QUINTESSENTIALLY FEMININE

I read these beautiful words, “quintessentially feminine” in Song of Songs (The Message) and was arrested by them. What does it mean to be feminine? I don’t mean feminine according to society’s standards, but rather what is quintessentially feminine. It means the perfect embodiment of who God originally created us to be. It is who we are in our purest form. Instead of looking around us to see what other women are doing to find our standard, we look at the plumb line of God’s Word or even at our inherent inclinations which God has divinely put within us.

One of the most beautiful aspects of femininity is pregnancy. The pregnant figure is beautiful. In this awesome time of a woman’s life, she has the privilege of housing and growing a new life, a life that will not only be born into this world, but an eternal soul that will live forever. Absolutely nothing in this world is more powerful than nurturing an eternal soul. This season of a woman’s life is only for a certain time. It is her time of visitation which is only about 20 plus years of her whole life, very few when you consider that most women live into their eighties and nineties today. It is the privileged time of a woman’s life when God can visit her to conceive life.

Every conception discloses a visitation of God. Mere man cannot give conception. After Hannah dedicated her firstborn Samuel to God and took him to live at the temple, God “visited” her five more times and gave her five more children (1 Samuel 2:21). Genesis 21:1 also tells us how God “visited” Sarah and she conceived.

There are only two kinds of human beings in this world—a man without a womb, the male; and a man with a womb, the woman. The womb is distinctive to God’s female creation.1 To embrace our womb is to embrace who we are; to reject the function of the womb is to not only reject the true essence of femaleness, but to reject our Creator who designed us. Does the handicraft disown its Craftsman? Isaiah 29:16 (RSV) says, “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay; and the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” Have we become so shaped by a godless society that we no longer understand who we are? What perversity!2

To reject motherhood is to reject the
transcendence of our femaleness.

Motherhood is also part of our innate femininity. Noah Webster’s 1928 dictionary describes quintessential as “the highest essence of power in a natural body.” Motherhood is primal, powerful, protecting and permeating--not only in our children’s lives but in all of society. Motherhood is not something we perform at a certain time of our life. Motherhood is who we are as a female. When we reject mothering, we reject who God created us to be. The desire to nurture is divinely inherent in every woman, even those who seemingly reject motherhood. Those who refuse to embrace children into their arms will usually have a cat or a dog, which they nurture like a human baby!

To embrace motherhood is to embrace quintessential femininity. Motherhood is the highest career in the nation. It is a divine mandate. It is the glory of the nation. We read in Hosea 9:11 how God told Ephraim that He would take away their “glory” as punishment for their sins. What was their glory? Conception, pregnancy, and birth!

Not only is motherhood innately within us, but it reveals the nature of God. One of the names of God is El Shaddai which reveals God as a nursing mother. Motherhood is not something we “have to do,” but it is the revelation of the nurturing heart of God. Webster (1913) describes quintessence as “an extract from anything, containing its rarest virtue, or most subtle and essential constituent in a small quantity.” We are not El Shaddai, but a little “shad” revealing to the world the rarest virtue of motherhood. When we embrace, and live in the glory of motherhood, we show to the world what God is like. When we reject motherhood, we deprive the world of seeing this characteristic of God.

There are some women who cannot conceive naturally. Are they denied motherhood? No. When a woman expresses her nurturing instinct to mother the hurting and needy, the elderly, the orphans and widows, or even to adopt a child, she finds her fulfillment in mothering. The most renowned mother of our last century was Mother Theresa, a woman who never birthed children, but who was the greatest example of motherhood as she poured out her life for the downtrodden.

There are some mothers who deny themselves the privilege and joy of nursing their own baby, and yet this is primal and quintessential to being female.3 The Bible tells us that “Even jackals offer the breast, they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness” (Lamentations 4:3).4

The ultimate quintessence of motherhood is the
revelation of God’s maternal heart to the world.

Our little daughters naturally behave femininely. They haven’t yet been conditioned by society. They love to mother. That’s all the want to be when they grow up, until society re-programs their brains. They love babies. They love to dress like princesses, which is another area of our femininity we have lost. As we look around today we see most women in the uniform of the day—jeans and top. I don’t say you should not wear the “uniform,” but does it really convey who we are? Nor do I say you can’t wear pance. The men in biblical days didn’t wear pance, but wore long flowing robes. The important thing is to make whatever you wear look feminine.

When my little granddaughters go to my dress-up box, what do they want to wear? Each one of them wants to be a princess. They look for the princess dresses, and if there are not enough to go around, they create them out of sheets and old curtains! I have never noticed that they want to dress up in a business suit!

One of my Above Rubies helpers shared with me that she and her sister sewed civil war time dresses with hooped skirts for a historical fair they were attending. They had to run some errands, and rather than changing into street clothes, decided to wear their dresses. They were amazed that in every store, both workers and shoppers, stopped to exclaim, “Oh you look so beautiful!” or “What beautiful dresses!”

I was thinking about this when traveling some time back. Delayed in a long line at an airport, I decided to look around for beautiful women. Every woman wore the “uniform,” but I spotted one lady who stood out from everyone else. She was dressed in a flowing apricot-colored sari with scarves flowing around her. She looked gloriously feminine and I feasted my eyes upon her as I waited. How sad that we have degenerated so far from our intrinsic femininity that we can only wear a dress that makes us feel like a princess or a queen if we “dress up in a costume!”

I believe a woman also reveals her femininity in her home. This is the domain God planned for women--to make her home a restful place where God’s presence dwells, to raise and nurture her children, to create a delightful atmosphere her children will remember into the next generation, and to be a successful home-maker and gardener. Proverbs 24:15 calls the home a “resting place.” Hosea 11:11 (KNOX) says, “In their own home, says the Lord, I will give them rest.” It is easy for a woman to lose her femininity when she works in the secular world, but she can also lose her rest. When we lose the anointing of rest upon our lives, we need to get back into the home.

In the home a woman can also bask in the provision and leadership of her husband. She loses her femininity, her grace, and her peace when she rules her husband. A truly feminine woman trusts in her husband’s provision and authority. This does not mean she is a doormat. God has given women a sphere of leadership, not to rule over her husband, but to govern the affairs of her home (1 Timothy 5:14). It is her prerogative to efficiently administrate her home and garden. This is not an insignificant task. It is a full-time career, especially as God blesses the couple with more children.

It is not just loving our children,
but loving and embracing the role of motherhood
that releases us into the joy and glory of our divine career.

