LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 247: Preparing Your Children to Speak in the Gates

Welcoming Kevin and Bonnie Kookogey to the podcast today. Kevin and Bonnie have been homeschooling for over 20 years. Kevin shares how he has taken his responsibility as a homeschooling father, and how he also prepared his children to be prepared to be speakers.

We talk about the importance of speeches, which is a dying art. Although it was mandatory for a bridegroom to give a speech at his wedding, this rarely happens today. Kevin and Bonnie share how they prepared their children to be ready to give a speech on any occasion. 

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Great to be with you again! Today I have two special guests with me, Kevin and Bonnie Kookogey. We were just talking together before we started this podcast and realized that we have actually known each other for 31 years! I simply can’t believe that!

Kevin has been very involved with my son, Wes Campbell, who owns the NEWSBOYS, so we often meet together on functions with the Newsboys, or things like that. We met again recently, and this is why I have asked them to come.

But before we even get onto that, I must introduce you to them, so you can hear them and know who is on the podcast today. Kevin and Bonnie, it’s so great to have you. Maybe you can tell the folks how many children you have and their names. You’ve been homeschooling them all your life, haven’t you? OK, let’s hear from you!

Kevin: All right, I’ll start, and then I’ll pass it off to my wife. Kevin Kookogey. First of all, Nancy, thank you for having us. We do appreciate it. Always a privilege to be in the company of your family for the 31 years. Those events, over the years, initially were extensions of the professional environment. But now we always look forward to them because we are like family. We’ve become friends over this and we feel that it’s a mutual benefit.

We’ve always believed that God has had His hand on the Campbell/Kookogey connection. I didn’t know it when we moved to Nashville in 1992, but when I met Wes, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and a beautiful relationship.

Bonnie and I have been blessed with six children. Their ages are 26, almost 26 and almost 16, so it's a ten-year gap. We have five daughters and one son. Our oldest two are married. We’ve had our first grandchild in the past year, who’s now eight months old, Olivia.

The children’s names: Chloe’s the oldest. She lives in Atlanta with her husband. Carmel is our second oldest. She’s the one who is the mother of our grandchild, Olivia. She and her husband live in Hillsdale, Michigan. Rachel also lives in Michigan. She is our third. She’s unmarried. Naomi is our fourth. She is living in middle Tennessee with us which is a great privilege, because we were quickly going to be empty nesters.

Our son Willis, who’s number five, is in school in Texas at LeTourneau, which is a Christian engineering school in Long View, Texas. He’s a freshman. And then Sophia, our baby. She’s finishing her driving school and will have her license. So, I’ve finished my job of teaching six children to drive in the next couple of weeks.

Nancy: Oh, that’s so great. Did you want to say anything, Bonnie? You’ve been the homeschooler, but I know Kevin’s been very much involved in that too.

Bonnie: Oh, yes, completely involved!

Nancy: Yes, so wonderful! It’s a wonderful thing, because often homeschooling is left to the mother, but you guys have been involved in it together. That’s such a beautiful thing.

Bonnie: Yes, it’s been a great thing to have his support. I’m more of a math/science kind of girl, so I would focus on that. He would focus on the memorization when we did the memorization that we’ll get into. I was making the pancakes and the bacon so we’d have a nice breakfast around the table, that sort of thing. We just tag teamed.

Kevin: Yeah, it’s an important point to make, though, because when we first got into homeschooling, I still knew a number of parents who, one or the other, usually it was left to the mother.

I one time met a homeschool father from Chicago, strong family, married, and no issues, but the father was primarily responsible. He worked a day job, blue collar worker, so he did his homeschool in the evening which I found incredibly challenging. In the morning, you’re fresh. We do everything best in the morning.

I asked him, and he had six or seven children. I asked him how he was able to do that. It was more of a mindset. He said early on he knew he wasn’t going to be able to change his employment, but they were so committed to homeschooling that over time they disciplined themselves that that was the place where God allowed them to have the energy. So, he got home from work and began his homeschooling journey.

That’s an unusual case, but it’s so important that the parents be involved together, just like in raising your children. This is an extension of raising your children, the academic process. Again, by God’s blessing, I was always able and privileged to be able to set my schedule a little bit differently.

The nature of my work as an entertainment lawyer is global in nature because of the music industry. Music is global. It also crosses time zones. So, I pretty much have to determine when I turn it off. It will always be on. Because of that, I figured out, OK, I can spend the first couple of hours of each day making sure my children are off on the right track, and getting things situated. Then I would leave it off to Bonnie.

The next day I would come in at the same time, so I was the impetus to get it going, and then Bonnie made sure that everything was followed through. She was grading papers, and helping with questions along the way. But because of that, I would spend the first couple of hours, wouldn’t go to work and begin work until 10 AM. But then my work would extend later into the night. But again, that’s the privilege of having been self-employed for all of these years, to be able to do that.

Nancy: I think that is wonderful to see the father beginning each day. What a marvelous thing that is for the children! It’s so great. That brings me to the last time we met, only a few weeks ago.

It was our grandson’s 21^st birthday. My son Wes decided that, yes, they were going to have a 21^st birthday. I know that here in the States, when a young person turns 18, they’re coming of age. But back where we come from, New Zealand, it’s not until 21. Back in my day, and in my son’s day, the 21^st birthday was a very big thing. In fact, you always had a big party, and the parents would give the one who just turned 21 the key of the door. They actually got a key. Did you know that?

Kevin: No.

Nancy: Yes, it would be a key. It could be made of glass, made of special cardboard, or made ornamental. It was always a beautiful key. It was something that they could put up on the wall afterwards. Usually, it was done in a way where there was room for people who were at the party to sign the key.

It was to show that now, at 21, they had come of age. They had the key to the door of the home. Well, they most probably had it before. But that was official. [laughter] It was a great big party. I think Wes was reminiscing back and decided he would do it for Michael. I have to say, and I think you would agree, it was a wonderful night.

Kevin: Oh, it was beautiful.

Bonnie: Yes.

Nancy: I just love the vision they both had. Tracy called and said, “OK, we’re doing this 21^st birthday for Michael. We don’t want you to even bring presents.” But she said, “I want you to write something that would really impact Michael’s life. Something that he can take into his life with him for the future. Something really powerful.” That was her burden. She put that on everyone.

So, when we arrived, we had to come with what we had written for Michael. That was so great. Colin and I spent a lot of time praying about what we should write, so we could really give something into his life. But that wasn’t the end! Then we had a beautiful sit-down meal.

Then it was time for speeches. Not only was Michael getting all this written stuff that he could keep for life, but the speeches began. Everyone was so powerful. Every speech was not just some bit of fluff. It was something that really spoke into his life, that encouraged him in the Lord. Oh, I don’t think any young man could get anything better, could they?

Bonnie: No.

Nancy: It was so great!

Bonnie: We walked away feeling so blessed by what was said, even though it was said and directed to him. We felt so encouraged. It was awesome!

Nancy: Yes, I thought, “My, if every young man and every young daughter could have that as they’re going into life, it would be so amazing.” Speeches have always been part of the Campbell lifestyle. We’ve always believed in speeches. In fact, also wedding speeches!

I can’t believe that here in America, speeches are kind of fallen away. You go to a wedding today, and you have the service, and then you have the reception and the cake. Everybody starts drifting away. There’s not a speech or anything! Help! Back in New Zealand, this was traditional. You had actually traditional speeches that had to be made.

You always had the speech from the bride’s family. Someone was chosen to represent the bride’s family, and to tell all the stories about the family so the other family is getting to know them. Then the bridegroom’s family would choose someone who would speak about their family. Then, of course, the father of the bride, and then the father of the groom.

Then the best man, and then, of course, the speech of the day from the groom. He had to be ready to give a speech. Part of his speech would be to thank everyone who had participated in preparing for the wedding, and to thank his parents for what they had done for him throughout his life. Then, of course, to say whatever he wanted to say on his heart. I remember when we got married, I think Colin’s speech was about half an hour. [laughter] In fact, just about every speech was! We were the family of speechmakers.

Then I remember Wes’s wedding himself. We had all the official speeches, but then we opened it up to anyone who would like to speak into their lives. Wow! It was speech after speech after speech, and story after story. Oh, it was always the best part of all our weddings. Well, forgive me, I want to get back to what we were going to talk about, but I must tell you this.

Then, we came to the States. OK, some of our children were married in Australia. Then we came to America and Evangeline was getting married. We had just arrived in the States. She was in Minneapolis, so we drove all the way up to Minneapolis. We hired an apartment, rented an apartment, then began to put on and prepare for a wedding in a city where we’d never lived.

We prepared. We put on all the food and we prepared it ourselves. We were cooking for days before. We put on this wedding. And I blissfully and ignorantly thought it would be just like it was back in New Zealand and Australia where we had just come from. Because although we’re New Zealanders, we then lived ten years in Australia before we got here to the States.

We had the service. We had the reception and everybody’s eating all this great food we’ve prepared. And we’re just getting ready for the speeches! And I’m noticing people disappearing! Yes, this one’s going, and this one’s going. It dwindled down. We were ready for speeches, the greatest part of the day! But there were only a few left! I simply could not believe it! Goodness me! They just went!

Really, to me, a wedding is a very important occasion. I don’t believe we go to a wedding as a token thing. We go, and then we go away. We should really give ourselves. That was very, very disappointing to me.

So then, a little time went on, and then Serene was to be married. By this time, we were in Tennessee. I thought, “What am I going to do?” I wrote it on the invitation. “OK, at our reception, at this wedding reception, we will be having speeches. We would like you to stay to the end.” I put something like that. It was many years ago now. I actually felt like putting, “And we will be locking the doors until the end.” [laughter] I didn’t put that. [laughter]

Kevin: That invitation was more of a warning, right? [laughter]

Nancy: It was so amazing. Actually, it was so great. In some ways, it was sort of, “Oh dear, we didn’t have a beautiful sunny day.” In fact, even as we were driving to the service, it was downpouring! It was cold and raining, but where we had the reception was a beautiful place, with a big fire going. It was so cozy and lovely. I think nobody wanted to go out into the cold and the rain anyway.

But everybody stayed, and oh! The speeches were wonderful. Not only the official ones, but then we opened it up to whoever would like to speak. The stories, and the sharing, and the speaking into their lives. It was so wonderful.

I do think that needs to come back to weddings. I believe that people need to be. . . The trouble is, people are not prepared to give speeches. They don’t know what to say. So, that gets me onto why I have Kevin and Bonnie here today.

