE VALUE OF THE CHRISTIAN HOME
 
Home is meant to be a place where we experience first-hand the love of a devoted wife and mother. Every child needs a fulltime mother. She understands that mothering in her home far surpasses all other careers. It is her No. 1 career.
 
God ordained the home to be the No. 1 place where all Christian families are to be lovingly nurtured by their mothers (Psalm 128:3 and Titus 2:3-5).
 
• Every Christian home needs a husband and father who will do his very best to demonstrate his love for his wife and family at all times, especially in the home.
• Every Christian husband and father must have the revelation of the great value of homeschooling, home-loving, home-training, home-safety, and home Bible devotions. To this end, he must work willingly and diligently to protect and provide for all the needs of his wife and family.
• Tremendous pressure is put upon the stay-at-home mother to vacate the home. Therefore, all Christian men, and especially church pastors, should go out of their way to strongly encourage the stay-at-home wife and mother.
• Every husband should affirm his wife’s great value and worth in the home. This can never be underestimated.
 
I believe the nation is as strong as its homes and families. Often the home is vacant day after day from 8 am to 6 pm. Nurseries, daycares, and state schools (including private schools) cannot make up for a mother’s loving smiles, understanding, encouragement, training, and discipline.
 
• Without a mother, the home is nothing but an empty shell. The mother provides the loving atmosphere in the home.
• Without a mother in the home, the home is sterile and boring.
• Without a mother in the home, it becomes meaningless and without a rudder.
• Without a mother in the home, it loses its anchor and begins to drift to liberal ideologies and eventually crash on rocky shores.
 
Men, do not encourage your wife away from her nest of little ones. Even older children still need the stable guidance and security of their mothers in the home.
 
The socialists want woman out of the home. They want to destroy the value of the homemaker. Don’t be ruled by their deceptive ideologies.
 
COLIN CAMPBELL
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Nancy Campbell

BRING HIM HOME!

BringHimHmDear ladies, the following is the most powerful marriage restoration testimony I have ever read. I have previously printed it two times in Above Rubies and am sharing it with you again today. I know you will be touched.
 
BRING HIM HOME!
 
Back in September 2000 I printed the following testimony in Above Rubies # 53. I printed it again in 2012. It is time to share it again. Read how Connie waited 12 agonizing years for her wild, in-and-out-of prison husband to return to her!
 
Jim and I met in 1966. He was 25, I was 18. He was wild and so was I. When we met, he had already been in and out of prison for about seven years and was going back again for two years. We married in the prison six months later. Soon after I had our son. A few months later I miraculously came to Christ. Because of the prison term I didn’t live with my husband for another two and a half years. After being home a year, he began a crime spree.
 
He deserted us over and over again. I had nowhere to turn except to God. No one knew where my mate was. Some of the time my heart would rage like a forest fire out of control. I would run and scream like a woman out of her mind searching for her mate in the raging fire. I’d scream curses at God only to faint from exhaustion and weep bitter tears of repentance. I’d get back up, begin running again and fall again and again until finally I’d surrender my will to Christ’s will. And then I’d wait, maybe for another six months, knowing God was in control.
 
In the beginning I thought about divorce. Well, wasn’t that what a woman does if her husband leaves her repeatedly? And yet Jim kept coming back and repenting. He would mysteriously end up at my back door after being missing for four or five months, looking like a mad man. But beneath the dirt and sun-parched face he was still mine.
 
I’d bring him into the house, give him dinner, and speak peace and rest to him. I’d run the bath water for him to wash and feel like a man again.
Compassion would rise up in my heart. I had the Lord, and my Jim didn’t. I would reverence and praise him. I would shut the door on the world and be alone with my mate. No matter what he had done to me, we were still one flesh. He was my first and only husband—a terrible, ungodly, unfaithful husband, but he was still my husband. His healing came again and again as I forgave him and opened my love to him. I held nothing back.
 
There would be times when putting dinner on the table I’d notice he was awfully late. I’d listen for the car and begin running back and forwards to the window. The old familiar fear would rage, knowing that he had deserted me again. This happened about 30 times in the first twelve years of marriage. He would suddenly disappear without warning. The children would run in from play crying, “Where is daddy, where is my daddy?” I’d tell my little baby, Jimmy, “Daddy is sick, but Jesus is going to heal him.” I taught my little ones to pray, “Thank you, Jesus, for bringing my daddy home.”
 