Gentleness and meekness are also the inner essence of being female. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (Williams) says, “Your adornments . . . must be of an internal nature, the character concealed in the heart, in the imperishable quality of a quiet and gentle spirit, which is of great value in the sight of God.” These qualities in a female are very precious to the heart of God, and to husbands. In fact, they are a woman’s charm. They are called an “unfading charm” in the Amplified Version. Is it weak to have a gentle and quiet spirit? No. It is a woman of strength who keeps a gentle spirit in the face of harshness and rebuke. It is a strong woman who keeps an even temper when she feels overwhelmed and angry. Have you tried being meek for a week? This is certainly not a challenge for the weak!

The anointing of gentleness on a mother is beautiful to behold. Motherhood is equated with gentleness. And yet it is more. Just as Jesus was revealed as both a Lamb and a Lion, so too, God has put within the woman a gentle anointing, but also a “lion-like” spirit which rises up to protect her children, or to resist the enemy that would come to attack her marriage or home (Revelation 5:2-6).

This “quiet and gentle” spirit is also revealed in our speech. Soft and gentle words exemplify femininity. Sweet words are becoming to a woman. If I start to get on my “high horse” my husband says to me, “Nancy, you’ve got to be sweet to me.” Oh my! I don’t have a chance to get harsh! Sweet words endear us to our husband. Sweet words bless our children. Sweet words personify our femaleness. Shakespeare’s famous words are apt for us: "Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman." Solomon, speaking to his bride in Song of Songs 4:11 says, “Your lips, my bride, drip honey; honey and milk are under your tongue.” Could your husband testify that every time you open your mouth sweet words drip from your lips?

In Song of Songs chapter 7 (The Message), the Bridegroom is overcome as he admires every part of his bride. And then to describe her completely he exclaims, “Quintessentially Feminine.” He cannot think of greater praise. We have come so far from God’s original intent for us, His female creation. Can we allow God to work in our lives to bring us back, little by little, to the original glory He planned for us? Can we no longer measure our lives by the world around us but by God’s original design?

NANCY CAMPBELL

Footnotes:
1. Go to http://bit.ly/ProtectYourWomb. This is an important document which every woman should read.
2. The Hebrew word for “you turn things upside down” or is hophek and means “perversity!” Read also Isaiah 45:9-10; 64:8 and Romans 9:19-21.
3. To read more about the blessings of embracing motherhood and femininity go to: http://tinyurl.com/FullFemale
4. See also Job 39:14-17 and Isaiah 49:15.

Motherhood Preservation Testimonies

Healed through Pregnancy!

My husband and I came to the Lord and received His salvation early in our marriage.  Along with many changes this new life brought, we chose to yield our childbearing to our all-wise God, believing that children are indeed a blessing.

I must admit that my visions for a large family were quite idealistic. With five children under the age of seven, I found I was expecting another. We were temporarily living in Birmingham, Alabama, 1100 miles from our home while I received treatment for a medical condition. At nine weeks, I began spotting, followed shortly after by very heavy cramping and bleeding. In the middle of the night, not knowing how much bleeding was too much, my husband called 911 for an ambulance to take me to the hospital and an ultrasound showed an empty uterus.

All was not well. I continued to cramp and bleed for weeks. I felt physically ill, and not only did I still have my family to care for, but we were getting ready to move back North, which involved sorting and packing. God gave me the strength, somehow, to get it all done, but as I drove our mini-van out of Birmingham, a wave of extreme panic hit me. Suddenly my arms and legs turned to spaghetti.

Thankfully, my father had come down to help us move, and he was able to drive the van the rest of the way. I spent the remainder of the trip totally ill and overwhelmed with panic, lying on the back seat of the van. I had no appetite and did not know what was wrong with me!

My husband, a driver for Federal Express, had to report for work in a couple of days at his new post in Keene, New Hampshire. However, since we had not yet found suitable housing, our family stayed with my mother in Connecticut. George worked in New Hampshire and drove down to spend the weekends with us. This lasted for six weeks. I was very ill. I still had no appetite, and hardly any strength to care for my children. Just lifting my head off the pillow in the morning sent my heart rate to 170 BPM.

The bleeding from the miscarriage never really ended. Two months later, when I visited my doctor, he said, “We really have to stop this bleeding,” and recommended that we do a D&C. I told him I would rather wait it out another month to see what would happen. I went home to my mother’s place and literally cried my heart out to God. “Dear God,” I cried. “You know we have gladly received any children that you wanted to send us. But look at me, God! I’m sick. I can’t even take care of the children I have very well right now. What should we do? Perhaps we should ‘use something’ until my body gains strength? Please show us your will! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

After six weeks of staying with my mother, we found a large house in the woods of New Hampshire that would accommodate our family. We were all alone with no friends in the area. We lived at the end of a half-mile long dirt road, and the winters in New Hampshire are long!

I awaited my next period which would have been due the end of the month. It never came. “My body is REALLY out of whack now,” I thought! I felt somewhat better, and my appetite returned, although I was still very tired. Another month passed without a period and I decided to take a pregnancy test. Sure enough, it was positive!

There were still some problems. The nearest obstetrician was in Keene, which was a 25-minute drive from our house in the woods. I was still very far from being able to drive a car due to my recurrent panic-attacks. My husband was not able to drive me there during office hours. What would we do?

I cautiously looked into the possibility of having my baby at home with a midwife, but never pictured myself actually doing it. We found a sweet midwife with a ton of experience who was willing to see me in the evenings, when it was convenient for my husband to drive me to her office. During my first visit, she discovered I was not eight weeks pregnant as I had thought, but was actually twelve! What a delight! I calculated that I was already pregnant when I had visited my doctor with the bleeding. Actually, I was already pregnant when I was crying out to God for wisdom! The Lord had answered.

I continually gained strength that winter and my appetite became ravenous. By the time spring came to the mountains of southern New Hampshire I was full of energy and optimism. On the first day of summer, Father’s Day that year, we welcomed a perfect baby girl into our home! All the other children got to enjoy her immediately since we were at home. What a blessing!

We moved back to Connecticut for a short time, and then to Pennsylvania where we have now been for 15 years. The Lord has given us eight more children since Elizabeth Grace, who is now a sweet, talented seventeen year-old. I often think of what we would have missed if we had cut off our childbearing years after the first five, as many had suggested.

As best as I can discern, I think I must have gone through some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder after that miscarriage as my whole nervous system was affected. I have never met anyone since who has experienced anything similar.

