Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.
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Strengthening Families Across the World through the encouragement of women in their high calling from God as wives, mothers and homemakers.

Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

THOUGHTS FROM A YOUNG MOTHER (Jaela Anderson)

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

THE INESTIMABLE VALUE OF THE CHRISTIAN HOME

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

BRING HIM HOME!

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

ARE YOUR CHILDREN READY?

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

A CUP OF TEA

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

WHAT'S THE BEST CAREER IN THE NATION?

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

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

OUR COUNTRY’S PRIDE

countryPride(When you’ve read this poem, I’d love hear from you which two lines you love the best!)
 
What does our country need? Not armies standing
With sabres gleaming ready for the fight;
Not increased navies, skillful and commanding,
To bound the waters with an iron might;
Not haughty men with glutted purses trying
To purchase souls, and keep the power of place;
Not jeweled dolls with one another vying
For palms of beauty, elegance, and grace.
 
But we want women, strong of soul, yet lowly,
With that rare meekness, born of gentleness;
Women whose lives are pure and clean and holy,
The women whom all little children bless;
Brave, earnest women, helpful to each other,
With finest scorn for all things low and mean;
Women who hold the names of wife and mother,
Far nobler than the title of a queen!
 
Oh! these are they who mold the men of story,
These mothers, ofttimes shorn of grace and youth,
Who, worn and weary, ask no greater glory
Than making some young soul the home of truth;
Who sow in hearts all fallow for the sowing,
The seeds of virtue and of scorn for sin,
And patient, watch the beauteous harvest growing
And weed out tares which crafty hands cast in.
 
Women who do not hold the gift of beauty
As some rare treasure to be bought and sold,
But guard it as a precious aid to duty,
The outer framing of the inner gold;
Women who, low above their cradles bending,
Let flattery's voice go by, and give no heed,
While their pure prayers like incense are ascending
THESE are our country's pride, our country's need.
 
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
 
P. S. What lines do you love best?
 
I love the lines . . .
“Women who hold the names of wife and mother,
FAR NOBLER THAN THE TITLE OF A QUEEN!”
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

THERE ARE NO WORDS

NoWordsI search among the plain and lovely words
To find what the one word “Mother” means. As well
Try to define the tangled song of birds,
The echo in the hills of one clear bell—
One cannot snare the wind—or catch the wings
Of shadows flying low across the wheat.
Ah—who can prison simple, natural things
That make the long days beautiful and sweet?
 
“Mother”—a word that holds the tender spell
Of all the dear, essential things of earth:
A home, clean sunlit rooms, and the good smell
Of bread, a table spread, a glowing hearth,
And love beyond the dream of anyone—
I search for words for her—and there are none.
 
~ Grace Noll Crowell
 
 
Painting: Mother and Child by Sarah Mathis Schulz
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

A MOTHER’S INFLUENCE

MotherInfluenceI took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded to my will.
 
I came again when days were passed;
The bit of clay was hard at last,
The form I gave it still it bore,
But I could change that form no more.
 
I took a piece of living clay
And touched it gently day by day,
And molded with my power and art
A young child’s soft and yielding heart.
 
I came again when years were gone;
It was a man I looked upon;
That early impress still he wore,
And I could change that form no more.
 
~ Unknown
 
 
 
Painting: Mollie Faustman
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

A MOTHER'S PRAYER

PrayerMotherMother's Day was Sunday, although I believe every day is Mother's Day. Anyway, I thought I'd keep it going for a week and send you out each day this a week a poem about mothers to encourage your mother's heart. Be blessed, dear mother. You are truly fulfilling the greatest career in the nation. The nation would not last without you!
 
A MOTHER'S PRAYER
 
I wash the dirt from little feet,
And as I wash, I pray,
“Lord, keep them ever pure and true
To walk the narrow way.”
 
I wash the dirt from little hands,
And earnestly I ask,
“Lord, may they ever yielded be
To do the humblest task.”
 
I wash the dirt from little knees,
And pray, “Lord, may they be
The place where victories are won
And orders sought from Thee.”
 
