Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

 

Now we live in the New Covenant where God now dwells, not in a physical ark or temple, but in our hearts! Both 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and 2 Corinthians 6:16 tell us that we are now the "temple" where God dwells. The word is actually "naos" which means we have now become the Holy of Holies for His dwelling. This is too amazing to contemplate. To think that God delights to dwell in us!

 

We are now His footstool here on earth. 1 John 4:17: "As he is, so are we in this world."

 

Dear mother, you are the footstool of God to your children as you reveal God to them through your daily attitude and actions. I love the quote by William Makepeace Thackeray which says, "Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."

 

God wants His footstool to be glorious because He is glorious. May God save us from living sub-zero! May we understand the revelation of God's plan for us to be His glorious representation on earth, first to our husband and children, and then to everyone we meet.

 

As you get out of bed each morning, embrace your glorious commission. Realize that you are His footstool, revealing Christ to your children. You don't need any more motivation than that!

 

Be encouraged.

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Painting by Mary Cassatt

Today I am sending you a beautiful testimony by Janet Carlton.

 

WATCHING OVER YOUR FLOCK BY NIGHT

By Janet Carlton

 

Almost every mother discovers that her job description includes sleep deprivation. She may be awakened by a colicky infant, a teething toddler, a chronic bed wetter, a sick youngster, even a fearful teen.

 

After bearing nine children, I can honestly say that from the birth of our first child until two years after our last, I hardly ever slept through an entire night. That season of my life encompassed twenty-one years. Did I handle it graciously? Sometimes I was spiritually prepared and rose to minister to my child/children with gentleness and patience. For instance, nursing a baby at 3:00 AM often became a good opportunity to intercede for others or to worship without distraction. I tried to remember that since I was up anyway, I may as well be productive with prayer and praise. However, there were nights when I forsook some of that good perseverance. On one such night, the Lord arrested me with a few words that transformed my attitude and behavior.

 

I had settled into bed next to my husband for about the fourth time, exhausted after awakening and attending to multiple cries. Then - not again! I heard a whimper from our restless infant. "Pleeeeease, go back to sleep," I thought. "God, please make him go back to sleep." It was not to be. The whimper intensified. Aggressively, I swung my feet over the side of our bed, hoping John would be roused enough to feel guilty about his blanketed comfort. Yet what could he do? Nursing a baby was a job for Mom alone. Still, I wanted pity, so after rising and gruffly declining his nice, but useless offer of assistance, I stomped toward our door and opened and closed it noisily with frustration. My selfish flesh was manifesting, and I was headed for our baby’s room with mounting anger.

 

Upon entering the hallway, I was stopped. I heard a soundless voice. Out of my innermost being, in clear resonance, the Holy Spirit relayed the words of this short sentence:

 

"You’re watching over your flock by night."

 

Instantly, I melted.

 

How sweet of the Lord to encourage, rather than scold me, and how loving of Him to remind me that I wasn’t the only one awake. "He who keeps you will not slumber, Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:3-4). I thought of what the shepherds in Bethlehem experienced when they were watching over their flocks by night. They were awake to see and hear the angelic hosts of heaven declaring the birth of our Savior! What important spiritual messages or lessons might I miss if I harbor a negative attitude toward my duties as a mother.

 

My anger switched to tender communion. Not only did I experience God’s warm fellowship in that otherwise dark and lonesome hour, but also His assurance that my ministry to our growing children was utterly significant to His kingdom - significant enough for Him to send me a healing and empowering word: You’re watching over your flock by night.

 

JANET CARLTON

 

Painting by Mary Cassatt

Do you have a problem getting your children to the meal table? You are going to love this idea from Courtney . . .

 

OUR MEALTIME SONG

 

Some years ago, my friend told me she had come up with a creative way to let her children know it was time to come to the table to eat. When the meal was ready, she would sit down at her piano and play "Turkey in the Straw." One by one, her children would stop what they were doing as they heard it, and by the end of the song, they were all sitting at the table, ready to pray and eat.

 

I loved the idea, and having a musically creative husband, told him about it and asked if he would create a song. Thus, the Mealtime Song was born. But instead of me singing or playing something on the piano, I would turn on the CD!

 

On recording day, when my husband pulled the song together, he asked me and each of our children to do a line or two. My dad happened to stop by that day too, so even Grandpa's voice joined in, adding harmony.

 

My husband sings the main melody of the song while playing honky-tonk style on the piano as well as intertwining a trumpet solo. There's country-sounding banjo strumming in the background, lots of laughter, and happy voices sprinkled throughout as the children and I chime in with our lines.

