“How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.”
~ G. K. Chesterton
Painting: "The Alphabet" (also known as Jean and Gabrielle), Pierre Auguste Renoir (1897).
What is God’s purpose for you? Isaiah 43:21 says “This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.” This Scripture is primarily speaking about Israel. God’s purpose for Israel was, is, and will be to show forth His praise in the earth. Through the Jewish people God brought forth the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through God’s ancient people He gave us His precious Word, the Bible. And they are yet to show forth His praise in magnificent ways (Romans 11:15).
God also wants to show forth His praise through you and me. 1 Peter 23:9 tells us: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar (set apart) people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
The words “show forth” are the Greek word “exaggello” which means “to publish, to celebrate.” It comes from a root word “aggelos” which means “a messenger, or especially an angel.”
What does God want you to do? To be an angelic messenger! God wants to use you as His messenger to bring His Word, His truth, and His love to those you are with each day.
This means, of course, that you begin in your home. Mother, you have little ones, and maybe bigger ones around you every day. You are God’s messenger to each one of them. You have the opportunity to bring God’s Word and truth to them every day—when you are lying down, walking around, or sitting at the table (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). You are to light up their lives and little by little bring them from darkness to light.
You’ll continue to be God’s messenger when you leave the home too—when you go out to get the groceries or whatever you have to do. Remember you are God’s messenger to everyone you meet.
Have a lovely day being God’s angel to everyone in your home.
Blessings to you,
Nancy Campbell
GREAT ADVICE
From J. R. Miller (written in 1882).
HOME INFLUENCE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HOME LAWS!
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.
Painting by Harry Anderson
Why do we correct and discipline our children? Because we want them to grow up prepared to be successful in life. Some parents scream at their children and lash our when their children irritate them and get on their nerves. This is opposite to training children. Responsible parents diligently and lovingly discipline bad behavior. They correct their children and bring them into line when they are out of order, disobedient, tell lies, talk back, pout, and have moods. They will not tolerate these negative habits.
Why? Because they are preparing their children for life--to one day be the best employee in the company, to have good attitudes, to be a vessel ready to be used by God, and also to enjoy a happy and successful marriage If we allow our children to grow up with negative habits, those habits can destroy their marriage.
Dear wife and mother, in the same way God diligently works in our lives. His wants to conform us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This certainly doesn’t happen without some serious working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Paul said to the Corinthians: “Our one prayer is for the complete correction of your lives” (2 Corinthians 13:9 Barclay). The KJV uses “perfection” for the word “correction.” I checked my Lexicon and it says the word “denotes a process in the progress.” This can only happen through correction of what is wrong in our lives.
We must always be open to God’s gentle correction. He uses many ways to do this. He speaks to us as we read His Word and shows us what grieves the Holy Spirit in our lives (Ephesians 4:27, 30). He uses other people to correct us (sometimes our husbands). We don’t usually like it, do we? But we must remember that it is ultimately God who wants to correct us and conform us into His image.
If we don’t listen to God speaking to us through His word, or we don’t have a soft heart to receive correction from our husband or other people, He often allows difficulties and trials to come our way to wake us up, refine us, and bring us into line with His will.
Let’s keep soft hearts, always open to correction. If our children are stubborn and do not receive our correction, they become willful and rebellious. It’s just the same with us. We either have soft and tender hearts to God’s correction in our lives or we become stubborn and rebellious.
The Amplified version says: “And this we also pray for: your all-round strengthening and perfecting of the soul.” I want this, don’t you? It only comes through CORRECTION. For ourselves personally and in the training of our children.
Love from Nancy Campbell
I love the line from the delightful children’s book by George MacDonald, “At the Back of the North Wind.” He says, “For our Selves will always do pretty well if we don’t pay them too much attention.” What true words. It is the same principle Jesus gave us 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.”
