ALL ABOUT WHO? No. 2

Can I let you in on a secret? You cannot build a successful marriage when your life is "all about me." Selfishness never works. Expecting to be served and pampered doesn't work. Even Jesus did not come to serve, but to serve and give his life (Matthew 20:28).

The only way you find your life is by giving up your own life in serving others (Mark 8:35). Marriage is the perfect relationship to experience this victorious way of living.

Here's a project for you. Can I encourage you to change your thinking from "it's all about me" to "it's all about him"? Instead of dwelling on what your husband is doing wrong and how he is not doing this and that around the home etc, why not think of all the ways you can bless him.

Starting from today and for the rest of this week, think of at least two special things you can do for him, say to him, or write to him each day. Why not surprise him by initiating sexual intimacy instead of waiting for your husband to make the first move? And don't forget to have a lovely meal waiting for him each evening as he comes home.

Think creatively. Think out of the box. Think about him instead of you!

Love from Nancy

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ALL ABOUT WHO? No. 1

Who is your marriage all about? Is it all about you? Many couples live together, but are not bound together, or enjoy life together. They started off with great love, enjoyment and enthusiasm but now their relationship is pretty boring and cold.

Why is this? I believe it is because of the "all about me" syndrome. What is my husband doing for me? How is my husband serving me? I have a right to be whom I am and do my own thing. Soon the couple are living their own separate lives instead of being cemented together.

The very first marriage principle that God gave is oneness. Genesis 2:24 states that the married couple are to be "one flesh." We are not separate entities. We are one. We should think oneness. We should be yielded to one another to be "one flesh" as much as possible. We should be yielded to one another in one spirit, mind, and purpose to build our marriage and family. We haven't got time to be pursuing our own life. We have been blended as one to build a family that is strong, , powerful and will impact the world. This will only happen through oneness.

Love from Nancy

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YOUR MOST POWERFUL TEACHING TOOL, No. 4

When we commit to establishing Family Devotions in our family, our children become aware that we honor God's Word. It’s not enough for us to go to church on Sunday or Saturday, but our children need to know that we can’t get through one day without the sustenance of God's precious Word.

When we make it a commitment to read the Word and pray together morning and evening, they know that we truly are Bible believers and praying parents.

If your children do not see you honoring the Word of God each day, will they think it is something worth studying and reading? If we do not gather with them to pray together every day, will they get a vision for prayer?

The children see by our lifestyle what is important to us. What do they see? A materialistic attitude, trying to keep up with the Joneses, and following the crowd? Or do they truly see that God is the priority in our lives?

Love from Nancy


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YOUR MOST POWERFUL TEACHING TOOL, No. 3.

Your children gain convictions about the sanctity of life by observing your attitude about children. If your attitude is against having more children, they subconsciously imbibe that children are a commodity to have according to your plans, rather than gifts to be embraced by God because of His eternal plan.

What about eating together at the table? Even in homeschooling families, this biblical tradition (Psalm 128:3) is being lost today as they get caught up in all their extra-curricular activities. I know that all these activities are very good. Satan, the deceiver, never entices us with things that are evil, but with things that are “good, pleasant, and wise” (Genesis 3:6).

If we don’t sit together for meals, what are we teaching our children? What example do we give them for when they establish their family life? Will they grow up always eating out and not establishing this biblical premise?

As you begin teaching again today, remember that your biggest teaching is your lifestyle.

Love from Nancy

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YOUR MOST POWERFUL TEACHING TOOL, continued.

Your children learn the true roles of male and female by watching your lifestyle. I didn’t need to go to a seminar on this subject either. I saw it clearly in the lives of my parents. My mother was an anointed homemaker and godly, submissive wife (although full of spark and forever getting the giggles)! My father was a real man (not a trace of wimpiness in him). He was known as a man’s man in a man’s world. But did he want my mother to compete with him? No. He reveled in her femaleness and the beautiful feminine clothes she sewed. She always dressed like a queen and he was so proud of femininity.

It’s amazing what theological truths we teach our children in our daily lives. When your husband sits at the head of table each evening, the children subconsciously become aware that he is the head of the home. And when he leads them in Family Devotions, the children understand that he is the priest and leader of the home. He is also teaching them how to live family life when they start a family.

You prepare your children for life by your daily attitudes and how you cope in times of stress. They observe whether your trust is in God or whether you cave in because you trust in your own resources.

More tomorrow.

Love from Nancy

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AboveRubies
Email Nancy

PO Box 681687
Franklin, TN 37068-1687

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