I love to tell the story of our faithful God who answered my prayer, and whose ways are FAR above our ways. He used Elizabeth’s pregnancy to not only restore my health, but to solidify our faith in the matter of childbearing.

LISA KEYES 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
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No More Migraines!

My husband and I married October (2008) and I had our first baby girl July 5th 2009. It started out as an easy pregnancy but turned high risk after discovering that my cervix was starting to efface at 22 weeks. I was put on bed rest and prayer lists. After another ultrasound a month later, we found that the bed rest and prayer done its job and, praise the Lord, my cervix had actually lengthened! I was still on bed rest, but could resume simple tasks.

At 34 weeks, the baby’s head dropped and I was once again put on complete bed rest. My husband works on a ranch and we live at least an hour from the nearest hospital (two hours from the larger hospital with a large NICU). I started to have episodes of pre-labor with regular contractions for several hours at a time and was dilating a little more each time so we decided that I stay in town with my midwife while my husband went back home to the ranch until 36 ½ weeks when we would be pretty much out of the woods.

I made it to 36 ½ weeks and was allowed to return home, (even though I was dilated to a 5). I enjoyed about a week and a half of walking around and finally preparing for our little girl. She was safely born at 4:03 am after laboring all night long with fireworks going off in the neighborhood the whole time! Joy and peace came that morning with little Cheyenna Faith.

One wonderful thing about my pregnancy is that I was spared from migraines. I’ve had terrible migraines with vomiting and sickness ever since I was 11 years old. They would “strike” every other month around my monthly cycle, which lead me to believe  they were hormonal. I went to chiropractors, tried different preventions and remedies, but nothing helped. All I could do was pray for complete healing!

I suspected that, since they seemed to be mostly hormonal, they would lessen or disappear during and after pregnancy. It seems I was right. During my whole pregnancy I only had one serious, vomiting migraine (it was in the first trimester after drinking of a cup of regular coffee that I don’t normally drink). As my monthly cycle has regulated more after childbirth, I have headaches around my menstrual cycle. However, I have not had to deal with one debilitating migraine and it’s now one year since my little angel was born. I’m so thankful that our bodies are truly saved in childbearing.

ASHLEY PLOURD
Hobson, Montana, USA
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Healed from Depression!

I have lived with anxiety and depression at some level for my entire life. I put this down to a childhood fraught with trauma, abuse and neglect. Thankfully though, God’s hand has always been evident in my life and amongst all the negative experiences there were people who showed me love and security and taught me about God’s plan and will for me life. In particular, He blessed me with a wonderful godly mother figure in my Aunt Anthea.

For as long as I can remember I yearned to someday have a husband and children of my own. My wise aunt had often encouraged me to pray for a godly husband. Just before I turned 18 I realised the man I had been hoping and praying for had been right in front of me for 10 years. I was only eight when we met! Through prayer and the wise advice of godly mentors, Jeremy and I married in July 2005.

The first year of marriage was difficult as I continued to struggle under the cloud of depression and anxiety. In June 2006 we were blessed with Jonathan Wesley, our first son and I felt the cloud lift a little. Fourteen months later in August 2007, along came our second son, Oscar Malcolm and I never felt better! I was living the dream. For about eight months or so life was wonderful and I experienced peace and joy at levels I had never before known.

When I began to struggle again in late 2007 I was referred to a psychologist by my GP. She was a lovely Christian woman, who taught me valuable skills for combating daily anxiety but failed to recognise the need for healing at a soul level. After seeing her for a couple of months she left work on maternity leave. During a visit to my Uncle and Aunt’s farm over Christmas 2007 and some counseling from my aunt, it became clear that God had some healing to do in my life. I needed to work through the deep scars of my childhood. While I waited for my psychologist to come back from maternity leave, things rapidly went downhill. By March 2008 the anxiety attacks became worse and more frequent. I was desperate.

I continued to deteriorate and was admitted to the psychiatric ward in our nearest hospital. Though this was an extremely difficult and lonely time God made me aware that He was very near and very much in control. The ward psychiatrist blamed my breakdown on having children too young and too close together. I took offense to this as I know that God knows my children and they were born according to His plan and there was no mistake! She advised that it would be catastrophic for us to have any more children and that we should go on contraception until I was able to care for myself as well as the children I already had. My husband thought this wise advice and I sadly had an etonogestrel (Implanon) inserted.

I was desperate for healing, freedom and hope and to get back to being the wife and mother I so longed to be. Toward the end of my time on the ward the psychiatrist told me that while I may improve I would never fully recover from this breakdown. I knew that God had given me a high calling to be a wife and a mother and that there were things He was calling us to in our future, which would only be possible if I was able to function a lot better than I was. I believed that somehow God would work it out.

My husband took time off work while I was in the psychiatric ward and following my release he took a leave of absence to care for the children and me. We took a family trip to my uncle and aunt’s farm shortly after I arrived home, to aid in my recovery. While we were there my aunt sent off some forms for an Above Rubies retreat she and two of my cousins would soon be attending in Victor Harbor. I decided to send off a form too!

I shared with my husband when we returned home that I felt I was not trusting God’s wisdom in using contraception but trusting in man’s wisdom. He replied that if I felt it was wrong, I should have it removed. I was relieved but also scared. I feared having another child at this time, but trusted God would keep me from falling pregnant until I was well. I very quickly found myself to be pregnant. I was worried but held on to that thread of hope that God knows best.

Shortly after discovering that I was pregnant it came time for the Above Rubies retreat. While there I caught up with my aunt and cousins and told them that I was ‘expecting’. They reacted with excitement. She told me that Val Stares (Australian Above Rubies Director) had told her that this baby would be my healing. I took this to mean I would be healed once the baby was born, but almost immediately I slowly lifted out of the rut. It wasn’t an instant fix but a slow and gradual lifting.

Soon after this, I found a brilliant Christian psychologist. She immediately saw the need to work through my past and she, like me, had hope in complete healing, something I had not found elsewhere, even in other Christians. We began working slowly through each painful memory and speaking God’s truth and love into my damaged heart and mind. God steadily brought me comfort, healing and HOPE! I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel and looked forward to the arrival of our baby.

I improved so much that my husband returned to work, first working from home then eventually full time in the office. I kept seeing the psychologist regularly, only taking a few weeks break after the birth of our third son, Ashton James in June 2009. A month or so after his birth people started noticing a difference in me, a ‘sparkle in my eye’, a positive attitude, and hope.