Because, at Michael’s 21^st, nearly everybody gave a speech. Then Kevin got up to give his. Wow! He began to quote these great quotes of great men of past ages. Then he moved on to the Scriptures, and he would quote them. Back to great quotes of people of the past, who said such great things. Wow! It was so impressive.

I was talking to him afterwards, and I said, “Kevin, that was so great! When did you learn all these great quotes?” We got talking, and he began to share that not only did he learn this, but this was part of their family homeschooling! Not only did he know these things, but they have taught their family, all their children. So, tell us more! We want to hear all about it.

Kevin: Ok. That is a great set-up because it is true. I wish I had begun earlier. I think what was most compelling to me is that we did not start this journey until 2010 of serious devotion to memorization. This means that Sophia, our youngest, would have been three. Chloe would have been 13.

I grew up in a small Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania. Memorization was always encouraged, but it was never enforced. I would memorize Scripture and memorize speeches and whatnot for school but it would be short-term memory. I would never keep up with it.

The real inflection point for me was when I was in law school, in fact, it was the year that Bonnie and I had gotten married. I heard someone say that they had memorized the entire book of Colossians. That fascinated me. I thought, “What?” I’m used to memorizing little passages of Scripture, right? Important phrases. And so, when I heard that, I took the challenge.

What I did, this is my second semester of my third year of law school. I decided that, by the end of the semester, when I graduate from law school, I’m going to have memorized the entire book of Colossians. I did! It was successful. I had a 45-minute drive where I went to Temple Law School in Philadelphia. We lived 45 minutes outside the city. So, every day I would memorize going to and from school. By the end of the semester, I had the entire book of Colossians, four chapters, memorized.

Well, my weakness was, after I moved to Nashville and was getting into the music business, I didn’t stay on top of that. I eventually lost that. All that work I retained probably for about a year, and I lost it, because. . .

Nancy: It’s so true, because one of the biggest secrets of memorization is recapitulation. You’ve got to keep on.

Kevin: Absolutely! I was determined to invigorate that practice with my children when they were young. We began a journey in 2010, that one day a week our homeschooling would be devoted to memorization. You can see, Nancy, I told you we got to 100 just last year with Sophia, so the older ones didn’t quite get to 100.

But so your listeners can get an idea of the types of things we memorize, I would say about half of this memory list is comprised of Scripture. But some of the other things, the longer things we would memorize. . . All of my children memorized the Declaration of Independence. It takes about ten minutes to recite at a good even pace that is understandable.

Nancy: That’s great! Most people don’t even know it, let alone memorize it!

Kevin: Yeah, let alone having it memorized. We would do it to music. In some situations, we would do different passages to music. The Declaration of Independence actually took us six months of Wednesdays to learn. We would map out a section, and I would draw it on a whiteboard, a combination of funny cartoons, and mnemonics, and words on the board. Our children would write it.

We wanted to do it in commonplace books, but I didn’t get this until too late, so most of it was all on yellow notepads. They would draw these little pictographs and word phrases. Then we would rehearse it. As we added each week, we would always start off with what I called our “inventory.” We would go through and rehearse everything that we had learned to that point, and then start adding anew. Over a period of 13 years, Sophia and I still do it every Thursday on the way to tutorial.

I wanted to give an idea and a sense of some of the things that we’ve memorized. Some are very short. Some are very long. The Declaration of Independence is probably the longest thing that we have memorized. Quotations from Henry V’s Christmas Day Speech are my favorite passages.

A number of Shakespeare, T. S. Elliot, Thomas Browne’s Christian Morals, which I quoted, and I can quote for you in a bit, at Michael’s 21^st. Some Robert Frost poetry, Gettysburg Address, speeches from Ronald Reagan, Edmund Burke, Churchill, Charles McKay, George Orwell, Jane Austin, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, Abraham Kuyper.

But what’s interesting is, if you look at the second half of the list, we used to scatter in Scripture here and there. But I’m looking at the list and this is pretty much sequential. It’s the second fifty that are almost all Scripture. That’s when we began going deep into the Scripture, choosing the Scriptures.

I told my children, especially as they got older, that I wanted them to develop their own lists when they have children, and to do this at a much earlier age. Because I remember, at times, Chloe and Carmel, the older ones, when we started this would say, “Can’t we memorize this?” And they would want to quote something that was not as personal to me. We would pick. Some of these were selected by the children for that reason.

But I have always advised them that that’s what you need to do with your children. You need to train up your children, not just with the Scriptures, but then with those passages that are important to you. Because, the principal reason I wanted my children to do this, and this ties to your acknowledgement of the importance of public speaking. You never know when you’re going to be called on to give a public speech, whether it is a public prayer, whether it is a presentation.

Sometimes you don’t have time to prepare. Sometimes you have a day to prepare. Sometimes you have a month to prepare. But what this memorization does is it gives you anchors. It gives you a starting point, a bridge. It gives you ideas of how you want to address any occasion in life.

You can imagine, with 100 different passages that we have memorized, there’s not a time when I have been invited to speak publicly that I can’t start from my list. In fact, I’ve got so many now. I’m like, “Oh, I could go this direction. Or I could go that direction.” It’s such an effective tool. It takes all the pressure off.

It’s not that your whole speech is memorized. It’s that, again, you’ve got these anchors and bridges to then relate it to whatever the specific scenario. So, with Michael’s 21^st, I started off with the passage from Sir Thomas Browne, because it’s important for a young man who’s 21 years old. The essence of this is, “How do you touch pitch and not be defiled?” Let me quote Thomas Browne.

Nancy: Yes, would you quote it for us? I love the quote.

Kevin: So, Thomas Browne, for history, wrote this in 1686. It was not published until 1716, after his death. If you read it, it’s funny, because the words are spelled in old English. But it’s called On Christian Morals. It goes like this: “Live by old Ethicks,” and it’s spelled “E-T-H-I-C-K-S.” We spell ethics “E-T-H-I-C-S.”

 “Live by old Ethicks and the classical Rules of Honesty. Put no new names or notions upon Authentick Virtues and Vices. Think not that Morality is Ambulatory; that Vices in one age are not Vices in another; or that Virtues, which are under the everlasting Seal of right Reason, may be Stamped by Opinion. And therefore though vicious times invert the opinion of things, and set up a new Ethicks against Virtue, yet hold thou unto old Morality; and rather than follow a multitude to do evil, stand like Pompey's pillar conspicuous by thyself, and single in Example of Virtue; since no Deluge of Vice is like to be so general but more than eight will escape; Eye well those Heroes who have held their Heads above Water, who have touched Pitch, and have not been defiled, and in the common Contagion have remained uncorrupted.”

Nancy: I love those words! Oh, I want to repeat them again! Can I?

Kevin: Yes, you may.

Nancy: Yes, yes. I will. “Those Heroes who have held their Heads above Water, who have touched Pitch, and not been defiled, and in the common Contagion have remained uncorrupted.” Oh, we need those words in this corrupted age, don’t we?

Kevin: Amen!

Nancy: Oh, we’re looking for young men and women, who, in the middle of all this corruption and evil and deception, will remain uncorrupted. I know all you lovely mothers out there, that you’re longing and your goal is that your children will grow up to be uncorrupted in this very corruptible world.

Kevin: One of the things I love about that particular passage was, at the end he says, “since no Deluge of Vice is like to be so general but more than eight will escape.” He’s talking about Noah and his family.

Nancy: Yes! That was powerful.

Kevin: Sorry. I tend to get emotional, as I did at Michael’s 21^st. It’s so powerful because it’s true. The truth is so powerful. But I love when I can find passages of literature that are rooted in Scripture. Obviously, God created everything, so everything tells us something about God. God even uses the unrighteous to speak. He tells us that if we don’t praise Him, the rocks will cry out.

But I love even more finding passages of literature and music and art, poetry, prose, speeches, that understand, whether the speaker understood it, whether the writer understood it or not, that make reference to the created order. I find it compelling. Then you can weave it in and out and go to your direct passage of Scripture that says this is where he got this. And then weave it back into the day.

Nancy: I love what you did. You started with that quote, and then you said, “Michael, how does one touch pitch and not be defiled? How, in the common contagion, do you remain uncorrupted? In other words, how do you engage with the world without being corrupted by the world?” And then you went on to quote, what was the Scripture?

Kevin: Let me tell you one thing that I didn’t do that I wanted to do that night. I went to Hebrews. I had brought my Bible that night, but it was in the kitchen. So, Wes, in typical “Wes fashion” says “We’re going to do it this way.” And then he changed the plan on the spot. I had my Bible in the kitchen. I didn’t want to get up and make a scene by walking out.

But I wanted to lift up the Word. I made reference to Michael. I said, “How do you do this? Well, you start, you begin, and you end, and everything in the middle must be rooted on the foundation of the Word of God. I was going to hold up this old, messed-up Bible, well-worn, well-flagged too (He held up this Bible as we were doing the interview)! But I think I quoted, but forgive me, because I don’t have it on the tip of my tongue. I think I went to Hebrews 4:12-13.

Nancy: Yes! Yes! Yes! “For the Word of God. . .”

Kevin: “. . . is live and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates through dividing even soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.”

Especially for our day, when we see what is happening in the world, we’re seeing more exposure of evil and wickedness than we ever have. I think that Scripture is being fulfilled right before our eyes every day, that God is exposing and fulfilling that very promise of Hebrews. He’s exposing everything that man has operated in secret.

My point to Michael was not only that we begin with the Scriptures, but to reveal to him through God’s Word, that what he is seeing, what he is experiencing, is the very operation of God’s Word in His world today.

Nancy: Yes. Amen! I love how you went on. You gave some more quotes and then you kept quoting Scripture. It was so great. I love this whole vision that you have for your family, to prepare them with the Scriptures and with great, important writings and quotes so they’ve got something to say. Not only have they got it for their own heart, and for their own life, to keep them from corruption, but they’ve got it ready to pass on to others.

Kevin: Can I offer something to encourage all of the parents who would listen to this? It’s always satisfying when you teach your children something, and perhaps when they’re younger, they don’t understand. Sometimes they rebel against it. Then when they get older, they come back and say, “I am so glad, Daddy, I’m so glad you taught me this.” Or “I’m so glad you made us do this.”

Well, Carmel, our second-oldest, actually used one of our memorization passages. It was part of the package that got her a significant scholarship for a fellowship that she did. If I may, it’s a very brief quote from Tolkien. I’ll say it, and then we’ll talk about it.