I scrub the clothes that soil so soon,
And pray, “Lord, may their dress
Throughout eternal ages be
Thy robe of righteousness.”
 
Ere many hours shall pass, I know
I’ll wash these hands again,
And there’ll be dirt upon their clothes
Before the day shall end.
 
But as they journey on through life
And learn of want and pain,
“Lord, keep their precious little hearts
Cleansed from sin and stain.
 
For soap and water cannot reach
Where Thou alone can’st see.
Their hands and feet- these I can wash,
I trust their souls to Thee.”
 
~ Author Unknown
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

MOTHERHOOD IS THE GREATEST CAREER!

GreatestCareerWhy settle for a lesser one?

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

WHAT IS A MOTHER?

WhatIsAMotherIt takes a Mother’s LOVE
To make a house a home,
A place to be remembered,
No matter where we roam.
 
It takes a Mother’s PATIENCE
To bring a child up right,
And her COURAGE and her CHEERFULNESS
To make a day bright.
 
It takes a Mother’s THOUGHTFULNESS
To mend a heart’s deep “hurts,”
And her SKILL and her ENDURANCE
To mend little socks and shirts.
 
It takes a Mother’s KINDNESS
To forgive us when we err,
To sympathize in trouble
And bow her head in prayer.
 
It takes a mother’s WISDOM
To recognize our needs
And to give us reassurance
By her loving words and deeds.
 
It takes Mother’s ENDLESS FAITH,
Her CONFIDENCE and TRUST
To guide us through the pitfalls
Of selfishness and lust.
 
And that is why in all the world
There could not be another
Who could fulfill God’s purpose
As completely as a MOTHER!
 
--Author Unknown
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

TO THE MOTHERS OF THE WORLD . . .

ToMothersMy husband woke up this morning and began writing. “Here’s a message from me to all the mothers,” he said.
 
TO THE MOTHERS OF THE WORLD . . . FROM MY HUSBAND
 
I honor all mothers today. I am grateful for mothers. They are the most important foundational stones in the building of families, cities, and nations. When motherhood falls, the families, the cities, and the nations fall.
 
Every person born into this world since Adam and Eve has come through the womb of a mother. The womb of the mother is the studio where the Master Builder of all creation designs and creates all the intricate parts of each new person and puts them together over the space of nine months.
 
Every newborn baby must be cradled and nurtured in the arms of a loving, caring, and devoted mother. If not, that baby will suffer emotionally and nervously which will negatively affect their whole life.
 
Mothers are the anchors of the home. Without a mother the home has no anchor. Home and motherhood and synonymous terms.
 
Motherhood is a very sacrificial role. Motherhood is the laying down of one’s life so that families, cities, and nations will be built. God designed it to come out of the home where . . .
the sacrifice of love,
the sacrifice of nurturing,
the sacrifice of faithfully training and teaching,
the sacrifice of sleepless nights, and
the sacrifice of loving tears . . .
all comes through the heart of true mothers.
 
The devil wants to destroy motherhood. But . . .
We exalt motherhood.
We elevate motherhood.
We praise, honor, and applaud motherhood.
We speak up and stand up for motherhood.
We push back every negative voice that comes against motherhood.
 
Be blessed today, mothers.
 
COLIN CAMPBELL
 
 
Painting: TOMPKINS Frank H.
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

EVERY DAY IS A BUILDING DAY

BuildingDatAlways building up; never tearing down. As we speak life, love, encouragement, kindness, and vision into our marriages and families each day we build strong families and ultimately a strong nation.

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

BANNER WAVING MOTHERS

LordBannerWe read an amazing description of the bride of Christ in Song of songs 6:10: “Who is this that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS.”
 
This is not the picture we would equate with a bride, is it? But this is how God sees His church, the bride of Christ—and of the wife of a husband in the home.
 
This is a picture of an army marching to battle with their banners lifted high. They are not retreating. They are on the attack. They are a scary sight as they push back the enemy.
 
Let’s look at some other translations:
 
HCSB: “awe-inspiring as an army with banners.”
 
CJB: “formidable as an army marching under banners.”
 
ESV: “awesome as an army with banners.”
 