Since then I have come to know a quality of life that I have never known before. I experience joy, peace and hope in ways I never knew possible. It is still hard for me to comprehend that this is real, that it is possible for anyone, let alone me, to feel this good on a regular basis. Even though life still has its difficulties, I face it all with a new strength and confidence that comes only from God and what He has done for me. I’m so glad I was able to trust Him, even in my darkest hour, so that He could bring me to where I am now; healed from my past, absolutely loving life with my wonderful husband and my three little treasures who bring me so much joy each day. I feel so much love I could burst. I definitely would not be without my Ashton. To think I could have so easily missed out on him had I continued to trust man’s wisdom over God’s.

JESS HANCOCK
Adelaide, Australia
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Goodbye to Nosebleeds and Migraines!

As a very small child I developed nosebleeds, which came if I exerted myself or when we had a very hot day. At the age of 17 I started to get migraine headaches. At 24 I had my first baby and from that day to this (I am now 67) I have not had a nosebleed or a migraine. God’s ways are marvelous.

ANTHEA BOLTON

New South Wales, Australia
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Healed from Chronic Pain!

For many months I had been suffering from mysterious abdominal pain, and I do mean suffering! In so much pain I couldn’t think anymore, I became very sleep-deprived because of the unrelenting pain. Worst of all, my husband had to be always looking after a sick and cranky wife. We had only just been married, after two years spent on opposite sides of the globe. My family and friends were all in Canada. There were so many things we had looked forward to doing together, but I was not in any shape to do much at all.

I have always been very physically active, and the forced inactivity was extremely depressing. I wasn’t able to walk for any distance, my lower back became very weak and old injuries came back to haunt me. I would alternately push myself to accomplish a bit of work, and then spend days afterwards in misery, barely able to do anything. I fainted when the pain was at its worst and a few times ended up in hospital.

This went on for months and months, the cause of the pain a mystery. Finally, I had exploratory surgery, and was told it appeared as though I’d had an infection in my appendix, which had caused a lot of scarring. The first surgeon felt unequal to the delicate task of snipping my innards free from abdominal muscle, where the scar tissue had pinned them. The second felt that I did not need surgery, but should be put on painkillers for the rest of my life, in spite of being allergic to them. The third doctor feared the infection might have caused an abscess, which would not have been visible during surgery.

It was at this point, caught between differences among medical professionals, I found myself pregnant! The ultrasound showed a healthy little eight-week-old baby. Off the record, one of the surgeons explained to me that many women who had pain from abdominal adhesions and became pregnant found the pain disappeared or dissipated after the baby was born. The hormone, oxytocin begins to take effect around mid-pregnancy, causing connective tissues in the body to become soft and stretchy. Scar tissue softens and very gently stretches over several months, no longer pulling on sensitive nerve endings.

We were very glad to be expecting a baby, and also very glad to hear that not only would the baby be alright, but might actually provide a cure for this pain I’d had for so long!  All through that very long pregnancy I kept reminding myself that all would be well with this child. I had 24/7 sickness, and it lasted until two weeks after the birth. I was so sick, I felt like I was pregnant for years. In retrospect, I think my thyroid was low. My back went to pieces and I spent the last four months of the pregnancy with two joints in my spine out of place. I suffered from symphesis pubis dysfunction (when the pelvic joints get too loose) but I didn’t mind because I knew that oxytocin was doing its work on those adhesions as well as on my joints.

Through all that trying time, my little mystery baby thrived in spite of my poor health. Friends speculated that I was carrying a future England football star, as the little person made his or her presence known with unusually vigorous acrobatics.

A little grey-eyed girl was born into water after a three-day labour, one Sunday morning in spring. We named her Rose because she was pink and perfect and all furled up, just like a rosebud.

It took time to heal after a difficult pregnancy and birth, but as my body healed, the pain gradually faded away. I can’t describe how it feels to be free of pain! Pain in a limb, or from bone and muscle, does not compare to the grinding, draining pain that comes from an internal source. It is a joy to wake up feeling good!

Our beautiful little Rose is now a year and a half now, exceptionally strong and active and a constant joy. I am so thankful for the simple pleasure of being able to move freely and get back to an active life.

MARY LYNNE MOUNTJOY
Ashmansworthy, Devonshire, United Kingdom
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Children Preserved my Youth!

The wisdom God gave me, along with the gift of eight children, has preserved my youth for 15 years. I know that youthful appearance will eventually fade and because of that, I feel more importantly that God preserved my "way" rather than just my youth. Proverbs 2:8 says, "He preserveth the way of His saints."

When our sixth child was born, I felt God had given me more than I could handle. I had trusted Him with the size of our family and now I didn't see how God was doing what was best for us. I had four children to home school, a baby girl to play with, lots of laundry, too much housework, and now I was nursing another baby! I was also sick and tired of people feeling sorry for me and asking me if I knew what caused all these children. I wanted to do other things with my life, like teach aerobics, coach a basketball team, do scrapbook parties and work with my husband, etc.

But as God's goodness softened my heart, I listened to His voice. He gave me a desire to have our seventh, and then a few years later our eighth. But God had preserved me, my health, my body, my strength--and I knew it. I didn’t know until recently about the anti-aging hormone that had been in my body continually for thirteen years because of nine pregnancies.

During those baby years God showed me things like how to eat healthy, how not to buy foods that would make me gain too much weight (we only bought junk food for birthday parties), simple exercises that would help me stay strong (tightening my stomach muscles while driving in the car instead of slouching), and other little nuggets like getting rid of the TV.

I didn’t have internet until my seventh baby was born--using the internet late at night makes a mommy too tired for the next busy day. The Lord showed me after my first child the importance of resting for about nine days after the birth instead of getting up and working right away. I just stacked laundry, let dishes sit and cleaning had to wait. Instead, I let my mom, mother-in-law and husband help for about a week and a half.

The Lord also gave me wisdom to not over-exercise when I was tired in the last trimester and then for about four months after my birth. When your body is tired, exercise doesn't help you lose weight or build muscle. Walking was all I needed to stay fit. Pregnancy itself is like running a marathon to your body and you need lots of rest if you're going to keep having lots of children. God taught me that He would keep me in shape even through so many years of not being about to work out like I used to at high school.

One piece of wisdom is to teach our daughters to exercise before they marry. Keeping in shape in my teens really helped me when I got married to stay in shape and not be lazy. Our bodies respond to months of no muscle training. I found that our bodies can remember all the muscles that we had for a long period of time, and can actually regain that strength very quickly.

became very strong in my arms carrying babies around and nursing while standing up. I never used a sling. I used to work out before having babies but the muscles I developed from carrying babies were different muscles from what I had ever exercised before. The Lord showed me that when I didn’t have time to work out aerobically or with weights, I could clean house, rake leaves or hoe the garden and that gave parts of my body an intense work-out. Sweating is so good for you.