He says, “War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

You understand the idea, right? People talk about war and peace, and they present it as two alternatives. You either love war and all the dangers of war, or you love peace at all costs, even at the cost of liberty and your soul.

But what Tolkien was acknowledging was that when we live in a fallen world, war is necessary to preserve what is righteous. We don’t love war. War is awful. It’s destruction of God’s created order. But there’s something bigger, and there’s something more important that’s going on. We don’t love war but we defend what is necessary. We defend what is true. That’s what I loved about that Tolkien quote.

It gave me such great privilege and honor, and it warmed my heart, to know that Carmel had used that as part of her presentation to get this fellowship that she got for a couple of years at Hillsdale. The proof is in the pudding. That was some of the pudding that was very satisfying to parents.

Nancy: Well, we will close, but I think we’ll do another session, because I’ve got some more questions to ask you about this. I trust you’ve been really blessed today, ladies.

“Father, we thank You that we’ve been able to talk about these things, and Lord, have the vision for our children, to prepare them, Lord. It’s not enough for them to just know things in their hearts and in their minds, but they need to know how to speak them forth. We pray that You will help us, Lord, to be able to impart this to our children, and raise them to be speakers of truth as they come forth from our homes. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen”.

Kevin: Amen.

Bonnie: Amen.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 246: Mothers Are the Transmitters of God’s Truth to the Next Generation, Part 4

Are we passing on mothering to the next generation as God intends it? Are we passing on to our children family togetherness as God intends it? Do your children know how to set a table?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Good to be with you. Back a couple of weeks ago, podcast #243, I was encouraging you to buy up old dictionaries because I don’t think we really want our children to be learning from these new editions that are coming out with all the changing of the meaning of very important words. So, Darlene Norris, she’s the one who transcribes all the podcasts, which is so wonderful of her. If ever you need to check anything, or check any references to Scriptures, well, you can go to the transcripts. They’re right there on the home page of aboverubies.org.

Anyway, of course, Darlene was listening as she was transcribing. She said, “We went to town today. Had to go to the thrift stores! At the first one, we found a stack of old dictionaries, and a bunch of Bibles. They were only $1 for the hardcovers and 50 cents for the paperbacks. So, we’ve started our trove of Bibles and dictionaries that we can hand out to people in the future. We were talking to the cashier in the thrift store about how they’re changing the dictionaries, too. So, we’re trying to get the word out!” Well, I thought that was so great! I think that’s a good idea to do, ladies, don’t you?

Last week we were talking about the animals and how God has created them. So many of the mammals that God created have such a wonderful maternal instinct. They’re wonderful mothers. I’d like to mention just a few more. Of course, I won’t be mentioning all of them.

But dolphins are wonderful mammals, aren’t they? They nurse their babies for two or three years. The polar bears never ever leave their baby cubs until they are at least two-and-a-half years of age. They have such a beautiful maternal instinct also. Whales are pregnant between ten and 18 months, depending on which type of whale they are. They also nurse their babies for up to three years.

Then there is the orangutan. Oh, yes, they are such an interesting animal, aren’t they? Apparently, they have the closest DNA to humans than any other animals. They are 97% similar to human beings, although, goodness, we wouldn’t like to look like one of them! They are kind of strange-looking creatures, but pretty amazing.

They only give birth to a baby once every eight years, but they also are wonderful mothers. They nurse their babies for at least six years, sometimes even up to eight years. And yet, they live a much shorter lifespan than human beings. So, that’s a challenge, isn’t it, when you think of how much time they spend in bonding and being close to their babies, and nursing their babies, even though they don’t have such a long lifespan as we do.

It’s amazing, isn’t it, how animals can be so close and willing to nurse and nurture and nourish their little babies, when often human mothers can leave their babies! I find that so hard to take in. I wonder what it is, because we, being the most intelligent beings that God has created, we should have even greater understanding of the importance of that nurturing with our little ones.

I thought I’d tell you about some of these mammals, just to encourage you. What does the Bible say? “Doth not even nature itself teach you?” Yes, we can learn even from nature, by their example. Our example should be greater.  

Oh, some other interesting things about the orangutan. They have to do a lot of teaching to their young. That’s another reason they stay close together. They’re teaching them all the ways of the forest, and all the different seasons of the fruit trees, and when they’re at harvesting. They’ve got to know it all, because they’ve got to stay alive. They do eat mostly fruit, although when that is scarce, they have to feed on tree barks and insects and birds’ eggs.

But their favorite fruit is durian. Have you even heard of durian? Well, I first came across it many, many years ago when Colin and I were first married. We went to the Philippine Islands as missionaries. When Colin and I were engaged, my future husband went out full time in work for the Lord in New Zealand. We were with an organization called “Tell New Zealand Crusade.” He was involved in taking a copy of the gospel of John personally to every home in New Zealand, along with others.

Then from there, we took that same vision to the Philippine Islands. We were taking out the gospel of John into this nation. It was called “Tell the Nations Crusade.” We went to the Philippines and there we discovered durian.

But I’m so sorry. I have to confess that I never, ever ate it when I was there because there’s a little phrase about durian. This is what people say: “It tastes like heaven, but it smells like hell!” And it did! Oh, goodness me! It was the most terrible smell! I simply could not get past the smell. So, I never ate durian in the Philippines.

Eventually we went back to New Zealand. Later on in the years, we did ministry over in Singapore and Malaysia. It was there that I actually got to love durian. Now back in the Philippines where we were living in Davao City in Mindanao Island, down in the south, Davao was the durian capital of the world! And to think I didn’t even eat it when I was there.

But I can remember gathering up courage to get past the smell, and to eat it when I was in Malaysia. Oh, goodness me! The taste is truly gorgeous! It is so very rich. I could never ever eat it with any other food because it was just too rich. You could have it on its own, and oh! It was so beautiful! I got to really, really love it.

Maybe if I went back to the Philippines again now, I’d love to eat durian. But there was something else when we lived in the Philippines that I never ever ate. It was called balut. We were living down this dirt road in a compound with other Filipinos. Every time I walked out the door and crossed the road, there would be all these Filipinos making balut. And soon as they saw me, they’d call out, “Balut! Balut!” This is what they would do to every passerby because it was a street food. They sold it on the street.

And what was balut? Well, it’s either a chicken egg, or a duck egg, which they boil or steam. But ladies, there is a little bit more to it because it’s not just an egg. They wait for about 21 days before they cook it, so you’re not actually eating an egg. You are eating an embryo!

I could never ever get up courage to eat that half-chicken in the egg, so I actually didn’t taste balut while I was there. I think if I went back now, as I said before, I would try it now. But that was a long time ago. It was when we were first married. Actually, in ten days’ time, my husband and I will celebrate being married for 60 years! That’s right! Six-zero.

Talking about fruit, though, last night I was over at Serene’s. We were having supper with them. I was asking her about her new book that she is writing. She’s currently writing “Trim Healthy Grow.” It’s all for mothers who are in their childbearing years, their fertility years, and for when they’re pregnant and nursing. It’s going to be such an amazing book with all the information you’ll ever, ever need to know.

She was mentioning just a little thing, how that if a pregnant mother eats four or more apples a week, it will be so beneficial for her. It will prevent anemia, prevent gestational diabetes, prevent respiratory problems, and asthma. It also has lot of antioxidants and will strengthen the lungs and especially will strengthen the lungs of your baby that you’re carrying in the womb and lower the chances of them developing asthma later on. It also lowers the chances of birth defects.

I thought that was amazing because it wasn’t some great big thing you had to do. Just eat an apple! Isn’t that amazing? I thought, “Well, that’s a great little hint to pass on to pregnant moms. Eat four or more apples every week. It will be such a blessing to you and your baby. Of course, I think it would be best to eat organic apples, or if you can’t afford them, to at least peel the skins, because I know they do spray the apples a lot. That was most interesting.

Here we are, talking about elevating motherhood to the place where God has put it. We even see through these animals that God has created, the way they mother. Now, getting on to some other things, I think another thing that we should elevate in our homes is our table.

ELEVATE THE VALUE OF YOUR TABLE

The table just looks like an ordinary thing in our home, but I find that many times, families don’t realize the power of their table. I believe that our children will respond according to how much we elevate the table in our home. I’m not talking about making your table higher physically. No, I’m talking about the value that you put upon your table.

Often we’re so busy, and time for another meal. We just put some food together, throw it out on the table. “Come and get it, everybody!” We even put it out on the table, just as it is. We don’t do anything special. It’s just a naked table. So, everybody comes running. They’re hungry. They gobble up some food and they leave. There’s nothing special about the table.

But I believe that if we will just elevate the value that we put on the table, our children will rise to a higher level of behavior at the table. I have seen this happen. Children’s behavior will be according to how you value your table.

Just to put the tablecloth on the table. It’s a very simple thing, although maybe you could be saying, “Well, that is extra work for me.” When you have little ones, you don’t want to be having too much extra washing. So, you may not want to put on a new tablecloth. But you can buy plastic tablecloths that look like real tablecloths. You can get them at JoAnn, probably at Hobby Lobby. You can go and cut it off to how long you want it. Beautiful, beautiful patterns. Just put something pretty on your table.

Maybe all day it’s had books, and you’ve been homeschooling there, and it’s got junk and stuff on it. You’ve got to get all that off. But don’t just bring your family to a naked table. No, put that tablecloth on. And set the table.

Even the Bible talks about setting that table. In Proverbs 9:1-3 it says: “Wisdom hath builded her house. She hath hewn out her seven pillars. She hath killed her beasts. She hath mingled her wines. She hath furnished her table.” She has set her table. She’s made it look beautiful. Now she has all the food on it.

Who is the one who does that? The woman of wisdom. She is the one who prepares and furnishes and sets her table. I think it’s a beautiful thing to do. Even setting the table. It’s a little different here in America. Back in New Zealand, with our English tradition, we always set the table properly, with knives, forks and spoons if we’re having dessert, too.

Here in America, most people just throw down a fork on the table. That’s fine, even if you want to set the table with just a fork. But I think that most Americans don’t even know how to set a table. You can go onto the internet and it will give you a picture of exactly how you are to set your knife, fork, spoon and where to place them.

I do think that is a very important thing for children to learn, even if once a week you set a table properly, as a table is meant to be set. The other nights, you may just want to put the forks, perhaps, even though you’re still going to put a tablecloth. Even if it’s not a real one, just the plastic which you just wipe down. You have to wipe down your table anyway.

