PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 424: THE FLOURISHING MOTHER, PT 6

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 424: THE FLOURISHING MOTHER, PT 6

The flourishing mother is JOYFULL MOTHER. Many mothers are depressed, but today you can find out how to live a joyful mothering life.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and across the world.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. Here we are again together, and we are talking about the flourishing mother. Oh, I do trust that you are flourishing in your home. But we are giving a few pointers as to how we can do this.

Last week, we were talking about how THE FLOURISHING MOTHER KNOWS THE POWER OF HER TABLE. And we were talking about that at the end of the podcast. I mentioned how often I love to play the guessing game, especially when we’ve got a lot of children around the table. With your own family, you can do this, maybe once a week, or once every two weeks, or something, or for a special.

When we have children around the table, they just love it. And you don’t have to go around the table, of course. You can do this sitting in your lounge, anywhere you like. But I love it around the table because I’ve got all the children. The table is a gathering place, and it’s where you've got everyone together.

So, I thought I’d just give you a little idea of some of the questions I may ask. Some of them, I know they won’t know the answers straightaway, because it’s a number that they wouldn’t know. But that’s why it’s a guessing game! They’ve all got to guess, and it becomes such a fight as they’re all putting up their hands, and they want to be the one who gets the prize.

I usually have a bag of prizes of just little things. I give everyone a prize, the one who gets the right answer. So, they are all vying for the prize. It becomes very exciting, especially when they’re competitive.

Now today, I have my two lovely Above Rubies girls here with me. They are recording the podcast as they do each week. Today I have Kerianne and Christiana. So, I’ve asked them to be the children today and they’re going to do some guessing. My big rule is, and this is what you have to make sure that nobody calls out, because if they call out, well, the game is finished. They’ve got to put up their hands, so you can choose the first one to put their hand up. OK, so girls, let’s see what you know. Guessing game, you can guess.

Charles Wesley was the brother of John Wesley, and he wrote lots and lots of hymns that we sing today. Do you know how many hymns he wrote? Who’s the first one? Yes!

Voice: ???

Nancy: More!

Voice: 5,000?

Nancy: You’re getting very, very close! Yes, let me check my number. Oh, let me see. You’ve got to go up a little bit yet!

Voice: 5,300?

Nancy: More.

Voice: 5,370?

Nancy: You are the closest yet!

Voice: 6,300?

Nancy: A bit more!

Voice: 6,460?

Nancy: You’re so close!

Voice: 6,500?

Nancy: You’ve got it! Woohoo! Yes, 6,500 hymns! Isn’t that so amazing? And there are some people who say he wrote up to 9,000. But they know definitely of 6,500. Wow!

OK, next question! You girls are really great. Now, in Israel, God is bringing back from all over the world, from the four corners of the world His people, bringing them back to the land, fulfilling the promises in the Word of God. When they get back, they have to go to an Ulpan where they learn Hebrew, so they can all speak the same language. They all come with their varied, different languages. So, how many languages are there in Israel? Even though they’re all speaking Hebrew, they most probably will still in their homes speak maybe their native language. Can you guess how many languages?

Cristiana: 30?

Nancy: More.

Christiana: 80?

Nancy: You’re so close, Christiana!

Cristiana: 85?

Nancy: You’re just nearly there. Come down a bit.

Cristiana: 83?

Nancy: You’ve got it! 83! Isn’t that amazing? 83 languages.

Now, what about this question? What country in the world has the most languages? Well, yes, we’ll find out the country first, and then we’ll see how many languages. What country?

Voice: America?

Nancy: No, no, we’re a long way behind.

Voice: ???

Nancy: No, it’s a way down in the South Pacific. Well, I think that’s where they’d be. Sort of down that way.

Voice: Indonesia?

Nancy: No, it’s just a little bit up from Australia.

Voice: The Philippines?

Nancy: No. Maybe I’ll have to tell you about this one. It’s Papua New Guinea. Have you heard of that country? Yes, OK. Now, how many languages are there spoken in Papua New Guinea?

Voice: 300?

Nancy: More.

Voice: 330?

Nancy: More. Yes, a lot more!

Voice: 400?

Nancy: You’re getting up there!

Voice: 448?

Nancy: Coming up, coming up.

Voice: 460?

Nancy: More!

Voice: Is it 500?

Nancy: No, you’ve got to come down a little.

Voice: 475?

Nancy: You’re the closest! Very, very close.

Voice: 478?

Nancy: Up again.

Voice: 480?