Now that my baby is two years old and I'm not pregnant (amazingly), the Lord is preserving me through the love I receive every day from our children. I get so many kisses, hugs, notes, and drawings from my children that the joy keeps me smiling a lot!

A book I've been reading about facial massage techniques explains, "Scientists believe that the muscles of the face and neck are unique because of their involuntary link to your emotional processes."  Being joyful is a natural face-lift. There are many celebrities who seem very beautiful and young looking, but that beauty cost them a great deal of money, exercise time, and concentration on what foods to eat, etc.  Since 1995 when my first child was conceived, I’ve tried to eat right, but lacked the money to buy health food or a gym membership. God still blessed my efforts and His wisdom gave me a wonderful life!  Ecclesiastes 7:12 says, “Wisdom giveth life to them that have it."

Nearing our fifteenth anniversary at thirty-seven years old, I have a similar body to when I was twenty, only my husband thinks its better. I also have more joy, more love and most importantly, I have a testimony to share about God's goodness. I thank God for our eight children who have given me the desire to draw near to God. Without them I may have never experienced true salvation, freedom from selfishness, patience, or the ability to love like I do. I definitely wouldn’t have gotten that free anti-aging hormone n abundance!

JOANNA SHEPHERD
Tawakoni, Texas, USA
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Never had more Energy!

I thought I'd exclusively breastfed my first three children. I didn't realize the truth until I picked up a copy of Breastfeeding and Fertility by Jenny Silliman at an Above Rubies Family Camp. My little fella was only 10 weeks old, and I immediately began to follow the guidelines of responsive breastfeeding. With my other children, my fertility came back almost immediately and I have a history of anemia (especially during menses) and post-partum hemorrhaging.

My midwife gave me further information on how women who practice responsive breastfeeding or ecological breastfeeding typically have better iron stores due to the break from menses, providing a true rest for her body.

My baby boy is now 18 months and my cycles have not returned. I have not taken iron tablets in at least eight months and I feel great! I recently shared with a friend how active I've been with my children and that I cannot remember a time when I've had this energy.

Responsive breastfeeding makes this toddler time easier on both of us. I used to think the extra patience I felt toward my nurslings and the distinct difference once they weaned was in my head but now I know better. During times of frustration, nursing calms my baby and me.

ELIZABETH BOJIE
Centerton, Arkansas, USA
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Preserved Through Motherhood

“I’m not going to have any more than two children. I don’t want my figure ruined.” “I’ve got my career. I’ve got more important things to do than stay home with children.” “I don’t want to nurse my baby; I don’t want to get sagging breasts.” The comments keep coming—women trying to preserve themselves from childbirth or any extra sacrifice to their womanhood.

But, in actuality, does this work? I am always challenged by the words of Jesus in Mark 8:35, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” It is an eternal law, that when we try to save our life we end up losing it.

And what about this lovely promise in 1 Timothy 2:15, NAS. “Women shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self restraint.” Every woman wants to be preserved. She wants her body to be preserved in good health, her figure to be in shape, and she wants to be preserved mentally and spiritually.

This world system feeds us lies. It pours out the reasons why women should not have too many babies. But God’s Word says we will be preserved through embracing motherhood and the bearing of children! A woman’s body was created for this task and her womanly functions atrophy when they are no longer used. The word “preserved” in 1 Timothy 2:15 is the Greek word, sozo. It means to be “protected, delivered, restored, saved and preserved.” I certainly want to be preserved in my womanliness, don’t you? Let’s discover some of the ways we are preserved.

We are Preserved Physically

Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is on the increase today. Twenty-two thousand women are diagnosed each year and 15,000 die of this cancer. One of the reasons is that women are cutting off childbearing. Pregnancy and breastfeeding provide a crucial resting period for the ovaries. Because of limiting their families, most women today are ovulating about 450 times during their life time instead of only about 150 times.

An article called, Timing of Pregnancy and the Risk of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer states, “The accumulated evidence from epidemiological studies suggests that the risk of epithelial cancer of the ovary is strongly related to the number of ovulations throughout a woman’s reproductive life.” (2) Pregnancy hormones are beneficial to the ovaries. They help to clear precancerous cells from the epithelial lining of the ovary. Because older women will have accumulated more cells than younger women, pregnancy at an older age is also a blessing. (3) A case-controlled study revealed that women 30 years of age or older at the time of their last birth had approximately half the risk of women who completed childbearing before age 25 years. Another study reported a 60% increased risk of ovarian cancer among women who delivered their last birth before age 25 compared with women who delivered at an older age. (4)

The more children a mother has, the less risk of ovarian cancer. Women who bear their first child before the age of 22 are less likely to develop ovarian cancer which again proves the Bible when it says, “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.” (Psalm 127:4) Interestingly, a mother who gives birth to twins, or more, reduces her risk of ovarian cancer even more than a single pregnancy. (5)

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. With every menstrual cycle, cells in the breast grow and divide and therefore have the possibility of accumulating mutations which could lead to breast cancer. Therefore, the longer a mother breastfeeds, the less likelihood of breast cancer. In The International Journal of Epidemiology it says that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to 30 percent. (6)

David Bjerklie writes in Time Magazine, “An analysis of nearly 50 studies involving 150,000 women in 30 countries found that the number of children women bear and how long they breast-feed may help determine their chance of developing breast cancer. Women who had six or seven children and breast-fed each for two years had cancer rates less than half those of women who had two or three children and breast-fed them for only two months.” (7)

And what about your figure? Breastfeeding helps you to get back into shape sooner, bringing you back to size by six weeks postpartum.  And you use up to 500 calories a day while nursing! Isn’t that good? I loved all the years I was nursing babies. I didn’t have to worry about what I ate and I still stayed slim!

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin

Do you feel sick when pregnant? It is the hormone, hCG, which is produced by the placenta to maintain the early stages of pregnancy. Don’t despair; try and smile for it is actually a blessing. When you feel lousy with morning sickness, remember that this hormone is helping you to prevent cancer.  Johana Vanegas, M.D., a research associate at Fox Chase, revealed that rats exposed to hCG over a 21 day period (the length of rat pregnancy), are far less likely to develop breast cancer when exposed to a known carcinogen.

Estriol

Estriol is a protective estrogen hormone. It is one of the three estrogens produced by the body—estrone, estradiol and estriol. During pregnancy the body produces up to 1,000 times more estriol to protect the mother and developing baby.