But it would be a good idea, I think, to set a table properly so your children grow up knowing how to do this. I find that most young people who come into our home have no idea of how a table is properly set. I was interested when we were on this cruise. Every night (coming to the dining table on an American ship) but the table was set exactly how it’s meant to be.

So, they actually do do it in America! It does something. You can always add something special to the table. Maybe a candle. Maybe some flowers. They can even be wildflowers. Maybe springtime is coming, and soon different little flowers will appear. You can bring them to the table. Or you can bring something of interest, just to make a centerpiece of something interesting to talk about.

You don’t have to be doing all this yourself. You’re teaching young children. You’re teaching them how to do it. Now, ladies, dear mothers, if we’re not teaching our children these very basic things, how will they pass on to the next generation? Already we have a generation of most children and young people who don’t actually know how to set a table properly. That’s the most basic thing in life. We need to be teaching these basic little things.

I think I’ve told you before. It’s worth telling you again. The little phrase that I love to use about the table, I got this from a movie I watched years ago, Babette’s Feast, where this gentleman in this movie said these words. He talked about a woman who was a great chef. He said, “There is a woman who knows how to make every meal into a love affair.”

I was really arrested by those words. I think that’s an amazing vision to have. So, you’re not just putting down some food on the table. No, you’re thinking of how you can make it special! It’s a good idea, ladies, if once a week you do something special. In our home, we do Shabbat every week. But you can do other things.

When our children were growing, I would always think of something different to do, maybe at least once a week. Sometimes I would write name places. We often write name places for guests when they’re coming, don’t we? But it’s something beautiful you can do for your children too. I would get a bit of cardboard folded over so it could stand up, and write their name, but not just their name. Sometimes I would put their name, and then some special phrase or word beside their name that started with the same letter. Like “Billy—Bold for God.”

Just a little thing like that. Sometimes I would spend some time, maybe a couple of weeks before I would do it. I would be writing a little couplet, or sometimes a little four-line rhyme for the children about their character. I would write that for them. Sometimes I would write a limerick for them.

So, they will get this, and it will be on their plate when they come to the table. It is so special for them. It’s amazing. When you do these little things, children spark up. They want to be good at the table because it’s something special. Even when little children see a candle lit, oh, it really does something special for them. You can think of all these different ideas.

Of course, another thing; not only remembering to prepare your food, but preparing what you will talk about. Think about it beforehand. Think of some questions you can bring to your children to ask them at the table, maybe a subject you’d like to discuss with them. Get each one to take a turn at sharing what they think about it.

FACE TO FACE TABLE FELLOWSHIP

Anything new that you are learning, because we should all be seeking to learn something new all the time. Well, share it with the children at the table! Ask them, “Have you learned anything new today?” Get them to share that so that when you’re there, you’re all interacting together. That’s what the table is. It’s interaction. It’s face-to-face, table fellowship. That’s why we’re sitting around because we can communicate with one another. That’s very important.

If the children come to the table, and you all just sit there and you don’t have anything prepared for what you’re going to talk about, no questions to ask, well, you will find that the conversation is pretty boring. Goes nowhere and nothing happens.

You see, you have to make things happen. The affirmation I use constantly is,

“Things don’t just happen. You have to make them happen.”

You can make your table as wonderful or amazing as you want it. You just have to make it happen! And then it becomes such a glorious, wonderful place! Yes!

But there are a few other things that I think are important to remember about a table. These are all things that we’re teaching our children, not only for the blessing in our own home, but when they go to other homes. And that is, firstly that when they come to the table, of course, when they come, they’re going to come on time.

Well, usually we have about the time we’re going to eat. So, we need to remind our children to come at that time so that they’re around you as you’re finishing off preparing the meal. They can be helping you, doing last-minute things, and then you’ll have the helpers around you anyway, chopping and cutting up, and helping with the preparation of the meal. Because the mother should never do it on her own.

Even from when children are little, she is teaching them how to help her prepare, cut, and chop. It’s amazing how even young children can do this so amazingly! I’ve seen young children who are better than some adults! Some of those adults never had much training. Then there are other children who hardly even know how to cut a piece of celery! They’ve never done it! Start with your children when they are young. They are part of preparing the meal.

SIT AT THE TABLE

Then you’re all going to sit down together, and guess what? You’re going to sit! Yes, we do sit at the table. Isn’t that a strange thing to say, that we have to sit at the table? But so many today don’t even sit for their meals! They don’t even sit around the table. Oh, goodness me! It is so important to sit, because the Bible talks so much about sitting at the table!

I’ve been reading through the gospels, and I read, “And Jesus sat at the table.” In another place, “He was at the table.” So much of where Jesus taught, and even where miracles happened, was at the table, where they were sitting.

I think of the example of the feeding of the 5,000. This particular miracle, ladies, is mentioned in every one of the four gospels. It’s very interesting. When Jesus fed the 5,000, plus women and children, do you remember reading how Jesus would not feed this multitude until every single person was sitting down?

Another interesting thing, let’s start off with Matthew, of course. Matthew 14, verses 13 and onwards. In Matthew 14:19, it says something very interesting: “And Jesus commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.” Isn’t that interesting? It didn’t say, “And He said, ‘Oh, well, I think it would be great if you all sat down.’” No, He commanded.

In fact, if we go over to the Mark passage, that’s in Mark 6:39. Here it says: “And He commanded them,” that’s the disciples, “He commanded,” the same word again, “He commanded the disciples to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down by ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.” And then it goes on to say how He blessed the bread and gave it to them. But once again, we see the word “commanded.” He commanded the disciples, and He said to His disciples, “Now you make them sit down.” Isn’t that interesting?

Go over to Luke’s gospel. Here we read the same story again in Luke 9. What does it say here? Luke 9:14: “And there were about 5,000 men. And He said to His disciples, ‘Make them sit down by fifties, in a company.’ And they did so, and made them all sit down.” Now, do you notice those words again? They “made them all sit down.” And then verse 16: “And then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes and gave it to them all.” Isn’t that interesting? Jesus did not give them the food until everyone was sitting down. And He had to make them.

Now, it’s interesting that we have those words “commanded,” and “make,” because oh, dear lovely mothers, I know that you face this all the time, because when you’re teaching your children, when you’re training them, you’re teaching them to sit down. You find, oops, they pop up! One will run to the toilet, and they want to do this, and they want to do that. But you’re teaching them to sit down.

YOU’RE NOT MEANT TO EAT “ON THE RUN”

I want you to be reminded that it is a biblical thing. It’s not just for the sake of sitting down. It is because, when you sit down to eat, you will receive far more nutrients from your food by just sitting, relaxing, and eating than just eating standing up, or eating on the run. We’re not meant to eat on the run.

Today, in our busy lives, people do this all the time. They’ll just grab something, eat on the run. No, you might as well not eat. Jesus gave the example. He wants us to sit down. There’s another passage, where there were so many crowds around, and Jesus was healing everyone. It was lunch time, and they were hungry. He said to His disciples, “Come, look, we’re going to find a quiet place where we can sit and where we have leisure” (Mark 6:31).

Interesting. He uses the word “leisure,” because it would have been so easy for them. Jesus could have said, “Oh, OK, just go and get some food, and we’ll eat this as we’re continuing to heal the people and everything.” No, Jesus stopped, and He took time to take a leisurely time to eat. All this is in the Bible.

And then, the last gospel, John, it says it again. John 6:10: “And Jesus said, ‘Make the men sit down.’ Now, there was much grass in the place. So, the men sat down, in the number about 5,000. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were sat down.” Those are the ones who got the food. Isn’t that interesting? Yes, I love having a Scriptural basis for everything we do. Don’t you?

Now, when your children come to the table, where do they sit? Do they just run and sit anywhere? Oh, I guess they can if they want. It depends on what you like to do in your family. Everybody likes to do things differently.

I do think it’s so important for the husband to sit at the head of the table, because he is the head of the home. I think it’s a beautiful way for the wife to honor her husband as the head as she places his plate at the head of the table. It’s wonderful for the children without having to be lectured about it. They just see that Daddy is the head of the home. And he takes his place there. It establishes his headship and his authority without having to say anything.

We see a little placing of people way back in another story in the Old Testament. Actually, one mother came to me, and she said, “Oh, Nancy, I don’t know what to do. My children sit down, and they all squabble, because one wants to sit here, and one wants to sit there, and they’re all fighting over where they’re going to sit.” I said, “Well, look. Why don’t you make assigned seating? And tell them exactly where they will sit?”

I think this is a very good idea, because it takes away a lot of children from wanting to do their own thing. And, of course, you can change that from time to time. Maybe in a month or two, and they can then have different places. But they should know where they’re going to sit.

We see this, actually, in the story of where David was beginning to see that King Saul was against him. It was getting a bit scary, because he was starting to throw javelins at him and everything. He and Jonathan went out into the field to decide what they would do. They made up a plan.

1 Samuel 20:5: “And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat.” That means at the table for supper. “But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day.” So, he’s saying here, “OK, I should never fail to be at the table.” If he wasn’t in his place, well, something would have happened. But anyway, they’re going to see if they can make this work and find out what will happen.

Down in verse 18, “Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.” Isn’t that interesting? There was a seat for each person at the table. They knew his seat would be empty and what would King Saul say?

The story goes on, and it comes to the evening meal. The king sat at his table, in his usual place. Yes, against the wall, with Jonathan sitting opposite him, and Abner beside him. You see how everyone had a different place? And isn’t that amazing, ladies? Why does the Bible take time to explain even little things like this? Just the place at the table. Because all these things are important.

Then it goes on to say, “But David’s place was empty.” And, of course, the story goes on then, of how eventually David did have to leave, knowing that King Saul was so angry with him. There we see how all these little things are so important.

NO IPHONES AT THE TABLE

Of course, at your table, you will never have any iPhones, will you? Oh, can you believe it? I’ve had people at my table, and I have seen them looking down, sort of down past the table. I know that they’re looking at their iPhone which is on their knees, hidden away. I’ve had to say, “Sorry. We don’t have iPhones at our table.” You see, that is the rudest thing you can ever do!

It’s amazing. People today are so addicted to their iPhones. They can’t even leave them to come to the table! They’ve got to have them. You go to a restaurant, and you see families and they’re all just looking at their iPhones. They’re not even communicating with one another. But the table is for communication. We put iPhones away. You might like a basket, where they can all put them, as they come to the table, or whatever you want to do. But we don’t do that.