Nancy: You’ve got it again! Woohoo! 480 languages. The reason is that so many of the tribes are separated from one another. They just go over the mountains, and there’s another little tribe speaking another language. So, they have all these languages in their country. Isn’t that amazing?

OK, just one or two more. It’s always so very exciting. How many times do we read the word “Israel” in the Bible? Now Israel starts in Genesis and goes to the last book of the Bible. It’s filled with Israel. How many times is it mentioned? Yes?

Voice: 437?

Nancy: More than that.

Voice: 600 times?

Nancy: More than that. You’ve got to come up into the thousands.

Voice: 2,000?

Nancy: You’re in the 2,000’s. You’re getting close.

Voice: 2,500?

Nancy: You’re so close.

Voice: 2,535?

Nancy: Coming up.

Voice: 2,362?

Nancy: Wow! You are so close! You can’t even believe it! Just a tiny bit more!

Voice: 2,365?

Nancy: You’re so close!

Voice: 2,360?

Nancy: No, it’s in the 500’s. Didn’t we get to that 2,500 and ?

Voice: ???

Nancy: Nearly.

Voice: 2,566?

Nancy: You’ve got it! 2,566 times. Yes. No wonder, ladies, the enemy, this Satan, the devil, wants to get rid of Israel. If he can get rid of God’s people, and he can get rid of the land of Israel, he’s getting rid of the Bible. You see, it’s mentioned 2,566 times. We just better be on God’s side. Amen?

Well, we’d better not go on. I have got pages of questions here, and they’re all such fun. I’m always thinking about questions. When I’m learning something new, I won’t just write it down. I will make it a question. It’s something you can do in your family. You’ll think of loads of questions yourself. That’s a lovely thing you can do.

DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT AT YOUR TABLE ONCE A WEEK

Another wonderful thing we do at the table is, once a week, I was suggesting how last week, you always think of something special to do, maybe once a week. Every night you have your family meal table but think of something special every week.

THE BEAUTIFUL SHABBAT MEAL

Well, we do something special anyway, because we have our Shabbat meal on Friday evening. That is such a glorious, wonderful evening. I just love Shabbat. I hate to miss it if I’m away from home. It’s so special, where the husband blesses and encourages his wife. Then, as the father, he blesses each one of his children and encourages them. It’s a beautiful family night where the mother of the home is honored by her children and by the husband.

If you want to know more about it, I did a podcast on that. It was podcast 240. That was way back. I think we’re up to . . . today it is 424, I think. But you can go back. Just go back to the archives. You can find that one if you didn’t get to listen to it, because that’s a great podcast. It’s something so wonderful that you would love to do in your home, I know. I tell you all about it there.

All right, so now we’re going to our next point.

No. 8. THE FLOURISHING MOTHER OVERLOWS WITH JOY

In Psalm 113:9, it says: “He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.” Motherhood in the Bible is equated with joy! I wonder why we have so many miserable mothers.

I think it’s because of the brainwashing in society. Children go to school. They then go on to university and college. There they are brainwashed that motherhood is inferior and they’ve got to strive for their careers and get involved in their careers. And motherhood is way, way, way down on the list if it’s even mentioned at all.

So, young girls are going into a college in the very prime of their life and they’re being prepared for what they’re not even meant to do! They’re not being prepared for what God designed them for. They do not know of the joy and blessings of motherhood.

Even when they do find this guy, they fall in love with him, they get married, and they have their first baby. Of course, they’re going to love this baby. Every mother loves her babies. But oh, this motherhood business, they’re not loving that! “Help! Now I’m stuck with this baby, and I should be out in my career.” And so, there’s this frustration. Oh, and they’re frustrated, and they’re pulled one way and the other. Pulled by the love of this baby but pulled by their career and the expectation of society.

They end up being miserable because they have not embraced their motherhood. You have to embrace it to enter into the joy of it. This word “joy” is the Hebrew word sameach. It’s actually the same word that’s used in Proverbs 14:13 where it says: “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” So, it means to be merry.

And again, in Proverbs 17:22, it says: “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” That’s exactly the same word that’s used here about a joyful mother. But there’s even Scriptures we find where it’s the same word that’s used when people drink wine and they get all happy. We read about that in Isaiah 14:7. It’s the same word that is used when they were eating, and drinking, and making merry.

1 Kings 4:20, and it’s the same Hebrew word that is used when Solomon was made king of Israel. It says in 1 Kings 1:40: “They rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.” Now the word “rent,” do you know what that word means? It means “to tear about, to split open.” The Holman Translation makes it a little clearer. “They were rejoicing with such a great joy that the earth split open from the sound.”

