Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

I started out mothering by listening to the "good advice" from people around me. I was told I should wait four hours between feeding my baby. But he couldn't wait four hours. I was told I should train him to sleep through the night. Oh, how frustrated I was. I loved by baby but oh, this motherhood was painful!

Then I read a statement by a doctor that was my lifesaver.

"There is more in a mother's intuition than all the books you'll ever read."

Praise the Lord, I didn't have to listen to all the "old wives' tales." I could listen to the maternal intuition that God put within me. I was free to respond to my baby. I could nurse him when he cried! I could bring him to bed and let him sleep with me. What bliss! What freedom.

Forget all the books. Forget all the humanistic advice. Listen to God. Listen to your mothering heart. It will release you to be the greatest mother to your baby and your children.

Enjoy a beautiful mothering day,

Nancy Campbell

Why do we try to separate our spiritual lives from our practical lives? It's all meant to be one. Every practical thing you do in your home is sacred when God is in it. Always be aware that God is with you, no matter what mundane task you are doing.

In Nehemiah chapter eight we read how all the people gathered together to hear Ezra read the book of the law. As they heard the words of the Lord their response was to worship and bless the Lord, and even to weep with conviction. But they didn't keep this awesome time of spiritual renewal separated from life.

Ezra and Nehemiah told the people to "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord . . . And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them" (Nehemiah 8:9-12).

What did they do after understanding the words of the Lord? Eat, drink, and have a great celebration.

God is not only part of your life when you are reading His Word and praying, but when you are eating and drinking. When you are having a celebration. And when you are accomplishing every practical and necessary task.

Embrace God's presence in EVERYTHING you do today. What a day you will have.

Be blessed, Nancy Campbell

Why do we try to separate our spiritual lives from our practical lives? It's all meant to be one. Every practical thing you do in your home is sacredwhen God is in it. Always be aware that God is with you, no matter what mundane task you are doing.

In Nehemiah chapter eight we read how all the people gathered together to hear Ezra read the book of the law. As they heard the words of the Lord their response was to worship and bless the Lord, and even to weep with conviction. But they didn't keep this awesome time of spiritual renewal separated from life.

Ezra and Nehemiah told the people to "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord . . . And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them" (Nehemiah 8:9-12).

What did they do after understanding the words of the Lord? Eat, drink, and have a great celebration.

God is not only part of your life when you are reading His Word and praying, but when you are eating and drinking. When you are having a celebration. And when you are accomplishing every practical and necessary task.

Embrace God's presence in EVERYTHING you do today. What a day you will have.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

We are talking about the things that God loves to see in our home. Another thing that God loves is gladness (1 Chronicles 16:27). God is not a kill-joy. God is the instigator of joy, laughter, fun, fellowship, and

feasting.

If you want your home to be filled with the presence of the Lord, fill it with gladness. This word "gladness" is the same Hebrew word that is used when it tells us the "joy" of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

It's so easy to get into a rut, isn't it? A rut of boringness, negativity, and gloom. Why not change the atmosphere of your home? No matter what your feelings, add some gladness to your home today. Put a smile on your face. When you catch yourself frowning, make yourself smile instead. You don't have to feel like it. You do it anyway and your feelings will catch up with your facial expression.

Whisper loving and passionate secrets to your husband today. Whisper secrets into the ears of your children that you love them and are so blessed to be their mother. Think of something new and special to do that will surprise your children. Cook a special meal that your husband loves. Write encouraging notes to your children and place them at their plate at the evening meal or pop them under their pillow to find as they go to bed.

Take time to watch your children and laugh. Laugh at your problems. It's not the end of the world. And God is bigger than your problem.

Have fun adding gladness into your home today.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

As we seek to make our home a sanctuary for God, we must fill it with things that God loves. Yesterday we talked about strength. God also loves beauty in His sanctuary (Psalm 96:6). God wants you to fill your home with beauty too.

We love to decorate our home to make it look more beautiful, don't we? Beautiful music, pictures, plants and greenery, and flowers add loveliness to the home--whether it is a spacious home or a very humble home.

But beauty is even more than things. Beauty is order. There is no beauty in a home that is filled with junk and clutter. There is no beauty in a home that is not ordered and running smoothly. Order and simplicity will not only fill your home, but your soul with beauty.

Beauty is peace. That sure doesn't mean that you live a quiet home where there is no noise or hubbub of activity. If you have children, there will be noise, and even mess (but you don't leave things in a mess). Don't forget this fact--your peace is not in quietness; your peace is in God. Look to Him in the midst of everything happening around you.

Beauty is the joy of big and little children all around us. They are the gladness of our home.