Banners are a sign of victory. They reveal what we believe and what we stand for. God is a banner holder. One of His salvation names is Jehovah-Nissi, The Lord is my banner (Exodus 17:15).
 
He wants us to hold up our banners too. Yes, we as wives and mothers in our homes must be banner holders. We hold up the banner of God’s truth in our homes. Holding it high. Never letting our banners fall to the ground. We are the transmitters of God’s truth to our children and this generation.
 
One of my favorite Scriptures is Psalm 60:4: “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be DISPLAYED because of the truth.”
 
Are you holding the banner of truth high mothers? This takes purpose, tenacity and strength. Never let the enemy grab your banner, carrying it off, and laughing in your face. Keep standing strong in this evil day and “having done all, stand” with your banner lifted high.
 
You are the protector of your home front. You are not cowardly hiding from the enemy. You are waving your banners high. You will not allow the enemy to come against your marriage, to woo your children from the truth, or to enter your home. The only way you see the enemy is a foe to be utterly defeated and routed.
 
Psalm 20:5: “In the name of our God, we will set up our banners.”
 
Psalm 84:16: “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?”
 
Let’s be banner waving mothers . . .
Holding up the banner of truth against all deception.
Holding up the banner of love against all bitterness and hate.
Holding up the banner of righteousness against all evil.
Holding up the banner of purity against all immorality and uncleanness.
Holding up the banner of unity against all dissension and strife.
Holding up the banner of contentment against all discontentment.
Holding up the banner of faithfulness against all faithlessness.
Holing up the manner of motherhood against all counterfeits of Satan.
 
Are you flying the banners of the Lord from your home?
 
Love from Nancy Campbell
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HOW DO WE KEEP UNITY?

KeepUnityWhat a momentous job we have as wives and mothers. It’s no ordinary job. It’s the most powerful in the nation. One of our many great tasks is to be the peacemakers and to keep unity in the home. Wow, that’s not easy, is it? Sometimes we ourselves can be the cause of disunity!
 
What did Jesus say? “No house divided against itself will stand” (Matthew 12:25 ESV).
 
Here are a few more translations:
 
“A family splintered by feuding will fall apart” (NLT).
 
“Every household divided against itself will not survive” (CJB)
 
“Any household that is disunited cannot last” (Goodspeed).
 
Do you want your marriage to last? Do you want your home and family to stand together to the end? Here’s the answer. Guard your marriage. Keep the spirit of unity. Cultivate family togetherness. Work toward harmony. Romans 12:16 commands us to “Live in harmony with one another.”
 
Now that doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything! Colin and I don’t always agree about everything, but we don’t let that hinder our togetherness. My husband says, “We don’t have to agree with each other on everything; we just have to love one another.” Our grown children are independent and outspoken and sometimes have differing views. But that doesn’t hinder our unity together. In fact, we love discussions and debates together. We enjoy sharpening one another’s minds.
 
Therefore, even in our differences, we seek to keep unity. We seek to keep a good attitude. We keep forgiving. We keep loving. We forbear with one another. And most of all, endeavor to keep the unity.
 
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
 
P.S. A good way to do this is to put into practice all the ONE ANOTHER Scriptures that God gives us in His Word (41 of them!). You can find these in 100 DAYS OF BLESSING, Volume 4. Available from www.aboverubies.org
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YOU ARE DOING A GOOD WORK

AGooDWorkEphesians 6:8 tells us: “Whatsoever GOOD thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive the Lord.”
 
Dear mother, I want to remind you that you are doing a GOOD work. God tells us in Titus 2-5 that the “GOOD” things the older women must teach the younger women are all about the home--loving your husband, loving your children, and being a keeper at home. When you embrace this lifestyle God planned for you, you are doing a GOOD work. When you nurse your baby, teach your children, prepare the meals, clean, and keep your house in order you are doing GOOD things.
 
1 Timothy 5:10 also describes the woman in the home--embracing and nurturing children, showing hospitality, and ministering to the needy. Once again it says these are “GOOD works.”
 
And what does God say when you do these good things? You receive your reward from the Lord. Be encouraged today. As you pour your life into building your marriage and your family, it is never wasted. God sees every effort. And you will not miss your eternal reward.
 