When we focus on ourselves--our own problems, sicknesses, and how to make ourselves happy we end up self-serving. This invariably pulls us down into the slough of self-pity and delusion. It is an eternal principle that when you forget about yourself and pour out your life for others you become fulfilled. You are happier and more relaxed, peaceful, hopeful, and content.
“But what about ME? you cry. Of course, we have to care for ourselves--spiritually, mentally, and physically. That’s basic. But we don’t tune all our thinking on ourselves.
I’ll never forgot a moment in my life years ago. My children were all little and I had just come home from purchasing the groceries. As I walked over the threshold of my home, I felt the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking strongly to my heart, “Nancy, how can I reveal to you the needs of others if you are always thinking of yourself?” I have never forgotten those words. From then on I learned to give much more room in my mind and heart for others.
Will we be forgotten when we pour out our lives for others? No, the opposite. God makes sure that our “self” as George MacDonald puts it, will be blessed and comforted. God pours into those who pour out (Proverbs 11:24, 25 and 2 Corinthians 9:6).
Mothering is a liberating ministry into this eternal principle. Not on the odd occasion, but 24/7 we forget self as we pour out our hearts for our children—nurturing them, teaching them, training them, caring for them, cooking for them, praying for them, and often agonizing over them.
Let’s embrace this eternal principle and live in the fullness of the joy and life God intends for us. We teach our children to be joyful; we need to adhere to it ourselves.
J Jesus first
O Others second
Y Yourself last
Be blessed,
Nancy Campbell
May you have such a lovely day as you are honored and blessed by your family. Make no mistake about it. You have the most high-powered career in the nation! It is not the most high-paid career in the nation, but it is the most influential.
Dear mothers, I want to remind you today, but also every day of the year, that your role is not insignificant. It is God-mandated. It is powerful. It is nation-changing. The devil knows the power of motherhood and that’s why he seeks to woo women out of the home and away from their children. When he can get mothers out of the way, he has the power to sway our children.
Conversely, God woos women into the home.
RISE UP today, and each new day, in the anointing which God has given you. God put this powerful nurturing heart in you. He also created you physically for motherhood. Don’t be deceived by the lies of society that tell you motherhood is inferior to other roles. It is the most IMPORTANT role.
Embrace it with all your heart. I want to encourage you again today that motherhood is more than loving your children. Every mother loves her children. But true mothering is not only loving your children, but loving motherhood. When you embrace your career of motherhood, you enter a new role of joy, authority, and anointing which comes from God.
It’s time for mothers all over the land to RISE UP into their powerful and influential calling! It will change the face of the nation!
And a little note to those who do not have children around you today or have not been blessed with children. Please be encouraged that you are no less a mother. God has put in you His nurturing anointing. As you pour out His nurturing heart to the needy and those whom God puts on your heart, you also walk in the realm of motherhood.
Love and blessings to you and your home today,
Nancy Campbell
We discovered in the post below, “Above the Normal,” that David wanted to build a home for God that was exceedingly magnificent. When Solomon begins to build the house, he uses more adjectives. He states that he is going to build a house that will be “GREAT and WONDERFUL” (1 Chronicles 22:9). We are either building a normal marriage or a GREAT marriage. We are either building a normal family, or a GREAT family.
And what about wonderful? I love this word. It is “pala” in the Hebrew and means “distinguished, extraordinary, miraculous, astonishing, marvelous.” Wow, what a word. God’s Word is extravagant. It not only uses adjectives, but when we look up the Hebrew or Greek, we find even more adjectives to help us understand the word.
The first time “pala” is used is in Genesis 18:14 (AMP) when God says: “IS anything too hard or too WONDERFUL for the LORD?” Nothing is too hard for Him. It was nothing for Him to give conception to Sarah when she was past the years of childbearing. “Pala” speaks of when God goes beyond the bounds of human powers or expectations (Exodus 3:20).
It is the same word used to describe the way God wonderfully and marvelously creates the baby in the secret place of the womb: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: MARVELOUS are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:14).