DO NOT WHISPER PRIVATELY AT THE TABLE

No whispering with one another at the table. To whisper to someone else at the table is, once again, so rude. You don’t do that in front of people. At the table, if what you’re going to say can’t be said to everybody, well, don’t say it at all.

I have never allowed whispering at the table to someone, or even having private conversations. No, we don’t have private conversations. We are a “togetherness.” We are together as a family so we all communicate together. You have to learn how to encourage that, and teach your children that.

Time has gone, but I know you know all these things. But I want to just encourage you in them and remind you of them, because we’re transmitting these things to the next generation. If we’re not doing them in our homes, if we’re not training in our homes, it will be lost!

In fact, I had some friends. They were forever going out for meals all the time. They went out. I said to them, “Help! How are your children going to know how to even have a meal at home if you just go out all the time?” This is the thing. We’ve got to think about the following generation. What are WE passing on to them?

“Lord, we thank You for another time together. We thank You for family. We thank You that this is the plan, Your eternal plan, for the way You want us to live as families in our homes. Lord God, help us to establish strong, healthy, godly homes, and a beautiful family life.

“I pray that You will bless every mother, father, children, and families who are listening. In Jesus’ Name, amen”.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris *This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

P.S. More information from Darlene:

“Haha, now there's going to be a run on thrift stores, with people looking to buy old Bibles and dictionaries! 😉 But you know, I was reading today how the censors have "updated" Roald Dahl's books. The article said that Amazon had already "updated" books that people had downloaded onto their Kindles! The author said this is why you should have hard copies of books. 

Andrew (her husband) has been saying the same thing. He says we should always have hard copies of the Bible, not just electronic ones. It's very handy to have them on your phone, or your Kindle, but he said that if the powers that be decided to change them, most people would never know the difference! And he's right. We'll keep adding to our collection as we go along!”

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 245: Mothers Are the Transmitters of God’s Truth to the Next Generation, Part 3

The greatest arrival into this world was the entrance of the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and the Adoration of Eternity. But He came as a baby. All the great things that happen in the world continue to happen through babies. Without babies coming into the world through the wombs of mothers, nothing would happen in this world! It would come to a halt.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Wonderful to be with you, to talk to you about motherhood and home, this wonderful place where God has planned for us to live our lives. Of course, we’re going to go out and do many things, but the home is our root. It is where we’re meant to be.

But before I get talking about some of these things today, I want to take you to a passage in Luke. I’m reading through Luke at the moment. As I read this passage this last week, I was dumbfounded! I realized that I was believing a lie! Because what I read what different to what I thought. It’s amazing how we can be deluded by the images, the pictures we see, the words we hear.

Let me read you this passage. You most probably were not deluded like me. Here we go. Luke 2:8-15: “There were some shepherds in that neighborhood keeping watch through the night over their flock in the open fields. And an angel of the Lord stood by them.” Wow! I was arrested just reading those words, because I had always imagined in my mind that the angels came to the shepherds, and they were there in the sky, praising and glorifying God.

Well, why wouldn’t I think that? All the pictures I see, and all the Christmas cards all have the angels there, praising the Lord in the sky. But then I read, “an angel,” only one angel. “An angel of the Lord stood right by them.” He came, right next to them! Wow! That was different to what I imagined. How could I have not noticed that all my life? Wow!

Then it says: “And the glory of the Lord shone around them.” Right around them! It wasn’t up in the sky. Now, if it was up in the sky, they would have looked and, wow! They would have been amazed. But the Bible doesn’t say that. It says that they were terribly frightened. They were scared out of their wits! One translation says: “They were awe-stricken,” because imagine! The angel came, and then the glory of the Lord was shining all around them. It must have been unbelievably amazing!

Then the angel, only one angel at the moment. Do you notice? He said: “Do not be frightened, for I bring you good news of great joy that is to be felt by all the people. For today, in the town of David, a Savior for you has been born, who is your Messiah and Lord.” Oh, I love those words! “A Savior for you.”

When I read that, I usually read the King James. But I’m reading a different translation at the moment. Every now and then I like to read something different. This is the Goodspeed translation. But when I read those words, “A Savior for you,” it was so personal.

I thought, “I’d better check it out.” I found that so many other translations say that very same phrase. “A Savior for you.” Oh, this was such a personal message to the shepherds. And the angel continued: “You will find the Baby wrapped up and lying in a manger.” And then, “Suddenly there appeared with the angel, a throng of heavenly army, praising God and saying ‘Glory to God in the highest! Peace, goodwill to all men.’”

And once again, it doesn’t say that the angels were all up there in the sky, praising the Lord. It says, what does it say here? That “suddenly there appeared with that one angel, a throng of the heavenly army.” Yes, with the angel. They came with the angel who was standing right next to them. All this happened right there where the shepherds were with their sheep.

You most probably all knew that, but I had always just imagined it was all up in the sky until I read the Word. It made me realize how careful we have to be, because we can be so easily deceived, just by pictures, by images. We see the pictures of the Three Wise Men, but nowhere in the Bible does it say there were three. There could have been . . . there could have been a lot more. We don’t know. We have to get back to the actual truth, don’t we?

YOU WILL FIND A BABY

But I love this other phrase in this passage. Oh, it is so beautiful. What did the angel say? “You will find a baby.” Isn’t that amazing? “You will find a baby.” Wow! I’m sure God was smiling. Oh, no, I’m sure He was laughing! Oh, can you imagine it? The Jews were waiting for their Messiah to come. They were waiting for their Redeemer, someone who would come as a great deliverer, someone who would come as the mighty warrior who was going to deliver them from the Romans! They were longing for their deliverance.

And who does God send? A baby? A baby. Isn’t it amazing? Our Savior, our Deliverer came as a baby. God came and sent this message to these very, very humble shepherds. They were nobody in Israel. These shepherds were most probably the shepherds that looked after the Temple flocks because the priests had to have all their flocks for the sheep that came in every day, because every day, every morning, every evening, they had to sacrifice the lamb upon the altar.

Of course, there were many, many other sacrifices besides that. But these were the basic ones. This was happening every day. Every lamb upon the altar was a type of Jesus, the Lamb of God, Who would come to be our Savior. Isn’t it amazing that Jesus came to these shepherds, the ones who cared for the Temple flocks? The ones who would be sacrificed to point to Jesus.

Now, God comes to them through the angel and says, “You’re going to find a baby. The Savior. The Messiah. This is the one! You are every day preparing for these sacrifices, but here comes the ultimate sacrifice.” It was to them He gave the message. But he sent a baby.

IT BABIES WHO CHANGE THE WORLD

God loves babies. God loves sending babies into the world. It’s babies, listen for it, dear mothers. It’s babies who change the world. They grow up to do amazing things, to better the world, to change the world, to bring God’s love and salvation and truth and justice to the world. They’re God’s messengers to earth.

I think of those amazing words of Mary, when the angel came to Mary. Mary’s response was a beautiful praise to the Lord. One of the things she said was: “He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is His Name.” Well, we know it was a great thing that was done to Mary, the most amazing miracle that she conceived of the Holy Ghost and was to have the privilege of bearing the Son of God, the Messiah, in her womb. What an amazing, amazing thing!

But you know, in not such a great way, but still a great way, yes, still a great way. God comes to every mother. When she has a baby in her womb, yes, God does great things through every baby that comes into the world. Every baby has that possibility, especially as that baby grows up in a home where it can grow in the ways of the Lord. It’s as if every new baby is created and born in the image of God. Each one is a fresh revelation of God to the world.

Let’s think about this for a moment, ladies. All the amazing things that have happened in the world, that are happening, or are yet to happen, and will happen—the remarkable inventions, the amazing feats, both intellectually and physically, the astounding advancements and the brilliant discoveries! Wow! How do all these things happen? They happen through a person! And how did this person come into the world? Through a mother’s womb, as a baby. Every single great thing that happens in the world happens because of a mother’s womb.

This is the power of our womb, that from a womb comes a baby. Yes, without a baby, nothing would happen! Not a thing would happen in the world. Isn’t that amazing? And yet, so often, we don’t see the awesomeness of a baby in the womb. Today our society wants to eliminate the womb. So many mothers want to stop the function of their womb. But the womb is from where all the miracles in the world take place. Isn’t that amazing? Yes.

I love that quote of Frank Boreham. He said, “We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions abroad. When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it. That is why long, long ago, a Babe was born in Bethlehem.” Yes, everything comes through the womb.

I’d love to read you, which you know, just one or two Scriptures. Matthew, yes, let’s read, shall we? No, let’s go to Mark.

Mark 10:13-16: “And they brought young children to Him,” to Jesus, “that He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such,” get it, ladies, “for of such is the kingdom of God.”

The kingdom of God is what Jesus came to bring. The kingdom of God is the life that we are meant to live. Recently I began a study about the kingdom of God. I went into the Word and wrote down every Scripture where it mentions “the kingdom of God,” or “the kingdom of heaven,” and what it was saying about the kingdom in that Scripture.

I’ve got them all written down, but I haven’t completed the study yet, because what I want to do, when I get time, is to go to every one of those Scriptures, and to meditate on each one, and to really get into my whole being what it’s saying, because I really want to know what the kingdom is, don’t you? The Word is filled with it, and we have to know every part of what the kingdom is.

Jesus used so many illustrations to describe His kingdom. But here He is saying very specifically that children, children are part of the kingdom. “For as such are the kingdom of God.” So, precious mothers, precious ladies, if you want to be part of the kingdom of God, if you want to be serving in the kingdom, well, right in your home, as you are mothering your little baby, mothering your children, teaching your children, you are in the kingdom. You are right there, where you are meant to be.

In fact, one translation of this passage says: “The people brought children to Jesus, hoping He might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate, and let them know it. ‘Do not push these children away! Do not ever get between them and Me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this. Unless you shall accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you will never get in.' Then gathering the children up in His arms, He laid His hands of blessing on them.”

YOU ARE IN THE VERY CENTER OF LIFE IN GOD’S KINGDOM

Precious mothers, I want to remind you today that you, in your home, mothering your children, embracing each new precious baby, you are in the very center of life in the kingdom of God. You couldn’t be in a more amazing place. You are in the very perfect will of God. How amazing!

Those words (that was in Mark 10:13-15 Msg). Jesus also spoke those words; they are reiterated again in Matthew 19:14 and in Luke 18.

Then on another occasion, we read a similar thing, but this was a different occasion. Matthew 18:3-5. Here Jesus is speaking: “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.”