In one particular study, researchers compared estriol levels during pregnancy with breast cancer incidence 40 years later. Results revealed that of the 15,000 women who entered the study, those with the highest levels of estriol relative to other estrogens during pregnancy had the lowest cancer risk. As the relative level of estriol increased during pregnancy, risk of breast cancer decreased 40 years later. In fact, women with the highest level of estriol during pregnancy had 58% lower risk for breast cancer compared with women who had the lowest serum estriol levels. (8)

Estriol has also been shown to improve EAE, MS and collagen-induced arthritis. (9) It also has benefits for heart health, bone density and postmenopausal health.

Anti Aging

Estriol, this wonderful pregnancy hormone, also has anti-aging properties. Manufacturers are now using estriol in face creams to reduce wrinkles, maintain skin firmness, elasticity and moisture content.  This is just another proof of being preserved through motherhood. Every pregnancy will help your aging. I love this, don’t you?

Adrenal Fatigue

Pregnancy can help heal the adrenals. I know a young mother who suffered with panic attacks because of going through a serious trial in her life. She feared getting pregnant again knowing she did not want to combine the traumatic panic attacks with pregnancy.  Eventually, after much research she read that adrenal burn out could be remedied through pregnancy. She went ahead in faith, became pregnant and has not had a panic attack since. Adrenal Fatigue, The 21st Century Stress Syndrome, page 252 quotes, “Pregnancy helps adrenal fatigue because the fetus produces a greater amount of natural adrenal hormones than the amount in the non-pregnant female.”

Oxytocin

God is so good to the mother. He doesn’t give her a baby and say, “Here you are; now you can manage on our own.” Instead, He gives her two hormones to help her with mothering. Both oxytocin and prolactin are produced in the pregnant and nursing mother. Oxytocin is known by different names—the “love” hormone, the “cuddle” hormone and the “bonding” hormone.  I love to call it the “calming” hormone. When the mother puts the baby to the breast and the milk lets down, she experiences a calming feeling come over her. Often she will fall to sleep on the job! This is such a wonderful boon to a mother, especially when she has a number of little children. I was not a calm and relaxed person when I started on the adventure of mother—the very opposite, in fact. But as I nursed my babies over the years, constantly being calmed by this God-given hormone, my personality changed. My daughters used to call it “relaxin” instead of “oxytocin.”

A dear young mother, who I know personally, gave birth to her third baby when her husband had an accident with very serious head injuries. It was touch-and-go for his life. Well-wishing friends advised her to wean her baby because it would be too much for her to cope with, especially as she had to drive an hour and a half to the city each day to visit her husband. But her wise mother encouraged her to continue nursing. Every day, through the long difficult months, she took her nursing baby to the hospital with her. It turned out to be her greatest blessing. The hormone oxytocin helped reduce her stress levels during this trying ordeal.

Oxytocin is also released in love-making, touching and even eating together. I am sure we would see a lot more peace and contentment if families would sit together and fellowship for their family meals. It is interesting that studies reveal less domestic abuse in breastfeeding families. And few breastfed mothers suffer from postpartum depression.

Oxytocin also causes contraction of the uterus, which inhibits the risk of bleeding and promotes the return of the uterus to its original shape and size.

Prolactin

Prolactin, which is involved in milk production, also has a calming and sedating affect upon the mother. Prolactin increases with sucking stimulation. The more a mother nurses her baby, the more prolactin she produces and the more motherly she feels. An interesting study disclosed that when prolactin was injected into a rooster, he became clucky, gathering the little chickens under his wings. Researchers on animals in the wild show that while nursing, the mother will fight to death any intruder that would touch her young one. But once she has weaned, the young animal is left to fight for itself. This hormone binds the mother to the baby and causes her to be very motherly and protective.

Biodentical Hormones

Today many women are using biodentical hormones (not chemical HRT) to balance their hormones, to increase lacking libido, to feel good and to stop anti-aging. What are these hormones? They are the same hormones that increase amazingly in the pregnant woman—HGH (human grown hormone), estrogens, progesterone which increases one hundredfold and available testosterone which increases by 20 percent. Each time a woman becomes pregnant, she has all these benefits and the blessings continue throughout her life.

Progesterone

I’m sure you’ll want to know just a few more plusses you receive from progesterone which jumps up 100 times when you are pregnant. Not only does it guard you from breast cancer, but it protects you from cardiac-related health problems and also promotes the function and maintenance of the brain. Progesterone helps alleviate anxiety and depression by increasing your production of GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid), the neurotransmitter that causes you to feel calm and relaxed. GABA is often called the “sleep inducer”!

If all this is not enough, progesterone also improves the immune system, builds bones, improves hearing, protects from seizures and decreases allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis and water retention. (10)

Multiple Sclerosis

Prolactin also spurs spontaneous production of myelin, a fatty substance that rebuilds a protective coating around nerve cells. This process can repair damaged nerve cells responsible for MS. A study at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute compared pregnant and non-pregnant mice of the same age group. They found that pregnant mice had twice as many myelin-producing cells as non-pregnant mice and they continued to generate new cells during pregnancy. This is another reason why MS usually goes into remission during pregnancy. (11)

Diabetes

A diabetic mother who is breastfeeding her baby needs less insulin than a bottle-feeding mother.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Seventy-five percent of women who have RA go into remission when pregnant.

We are Preserved Emotionally

As we have already learned, God gives calming hormones to nursing mothers that help her stress levels.

Having children also delivers us from a self-centered life. Before we have children, we have time to dote on ourselves. Some young people take at least half an hour or more to put on their make up each day. Wait until children come. They soon learn to do it in two minutes or less!

We are all prone to self-pity and selfishness but children take our mind off ourselves as we minister to their needs. This is healthy. We are much better emotionally when we care for others. Often when people come to me, depressed and full of self-pity, I encourage them to think of something they can do for someone else. I myself have been healed from sickness in my body and self-centeredness in my mind by doing something for someone else. We come back again to the eternal law that Jesus gave, “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Luke 17:33)

I have observed women totally taken up with their problems, fears and phobias, but when they married and children came along they soon forgot about all their little personal problems. How wonderful to be preserved from our self-pitying, self-complacent, self-pleasing, self-satisfying, self-gratifying, self-seeking, self-pampering, self-conceited, self-opinionated, self-serving, self-preoccupied and self-centered life. There is no greater deliverance!