1 Corinthians 15:8: “Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye now that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
 
Live in the joy of knowing you are doing a good work,
 
Nancy Campbell
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GOD IS A PERSONAL AND FAMILY GOD

PersonalFamilyGodDo your children know God as real and personal in their lives? Many children grow up in “Christian” homes and yet never have a personal experience with Jesus Christ. They don’t get to know God in a personal way. And yet our God is a personal and relational God. He longs for fellowship with His people.
 
One of the names that God calls Himself is “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Our God is the Creator of the world and yet He does not call Himself “the God of Creation.” He is the creator and upholder of the whole universe, but He doesn’t call Himself “The God of the Universe.” He calls Himself by the names of His covenant people.
 
As we read through the first book of the Bible, only two chapters tells us of the creation of the whole world. The rest of the book until chapter 50 is all about people—about His chosen servant, Abraham, and his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. This is our God. He is a family God. He says in Jeremiah 31:1: “I will be the God of ALL THE FAMILIES of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
 
When God introduced Himself to Moses out in the backside of the desert, He said: “I am the God of thy father (that would be Amram), the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
 
When God gave the commission to Moses to tell the Israelites back in Egypt that God was coming to deliver them, He told him in Exodus 3:15: “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is MY NAME FOREVER, and this is my memorial UNTO ALL GENERATIONS.”
 
He also wants to be your personal and family God. He longs to be your friend. He wants you to teach your children to be friends with God. God created us for His fellowship. Of course, we can’t be frie3nds with God if we have sin in our hearts as our sin separates us from God. That’s why He did to save us and free us the power of sin so we can enjoy fellowship with Him (Isaiah 59:2).
 
Don’t let your children grow up in your home without knowing God. Teach them who God is. Draw them close to Him so they will love Him with all their hearts and minds and souls and strength. Teach them to talk with Him and be friends with Him so they not only know about God but learn to know Him experientially.
 
I pray that God will be personal and real to you and in the lives of each one in your family.
 
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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PASSIONATE PARENTING (CAN EVERY FATHER AND MOTHER PLEASE READ THIS POST?)

PassionateparentingI was reading this morning of Paul’s passionate desire for the new believers in Thessalonica. He said to them: “You know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. We PLEADED with you, ENCOURAGED you, and URGED you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:11, 12 NLT).
 
How does God want fathers (and I believe that includes the mothers) to treat their children? He doesn’t want them to take their parenting casually or complacently. No, it is full on and full time—ardently, diligently, and passionately pleading and urging your children to walk worthy of the Lord.
 
This is not only feeding and clothing our children. This is not sending them off to be educated by a liberal and socialist agenda that seeks to destroy our children and turn them away from their faith, this not living our own lives and hoping our children will make it.
 
This is full on intentional parenting! This is taking time every morning and evening to read God’s Word and pray with your children. This is diligently teaching them God’s word and His ways to your children throughout the day, on the road, when getting up and going to bed (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
 
We are living in an unprecedented hour when only six percent of Christians have a biblical worldview! This is the falling away of the church. And why? It comes back to the family. It comes back to the fathers and the mothers. We are the ones who are responsible to imbed God’s truths into the hearts and mouths of our children (Isaiah 59:21).
 
It’s time to wake up. It’s time to rise to a new level of parenting. We cannot take our children to church and hope for the best. We must night and day penetrate God’s laws into their hearts. Encouraging. Pleading. Imploring. Urging, Charging. And praying!
 
“Dear God and Father, we pray for a new spirit of parenting to arise in this land. Draw fathers and mothers back to their families. Give them a vision to passionately urge their children to prepare for the eternal world. Amen.”
 
This is the only thing that matters. We have been wondrously called into God’s kingdom. But also to glory! Nothing else is as important in this world than preparing ourselves for the glory that awaits us. Give your children a vision of the glory that awaits them if they will learn to live worthy of God in this world.
 
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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JOY

chooseJoyWe learn to do this more and more as wives and mothers, don’t we?
 
Jesus first
Others second
Yourself last
 
Spells JOY.
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