Psalm 111:4: “He hath made his WONDERFUL WORKS to be remembered.” God’s works are wonderful in creation. They are miraculous in performing miracles. But His most marvelous works are when He creates each new child in His own image.
Psalm 96:3: “Declare his glory among the heathen, his WONDERS among all people.” And so many more wonderful Scriptures.
The greatest wonders the world waits to see are harmonious marriages and happy, unified, strong families. When marriages and families are strong and stable, the nation is strong and stable. When marriages and family life are weakened the nation weakens.
Aim to build a WONDERFUL marriage. You’ll have to work at it. You’ll have to go beyond your feelings. You’ll have to press through into miracles. But with the power of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit you can see marvelous and extraordinary things happen. Proverbs 12:25 (TLB) says: “A word of encouragement does WONDERS.”
Aim to build a WONDERFUL family life. Don’t settle for the ordinary. Seek to make something marvelous happen in your home each day. Realize that it’s often the little things that are the miraculous things—a hug, a smile, a forgiving spirit even when you have been hurt, or making a “family togetherness” happen.
And remember, each one of your children reveal God’s pala, His marvelous, wonderful, and miraculous works. Your home is filled with the extraordinary wonders of the Lord.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Yesterday we talked about building a magnificent home for God. But there’s more! Do you notice that the Bible constantly uses adjectives? Nothing about God is average and therefore the Bible needs adjectives to describe God’s plan for us.
It’s not enough to build a magnificent home for God. We should build an EXCEEDINGLY magnificent home. The word "exceeding" in the Hebrew is "ma'al" and means "above, very high, the upper part." This word, "ma'al" is translated "above" 53 times and "upward" 59 times! It means “above the normal.”
We must change gears in our brain from building a home that is like every other home around us. Instead, let’s build homes that are ABOVE the normal, above the mediocre, and above the status quo. Let’s build homes that not only subsist from day to day, but overflow in every area of our family lives. This is the lifestyle God intends for us (John 10:10). Let’s get out of the rut. Let’s get away from the boring and normal.
Sadly, in the average home today, members like to do their own thing. Each one is going here and there. Each one is geared to their iPhone. But in the “above the norm” home, family members give time to one another—to work together, interreact together, eat together, and share together. They are a family unit, not fragmented from one another.
In the average home, there are more TVs in the home than children. The "above the norm" home has more children than TVs.
In the average home, most families don’t sit together at the family meal table. In the “above the normal” home, they delight to meet at the family table each day—to eat and communicate together.
In the average home, most families are so busy that they don’t get time to have family Bible reading and worship together. In the “above the normal” home, they make everything else fit around their morning and evening times to pray and read God's Word together.
In the average home, there is often bickering and fighting. In the "above average" home, the siblings are friends rather than fighting with one another.
In the average home, most families live to themselves. In the "above average" home, they love to open their home in hospitality. They love to invite others to share their meals. They enjoy food, gladness, and laughter as they share with others.
In the average home, they spend much of their time running here and there to sports and extra-curricular activities. In the “above the normal” home they spend more productive time at home. They are continually thinking of ways to strengthen their family unit, rather than weaken it.
It’s so normal to be average. Are you ready to go a step further and build an “ABOVE THE AVERAGE” home?
Be blessed, Nancy Campbell
King David had a passionate vision to build a house for the Lord His God. It wasn’t a little vision, but a huge vision. He used some amazing adjectives as he described the house he wanted to build. In 1 Chronicles 22:5 he confesses: “The house that is to be builded for the LORD must be EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT, of fame and glory throughout all countries.”
What vision do you have for building your home for the Lord? I am sure you are building it for Him. I’m not talking about building a mansion with elaborate and expensive décor. There are far more important things to build in our home than materialistic things.
Do you think we could seek to build a home that is . . .
EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT in godliness,
EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT in the beauty of order and simplicity,
EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT in family togetherness,
EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT in the disciplines of prayer and love for God's Word,
EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT in peace and harmony,
EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT in joy, gladness, happiness, and laughter,
EXCEEDINGLY MAGNIFICENT in the manifestation of the presence of God.
The word "magnificent" is “gadal” in the Hebrew and means, "to make large, advance, exceed, excellent, great, grow up and increase, lift up, magnify, promote." Our family life should never become stagnant. We should always be advancing and thinking of better ways to intensify the manifestation of the presence of God in our family life.
Always increasing and strengthening the quality of our family life. Alwys pen to the increase of children. This is what makes a home magnificent—not the adding of things, but babies and growing children. They are the true riches of our home. Isaiah 54:2-3 says: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right and on the left."
Daily promoting our marriage relationship. Doing something to make it more magnificent and amazing each new day. Of course, this won't just happen. David worked hard to make preparation to build God's home. The Bible says he prepared abundantly (1 Chronicles 22:3-5).
Are you building an ordinary marriage or a magnificent marriage? Are you building an ordinary family life or an amazing family life?
Let’s get a big vision.
Love from Nancy Campbell
What’s your heart attitude today? Upset and brooding because things aren’t going your way? I believe it is important to cultivate a “turning attitude.” It’s not enough to turn once to God. It is a daily, hourly, and moment by moment turning our hearts to Him. Hosea 12:6 says: “Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgement, and wait on thy God continually.”
How do we turn to the Lord? It’s not enough to turn once to God. It is a daily, hourly, and moment by moment turning our hearts to Him. It’s a habit of continually turning to the Lord in every situation and every moment of the day. This should not only become our lifestyle, but the lifestyle we teach to our children.
• Turning to God in thankfulness for all the good things He does for us and the little blessings of each day. Noticing and acknowledging a kind word, smiles from our children, a hug from our husband, the provision of food, a beautiful bird we notice in a tree and all the delightful little blessings of life.
• Turning to God in repentance when we sin, have a wrong attitude, speak angrily, and so on. Keeping a soft heart to constantly turn back to the Lord is the same as repentance. Repentance is not only being sorry for our sin, but turning in the opposite direction to follow God’s ways.
• Turning to God’s Word. If our days are full and busy with children and responsibilities, we can place a copy of the Bible on the windowsill in the kitchen, in the bathroom, where you nurse the baby, etc.
• Turning to righteousness. Not sitting on the fence, but turning towards God’s way which is always holiness.
We not only turn to God, but turn away from that which displeases Him.
• Turning away from evil. But more than that. It’s turning away from that which is permissible to do only that which is profitable and will last for eternity.
• Turning from the negative to the positive.
• Turning from discouragement and despondency to thankfulness and gratefulness.
• Turning from walking in the flesh to walking in the Spirit.
• Turing from conforming to the pattern of this world and instead fixing our hearts on the real world which is the eternal world.
• Turning our attention to the needs of others instead of only thinking of ourselves.
• Turning from our puny thoughts and understanding to God’s thoughts and ways, which are higher than our ways.
• Turning our hearts to our home and children instead of the passing glory of careers and outside activities.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
Amen. Let's be women of truth. Let's be women of strength. Let's not be intimidated by the lies of the enemy.
Do you really believe what God says? Do I? God’s words are eternal. He doesn’t give us a different set of plans for each generation, but His plans work for all generations. Even in 2018! In fact, no generation is exempt from God’s plans and purposes. Every generation is without excuse.
Psalm 33:10, 11 says: “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD STANDETH FOREVER, the thoughts of his heart to ALL GENERATIONS.”
God established His plan for the way He wants us to live in the eons of eternity--before the foundation of the world. He created male and female to bring them together in marriage. He wants us to be fruitful and fill the earth in order to take dominion for God. Together as families we advance God’s kingdom and bring light into the darkness all around us. God invests His power and authority in families. Marriage and family are the first institutions God gave and He has never changed His plans.