 

Mealtime, mealtime, mealtime, mealtime,

Mealtime, mealtime, mealtime, mealtime!

It's time to eat when you hear this silly beat,

So moo-moo-move your feet,

It's time to eat!

 

Mama: Don't forget to wash your hands!"

Little brother: "Mealtime!"

The baby: "What's that?!"

A crowd cheering in the background: "Yay!"

Big brother: "Time to eat!"

Mama: "Who wants to eat?"

Big sister: "Y'all come and eat now!"

Mama: "Don't forget to wash up!"

Daddy: "Mmm-mmm! Better sit down!"

Mama and Daddy together: "Yummy!"

 

After a few plays, the results became like a reflex. When the children heard the song, they knew they had three minutes and twenty-three seconds to finish up what they were doing and make their way over to the table to be seated in time.

 

Over the years, as my little ones grew and became more capable, I gradually assigned them mealtime chores to complete by the song's ending, and so then by the end of the song—which happens to be the fun moo of a cow—the plates, napkins, and silverware are on the table, the baby is buckled into his high chair with his bib on, the drinks are passed out, and everyone is seated and ready to pray.

 

Through the years, as the next child in line became old enough to help, I would pass down an older sibling's chore to the younger and graduate the older ones to another chore. Twelve years have passed now since the creation of our Mealtime Song, and, if we're home, we still play it three times a day.

 

Now that we have seven children, the older two don't have any more mealtime preparation chores to graduate to and so it is in the hands of the younger ones, which works out well since the older ones are busier with online college and their small businesses. Still, whoever is home, by the end of The Mealtime Song, there they are ready and sitting down with the rest of us

 

What a delight it continues to be to press play (now on my cell phone!), hear my "dinner bell" tune and watch it do its work . . . seeing my children come out of the woodwork and piece-by-piece see my table, get prepared, and all the heads pop up, ready for another family meal.

 

COURTNEY SIRARD

Woodland, California

 

P.S. I have put the Mealtime Song and many other of my strategies into an online course that I am creating. I created this course because I am passionate about helping moms fulfill one of their mandates from God—to manage their home and children.

 

I love helping moms get their homes in order because when they are in order, we and our households can do so much more, whether it be small businesses, hosting small groups, having guests over, Bible studies, or even a home church. I love how having our houses in order enables our homes to be the action center for our own families and then beyond!

 

The course is called The Mom Acceleration and is a fast track for Christian moms to get their houses in order spiritually and naturally.

 

If you would like to be notified when the course is released, please email me: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

FROM NANCY

 

I love Courtney’s idea. You may think you couldn’t do it so professionally, but I am sure you could make up a simple song that would suit your family. Why not try?

 

What good things can we do for our children today? Yes, we do good things for them every day. The Bible calls mothering itself a GOOD thing (Titus 2:3-5). But can you think of something special and different? Something that will make wonderful memories?

 

It’s a good question for your children, too. "Children, let's stop for a moment and think of something good you can do for one of your siblings (or mommy and daddy) today. We’re all going to close our eyes and think about it. No one is to get up from their chair (or the sofa) until they have thought of their special surprise.”

 

At the end of the day, as you sit together at the family meal table, each one can share what happened to them. The children can also share what fun it was to go out of their way to do something for someone else. What an exciting home to live in.

 

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Acts 2:38 tells us: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." Jesus went about doing good works. Sometimes we just go about! But if Jesus lives in us, He will be wanting to do good works in us.

 

Instead of just going about in your home, go about doing good works!

 

Have fun today,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Painting by Richard Emil Miller (1875-1943).

 

But we also automatically rock when we hold a baby, don’t we? In fact, do you rock even when you are not holding a baby? Once you have experienced motherhood it becomes part of who you are, doesn't it? It think it’s built within us mothers to rock.

I have always believed that every mother should have a rocking chair. It is part of mothering and should be part of every baby's life. Even though my children have grown, I still rock. I rock when I hold a baby and I rock when I am not holding a baby! And I have to admit I sway whenever I am standing. I'm marked for life with rocking!

 

Keep on rocking, mother. You are a rocker.

 

I love these words from this poem . . .

 

She rocked me as a little tyke

I happily recall,

In winter, summer, autumn, spring,

And never let me fall.

I've gotten where I am (and here's

A psychiatric shocker!)

Because I had a mother who

Was seldom off her rocker!

 

Love to you today from your fellow rocker,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Do they see you reveling in the heart of your home and gathering your family to sit together around the table for your meals? This is the picture God paints of a blessed family (Psalm 128:3).

 

Do they see your sweet spirit of submission toward your husband who is your head and covering? Do they see you delighting to serve? Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church, and we certainly wouldn't expect to see the church ordering Christ around, would we?

