“Strength and dignity are her clothing” (Proverbs 31:25). Inwardly and outwardly. Dignity is being lost today. Let’s hold it fast.
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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.
In my Bible reading the other morning I read the blessing God gave through Moses to the tribe Issachar. He told them they were to rejoice in their homes (Deuteronomy 33:18). The word for homes is “ohel” and it means “a covering, a dwelling place.” It can be used of a hut or a palace! It speaks of a home for animals or for a king (namely, David’s palace)!Maybe you are living in cramped quarters. It feels like a hut! You long for more room. Can I encourage you to keep rejoicing? When Moses spoke those words to Issachar, they were living in temporary tents! They had no mod cons. No store down the road to run to if they ran out of something. And God wanted them to rejoice.
Rejoicing is a powerful attribute. It allows God to work in our lives and in our circumstances. When we complain and whine, we keep ourselves in our self-pity dungeon! And we stay miserable!
When we rejoice, our circumstances may not change, but our heart changes and we can face insurmountable odds with the joy of the Lord.
Do you remember the time when David came back from battle to his home city of Ziklag? They found it burned to the ground with fire. That would be enough to make you depressed. But the Amalekites had also taken all their wives, sons, and daughters captive! They were left with nothing. They all lifted up their voices and wept until they could weep no more! The men were so upset they wanted to stone David!
David was so distraught! But then the Bible tells us that “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:6).
It was then God showed him what to do. He gave him the strategy and David and his men were able to recover all their wives and children. Verse 19 says “David recovered all.”
David had no answer to their terrible catastrophe while he was in a state of despair. We can’t hear from God when we are filled with bitterness, unforgiveness, and moaning. But when by faith we look to the Lord and rejoice in Him, things begin to change. It’s a biblical principle (Job 13;15 and Habakkuk 3:17, 18).
Be a rejoicing mother and fill your home with rejoicing. God loves rejoicing homes.
Blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell
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The magazine, Above Rubies, is for all women (and men love to read it too). However, I believe it is especially essential for the precious young mothers of this generation as they in the overwhelming time of raising their little ones.Although I have been publishing Above Rubies for 44 years, sending it out to three succeeding generations, I realize that there are thousands of mothers who still haven’t even heard of Above Rubies.
And yet these mothers need the encouragement of this magazine desperately. They need to be uplifted and strengthened in their great calling. They need to hear the truth from God’s word rather than the indoctrination of this deluded humanistic and feministic age.
If you know any young mothers, in your church, in your neighborhood, close at hand or far away, you are welcome to send me their names and addresses and I’ll be happy to send an Above Rubies to them. What about your daughters and your daughters-in-law? Are they getting the magazine?
Send the information to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I specially need these names as soon as possible. I am currently sending out a bulk mail order which I constantly do. However, the names coming in are now slowing down as we are near to publishing a new magazine (completing the design at this moment). I must have a required number to send them bulk mail which is cheaper so it would be good to get these names to include in this mailing.
Many blessings to you today,
Nancy Campbell
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Little faces at my place;
Some wear denim, some wear lace.
Muddy fingers, messy hair,
I'm just glad that they are there.
Yes, they keep me on my toes,
Picking up their toys and clothes.
Wiping faces, washing feet,
But I don't mind, cuz they're so sweet.
Days and moments will not last,
Up and away, they'll grow too fast.
My time with them today I'll savor,
And thereby do myself a favor.
To see them all as gifts from God,
To shape them is a noble job,
There is no greater joy on earth
Than teaching children of their worth.
To God in Heaven, who in love,
Designed them for His courts above.
He destined each one for a plan,
To serve His purposes for man.
So let me pause for just a while
To ponder each one's face and smile.
While life speeds on and keeps its pace,
These memories won't be erased.
2017 Val Halloran
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Mother, you are in the greatest career in the nation!
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Home is a place of . . .
Affection and Affirmation
Babies
Caring
Direction
Encouragement
Fun
Giving (each treating the other better than themselves)
Hospitality
Inspiration
Joy
Keeping children safe
Love
Making Memories
Nurturing
Opportunity
Prayer
Quietude (sometimes)!