He makes His plans clear for the man to be the provider and protector of the home and for the female to be the nurturer and nourisher in the home and in society.
Let’s be encouraged to embrace God’s everlasting ways that have never changed. Man often thinks he knows best, but “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught.” The fruit of man’s ways are an epidemic of divorce and fragmented families. God’s ways result in strong marriages and family life.
God does not change His statutes. We have to change to fit in with His plans, for they are eternal and unchanging.
Did you notice something else? It’s the counsel and thoughts “OF HIS HEART.” They are not some unproved, fleeting idea, but come from God’s very own heart.
I’d rather take advice from God’s heart than man’s, wouldn’t you?
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
Look up these Scriptures about God’s unchanging Word:
Psalm 12:6; 18:30; 19:7-11; 93:5; 111:7; 119:140, 144, 152, 160; Proverbs 19:20, 21; 21:30; 30:5; Isaiah 30:1-3; 14:27; 40:8; 46:10; 55:8,9; Acts 5:39; and 1 Peter 1:25.
A mother’s job description is enormous. I don’t think there is another career in the nation that imbibes so many profiles. In Chapter 15 in my book, “The Power of Motherhood,” I list just on 100 different profiles and I know I haven’t exhausted the list.
However, there are a few basic things with which we equate motherhood.
* MOTHERHOOD IS SYNONYMOUS WITH HOME. Mother is the heart of the home. God created her for the home. A home is not a home without a mother.
* MOTHERHOOD IS SYNONYMOUS WITH PREGNANCY. I know there are some mothers who don’t like to hear this. They don’t want to be relegated to child-bearing. They believe they were ordained for much more than this. It is true, we will do a lot more than childbearing in our lives. Childbearing is only for a certain season--until we reach menopause. However, it is very much part of being a mother. True motherhood embraces childbearing (1 Timothy 2:15 and 5:14).
* MOTHERHOOD IS SYNONYMOUS WITH BREASTFEEDING. We were physically created for this beautiful role. Did you know that the word “female” in the Greek is a word that means a suckling mother?
* MOTHERHOOD IS SYNONYMOUS WITH THE KITCHEN AND COOKING. This is another area that many women would rather reject. They feel it is too insignificant. But we’ve got the wrong mindset. Nurturing, feeding, and pampering with food is all part of mothering. 1 Timothy 5:10 gives a description of a mother. The first description is that she has “brought up” children. It means “to fatten, feed, and nourish children.” It’s all about feeding. And feeding means cooking! And cooking means being in the kitchen! Dear precious mothers, can I encourage you to stop complaining about cooking and preparing meals? It’s part of your mothering role. A true mother loves to feed her husband, her family, and everyone who comes to her home. Nourishing food. Served with love. Served with joy. Bringing healing to body, soul, and spirit.
Embrace who you are as a mother. Embrace your nurturing anointing. Be a mother, not just in name only.
I know there are some mothers who have not been able to have children of their own. They are still mothers. God not only created us physically for the great task of mothering, but innately. When women embrace the beautiful instinct that God has divinely put within them and reach out to others with their compassionate hearts, they fulfill their great role of mothering.
We are the pourers forth of God’s maternal heart to our families and to the world. Let’s be who God created us to be.
Blessings to you,
Nancy Campbell
Painting by Elizabeth Nourse
It is amazing that many blogging mothers share about how motherhood is “so hard.” They talk about how it’s necessary to get away from their children.
I will concede that we face challenges in motherhood. We must work hard. It takes laying down our lives and pouring out our souls. But isn’t that what the Christian life is all about? It’s not about “I deserve an easy life,” or “I shouldn’t have to face any problems.” That’s an entitlement philosophy.