Beauty is the aroma of food cooking and a delightfully set table that woos each family member. Always seek to make your table beautiful-a tablecloth (use a plastic cover over it if you have little ones and don't have time for extra laundry), and flowers (even a bouquet of weeds your children have gathered) or perhaps candles.

Beauty is love, joy, laughter, and especially sweet and encouraging words to your husband and children.

Seek to add a fresh touch of beauty to your home each day, both practically and spiritually.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

Painting: The Breakfast Table by Sir George Clausen (1852 - 1944).

What a privilege we have as mothers to create a home that is a sanctuary for God. God loves to dwell in our homes and walk in the midst of everything we are doing (Leviticus 26:11-12 and 2 Corinthians 16-18).

Psalm 96:6 says: "Honor and majesty are before Him; STRENGTH AND BEAUTY are in His sanctuary."

Strength is one of the characteristics of God's sanctuary. Therefore, as we prepare our home to be a sanctuary for God, we need to build strength into our home. I believe the greatest way we do this is to fill our hearts, and the hearts of our children, with God's truth. Unless we, and our children, know the truth, are convinced of the truth, and are prepared to contend for the truth, we are wishy-washy and have no strength. We are a home that has no strength and can be battered by the storms of life.

I am amazed, or I should say, very burdened, at the state of Christianity today. Many do not have strong convictions of God's principles. They are tolerant of what God says is an abomination. They are raising children who are more familiar with the entertainment of this world than they of God's Word.

Let's build strength into our home. Let's become mothers of strong convictions. Let's raise children who will not fear to stand strong for truth, and who will "be able to withstand (stand against, oppose, resist) in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13).

Are you with me? Let's do it.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Do you like fasting? I have to confess that I don't enjoy it. I love eating my three meals every day to nourish my physical body. And yet, isn't it incredible that many believers enjoy fasting from food for their inner man? Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 4:16 about the "inward man" being "renewed day by day."

It is difficult to keep up with a physically demanding life unless we eat good wholesome food. In the same way, we have to feed our inner man if we are going to be strong and victorious for the challenges we face each day, and whatever we may face in the future. Some folks rely on a Sunday service message each week. Help, we'd be very weak in body if we only ate once a week.

Just as our body needs renewing day by day, so our soul and spirit must be renewed each day. We renew it as we feed on God's Word. It is our life and our sustenance. We renew it as we commune with the Father and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. How do we do this in our busy lives? I couldn't think of not starting and ending our day with our Family Devotions with everyone in the home gathered around. They are feeding times for my soul and spirit.

Put a Bible in the bathroom/restroom and grab a morsel from the Psalms or Proverbs. Put a Bible on your windowsill to grab another morsel as you prepare meals and do dishes. Keep a Bible near where you nurse your baby.

And what about your children? We'd have the CPS on our doorstep if we only fed our children once a week. And yet many don't care that the souls of their children are starving! Their spirits must be fed each new day, too. And what about your teens? They will not face the temptations of this world if their spirits are not strong and daily renewed in God's Word and bathed in prayer.

Become a feasting family!

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

What is your plan as you begin homeschooling your children each day? Are you facing the huge challenge of completing all the curriculums you purchased for each child? Your goal is to make sure you get through them all?

Dear mother, can I encourage you to relax. Making sure your children complete all their lessons each day is not true education. What is the meaning of education? It comes from a Latin word meaning, "to draw forth from within, to bring out, to lead forth, to develop the innate capacities of, to rear." It has the meaning of upbringing rather than instruction.

Get on the right track, dear mother. There is much more to education that stuffing your children with information that they will invariably forget. God has divinely put desires to seek out knowledge, aspirations, abilities, and special gifts in each one of your children. Seek to draw forth and bring out what God has already put in them. This makes education exciting. You work with God instead of plodding away on your own.

I am most probably looking from a different perspective than you. Most of my children are in their fifties. What do I see looking back? More than ever, I see that God created my children and put His plan in them from the beginning of time. They have accomplished amazing things, beyond what I could have ever taught them. They have fulfilled their dreams in spite of me! It wasn't their school lessons that helped them do what they are doing today. It was the gifting God had already put in them.

Of course, there are disciplines of teaching and learning that are important for life. But, dear mother, always keep in mind that your highest calling is to draw out from within your children the amazing gifts God has put in them and LEAD THEM FORTH with encouragement, motivation, and vision to fulfill the GREAT THINGS GOD HAS FOR THEM.

Have a great day, Nancy Campbell

It is a training ground for eternity. It is where we learn to overcome and destroy the works of the devil. The rewards in Heaven are for the overcomers.