SPLITTING-THE-GROUND-OPEN JOY!

Did you hear that? That’s in the Bible. It must be true. The rejoicing was so loud, so triumphant, so amazing, that the earth actually split open. Do you know what? That’s the same Hebrew word that is used for “the joyful mother of children.” Wow! We’re meant to have splitting-the-ground- open joy! We’re meant to have merry hearts, like when people get drunk with wine!

Well, those are the words that are used. It sounds a bit over the top, doesn’t it? Well, so much of the Bible is over the top. It’s all here, written in the Word, in black and white. “When Jesus comes to give us life,” is that what it says? No. In John 10:10, it says: “I come to give you abundant life.” And when He’s talking about giving us peace, He doesn’t say, “I’ll give you peace.” No: “I give you peace that passes all understanding.”

Here, in this Scripture it says “I give you joy which is earth-splitting! Then there are other verses in the Scripture which have different Greek words and Hebrew words. Some of them mean “to jump for joy.” The joy is just over the top. And yet, here we have all these despondent, sad mothers.

Now, ladies, if you're going to be a flourishing mother you’ve got to be a mother who is filled with joy.

But you say, “And how do I be filled with joy when I’ve got all these little children screaming around me? I feel as though I’m just stuck in the four walls of this house!” Well, often, it’s just because of our thinking, our attitude. We’ve got the wrong thinking. We’ve been brainwashed by society to think that motherhood is so insignificant.

“Why should I be doing it?” No! Motherhood is THE most powerful, influential career in the nation. You have the power to influence your children for God, toward God, and toward salvation so they are prepared for eternity. You are preparing children to be prepared for the eternal realm, the glorious eternal realm. You’re preparing them for their destiny for this life. God has a destiny, a purpose for every one of your children, and you are the one God has chosen to steer them in that purpose. You are preparing them to reveal the image of God in this land because that is God’s plan.

In Malachi 2, it says He looks for godly offspring. The word “godly” is the word Elohim and that’s the name of God. He’s looking for children who will show what God is like. Wow! We can be filled with joy at the gloriousness and the blessedness of our incredible career! It is just so amazing! Motherhood is not insignificant.

In the Bible, He exalts motherhood. I’ll give you the references in the transcript. He glorifies motherhood. He enthrones motherhood. Yes, this how God sees motherhood as the exalted career, above every other career in the nation. And so, dear ladies, we choose to live according to God’s plan, embracing this incredible career. We are filled with joy, or we’re going to stay in our misery. It’s all in our minds and attitude. We get to choose.

So, I’m going to give you five points of how we can enter into the joy of motherhood. I know from experience because in the beginning days of my motherhood, I have to admit I truly wondered what was happening to me. My husband went out full-time for God when we were engaged. So, as we were married, we were in full-time ministry for the Lord. I thought I was doing great things for God.

But then, my first baby came along. Of course, I loved this baby. I’d never known such love in all my life. Then, 17 months later, we had another two babies. We had twins unexpectedly. I didn’t know I was having them until the very moment I was having them. In fact, not even while I was having them, because the first baby was born, and we still didn’t know that I was having twins. The nurse felt my tummy, and said, “Yes, there’s another one there!” So, that’s the first I knew I was having twins.

Well, of course, I never had any ultrasounds back in those days. We didn’t even get ultrasounds. In fact, we had been in the Philippine Islands doing missionary work. I hadn’t even been to a doctor. It wasn’t until we got back to New Zealand. We went back to New Zealand. I was eight months pregnant by now.

My in-laws recommended a doctor at the hospital. I went along. He checked me. Never did catch the twins. He said, “I’m going off to England. When you are in labor, just come into the hospital, and you’ll be treated.” I even went in a week before on a false alarm, and they still didn’t detect twins. Can you believe this? I was huge. Well, I’m very tall. I’m six feet. Obviously, I didn’t show it.

I knew something was, wow! I thought I had some monstrosity of a baby inside me. It was so tight I hardly felt any movement! I guess they were packed in so tight. But anyway, it wasn’t until they were being born. Evangeline came out first. She was 6 lbs. 13 oz. Then, unexpectedly, Steven came out about five minutes later, 7 lbs. 8 oz.

So, here I had three little babies. We’d just arrived home from the mission field. We were living out of suitcases. We had nothing and I had these three screaming babies. I was no longer out serving the Lord!