Yes, Jesus is speaking. He says, “When you receive a little babe in My Name, you are literally receiving Me.” Isn’t that powerful? Yes. That passage is also repeated again in Mark and in Luke. I trust you are encouraged, dear mother.

We’ve been talking . . . in fact, last podcast we were talking about elevating motherhood and homemaking to a new level. Well, today I’m sharing with you the level where God sees it . . . the level where God sees it. You are right in the very center of life in the kingdom. You couldn’t get it better than that.

YOU DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF THE NATION

So, stop grumbling! Forget all your self-pity and “Poor me!” “Oh, I could be out doing some great thing.” No! You are in the greatest place where you are! You are serving God in the most powerful place, because as you are pouring your heart, and your prayers, and your life, and God’s ways into your children, you are preparing them to go out into this world and impact this world. You are impacting this whole nation. You determine the destiny of the nation. It’s we, as mothers, who determine what the nation will be like because it’s our children who are the next generation. You are in such a powerful place, the best place you could ever be in your life.

Another thing about this little passage I read, I was reading a commentary from Barclay. He shared how that back in those days, when a baby boy was born, minstrels would come around, singers. They would sing songs to welcome the baby into that family. Of course, Jesus did not have a band of singers around Him when He was born in the stable.

But God sent His own minstrels. Well, actually, I learned a new word. Barclay mentioned the word “minstrelsy.” I had never actually heard that word. But, of course, it is just a whole choir of minstrels. That was the choir of the angels, the minstrelsy of the angels as they sang and praised to God.

I have a few more thoughts about motherhood. Recently, well, just last week, Colin and I went on a cruise. Pearl and Charley paid for us to have this cruise which was so beautiful of them. We so enjoyed it. It was an interesting cruise.

We had three days where we went off the ship. One was to Mazatlán in Mexico, one to Cabo San Lucas, and then, can you believe it? One to San Diego, right in our own country! While we were there in San Diego. we thought, “We will go and check out the Safari Zoo.” So, we did that, and it was so amazing to see these animals, not just in a zoo, but in more of their natural habitat. So lovely. All the beautiful zebras and giraffes and gorillas and elephants and so on.

I just love, I have this great love for giraffes. They’re such a beautiful, beautiful, creature. I was thinking so much about these animals and also began to discover a little more about their pregnancies and their births. I was thinking about that and relating it to us, as humans, because these animals are all mammals.

Do you know how long a giraffe is pregnant? Well, they’re actually pregnant for 15 months! Can you believe it? 15 months. Sometimes you think it’s getting so long as you’re pregnant for nine months. Well, think about the giraffe! The giraffe mother is pregnant for 15 months!

And have you heard how a giraffe is born? Wow! Its pretty amazing. When the little baby giraffe, or the calf, is ready to come out, the giraffe is standing up. Did you know that the giraffe rarely ever, ever lies down? No, they stand up. They sleep standing up. They do everything standing up. They even give birth standing up.

And so, the little baby comes out with its feet first, with the head and neck over the feet. Then the head is coming down, and it just flies out! And bang! Lands on its head! Wow! Can you imagine that? Just landing on your head. But that’s how the giraffe is born. It’s a pretty big shock to the head, but do you know what? It’s also how God planned it.

When that baby’s head hits the ground, it kickstarts the giraffe’s internal systems, and it starts the respiratory system. Without that fall, the little giraffe would never breathe! Isn’t that amazing? Within 30 minutes, that little baby can stand up. Within 24 hours, it’s running around. That’s the giraffe.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR CHILDREN

And they’re wonderful mothers. They develop a very strong maternal bond with their babies. Even years later, when they leave to go on, these daughters, especially the daughters, will always come back and spend time with their mothers, because they have that incredible bond.

Oh, by the way, do you know what a group of giraffes is called? Interesting. They are called a “tower” of giraffes. Well, you can imagine that, can’t you, with their big, long necks, towering above everything else. So, that’s what they are called.

And do you know what a group of polar bears together are called? They are called a “celebration.” That’s a lovely name, isn’t it? Now, there are some good questions for you to take to your family tonight. When you’re sitting around the table and sharing together. It’s so great to have questions for your family and things that you can share with them that they can learn. Try them out on those ones tonight.

What about elephants? Giraffes are pregnant for 15 months. Do you know how long elephants are pregnant for? Well, they are pregnant for 22 months, nearly two years! Can you imagine that? So, lovely ladies, maybe you’re pregnant, maybe you’re wondering when you’re going to get to the end, and this baby’s coming. Well, when you’re getting a little bit impatient, just think of the elephant. She is pregnant for 22 months. When the baby’s born, it’s only about 200 pounds, sometimes 250 pounds! But their labor lasts about two days, at least. They have a long labor to get that little elephant out.

Then they nurse their baby for a year, totally. They’ll be nursing their baby. They’re beautiful mothers, these animals. About a year, they’ll begin to supplement by adding plants, but guess how long the mother keeps nursing her baby? I wonder if you can guess. The elephant mother will nurse her baby for up to ten years! Can you believe it? Ten years!

Now, just think about it, ladies. Elephants are mammals. All these animals are mammals, as we are. Of course, we, as humans, are the highest creation that God created. But think about it. The human person will live anything from 70 to maybe these days, up to 100 years! The elephant can live for about 60 to 70 years. And yet, they nurse their babies for ten years.

Now, think of the lifespan of a human, 70-plus years, maybe 80 or 90 or so. And yet, how long do they nurse their babies? Well, some will nurse them longer, but some only token nurse their babies for about six months. Some don’t even do that. Some will just put their baby on the bottle, for convenience.

Now, please don’t be offended if you haven’t been able to nurse. I know some mothers, and I actually had a very dear friend who, well, she had nursed previous babies. But she got to this baby. She had this baby on her breast night and day, but she just could not get any milk. Something had happened. We don’t live in a perfect world, so there are sometimes when a mother is not able to nurse.

But what I’m talking about is our heart attitude and our willingness to nurse our baby, because it is how God created us. And dear, precious mothers, as you put your baby to the breast, just enjoy this time. Know that you are doing what you were created to do.

And don’t try to wean your baby too quickly. Oh, it’s amazing how mothers will wean their baby for all manner of excuses. Six months, nine months, a year. Do you know that a baby will often want to nurse for up to three and four years? Some even more? Now, we don’t see that often, but let’s begin to understand what is normal. It is amazing that what we think is normal is really abnormal.

When Jesus was talking to the people, it was in Matthew 19, and the Pharisees came to Him. They were always trying to trip Him up. They said to Him, “Well, what do you do about divorce?” On that subject, and Jesus answered them. This is all He said. “Don’t you know that He which created them in the beginning, created them male and female?” We read that Scripture, and we think, “Oh, yes, I know that. That’s Genesis 1, “God created male and female.”

Yes, and we all believe that, even in this deluded age of transgenderism, which is totally ridiculous nonsense. We believe in male and female. But we don’t always understand what Jesus was actually saying, because the Greek word that Jesus used there was not the normal word for “woman.” The normal word in the New Testament is gune, which means “woman, wife.”

But in this passage, Jesus used the word thelus, from the root word thelazo, which literally means the nipple of a woman’s breast. The word means “to suckle a baby at the breast.” Or the noun, “a suckling mother.” When Jesus said those words, he was saying, “In the beginning God created the male and suckling mother.” This is who we were created to be, a suckling mother, to be able to nurse, to give life to the babe that God creates in the womb. It’s the most powerful, glorious thing.

And it is such a glorious thing to embrace, because not only do we bless our baby, because the baby is blessed with the perfect milk that God intends for the baby, but God blesses the mother! We are blessed with hormones, with oxytocin, with prolactin, which a nursing mother has. She really has these hormones in a great way when she’s nursing a baby.

And they’re the most glorious hormones! Oh! Oxytocin. We all want oxytocin. It’s the bliss hormone, the love hormone, the relaxing hormone. God gives this glorious hormone to the mother who’s nursing her baby. Every time she puts the baby to the breast, this oxytocin is released. These beautiful feelings of bliss, and calm, and relaxation just flood over her. Many times, you know what it’s like. Many times, you just want to drop off to sleep, because you feel so relaxed.

And God gives this to the mother who’s often frustrated and overwhelmed. All the children are crying at once, and the baby’s crying, and hardly she doesn’t know what to do! She puts the baby to the breast, and oooh, wow! She can get up again and face things. And she has prolactin which makes her more motherly. They’re great hormones.

The great thing to do, ladies, is don’t think, “Oh, when will I wean my baby?” No! You just feed your baby until your baby is ready to wean. There are some babies who may wean at one year. There are some babies like that. Most babies will want to nurse until at least two years. If they are given the freedom, they will most probably nurse much longer.

I found with my babies that I nursed each baby longer, I guess because I became more embracing of it. I think when you first begin, you are learning. You don’t understand everything. But the more you nurse a baby, the more natural it is, and the more you realize the blessings of it, not only for your baby, but for yourself, and for everybody around you. You embrace it. And then, because you are freer in your thinking about it all, you just nurse longer.

By the time I got to Serene, I nursed her for four years. That is actually quite normal, although to many mothers, it’s not because they don’t see it around. We’re so affected and influenced by what we see, what we see other mothers doing.

Well, there we go, precious ladies. Just think of the elephant mom, nursing her baby for ten years. They have such a strong bond. Once the male baby is about ten, he will move off and become more solitary. But the daughters, the elephant daughters, will always stay around in the herd, close to the mothers. A herd of elephants will often consist of the grandmothers, and the mothers, and the aunts, and the cousins. They are all so bonded one to another. It’s a very beautiful picture of family life.

But I can’t believe how time has gone again. I trust you’ve been encouraged with this podcast. Let’s pray together.

“Dear Father, we thank You so much for the way You teach us through Your Word, and even through what we see in nature. Lord, You created these mammals in nature with such a beautiful nurturing ability. Yet, Lord, we are Your greatest creation. And You have put this nurturing anointing within us.

“Yet sometimes we fall so far short, even of these animals! Lord, wake us up to be who You want us to be! Show us, Lord, Your wonderful ways. We ask it in the Name of Jesus, amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 244: Mothers Are the Transmitters of God’s Truth to the Next Generation, Part 2

Erin Harrison joins me today as we speak together about elevating motherhood to a higher level. It has been degraded to a low state, but God wants us to come up higher, to come up to His marvelous ways.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Always great to be with you! And I am so excited today, because I have my dear friend and neighbor, Erin Harrison, with me again. We’ll be talking together today. Erin has done a number of podcasts with me. In fact, you’ll most probably remember that she did the “We Love Our Kitchens” series. We did that together, three podcasts and they were the most popular podcasts of 2022.