We can rejoice that motherhood delivers us from emotional weakness. For the sake of children we must not give into emotional stress. We have to be strong and take courage, exercising self-control and a disciplined life. And who gets blessed in doing this? You and me.

I am always challenged by 2 Corinthians 5:15. “And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” And also John 12:24, “Except a corn of what fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

We are Preserved Spiritually

The context of the Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:13-15 is that we will be saved from deception. Verse 14 NEB says, “It was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who, yielding to deception, fell into sin.  Yet she will be saved through motherhood…” The more women move away from the purpose for which they were created, the more prone they are to get into deception. Embracing motherhood keeps us in the perfect will of God. Embracing child-bearing keeps us walking in the very purpose for which we were created.

Thousands of women have been lured from the home by humanists and feminists trying to find their fulfillment in their career outside the home. They have been deceived to think that childbearing is an inferior task when all along it is the greatest mission  given to them. Many women come to me after a seminar and say, “Thank you for giving me permission to be who I really want to be!”

God didn’t make two Adams to go out from the home and leave the children.  He made an Adam and an Eve. He planned for the mother to be in the heart of the home and embrace and nurture children. Feminists have deceived women to believe that motherhood is second-rate, yet they themselves are deceived. They are actually annihilating womanhood. They purport that a woman can only find status in doing what a man does, whereas a woman doesn’t have to do what a man does to find her worth. She finds her worth in who God created her to be—a woman! She has been given the wondrous gift to conceive life, to nurture it in her womb and to nourish, mother and train this life.

Each new life a woman conceives is an eternal soul that will live forever. Motherhood is an eternal career, not some earthly aspiration that will be left behind one day. Truly, as we embrace motherhood, we are saved from deception.

NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies

www.aboverubies.org

Footnotes:

1  David C. Whiteman1, Victor Siskind, David M. Purdie and Adèle C. Green. Timing of Pregnancy and the Risk of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer. Population and Clinical Sciences Division, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland 4029, Australia

2 Banks E., Beral V., Reeves G. The epidemiology of epithelial ovarian cancer: a review. Int. J. Gynecol. Cancer, 7: 425-438, 1997 and Risch H. A. Hormonal etiology of epithelial ovarian cancer, with a hypothesis concerning the role of androgens and progesterone. J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 90: 1774-1786, 1998.

3 Fathalla M. F. Incessant ovulation—a factor in ovarian neoplasia? Lancet, 2: 163 1971 and Adami H. O., Hsieh C. C., Lambe M., Trichopoulos D., Leon D., Persson I., Ekbom A., Janson P. O. Parity, age at first childbirth, and risk of ovarian cancer. Lancet, 344: 1250-1254, 1994 and Rodriguez G. C., Walmer D. K., Cline M., Krigman H., Lessey B. A., Whitaker R. S., Dodge R., Hughes C. L. Effect of progestin on the ovarian epithelium of macaques: cancer prevention through apoptosis?. J. Soc. Gynecol. Investig., 5: 271-276, 1998.

4 Titus-Ernstoff L., Perez K., Cramer D. W., Harlow B. L., Baron J. A., Greenberg E. R. Menstrual and reproductive factors in relation to ovarian cancer risk. Br. J. Cancer, 84: 714-721, 2001.

5 Whiteman D. C., Murphy M. F. G., Cook L., Cramer D. W., Hartge P., Marchbanks P., Nasca P., Ness R. B., Purdie D., Risch H. Multiple births and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 92: 1172-1177, 2000 and Thomas H. V., Murphy M. F., Key T. J., Fentiman I. S., Allen D. S., Kinlen L. J. Pregnancy and menstrual hormone levels in mothers of twins compared to mothers of singletons. Ann. Hum. Biol, 25: 69-75, 1998.

6 WESTPORT, Jun 24 (Reuters Health) - International Journal of Epidemiology.

7 David Bjerklie ,Time Magazine, Published: July 29, 2002

8 Siiteri PK, Sholtz RI, Cirillo PM, et al. Prospective study of estrogens during pregnancy and risk of breast cancer. Public Health Institute, Berkeley, CA.

9 11 Samantha S. Soldan, Ana Isabel Alvarez Retuerto, Nancy L. Sicotte, and Rhonda R. Voskuhl. Immune Modulation in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Treated with the Pregnancy Hormone Estriol.

10 Uzzi Reiss, and Yfat Reiss Gendell, “The Natural Superwoman”, pages 112-117.

11 Dr Samuel Weiss and Dr V Wee Yong, Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Fully Female!

In the beginning God created male and female. He did not create two males, rather a male and a female. Together they make one whole, yet each one is different from the other. To want to be like man, fulfilling his function is to be deceived. Droves of women, unthinkingly, have followed the feminist agenda of the last few decades and turned from their female role to compete in the man’s sphere. Inevitably, we have not only seen the devastating breakdown in family life, but the weakening of manhood.

It is time to break through the haze of deception and get back to who God created us to be. If you were born female, you may as well embrace it with all your heart and live your femaleness to the full. To do anything less is to shortchange the destiny of your life!

What does it mean to be fully female? May God give us understanding as we look at an acrostic of this word, FEMALE.

Feminine

Masculinity is aligned with manhood; femininity with womanhood. That’s just how it’s meant to be. It is sad that many children grow up today without fully understanding the true functions of male and female. The roles are not defined in their family life and they see a blurred picture. When they are older, the distortion continues into their marriages and families. And the breakdown of family life continues.

I was blessed to grow up in a home where the sexes were clearly defined. My parents did not have to teach me; it was pictured in their lives. My father was “a man’s man in a man’s world” and yet a loving husband and father. He was a hard-working provider who delighted in his wife being secure in her nest to raise their children. He loved to get out and hunt and do his manly things, but loved the femininity of his wife. She was a dressmaker who made all her own clothes with hats to match. He was so proud of her when she went out, always beautifully dressed and looking like a queen.

As females, I believe we should seek to be as feminine as we possibly can. We should glory in our femininity. We should talk femininely. Is there anything more revolting than a loud-mouthed screaming woman? We should walk femininely and train our daughters to do so. We should dress femininely—that is, within the liberty of how God uniquely made each one of us. God didn’t make us robots, nor did he create us to be in bondage. There are some women who love frills and bows, and others who hate them. Some are sportier. But whatever our uniqueness, let us make sure that we reveal to our family and the world around us the femininity of our femaleness.