Responsibility (each one pulling their weight)
Serving one another
Teaching
Understanding
Valuing each child
Wisdom
eXample
Yeanling (a yeanling is a little lamb or newborn infant and home is where we love and embrace babies)
Zoe (the Greek word for LIFE--home should be filled with life and happiness, not legality!
It would be enough to take one of these and work on them for a few weeks, wouldn’t it? And yet we have 26 of them!
Love from Nancy Campbell
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This article from Moms for America (link below) is worth reading as it exposes what is going on in our education system. I, for one, would never send my children into such an environment where our precious children are being taught everything that is against God and family. In fact, I would encourage you to take your children out of these anti=God schools.
Or, if you are not going to do that, take a stand like these moms. I admire that they are not taking this sitting down. The article ends with:
“Moms are fed up with mandates, pronoun penalties, sexually explicit content, and racist, sexist content being thrust our kids. We want real science, true history, and a classical education that teaches kids to read, write, calculate, and be good citizens. If that makes us radical, then so be it. From Cottage Meetings to Parents Strike to rallies and lawsuits, Moms for America will continue to unite with other organizations and support moms in their efforts to bring truth, freedom, and commonsense back to our schools. We will continue to show up at school board meetings and in the coming elections, we’ll be sitting in a lot of those seats.
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After posting the picture of Dawson and Cassidy below, I thought you may like to see their little children outside their tiny house where they live.TINY HOUSE LIFE
It’s altogether wonderful and yet we are bursting at the seams. It has taught me so much. It has taught me there are many things I can live without. It has also shown me the things I value.
The lesson of this season; where you treasure is, there your heart will be also. My heart has been with my little ones. For lack of a full, bustling house to bother after, I have spent more time with them—exploring nature and looking into their eyes.
The goal of course is not quite tiny house living. Of course, it couldn’t be. We desire many more little Stolls coming along. But one thing is certain. No matter the place in which I dwell, the truth of it is:
It’s the people and not the house.
It’s the hearts and not the things.
It’s the moments I look into their eyes and see they are living their best life, climbing on daddy’s woodpiles, eating sun-warmed apple slices, and laughing at the sun.
CASSIDY STOLL
@itscassidy.jade
(Deborah (3), Tabitha (2) and aby Peter (5 months).
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There is nothing like the aroma of a delicate and delightful-smelling perfume. It’s pleasurable to our sense of smell, although I must admit that I don’t like chemical perfumes and prefer essential oils.Most husbands love their wives to wear a lovely perfume. God Himself loves sweet aromas (Exodus 30:23-25, 34, 35). It’s not hard to put on some perfume, but often it is a lot harder to wear the sweet perfume of Christ. This means saying No to the flesh and allowing the beautiful life of Jesus Christ who dwells within us to shine through us. This brings delight to our husbands even more than a perfume from a bottle. This fills our homes with love, peace, and happiness.
The Bible talks about a lovely perfume. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (JBP) says: “Thanks be to God who leads us, wherever we are, on his own triumphant way and makes our knowledge of him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume! We Christians have the unmistakable ‘scent’ of Christ, discernible alike to those who are being saved and to those who are heading for death. To the latter it seems like the very smell of doom, to the former it has the fresh fragrance of life itself.”
Do you carry around that “unmistakable scent” of Christ? Is the life of Jesus spreading out from you like a lovely perfume? Notice that the Scriptures says this should happen “wherever we are.” The KJV says, “in every place.” This doesn’t only mean when you are all dressed up to go out to a function with all the children left behind. This means right in your home, in the midst of everything that is happening--housework piled up, laundry waiting to be completed, homeschooling to organize, and challenges that arise each new day.
No matter what is happening or where you are, Christ is in you. He doesn’t change with circumstances. Draw on His life, His strength, His peace, His patience, His joy, and His love. And as you do, you will spread forth the lovely perfume of His presence in your home — to your husband and to your children.