As I started last week, we are on this new series of transmitting God’s ways to the next generation. We’re going to talk more about that today. Before we get on to a new subject under this heading, I do want to give you one more testimony. I ended last week with sharing with you how Evangeline came to know the Lord at only four years of age, but how all these years later, that moment is still as real with her today as when it happened.

I’ll just read you what my son Rocklyn, what he said when I asked him, “Do you remember when you came to know Jesus?” He was also only four years of age. Rocklyn is 55 years today, so this is something that is still lasting all these years.

He said, “After my mother read the story of Nicodemus to us in our kitchen, I asked her if I could also be born again. I look back at this experience as the start of my conscious relationship with Jesus Christ. This experience burned into my life. Many Christians who are saved when they are adults see part of their life from a worldly aspect. Now they have a Christian aspect. I found that growing and learning with Christ in my life affected my understanding of everything in life from a God point of view. I saw and learned everything from a biblical perspective. This shaped my life.”

Remember, lovely ladies, we were talking about how it’s such an important thing to seek to bring our children to Jesus at an early age. The devil wants them. He’s out to get our children. The sooner that Jesus can get hold of them, the better. When Jesus comes into their lives, even at a young age, they have living within them, as the Scripture says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

That changes how we can train them in the ways of the Lord. How can we really change of our own volition? It’s only the work of Christ in us. When they’re being disobedient and rebellious, we can talk to them and say, “Jesus is living in you now. You’ve got to choose whether you’re going to say ‘Yes!’ to the devil who’s still wanting to get at you, and your old nature that still wants to rise up. But Jesus is in you. He wants to live His life in you. You can say, ‘Yes!’ to Jesus.” As we teach our children this way, they learn to walk in victory from a young age instead of starting it when they’re an adult. It’s a wonderful thing.

Now, OK, I will introduce Erin to you again, although you already know her. Did you read Above Rubies #99? Because Erin shared her testimony. Well, she’s written a number of times in Above Rubies. But she shared the testimony of her adopting Alex and Kathryn, both very special needs children. Oh, I can hardly even explain to you the miracles! It’s unbelievable! When Erin got little Alex, he was a vegetable, and was going to be a vegetable for his life. Tell us. 

Erin: First of all, I will give a virtual curtsy with my little dress on. Curtsy?

Nancy: Oh, yes! I should have told you! Sitting beside me I have this princess. She’s in the most beautiful gold dress. It looks so gorgeous! I wish we were on, what would you say?

Erin: TV.

Nancy: No! A Talk Show. But then, I’m glad you can’t see me! [laughter]

Erin: When we first got him, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw his little body coming forth out of the vehicle in the parking lot, I thought, “This is not what they told me.” They told me he was just a normal little four-year-old boy. Here he was, he had this huge head. His head was almost the size of his entire body. He was grunting and throwing things across, and he couldn’t walk. He couldn’t really do much of anything.

Nancy: Well, they said he would never walk.

Erin: He was tube fed.

Nancy: He would never eat.

Erin: Never talk. Never do anything! They didn’t give him very much hope for his future at all. In fact, I didn’t even know how many years that he would even live in that kind of condition. He had so many different medications and so many different . . . I had to have a room made just for him in our house. My husband made it, just to store all of his medical equipment, because he had all these different machines that he had to be hooked up to, just to help him to live.

Nancy: When he first came, you had 24-hour nurses coming in and out to keep him alive.

Erin: Right. That was a big deal because most of us in this homeschool, homechurch-type realm, in our communities, we often shy away from things that kind of put us into a precarious situation where we’ve got somebody monitoring everything we say and do, like you’re in a court of law. Right off the bat, I was on the edge of my seat, thinking that they could call CPS at any moment for any sort of reason because you hear about this stuff all the time. It wasn’t a real desirable situation.

The doctor even asked me if I wanted to change my mind, because he was like, “This is a lot! This is a lot to bite off. This child isn’t getting any better. We don’t blame you one single bit if you turn around and walk the other way, because this is a lot. You didn’t know what you were bargaining for when they called you. They were not very honest with you.”

That night, I told Nancy Campbell here, and I told my parents, and I told Evangeline, and they tried to give some wise counsel. Everybody told me to go the other way because it just seemed like such an impossible situation. Everybody thought it was scary and I won’t be able to have a life anymore. I would be chained up to this medical suite that I would have to be nursing over this child and dealing with all these nurses.

I had a dream that night, and the Lord brought me into. . . It was a very prophetic dream. I saw myself walking through a biblical-time type of scenario where there were people dressed in robes. They were all over the ground, crying and crawling around. They were scared. They were in pain, and they were reaching to me with their hands for help.

I reached towards one of them, without thought, because that’s the kind of person I am. I try to jump right in and help people when I see a need. The Lord Jesus’s nail-pierced hand went right though my hand and picked the person up. Then I knew that I was called to take one of the least of these. Because what you do to the least of these, you’ve done unto Him. It was a real calling. My husband and I knew that God had specifically called us to take care of this little boy.

It wasn’t love at first sight. When you have your own baby, you can’t stop looking at him. This little guy didn’t look normal, of course. You can imagine, when we first saw him . . . He doesn’t look anything like us, of course. That’s one thing. He wasn’t very friendly.

It wasn’t a warm cozy feeling at all, because there was this thing coming out of his throat. There was mucus and all this. It was a very, like you really had to get your hands dirty when you’re taking care of this child, with the diapering, and the changing of the trach, and all this stuff. It’s a whole new territory.

Basically, we CHOSE to love him. It didn’t come right off the bat, but we chose to love him. Now it’s as if he’s been grafted into our hearts as if I carried him in my womb. I feel like when I got him, he was like a newborn. I feel like I’ve nursed him at my breast, even though I never actually nursed him at my breast.

But I felt like all the nurturing that I’ve had to put into this child because of all his special needs, it caused us to have this eternal bond that is so divine. It's like we are one. This child is as if he was born from my own womb. That’s how God had knit him in and grafted him into my heart.

Nancy: It’s so amazing. Erin would not take sitting down the fact that he was just this little vegetable. She fought and fought and fought for him. Now, through operations, he is walking! Running! It’s unbelievable. I never could dream the day that I would see him running everywhere.

Erin: All the specialists, I had to fight against them, actually. I was like their worst nightmare. You can remember, Nancy, the times I’d come and tell you the other fight I had the other day. You guys would get so excited! “Whoo! I don’t want to go against that lady! Boy! She’ll get you gone!” [laughter]

I had to fight tooth and nail against some of the specialists and the therapists and everything. I had to fire doctor after doctor after therapist. You don’t have any idea how many people I have fired! I went to get different doctors because I wasn’t messing around. I needed a doctor that was willing to listen to me, and to help me help this child.

I’ve had doctors tell me that I was the worst pain in the neck, the thorn in their side, because they said they couldn’t believe that I actually thought this kid was going to walk. They were like, “He has cerebral palsy! He’s never going to walk! You can fix his leg until the sun goes down, and it’s not going to ever come right.”

I said, “But God can work a miracle on this child. I see it in his eyes. I see that he wants to do stuff and be normal. He was crippled because of all the drugs, and how they didn’t believe in him. He was completely left a vegetable in a cage, like an animal in a cage! It was absolutely detestable what they did to this child!

Nancy: And they were quite prepared to pour out this money from the government, all over him for the rest of his life.

Erin: Half a million a year!

Nancy: Yes, for the rest of his life.

Erin: Oh, yeah. He was like, what you call it, a cash cow. I believed, with all of my heart, that the neglect that was for this child was unbelievable and unacceptable. I couldn’t accept that any human being should be made money off of like that. I said, “I don’t care what I have to do. I’m going to get them all broke. They’re not making any more money off of this child. I’m done!”

I fought hard. This child, within about, I think it was about nine months, I was able to fire all the nurses, and I was able to fire all the therapists, and I was able to fire all of them and get him out of DCS clutches. I had adopted him, and he was starting to take off and thrive. He didn’t need a whole entourage of caretakers. He just needed a mother. He didn’t need . . .  

Many hands make light work. But sometimes, there are too many cooks in the kitchen, and it gets really confusing. Too many handlers and too many people’s pocketbooks getting filled up because of this child. It was absolute nonsense. Now this child has . . . You have to work really hard to find something wrong with him now.

Nancy: Yes. It’s unbelievable. I wanted you to know about this absolute miracle. Read the story again in Above Rubies #99, but the miracle is just far beyond when she wrote that article. It’s so amazing.

And then, Above Rubies #100, that latest one, Erin has two of her daughters on the front cover. Both Megan and Molly with their beautiful little babies. Little Isla, Megan’s baby, is my great-granddaughter, and Erin’s granddaughter, and Pearl’s granddaughter. That’s so wonderful.

Erin: We’ve been grafted into the Campbell family! We’re all family now, for sure, for sure!

Nancy: Yes, so great! Yesterday Erin and I actually did another Talk Show together, which we hadn’t done for about three-and-a-half years.

Erin: Right. Because I had my hands full, really.

Nancy: Because she adopted Alex, and in the midst of fighting for Alex, and doing all that she had to do, full time, absolute. Goodness! Three hundred percent mothering! She also adopted little Kathryn, a little Down’s syndrome girl. She has both of them.

Erin: I must say, Kathryn gives you a run for your money! That one there, she’s about ten Alexes! But we love her. She's amazing.

Nancy: We got back together and we did this Talk Show yesterday. Oh, it’s a real radical one. You’ll have to watch it. How do they watch it?

Erin: They go to my Facebook page, which is called “Keeper of the Homestead Blog.” You go on there, and it’s a regular Facebook page. It’s not a profile. It’s a business-type page. It’s my “Keeper of the Homestead” blog page. They can see this right there. It’s the first post right now. There might be added things by the time this is posted.

I’m going to try to repost it on YouTube. I’ll try to repost it also on my www.KeeperoftheHomestead.com blog page also, which is not to do with Facebook. But they’re all kind of connected. That’s how it works.

Nancy: So, you can get to listen and watch that. I’m sure you will be mightily blessed. Now, we’re here together. We’re going to do this together and then Erin has to pop over to Pearlie, because she’s got to do a podcast with her. So, you’ve really been poddied out today!