Equal in Worth, but Different in Function

As male and female, we are equal in worth before God. God plainly reveals this truth when He says that we are one (Genesis 2:24) It would be impossible to have one half more important than the other! But our equality is not in doing the same thing. That would be superfluous! God created male and female together to reveal His image—and each reveals a different aspect of God. The word “female” in Genesis 1:28 simply means “the opposite of male.”

The man reveals the fatherhood anointing of God. In the divine order of creation God has given him headship. His mandate from God is to cover his wife by caring for her needs, physically and spiritually. He covers her by caressing her with the same kind of love with which Christ loved the church. He provides for her so she can keep their home and does not have to leave her little ones to the mercy of others. He protects her from the deceptions of this world so she can walk in security and peace. It is the privilege of the female to submit to this covering and be blessed.

It is a modern phenomenon that many women are more submitted to their employer at work than they are to their husband at home. They are locked into running to the dictates of their employer rather than the desires of their husband.

1 Corinthians 11:7 tells us that “the man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man.” We become our husband’s glory, not when we try to be like the man, but when we embrace our femaleness.

Maternal

The ultimate glory and beauty of the female is her maternalness. This is who God created us to be—a nurturer, nourisher and nest-builder. This is the greatest anointing that we walk in as women. It is more than what we do; it is who we are. The most female thing that we can do is to embrace our maternalness and live it to the full. It is not insignificant. Motherhood originates in the very heart of God. One of the names of God, “Almighty” is translated “El Shaddai” in the Hebrew and means “the breasted one.”

Every female has maternal emotions, whether she has children or not. If God has blessed you with children, pour out your motherly affections upon them. You are doing what you were born to do. This is the glory of your femininity. If you have not been blessed with children, ask God who He wants you to pour out your motherly hormones upon. There are so many hurting in our world today—orphans, widows, single mothers, the elderly, and the poor and needy. This is how you fulfill your destiny.

An Anchor

It is innately within the female to love home, unless we have been brainwashed by the humanistic propaganda of our secular society. God created Adam before He created the garden home, but before He created the female He had the home waiting for her. She was created for the home. God gave her the home to be her nesting place, to raise her children, and as an opportunity for her creativity.

In Psalm 128 God paints a picture of a family that is blessed of the Lord. In verse three, it pictures the wife in the very heart of her home. The Complete Jewish Bible translates it: “Your wife will be a like a fruitful vine in the inner parts of your house.” As you raise godly children in your home, you have the power to change the destiny of nations. It is also where you will find peace and rest.

God calls the home a “resting place” in Proverbs 24:15. In Hosea 11:11 (Knox) we read: “And in their own home, says the Lord, I will give them rest.” Not only does He call the home a place of rest, but a place of delight. Genesis 2:8 (Knox) says, “God had planted a garden of delight, in which he now placed the man he had formed.” The first home, which was the prototype of all homes to come, was a place of delight. God intends your home to be a delight. Why not start your morning prayer with, “How can I make my home a more delightful place today? How can I bring more enjoyment into my marriage relationship? How can I bring more pleasure into the lives of my children today?”

As females, we have the privilege to be the anchors of the home. To anchor our marriage in times of stress and turmoil, to anchor our children as they face the temptations and storms of life, and to anchor our home to be a secure rock and fortress in the midst of a perilous world. The home does not function effectively unless the mother is in the heart of the home and home is in her heart.

The virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:27 “watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” The word “watches” is the same Hebrew word that is used for the watchmen who watch over the city. Just as the men watch over the city gates, God expects the mother to watch over her home.

Life-Giver

Genesis 3:20 says: “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” The Hebrew meaning of Eve is “life-giver.” This is not a negative, as many women are brainwashed to believe, but the most positive, powerful, and influential thing that we can accomplish in our lives. It is world-changing to bring life into the world. One writer says, “When God sees that in this poor old world a wrong needs righting or a truth needs preaching or a benefit needs inventing, He sends a baby into the world to do it.”

Not only do we have the privilege of birthing a life for this world, but for the eternal world. Every child is an eternal soul that will live forever! In fact, the only thing that we will take into the eternal realm is our redeemed soul and the redeemed souls of our children. Everything else that we spend our life upon will be left behind.

Theodore Curler writes, "The birth of a babe is a mighty event...In the darkest hovel in Brooklyn, in the dingiest attic or cellar, or in any place in which a human being sees the first glimpse of light, the eye of the Omniscient beholds an occurrence of prodigious movement. A life is begun, a life that shall never end. A heart begins to throb that shall beat to the keenest delight or the acutest anguish. More than this - a soul commences a career that shall outlast the earth on which it moves. The soul enters upon an existence that shall be untouched by time, when the sun is extinguished like a taper in the sky, the moon blotted out, and the heavens have been rolled together as a vesture and changed forever."

It is interesting that today many women are so educated beyond their intelligence that they no longer understand the way God created them—with a womb to nurture life and breasts to nourish life. Instead of being life-givers to the world, they become life-stoppers, negating God’s intentions and purpose.

Enricher

The female, with her sensitivity and intuitiveness to needs around her has the privilege to be the enricher of the home. She enriches her marriage, enriches the children God has given her, and enriches the atmosphere of her home.

Is your home filled with love and the joy of the Lord? Make it richer with more love. Perhaps there is no loving atmosphere in your home. You can begin to fill it up with love. It won’t happen unless you do it. You are the enricher, remember. You are the one who makes your home richer with all good things. As you catch the vision to be the Enricher of your home, you will also be an...

Enabler – enabling your children to reach their full destiny.
Encourager – daily encouraging your husband and each one of your children for who they are and for the little things they do for you.
Endearer – endearing your family to one another.
Enhancer – enhancing the atmosphere of love and joy in your home, making it richer day by day.
Enlarger – enlarging your heart to embrace the poor and needy.
Enlightener – giving understanding and enlightenment of the ways of God to your children.
Enlivener – seeking to make your home alive with the presence of God.
Ennobler – making your children honorable and noble in all things.
Enthraller – enthralling your children with new ideas, creativity, and the wonders of God’s creation.
Enthuser – enthusing your children to be ardent for God.
Entertainer – keeping your little children happy.
Enticer – enticing your children into the joy of prayer and reading God’s living Word.
Enveloper – wrapping your children around with protection and love.
Envisioner – giving vision and hope to each member of the family.
Energizer – releasing the spirit of work and creativity in the home.
Engraver – engraving the names of your children upon your heart in prayer (Exodus 28:29-30).
Entreater – entreating your children to keep a straight course in the ways of God.

You have the power to do all these things because you are in the heart of your home.

NANCY CAMPBELL
Editress of Above Rubies,
www.aboverubies.org