His mother died and no one could find him. My prayers went out to God day and night, seemingly to no avail. The years went on and the crimes continued as if I had no God. I felt like a motherless and fatherless child. I was completely exhausted, and my mate committed still another crime and went to prison for almost four years.
 
I loved him. I felt he was demon possessed, yet he was my husband. And at times I hated him. Your arms and legs belong to you even when they hurt, you can’t cut them off. I was like this about my husband. I hated it when he deserted me, but I was married to him no matter what. Adultery to me was the worst of all sins. At night before I entered my marriage bed alone, I’d cry out to God to keep me pure, even in my dreams, and that I would never dream of another man.
 
Many mornings I’d wake up and think, “Lord, why did you give me another day to live?” Often the world seemed so black to me, but sweet Jesus would come to me and speak life and joy into my tired and depressed soul. One day God supernaturally took all my burdens away. I forgot Jim had left me. It was so hilarious. I even wrote myself a note to remember to pray for him.
 
The day-to-day message from the Lord was, “Now Connie, you just get up out of that bed. You straighten your shoulders, and you believe God. This problem isn’t bigger than God. Don’t you prepare your day as though Jim won’t be home. You get up and prepare your home for a miracle.”
 
Each evening when my husband was gone, I’d fix supper for him and put his plate at the head of the table. No one was allowed to sit in his chair, and no one was allowed to bad mouth him. I ran the house as if he were home.
 
I survived and lived on the Word of God. I whispered His name all day long. He walked with me in the valley of death and guided me to a straight path.
All our phone conversations at the prison were censored. I’d speak faith into the phone and say, “I’ll see you in a few days, honey. The guards thought we were planning an escape because Jim had been given a 10-year sentence!
 
People laughed and said he would always leave me and be in and out of prison. The prison guards told me that Jim was institutionalized and hopeless. Hopeless or not, he was my husband. I knew I could never forsake the Lord by not forgiving my own husband. Also, as a young wife I wanted to be a teacher of women when I got older, and I knew I couldn’t be divorced. I’d sing, “Keep me Jesus as the apple of thine eye.”
 
The Lord would tell me to speak to the mountains in my life and not doubt in my heart. I would speak to the mountain, which was Jim. I would woo him and call him home with my prayers. Every muscle in my body cried out to God to save him. I fasted and prayed continuously.
 
Jim was healed in 1979. After he had been in prison for the last four years and home for about three months, he asked me to have another baby, our fourth. I was so fearful. I said No, I was not going to have another baby. I walked away from him, and the Lord spoke to me. “Connie," He said, “You have come this far by faith. Don’t give up now.” After much heartache I obeyed the Lord.
 
“Yes,” I told Jim, "I’ll have another baby for you.” I placed my future in his hands. When Jim saw that I still believed in his life as a human being something released within him. The fear left his eyes, and He was delivered. He lifted up his hands to His Father and received the anointing of a sound and unfettered mind. He began to slowly give more and more of his life to Christ. He took over the bills and began to work steadily.
 
The Lord did exceedingly and abundantly more than I could ask or think. He gave me joy unspeakable. Satan had come in like a flood, but the Lord raised such a standard against him. All Satan did was build me a grand testimony.
 
God gave me a new batch of fruit. I had David in 1980, Dan in 1982, and Mary in 1985. We now have six children. I was queen in my palace. I raised the children for Christ and to honor their daddy. I taught them to jump when Daddy walked into the room. I taught them to get Daddy a cup of coffee or honor him in some way.
 
The guys at work say to my husband, “You don’t go out and drink and party.” Jim says, “I have a wife to go home to. I spend my time with my family.”
One guy said, “Boy, when work is over you run home.” The guy thought something was wrong with him!
 
I sit here thinking of Jim and the man he is now. He has been home sitting at the head of our table for 20 years! Who is this Jesus we serve? Surely, He is the Son of the living God, a God who saw me crying and feeling so forsaken, a God who knew the very moment Jim would be healed. Jim is my walking miracle to always remind me that nothing is impossible with God. He showed me that if we don’t give up, we will see the glory of God.
 
Proverbs 31:11 says: “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.” A woman must gain the trust of a man such as this. His healing comes as he feels safe enough to give Christ his heart and his wife his heart. When Jim was healed, he went from not seeing me to taking care of me. He turned from Satan and took dominion over his Eve. He came into his responsibilities as a man. I come under my husband, and I don’t desire to do anything else. I don’t always agree with him, and I tell him I don’t. But in the end his word is final. I want to be like Esther and not Queen Vashti.
 