Actually, I think you and Pearl are going to be Pearl and Erin instead of Serene and Pearl, because Serene is in Mexico. Meant to get home last night, but planes have cancelled, and they’re stuck and won’t be home until tomorrow night!

Erin: So then, Erin comes to save the day! [laughter]

Nancy: Now, I want to move on to the very beginning. If we’re going to be the transmitters of God’s ways to the next generation, we’ve got to start at the very beginning. We did start last week, about bringing our children to Jesus at a young age.

But we’ve also go to talk about fathering, mothering, marriage, homemaking, because they are the foundation of a nation, the foundation of our lives. They are the very first thing that God ever talked about. I was just noticing this morning, in Genesis 2:24, where it says, and you all know this Scripture: “Therefore, shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.”

Do you notice that, in that one little Scripture, we get the whole picture of God’s plan for society? It’s all there in one little Scripture. OK, we start off with “one flesh.” That’s marriage where God brings a couple together. They become one flesh. Marriage. And then from that one-flesh union comes forth babies which God loves! That’s how He planned it. Babies come forth.

And, of course, who’s going to look after the babies? The father and the mother! And the mother is the one who’s going to be in the home looking after those babies. Then it mentions also his wife. Well, that’s marriage, too. She becomes the wife.

Isn’t that interesting that when God created Eve that she wasn’t just appearing. “Oh, well, now I’ve got to discover life! I’ve got to take on this adventure of discovering this beautiful Eden. I’ll need a few years just finding who I am and finding myself, just having this great life on my own.”

But no, she didn’t ever hardly have one minute on her own. God brought her immediately to the man and she became a wife. That was it. And that’s how God intends it. This is God’s plan. In fact, we read there about the father and mother. Do you know where the father and mother were?

Erin: Are you asking me?

Nancy: Well, I am.

Erin: I imagine they were at their home!

Nancy: Well, actually, they weren’t there. No. They weren’t even there, ladies. God says: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother.”

Erin: Now I get it! Wow! There it is! How profound! He left them. So they’re not there anymore! He went to cleave to his wife!

Nancy: No, no, no, but close. [laughter] There were still no father and mother!

Erin: What??

Nancy: Because there was only Adam and Eve. But let me tell you, ladies, they weren’t there.

Erin: I thought you were talking about Adam and Eve! [laughter]

Nancy: No. But this is the amazing thing! The amazing thing, ladies, is that God is speaking forth the roles of father and mother before we have ever, ever seen them. Nobody had seen a father or mother. Nobody knew what He was talking about.

But God is establishing the role, even before we have ever seen an actual father and a mother. Isn’t that incredible? God is revealing His plan, how that all of society comes from father and mother. God establishes it there even before we see them in reality.

Erin: Wow!

Nancy: It is so amazing, so amazing. We see this again, over in Genesis 3:20. Here, this is where Adam is naming his wife. It says: “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” Well, Eve was not a mother when Adam called her “Eve.” She didn’t know anything about motherhood. She’d never had a baby, never nursed a baby at her breast.

Adam had never seen a mother. Yet Adam is speaking under the unction of God. He was speaking prophetically. And once again, this prophetic word comes forth. God is establishing motherhood before we’ve ever seen a mother. Isn’t that amazing?

Erin: It’s so amazing! I’m so embarrassed! [laughter]

Nancy: Oh, no! You don’t have to be embarrassed.

Erin: Adam and Eve! We were talking about . . .

Nancy: I explained fathers and mothers, didn’t I?

Erin: Yeah, but you really tricked me! That was tricky.

Nancy: Trick! Trick question! A trick question but I think most people never even really think about it. But it makes us think about it, doesn’t it? You see, this shows the value that God puts upon father and mother. It’s His plan. He established it. It’s His way. God does not have another plan.

Erin: Amen!

Nancy: He doesn’t.

Erin: It’s a good plan!

Nancy: Erin and I have been talking at different times and just saying how we believe that it’s the hour to elevate fatherhood and motherhood, marriage, homemaking. This is what God established in the beginning.

Because God established it, the devil hates it! And he has, from the beginning, tried to pull it apart. He tries to destroy. He tries to destroy marriages. He tries to destroy fatherhood. He tries to woo mother’s out of the home. But I believe we’ve got to get the truth, and we’ve got to embrace it. We’ve got to do it in a way that we’ve never done it before.

Erin: Amen! And then the enemy also wants to get women to stop having children because then they don’t have enough to occupy their time. As they have too much time on their hands, guess what happens? Devil’s playground when they have too much time on their hands. Then they become busybodies.

That’s another reason why I adopted two more children because I didn’t have a womb anymore. That’s a whole other story. Sorry. Don’t have time for that story, but I don’t have time to be a busybody because I’m too busy being a mother again.

Nancy: Yes, yes. Well, actually sometime you’ll have to tell that story, because it’s a pretty powerful story, isn’t it?

Erin: Oh yes.

Nancy: That’s another thing. The womb of the woman is such a powerful thing. The devil likes to get rid of wombs, doesn’t he?

Erin: It’s in my memoir. It’s advertised in your magazine. “The Memoirs of the Keeper.” Because the keeper of the home? The Memoirs of the Keeper was the first book. I do tell the story in there as well.

Nancy: Yes, yes. That was such a sad story. But you outwitted the devil!

Erin: We did! We sure did! And we’re busy as ever. I’m loving my busy season.

Nancy: I think it’s when we don’t have that vision that God wants us to have of the home, it’s drifting into the thinking of society. Of course, the education system, women grow up being told and educated and . . .

Erin: Indoctrinated!

Nancy: Indoctrinated.

Erin: Indoctrinated! Into all these perverse ideologies.

IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO LOVE OUT CHILDREN; WE MUST LOVE MOTHERHOOD

Nancy: Yes, and against motherhood! They are actually indoctrinated against it. When you come into motherhood, I know many of you have, you come into motherhood, and you have this baby. You love this baby! But you’re not loving motherhood because you’ve had so much indoctrination against it. Oh, yes, you love this baby, but, but, “What am I doing in my home? I should be out in my career. I’m not doing anything here!”

We have this whole confusion. We love our children, but we don’t love motherhood. I believe this is where we have to change, because it’s not enough to just love our children. We’ve got to come to that place of actually loving motherhood, because this is God’s perfect will. It’s His plan.

Erin: And it’s all in the perception that you have. If your perspective is, “Oh! It’s a drudgery! Oh, I’m such a slave to my home! Oh, woe is me, woe is me, woe is me!”

Or you can take, “Wow!! I get to be the most creative mother of the century! I get to get up every morning and I get to think of all new strategies and challenges for every day. I like to conquer and figure out. I get to be the queen of my home and I get to be the top chef, the best baker! I get to be the nurse, and the doctor, and the interior designer!”

Scratch all those careers aside, that junk! When you get to call all the shots, you get to do it all your way. You don’t have to have a boss telling you what to do. And then the drudgery of going to a job every day, and then coming home, and you’ve still got a panful of dishes, and you’ve still got to cook a meal. You might as well just give up those things and take on your whole career of motherhood with gusto.

Nancy: Yes! Absolutely! And I love the Scripture in 1Timothy 5:14, where it says: “I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”

Erin: What does “speak reproachfully” mean?

YOU ARE THE QUEEN OF YOUR HOME

Nancy: I think that means that they can say adverse things. It’s a woman, and this is the thing. There is so much reproach against motherhood because I don’t think women have actually gloried in their motherhood. Therefore, there’s all this negativity about it.

But what does it say there? That women are to marry and bear children and guide the house. “Guide the house”? That doesn’t really portray it because the phrase in the Greek is oikodespoteo.

Oikos meaning “home,”

Despotes meaning “to be the ruler, to be the manager, to be the queen.”

Erin: Yes!! The queen!

Nancy: The queen! [laughter]

Erin: Yes! We love being the queen of our home!

Nancy: Yes!

Erin: There’s nothing more honorable than being the queen of your home.

Nancy: Yes. So, this is who we are meant to be, the queen. We are the boss. It doesn’t mean to say that we rule over our husbands. The Word of God is not saying that. But it’s saying that we rule our homes. We manage our homes. It is our domain. God has given both to men and women something within them that wants to take dominion.

God says in the very beginning, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and take dominion.” This thing is in us but God has given us the sphere of our dominion. It is our home. It is our garden. It is our whole sphere of what God has given us to make, to raise our families. And it can be as boring and as drudgery and as pitiful as we want. Or it can be as wonderful and glorious and amazing as we want to make it!

Erin: Amen, Sister!!

Nancy: It all depends on our thinking, our understanding of the truth, and making it what we want to be.

Erin: Joy and contentment is a choice.

Nancy: Yes, that is true. Well, we’ve got to close this session, but just as we close, just when you’ve already said it a little bit, Erin, just share again. OK, you wake up in the morning. How do you feel as you get up in your home?

Erin: I feel like life is a gift. I feel like, “Wow! I have another day that I can go out to my kitchen! Am I going to bake bread today? Am I going to make some yogurt today? What kind of meals am I going to plan? And, oh, am I going to organize a cabinet or something?” It’s just so exciting!

Nancy: Yes. It’s amazing how God created us. He created male, He created female, but all of us, to be created beings. Because He is the Creator. He has created us with this ability and this something within us that wants to create. When we are queen of our home, we have that freedom and that opportunity to create so much that is lovely and wonderful and precious and amazing as we make our home the sanctuary for God, and to raise our children. But we’d better stop, because we just keep going.

Erin: I have to come back and discuss more, because there’s so much more fun things to discuss about this!

Nancy: Yes, we’ll do that.

“Lord, we do thank You so much again. We’re always full of thanks to You for Your goodness, and all Your blessings. Lord, I want to thank You for Your wonderful plan, Your plan which You established in the very, very beginning. Lord God, it’s all there for us.

“Save us from drifting away from Your plan, from letting it go. Oh, God, help us to hold onto that which You have given us and never let it go. We ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Links for you to enjoy:

TALK SHOW WITH NANCY AND ERIN

You’ll want to watch this, or maybe you won’t!!!!!

https://fb.watch/iMHraDwHw6/?mibextid=qC1gEa

To listen or watch tell the whole story of Alex on the TRIM HEALTHY MAMA PODDY:

PODCAST Ep. 316:
Erin's Story - A Child Nobody Wanted

Go to KEEPER OF THE HOMESTEAD BLOG

To see all the videos of Alex and his progress, Part 1 to Part 9. You will be amazed to watch this miracle.