 

Titus 2:3-5 describes the lifestyle God wants us to live and goes on to say that when we spurn this lifestyle that we blaspheme God’s Word. Why would it use such harsh language? Because when we don’t live the way God describes in His word, we teach a false doctrine.

 

Are you teaching correct doctrine to your children today?

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

 

In the Kingdom of Love by Arthur J. Elsley - Art Print

In the Kingdom of Love, Art Print by Arthur J. Elsley at ArtPrintsAndDecor.com

 

F Flavor your home with joy, sweetness, and happiness (what a nice flavor)!

L Love every moment of your mothering (rather than dreaming of when these days will be over).

O Offer your life as a living sacrifice (knowing that you save your life by losing it (Mark 11:35 and Romans 12:1-2).

U Unify your home by speaking peace into every situation.

R Revel in the joy of mothering and nurturing the precious gifts God has given to you (knowing that your Employer is God Himself).

I Intentionally make positive things happen in your home (don't let the day lead you around in circles, but instead purposefully direct your day by the leading of the Holy Spirit). Make wonderful things happen.

S Sanctify your home daily with prayer, praise, and the washing of God's Word (Ephesians 5:26).

H Heap hugs and kisses on your husband and children daily.

 

May you abundantly flourish in your home today.

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

 

Art by Jessica Zemsky

IN YOUR HOME!

 

Psalm 128:3-4 (TLB): “Your wife will be like fruitful vine, FLOURISHING within your home. And look at all those children! There they sit around your table as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees. That is the Lord’s reward for those who fear Him.”

 

Perhaps today you feel like a wilting plant. You feel "half dead"! Or, maybe, like some plants, you are barely surviving. You get through each day, but only just! This is not God's plan for you. He wants you to flourish and bloom.

 

I believe we can only come into the flourishing mode when we embrace our mothering role with all our hearts. We know that we are in God's perfect will. No matter what the hardships and challenges, we face them with joy. We are not dreaming of some day when we will be finished with these mothering days. Instead, we live every moment to the full. Every moment is an abounding moment because Christ lives in us and His life is not wilting, but full of life and power.

 

Embrace your powerful calling of motherhood. Enjoy your homemaking. Make every moment a God moment. Think of yourself as a flourishing plant—blossoming, flowering, blooming, growing luxuriantly, thriving, increasing, enlarging, expanding, abounding, and shooting out (Isaiah 54:2-3)! This is God's plan for you.

 

It is not a stagnant boring life but FRUITFUL and FLOURISHING.

 

Blessings to you today,

 

Nancy Campbell

We talked yesterday about Proverbs 3:5, 6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

 

Do you notice that it says that we are to acknowledge the Lord in “ALL our ways”? That means in ALL the practical ways of our lives. That means in all our mothering ways. We can often feel very close to God when we are away on our own with our Bible and no distractions. In fact, we can feel very spiritual. But what about when we get back in the fray? In the midst of babies, toddlers, tantrums, teens, frustrations, and overwhelmingness! How can we know God then?

 

Dear mother, God wants you to KNOW HIM in all your daily mothering. And not only know about him but know Him intimately. That word in the Hebrew is “yada” which means “to know intimately.”

 

Let’s get to the reality of life. God is the One who created our bodies. He wondrously, intricately, and amazingly created them to carry and nurture life in our wombs, to give birth, to pour out life and sustenance from our breasts, and to mother and teach our children.

 

We are created, called, chosen, ordained, designated, and destined—physically, emotionally, and spiritually for this purpose. Therefore, as we realize this divine truth (and can I please interrupt my sentence here--it is a divine truth even if our humanistic society does not embrace it) we will come to understand His ways.

 

Because it is God’s plan, the enemy wants to rob us from it. When he robs us of this truth, he robs us of our full understanding of God. As we embrace this divine truth, we come to find out more and more who God is like. And the more we embrace His ways in our roles as wives and mothers, the more He reveals to us and leads us in His paths.

 

Seek with all your heart to KNOW GOD in the way He created you. Don’ be dumbed down by the foolishness of our feminist society. Discover all the amazing hormones He gives to you when you are pregnant. Experience the beautiful blissful and calming hormones He gives to you while you nurse your baby. God is wrapped up in all your mothering. You miss knowing much of who God really is when you discard your mothering ways for the ways of the world.

 

We understand how He wants us to mother even as we read these negative Scriptures about animals and birds:

 

Job 39:13-16: “The ostrich . . . which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is vain without fear; because God hath DEPRIVED HER OF WISDOM, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.”