Wow! I thought, “What has happened to me? Am I out of the will of God? Should I even have got married?” Wow! I even thought like that. I was no longer of use to anybody. But I was crying out to the Lord. And God, in His wondrous mercy came to me and He began to reveal to me the truths that I share with you today.

The truth was that I was in His perfect will, that He had created me for this very purpose. He didn’t create me a man. He had created me a woman, a womb-man, a woman to bring forth children for the glory of God and for God’s highest purposes. I began to see, little by little, God’s revelation of truth to my soul. I came to that place for the very first time in my life to acknowledge that I was a woman.

Here I’d grown up in a Christian home and had never understood the power of being either male or female and how we must embrace who God created us to be. He created and chose to make me a female, to fulfill His purposes in me, to bring forth the children from my womb that He wanted to come into this world.

And so, in the midst of all these three little screaming babies all around me, and no help, and wondering what was happening to me, I said, “Oh, God, I thank You that You created me to be a woman. I embrace it. I embrace who I am. And I thank You that You created me to be a woman for Your purposes. Lord God, I accept it. I embrace it with all my heart.”

And as I did this, instead of being filled with frustration, I began, little by little, more and more, to walk in the joy of motherhood, in the fullness of motherhood, because I was in His perfect will. Wow! When you're in His perfect will, it doesn’t matter what you're going through.

People go out to the mission field, and they suffer. Well, they used to more in the old days. They would give their lives. Why did they do it? Because they were serving the Lord, and they knew they were in His will. But in motherhood, we are in His will.

It’s not always going to be just fun and games. Yes, we have lots of fun and games, because we have children. It’s so great. You can make your motherhood such fun. But there will be times of, oh, such tiredness. I remember when I had those three children in 17 months. They were all in nappies. That’s what we call our diapers Down Under. It was a busy time. I had hardly time to go to the bathroom, to the toilet! Woo! It wasn’t easy.

Even as we’ve raised all our children, there have always been challenges. It hasn’t been easy. But it’s been glory, delight, and joy. Just because you face some problems, and you face some challenges doesn’t mean to say you don’t have joy! Because joy is not determined by our circumstances and what’s happening.

When we face challenges, no, no. That’s not determining our joy. Our joy is “Christ in me, the hope of glory” because He is all joy. He is the source of joy and He dwells in me. Therefore, I have joy, no matter what I face. And I have joy because I know I am in the will of God.

So, here are my five points. I most probably shared some of them with you already.

Number one: EMBRACE THE TRUTH.

Embrace the truth that you are a woman, a woman with a womb, a woman with breasts. God created you for the purpose of bringing forth children, nursing babies with your breasts.

The word that Jesus used when He was talking to the Pharisees who came to him and asked him about divorce, He said, “Don’t you know that He which made them in the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4). We don’t understand the real meaning of those words that Jesus said, because in the Greek, the word for “female” is thelus, coming from the root word thelazo which is literally a woman’s breast, speaking of a woman suckling a babe at her breast. Jesus used the word that means a suckling mother.

When He used the word “male,” He used the word arsen, which means “stronger for lifting.” He revealed the unique differences of the female and the male. This is who we are. We embrace it. If we don’t embrace it, we go through life not fulfilling the very purpose for which we came into this world.

Of course, I have to acknowledge there will be some women who never marry, and therefore, never bring forth children. There are some who get married and are infertile. Does that mean that they will never know the joy of motherhood? Well, there is something about the physical joy of motherhood, but motherhood is more than bringing forth children from our wombs, and nursing a babe at our breasts, which is the most joyful and satisfying glorious experience.

But even more than that, God has put motherhood innately within every woman, so that even those who may not have that joy of bringing forth children. and nursing babies, and raising children, they can still do that as they ask God to reveal to them where He would have them to pour out their maternal anointing. Because every one of us, if we are female, we have a maternal anointing. It is within us. It’s within us from the day we are born.

As we watch our little girls as they begin to play, what do they want to do? They want to play with their dolls. They can’t have enough dolls. They can’t have enough babies. I remember when my little girls would play with their dolls. They would have them sitting on the sofa. They’d have dolls lined up, packing the sofa. They wanted as many babies as they could have, because they love, they’re just mothering. They’re nurturing. Of course, they love real babies better. That’s the blessing of children growing up in a big family, because another baby is coming on. They’ve got these babies to hold.

I often think of when we’ve had fellowship meals at church, and there are all these babies. The little older children want to hold the babies. I remember one special night. We were having a gathering, and there were all these lovely babies there. Then there were little girls, about five, six, seven years of age.