Have a wonderful day in your home today,
Nancy Campbell
Picture: A darling young couple, Dawson and Cassidy Stoll, who have three precious little children: Deborah (3), Tabitha (2) and baby Peter (5 months). Cassidy exudes the perfume of Jesus as she joyfully mothers her little ones.
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The Lord will build your home if you allow Him. Let Him rule in your home. Let Him give you the children He has planned for you.
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I want to be the OVERFLOWING one, don’t you?
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To be dependable is to be faithful, faithful in the little things which add up to the big things. The character qualities of being dependable, faithful, trustworthy, and truthful are being lost in our society today. Let’s make them strong in our own lives and instill them in to the lives of our children. God is not looking for frothy and fluffy servants but faithful servants.
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When God brought forth the first beautiful woman from the side of Adam, what realm did she come into? She immediately came forth to be a wife . . . and then a mother. After the glorious introduction of Eve to Adam, God states: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his WIFE: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).Wow! She didn’t even have time to be single. She didn’t have time to find who she really was. She didn’t have time to have her fling before she settled down into marriage. She didn’t have time to have fun before she had children. She didn’t even have time to go to college! These are the comments we hear in today’s society.
Now don’t get me wrong. I know there are some women who will not get married. There are others who do not meet “the right one” until their thirties, or even forties. However, the majority meet when they are relatively young. This is God’s plan. This is the way He created us. This is the time of life when He puts the desire within us for marriage, and yes, for sexual union.
Society today believes in the waiting game. You must wait unto you are more mature. You must wait until you have finished college. You must wait until you are financially settled. You must wait until “you have all your ducks in a row.” You must wait until you have traveled and seen the world! This sounds wise advice, but is it biblical?
We read in Malachi 2: 15 about the “wife of his youth” and Joel 1:8 about the “husband of her youth.” We read in Psalm 127:4 about the “children of your youth.” The word “youth” in the Hebrew word “na’uwr” and means “young people, juvenile.” That doesn’t sound like old to me.
If Colin and I had waited until we were financially secure before we married, we wouldn’t be married yet! If we waited for the “perfect” time to have children, we still wouldn’t have any children! It all sounds so plausible, but it’s hot air and the wisdom of this world. The reality is that God intends couples to marry young and have children when they are young.
We don’t find who God wants us to be by doing our own thing. We find who we are as women through marriage and motherhood. This is how we mature. This is how a young man matures. There is nothing like marriage to mature a young man. You watch him grow before your eyes (unless he is unteachable and without godly training). Ultimately, God gives parents the responsibility to prepare their children for marriage, from childhood through adolescence.
Amazingly, many couples are quite happy with the waiting game. But what happens with all this waiting? Instead of coming to marriage as pure virgins and righteous young men they often come violated. God’s plan is for “young men to marry virgins” (Isaiah 62:5). The waiting game does not help God’s plan.
Why do we think we know better than God?
Blessings,
Nancy Campbell
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How do you and your family pray? How often do you pray? I must confess, dear ladies, that it surprises me how little God’s people are praying at this time. How can that be? We are facing lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and tyranny. And still the church of God isn’t calling for prayer meetings and crying out to God? What must yet happen before God gets our attention?Of course, it starts in the home. The church will never be a praying church until we are praying families. In the New Testament I find six ways God wants to pray.
1. FERVENTLY
God not only wants us to pray, but to pray fervently. Epaphras “labored fervently” in prayer for the Colossian believers (Colossians 4:12). This word means to “contend for the victory, to fight, to wrestle.” What kind of praying do you do in your family? Do you pray fervently? That means fighting against the devil and all evil. Are you teaching your children pray this way? They learn to pray from you.
James 5:16: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
AMPC: “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).”
TPT: “Tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!”
2. BELIEVINGLY
God wants us to pray believingly. Read Matthew 21:22 and Mark 11:23, 24.