Dear wives and mothers, don’t give up on your husband. God sees your heartache. He won’t leave you or forsake you if you trust in Him. I know. I’ve been to the other side.
 
Updated December 2012
 
In April 2006 my dear husband, Jim, died of a heart attack. As my six children and I gathered around Jim’s hospital bed the Hospital Chaplain told me, "I have never seen a family so full of love." As the nurse told us Jim had passed, I whispered to each of the children to comfort and love each other. As we left the hospital room, I left a chapter in my life.
 
I wish I could say that all went well after that, but grief is hard to understand, and unpredictable. Jim and I were married for almost 40 years, my first and only husband. I still live in our family home. I garden, bake bread, cook from scratch, and try to practice what I preach.
 
Jim would often say, "Connie and the children are what I live for, but I try to put God first. My family is my life." When we would give our testimony to a church group Jim would look up from the pulpit and say, "If it wasn't for that little girl right over there, I wouldn't be alive today. She was my guardian angel."
 
I now have nine grandchildren and they are a wonderful blessing. Had I given up on my husband I would have never known the joy of all these grandchildren. Praise the Lord.
 
Jim and I lived from one miracle to the next. To me, Jim and I were just two good forgivers as we all have feet of clay. Our love and life together was the most gut wrenching experience I ever had but it was a one of a kind marriage. Would I do it all again? Yes, I would. Oh yes, it was worth it all. My marriage was tried in the fire many times but I came out with a testimony of love and truth. My marriage has a message, "If you don't give up you will see the glory of God."
 
CONNIE HULTQUIST __._,_.___
 
P.S. Connie has now passed away.
 
Picture: Each evening Connie would light a candle in the window as she patiently waited to welcome her husband home. I was blessed to have many conversations with Connie before she passed away. She was such a great inspiration to wives and mothers.
 
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ARE YOUR CHILDREN READY?

ChildreadyAre you ready to face the temptations of the devil? Are your children ready? A huge part of our mothering is preparing our children to face the onslaughts of the devil. For certainly the devil will come to tempt them. He wants their souls. Therefore, we must fortify them to withstand his fiery darts.
 
Jesus shows us the way. When Satan came to tempt Him in the wilderness, three times He said: “It is WRITTEN.” When Jesus spoke the written word out loud, the devil knew he was defeated.
 
Every Word of God is powerful, authoritative, and eternal. The devil knows its power and must obey.
 
That’s why we must know God’s Word. That’s why we must diligently teach our children God’s Word. They must have the Word , IN THEIR HEARTS AND IN THEIR MOUTHS, to use against the devil. Jesus was ready to quote the Word. Are you and our children?
 
Homeschooling children need God’s Word every day. His life-giving Word should be the most important thing they learn each day.
 
If there are Christian parents who are still sending their children into the public-school system to be subtly brain-washed by humanism, socialism, liberalism, progressivism, and now the gay agenda, transgender, and alternative lifestyles, they need to give their children TRIPLE DOSES of God’s Word each day. Or how will they survive the deceptions of the enemy? (I think they would be wiser to take their children out of the public school system immediately!)
 
What are the current statistics? Ben Merkle, President of New St. Andrews College in Idaho states: “If you look at the trends, it is in the first year, the freshmen year in college, that children walk away. A recent Lifeway study revealed that approximately two-thirds of students who are regular attenders at church in high school, fall away as soon as they go off to college, quit attending church, and most never return.”
 
There is only way to make our children strong against temptation. 1 John 2:14 says: “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN YOU, and ye have overcome the wicked one.”
 
It grieves me terribly that most Christ young people today, even those who are homeschooled, don’t have God’s Word in them. Most of them cannot recite a common Scripture. How are they going to be prepared for the battle of deception that is raging worse by the day?
 
What are you doing about it?
 
 
Blessings to you from Nancy Campbell
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A CUP OF TEA

CupTeaI like to wake up very early,
Before the house is in a whirly,
I make a nice hot cup of tea,
And sit and think and just be me!
 
Before too long I hear the noise
Of babies, toddlers, girls, and boys
Who need to eat and work and play,
And so we live throughout the day.
 
And when the final chores are done,
They go to sleep one by one.
I make a nice hot cup of tea,
And sit and think and just be me!
 
~ Unknown
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WHAT'S THE BEST CAREER IN THE NATION?

NotWastingMother, you are in the BEST career in the nation. Don’t be fooled by the lies of our humanistic society!

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