They were all holding babies, but some didn’t have a baby. There weren’t enough babies, so they went and got dolls, so they were all holding something. They all wanted to be holding and nurturing. It is instinctively within us. Many will adopt their own children. Others will reach out in ways of ministering to those who are hurting and needy, so they’re fulfilling their maternal anointing. So, we embrace it with all our hearts.

Number two: WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE IN THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD.

When you know that you're in His will, you will live in joy, because there is nothing more wonderful than living in His perfect will.

Number three. CONFESS THE TRUTH.

It’s not enough to know it in your heart. You’ve got to confess it. Your words determine your lifestyle. What you speak is what you become. Therefore, speak the right words. Don’t complain about motherhood. I hear so many women complaining about motherhood. “Oh, it’s so hard!” I beg your pardon. There are so many things in life that are hard and difficult and challenging, and we all have to face them. It’s part of life.

But if that’s how you're seeing it, that’s how you’ll feel it. No, lift up your eyes, and lift up your heart to the truth, and confess it. “Thank You, Lord, that I am a mother, and I love being a mother! I am a joyful mother. Motherhood is my greatest career.” Speak these words out.

When your children get up, and you’re there at the breakfast table, and everyone’s coming out from their beds in the morning, say, “Good morning, children! I love being your mother! I’m in the greatest career of this nation, being your mother!” And start speaking out what you really are.

Number four: CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE.

As I’ve just said, your words and your attitude affect your whole life. If you've got the wrong attitude, it will make you miserable. But if you've got the right attitude, you’ll be filled with joy. It all comes back to your thinking.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” or she (Proverbs 23:7). We’re talking about us. “As a woman thinketh in her heart, so is she.” What you think in your heart is what you will be. What you think. Don’t think the wrong thinking. Think the right thinking. We’ve always got to come up to God’s thinking.

I’m always challenged by those Scriptures in Isaiah 55:8, 9. Let’s go to it, so I can give it to you exactly. You know this Scripture, but I want to get it exact as I say it to you: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

So, lovely ladies, we’ve got to come up to God’s thoughts, His ways, His understanding, His plan for us. When we begin to think His thoughts, yes, and what are His thoughts? That He makes us the joyful mother of children. He created us for this glorious path, which is so wonderful. Therefore, we can be filled with joy.

And the last one is . . .

Number five: PURPOSE TO BE JOYFUL.

Last week we talked about THE FLORUISHING MOTHER HAS PURPOSE AND VISION. One of our purposes is to be a joyful mother. Anyone can be happy when everything is going right. But true joy is joy that we can have underlying, even when everything is going wrong.

Oh yes, I’ve faced so many times in life when everything’s going wrong. But does that mean to say I lose my joy? No. The joy is there. It’s deep. It’s underlying. It’s always there, no matter what happens, because Christ lives in me, and He is joy. Hebrews 1:9 says that Christ has more joy than all others, because He loves righteousness and hates evil. But He has more joy than anyone else. And so, we can have that too, because He dwells in us.

So, lovely ladies, are you making a joyful home? Are you making a joyful marriage? You can do it. It all depends how you think, and on your attitude. Amen? Well, let’s pray.

“Dear Father, I thank You that You are our source of joy, Lord God. Because You are joy, and You dwell in us, we have joy in all circumstances, at all times, no matter what is happening. And I pray, Lord God, that You will bring each mother into this beautiful truth and understanding of true joy, and being a joyful mother. Lord God, that even in the tough times, they will laugh, Lord, because, Lord, it’s not the end of the world.

We go through these times, but they’re only seasons. They’re not the end. You bring us out into large places, and we thank You, Lord, that motherhood is a joy. We just have to look at our little babies, look at our little children. Oh, and just be filled with joy. What blessings You have given us!

“Oh, Lord God, You are so wonderful. You bless these dear mothers with these precious children from heaven, from Your home. Lord God, they’re ultimately Your children, but You have given them to them to be a blessing to them, and to be the ones to influence them for You. I pray that You’ll pour out Your anointing of joy upon them today. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THESE PODCASTS AND TRANSCRIPTS.

“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell, Above Rubies”

DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.

MOTHERHOOD IS NOT INSIGNIFICANT

GODS EXALTS MOTHERHOOD (Ezekiel 19:10, 11).

GOD GLORIFIES MOTHERHOOD (Hosea 9:11).

GOD ENTHRONES MOTHERHOOD (Psalm 113:9 Sudgen translation).