3. CONTINUALLY
God wants us to pray continually. Colossians 4:2 tell us to: “Continue in prayer.” The word “continue” is “proskartero” and means “to be devoted to prayer, to continue steadfastly, to keep persisting, keep persevering, earnestly and unwearied.”
It’s easy to give up on prayer, isn’t it? But Romans 12:12 (NLT) admonishes us to “Keep on praying” and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT) tells us to NEVER STOP PRAYING.” Never give up, no matter how bleak the situation. Do you have a loved one who is not walking with God? They can never get away from your persistent and continual prayers.
Read these examples: Luke 21:36; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4; Romans 12:12; Ephesians 1:16; 6:18; Colossians 1:3, 9; 4:2, 12; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; 5:17; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; and 2 Timothy 1:3.
4. EARNESTLY
God wants us to pray earnestly. Read James 5:17.
5. EXCEEDINGLY
God wants us to pray exceedingly.
1 Thessalonians 3:10: “Night and day praying exceedingly.” The word “exceedingly” is the Greek word “perissos” and means “exceeding some number or measure, over and above, more than is necessary, much more than all, surpassing the ordinary.”
Are you praying beyond the normal? Are you gathering your family together morning and evening to cry out to God for this nation and the nations of the world? Have you thought of having a prayer meeting in your home and inviting others to come in and pray with you? We have never been without a corporate prayer meeting in our home.
When we have prayer meetings in our home, we always include the children. We don’t even send the little ones off to bed but encourage them to be part of it. My husband usually says to the children: “Alright children, you can all pay first before you go off to sleep.” So the children will often be the first to pray and gradually they begin to fall of to sleep as the pray3er meeting continues.
6. PERSEVERINGLY
God wants us to pray perseveringly (Ephesians 6:18). We won’t change the world praying little prayers now and then. We change the world by being committed to prayer, wrestling in prayer, persevering in prayer, and pouring out our hearts in prayer. We do it personally. We do it as a family each day, teaching our children how to cry out to God and intercede in prayer. And we do it corporately, gathering in others to pray with us.
Let’s become praying families.
Praying families are nation changing families.
Praying families are world changing families.
Be encouraged.
Nancy Campbell
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It is wonderful to read Scriptures about the tender mercies of God. It reveals His character to us. I read another one this morning in Psalm 25:6: “Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lobvingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.”It is amazing to read the Hebrew meaning of “tender mercies.” It is the word “racham” and means “compassion in a plural sense, cherishing the babe in the womb, tender love, womb.,” This word is used interchangeably in the Old Testament for the womb of a woman and also to describe God’s compassion. The same word! God links His compassion with the womb. This is such a beautiful thing for us to comprehend as women.
As we embrace our womb to nurture and bring forth life into this world, we are linking with God to reveal His compassionate and tender heart to the world. And it is not a fleeting thing. God’s compassion is everlasting. The words “ever of old” are the Hebrew word “olam” which means “vanishing point, time out of mind (past and future), eternity, everlasting.”
God’s Word translation says” “Remember, O LORD, your compassionate and merciful deeds. They have existed from eternity.”
The Smith’s Literal Translation says: “They are from forever.”
Isn’t it sad that many women will give up the beautiful purpose of their womb (which reveals God’s DEVERLASTING compassion) for careers and other lifestyles that are vain and fleeting and which they cannot take into eternity.
Bringing forth an eternal soul into the world is something that lasts forever.
Be blessed,
Nancy Campbell
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How do you feel about your home? Do you feel like a prisoner? Are you longing for the day when you can get on to something different? Or is your delight in your home? Is it your favorite place to be?Psalm 106:24, 25 says: “Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.“ The “pleasant land” was the home God chose for His people, but they despised it and murmured and complained.
God has chosen a “pleasant land” for you too. It is your home. The first home, which was the prototype of all homes to come, was called the garden of Eden. Eden means “delight” and God wants you to make your home a delight. The word “pleasant” in Psalm 106:24 also means “delightful, desirable, precious, greatly beloved.”