Why do mothers want to run away from motherhood? Why do they have to escape? That’s running away from who we are. Who God created us to be. Why run from who you are? Shouldn’t we embrace who we are? It’s only when we embrace who we are that we live in the fullness and joy of it (Psalm 113:9). Many mothers find it hard because they haven’t embraced who they are. They think they could be doing something else. They have the wrong attitude.
What attitude did Jesus have when He to this earth? Not to be served but to serve (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 8:34, 35; and 9:33-37). To lay down His life. And we are encouraged to have the same attitude (Philippians 2:5-8).
Let’s read 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.” God’s kingdom life is opposite to the natural, but it’s the only way that works. We try to save our own lives and we lose. We lose our own life for our family and others and we save it! It’s an eternal principle.
We have a strange phenomenon today that many mothers call themselves mothers and yet do not want to embrace the role of motherhood. They love their children but don’t love motherhood. How sad to not LOVE what has created you to do and called you to do.
Be blessed in your home today,
Nancy Campbell
How 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: “The Lord’s perfect law, how it brings the soul back to life.” Don’t you love that? Does your soul need coming back to life? Get back into God’s Word. You cannot expect to keep your soul alive when you don’t feed it.
“But I don’t seem to get time to read the Bible,” you answer. I know it is 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, 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
HERE IS THE FULL POEM Would you like to read the full poem that I mentioned in my post below?
SONG FOR A FIFTH CHILD
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
~ Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Today I received an email from a dear friend who works as a missionary up in the mountains with the native people of Panama. She lives alone and his given her life to these people. She doesn't even come home on furlough.
Patricia shares: "A friend from years ago used to say that when life got "heavy" it was time to bake cookies. Well, my version of baking cookies is decorating my house. I began by hanging some "primitives" (wood cuts) on the wall in my kitchen and a small grouping of birds--a rooster, a duck, a goose, and a something else. I put up some small ceramic figures from when my children were small. Then an angel apron "dancing" on one wall. Another apron, "Our Mom's the Greatest" on another wall. I then put a skirt-type apron (belonging to my grandmother) on my refrigerator so now my little fridge "wears" an apron!
"I put Christmas lights up everywhere I can get them. They're the little tiny lights, but they're old. Everything I own is old. I leave them on throughout the night and no other lights are needed. The place looks so cheery. They're beautiful and make me happy to look at them.
"I also put up a cloth angel on the kitchen wall. A friend gave me this years ago because it has red hair and reminded her of me. She "flies" next to the angel apron. I got inspired and created a small, white cloud that is dropping pennies from heaven in my kitchen.
"I sprayed a package of Christmas cookies (Christmas bells, stars, wreaths, and trees) with hairspray (to seal them) and created an arc of stars over my bird collection. Found (yet another) apron at the Chinese store and it now hangs on the wall next to the primitives.
"My house is SO happy!"
What a lovely idea. Now you may not (or may) like to decorate your home with aprons! I'd rather wear mine. But when things are getting a little dreary, why not try some creative decorating? You don't have to buy things. Find things around your home and things you haven't used for a long time. Get the children to help.
I love to change the decoration on the sideboard by our family table. It gets boring to see the same thing all the time. Sometimes I decorate with family photographs. Other times with greenery, flowers, ornaments, interesting things I can find around my home, or whatever ideas come to mind (see picture).
Be creative.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Picture: Currently I have a "motherhood" theme on my sideboard. You'll see it begins with a mother praying for a baby. Then she's pregnant, then her baby comes, and the child grows. In the middle is a beautiful ornament of a mother and baby.
I also have wild flowers, which I love-yellow and white on the left and lovely red ones too. On the right is a picture of the lovely poem:
Cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
And what's that little bird on the left? That's a kiwi reminding me of my original country, New Zealand. I am sure you know that New Zealanders are called "kiwis" because it is our native bird. It is a nocturnal bird and it doesn't have wings!
If you love your children, you will want the best for them. You will want things to go well with them.AboveRubies
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