 

Lamentations 4:3: “Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give (nursing) to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.”

 

 

 

Be blessed,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Painting: Spanish artist, Vicente Romero Redondo

 

P.S. Here are some links you may like to check out:

 

 

Although I have known these Scriptures from a child, it was only in recent years that I discovered that the- word “acknowledge” is “yada” in the Hebrew. This is far more than a casual acknowledgement of God. It means to know God in an intimate way. This same word is used of sexual intimacy. We read how God knew Abraham in a personal relationship (Genesis 18:19), He spoke with Moses face to face (Exodus 33:17 and Deuteronomy 34:10), and He knew Jeremiah in the womb (Jeremiah 9:23, 24).

 

We can only experience God’s true direction in our lives as we KNOW Him. If we put God into our little box and made Him a god of our own understanding, we will be led our own way. And our own way always leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13, 14).

 

Dear mother, we must seek above all things to teach our children to KNOW God, not only know about Him. When God spoke to the little boy, Samuel in the temple 1 Samuel 3:7 states: “Now Samuel did not yet know (yada) the LORD.” Samuel lived daily in the temple with the priests but didn’t know God personally yet.

 

Your children can grow up in your godly home and know about God, and yet miss KNOWING Him personally. Pray that they will come to know God intimately. Fill them with the Scriptures daily because it is the Word that makes them “wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:17). Make sure you are revealing to them the God of the Bible, not a god of your own imagination. They will only know God’s ultimate direction upon their lives as they know God truly and intimately.

 

This is the greatest thing you can teach your children.

 

Be blessed,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Maybe you’ve been longing for this day. Maybe it’s a surprise! Maybe it wasn’t the news you wanted to hear!

Whatever the reason, I want to remind you that it is a MIRACLE FROM GOD. God is the author of this life. He destined this child. He has plans and purposes for this precious one. Let’s contemplate on the MIRACLE.

 

M God chose you to be the MOTHER of His child. It is His divine MIRACLE.

 

I God is INTERESTED in every minute detail of your baby, from creating every part of his/her body in the womb to the plans for his/her life and destiny.

 

R God will REVEAL more of His character and His ways to you as nurture and train this little one.

 

A God will give you His ANOINTING and ABILITY to train this child. He knows you cannot do it in your own strength.

 

C God has CREATED you for this purpose. He has CALLED and COMMISSIONED you for this great career.

 

L God’s LOVE will permeate your whole being as you nurse your baby at the breast and as you nurture and nourish and train this precious life for God’s purposes.

 

E God is creating within you an ETERNAL soul that will live forever. You are embarking on an eternal mission.

Praise God for your miracle.

 

Love from Nancy Campbell

 

As I was raising our children, I took hold of the Scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5:23: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your WHOLE SPIRIT AND SOUL AND BODY be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lod Jesus Christ.” My constant prayer was that one day when I stand before the Lod I could present my children before Him, whole, in spirit, soul, and body. This is a huge vision.

 

We may not fulfil completely our dreams, bu if we keep them before us, we will be constantly motived to keep pressing forward in our goals.

 

I also made an acrostic to affirm my purpose as a wife and mother.

 

P Passionately love my husband and bring delight to his life.

U Unflinchingly keep my eyes upon the goal of raising a godly generation.

R Resist all temptation to come down from my high calling.

P Persevere in building my marriage and home in the face of all obstacles.

O Order my home with diligence.

S Saturate my children with God’s Word and loads of encouragement.

E Embrace my life-giving role of mothering and nurturing.

 

Blessings to you today,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

In this Scripture the “afflicted” are not those who go through great misfortunes but those who see the worst in everything. They are depressed in their minds. The New Living Translation says: “For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”

 

When we see the negative in everything, we live a miserable life. And what is the bottom line? We are leaving God out of the equation! For no matter what happens in our lives, in the little annoying things of our daily lives or the big situations that seem like the end of the world, God is in control. He is bigger than our problems and difficulties.

 

We can totally trust Him, and “Whoso trusts in the Lord, HAPPY IS HE” (Proverbs 16:20). When we put our trust in the Lord and rejoice in the fact that He is our Strength, our Source, Our Rock, our Help, and our

Deliverer, we can keep our hearts joyful in any situation.

 

Your life can be a continual feast! How can that be? It’s all in how we look at things. I love Paul’s confession in 2 Corinthians 43:8-10: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed.”

 

He goes on to say in verses 16-18: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a FAR MORE EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY; while we LOOK NOT AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN, BUT AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT SEEN: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

 

Instead of looking on the dark side today, why not count some blessings?

 

Love from Nancy Campbell