Dear sweet mother, I know life is not always easy in your home as you care for your little ones and face all the challenges of each day. But can I let you in on a secret? It is delightful or burdensome according to your attitude. Nothing influential or powerful in this life is easy. It takes hard work and commitment to do anything great. It’s the same with mothering in your home.
If you are in the grumbling and despising state, change your attitude today. Embrace your home. You are in the perfect will of God. Delight in it. And commit to making your home a delight—for your husband, your children, and for all who come in your doors.
Love to you today,
Nancy Campbell
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1 John 5:19 (ESV): "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one." If this world is in the grip of the evil one, how do we live without getting pulled into its grip? How do we keep our children from its control? We've got to swim upstream.It's not easy to swim upstream, is it? It takes all your effort. The moment we relax, we start floating downstream again, away with the current of the evil one. That's why we must constantly fight the good fight of faith. We must fight it ourselves, and for our family. We must teach our children the principles of swimming upstream.
As children get older, and especially into their teens, they are prone to being swept into the current of this world system. We must teach from a young age how to constantly fight the battle and swim upstream. Here are some pointers:
1. Penetrate your children with a godly and biblical worldview. How they live and think is determined by their worldview. Remember, the public education system teaches your children a humanistic worldview.
2. Teach them to pray. Establish daily prayer times with your children.
3. Fill them with God's Word. Don't let anything deter you from Family Devotions each day with your family.
4. Make sure you have at least weekly fellowship with the people of God (Hebrews 10:25). Encourage friendships with other godly young people.
5. Teach them to say no to the flesh and the devil and yield to Christ who dwells within them.
What will take them, and even us, downstream?
1. Compromising with the world (1 John 2:15-17).
2. Tolerating sin. God does not tell us to tolerate, but to obliterate! Ephesians 5:22: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather REPROVE them."
3. Undisciplined time with media.
4. No daily habit of prayer and reading God's Word.
5. Hanging around with the wrong company. Proverbs 13:20: "He that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. " I raised our children on this Scripture. Young people will go the way of those they hang around with. Guide them into wise company.
Are you a swimming upstream family, or merrily floating downstream with the current of this world? Remember- when you are floating, you don't even realize you are going downstream until it is too late.
Blessings to you today,
Nancy Campbell
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Your baby will be impacted by your attitudes while in the womb. Embrace your precious baby to your heart from the moment you are aware and begin praying prayers of blessings and protection and God’s anointing on your baby.
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When Pearl and Evangeline or I have a birthday, our favorite gift is to receive a surprise from Serene. No, it’s not something from the shop! We love it when she makes one of her great concoctions--something that no one has ever tasted before.Serene creates new recipes every day. What will it be this time? We can't wait to try. Of course, it won't be anything you'll ever see in Trim Healthy Mama. A lot of Serene's recipes don't get past our family--they are too "way out" for most people, but they are always amazing, and of course always in the super food realm!
I’ll let you have a peep behind the scenes. On one of Evangeline's birthdays Serene came up with a new recipe along with a poem to go with it:
To VangiBabe
What can you give a girl with golden hair
Who thinks "out of the box" and makes every head stare?
Can you go to Walmart and buy her some socks,
Or something normal that fits in a box?
Shop at the Mall for apparel with prices steep?
She could make better herself from the back of a sheep!
Buy her some shoes? She likes bare feet in the soil!
Soaps, trinkets, or hankies? She'll shudder and recoil!
What about a book? The best one in the store?
She'll have read it already, it will be a bore!
I could get spicy sausages and fermented butter,
But I did that last year for her birthday supper!
So I'll make her some "out of the box" chocolate truffles,
She'll like them better than store-bought skirts with ruffles,
I'll fill them with ginger, hot peppers, and Oolong tea,
Grass-fed gelatin and vanilla; and she'll scream with glee.
She'll eat them for breakfast, even at midnight,
This is what I'll do to fill her face with delight,
I'll send them along with a prayer in my heart
For her best years yet, to unfold and now start.
Love from Sereniebean.
I got to taste one before she went over to Vange's. They were DELECTABLE! Melt in your mouth!
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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