FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

PODCAST 91: THE PAIN OF LOSING A CHILD

Heather Bryant continues to share about their ordeal of losing their little child. Have you miscarried, given birth to a stillborn baby, or lost a loved child at any age? You will be encouraged as you listen to Heather share how God brought her through to victory, and how He helped them to bring healing to all their family. You can also contact Heather at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, here we are again today. I have with me Heather Bryant, who was with us last week. I know you're going to enjoy Heather again today. I'm going to ask her a little more about how she has come through that trial of losing their little baby, fourteen months old.

So Heather, thanks for being with us again today. Coming all the way from Washington state, so wonderful of you. Tell me, how you know you have . . . well, at that time, I think, when little Hannah went to be with Jesus, was she number ten at that time?

Heather Bryant:  Yes.

NC: Yes, you've had four since that time. So there were ten children. It was not only you and Barry who were suffering the grief, but each one of your precious children, especially Rachel. Tell us, how did she get through?

HB: Well, it was very hard. It was very hard, but I right away knew that the Lord had her heart, and that she was there. The day after the accident, you know, remember I had prayed that prayer, the Lord has said, “I will not question and I will not be angry, but You have to help my children.”

Well, the day after the accident, we were in our living room, and Rachel was sitting on the arm of our couch. She said, “Mom, remember when you had that bad miscarriage that I had to call 911 for?” I had bled out and passed out.

NC: That was just before Hannah was . . .

HB: Yes, it was two months before. When that happened, my husband yelled to Rachel, who was in a dead sleep, “Call 911!” She told me, she goes, “When I had to call 911,” this was back when she was sitting on the arm of the couch, “I had to do it laying down, because I thought I would pass out. But when I got out of the car and saw what happened to Hannah, I started to panic. But all of a sudden, I heard this voice inside my head say, 'Rachel, I've been doing this a long time, and I know what I'm doing. I don't want you to panic.'”

And she said, “Well, can I cry?” And He said, “Yes, you can cry.” And then she said, “When I was able to cry, I was able to start to focus,” and she was able to call 911.

I wasn't even there. All this was happening while I . . . This whole accident, the accident was unfolding, and God was there. Whether that was an angel or whatever, somebody was there, talking to my daughter. The thing that made me so happy was, she obeyed. She listened and obeyed and responded. It encouraged me.

It took many, many, many hours of . . . my husband would stay up late at night, wouldn't let her go to bed until she would talk to him. There were many times you could tell she was so very bothered. So very bothered.

But we as parents, we over and over and over again, would just remind the children it was an accident. Hannah wasn't ours to begin with, and if the Lord wanted her to live, He would let her live.

So we trusted Him through this. That was one of the main things that I wanted my children to learn through this, watching my husband and I, was I wanted them to see our faith in God when things were very dark. You can preach to your children when it's light, and when everything is fine, but this is the time when they're going to really see, because we are an example to our children.

They were . . .  I purposed in my heart,  at that time, that I wanted my children to see me trusting in God with all of my heart during the hardest time in my life, and, I know, in all of their lives, they were watching us.

NC: That was the greatest lesson you could ever give them, to see it.

HB: I wanted my children to be able to come to me as a mom. I had nine other children that were on earth that I was still responsible for. Even though my heart was shattered into a million pieces, I took my heart. I still just remembered to mentor as well. As I'm sure, spiritually, just laying my heart at the feet of Jesus, and just trusting Him, that He could hold me together, to just be there for my children, while I myself was grieving.

And He did that. In so many ways, He did that. Miracle after miracle would happen. It would literally address a heartache in me. Every time. Every time. It was just absolutely amazing. I don't think I would have had that opportunity to see all those things. I now refer to it as “I grieved with my eyes open.” You know how, when you're really super sad, and you’re really hurting, you squint your eyes shut?

But I remembered thinking about Mary after she was told that she was going to have Jesus. She was a virgin! And she was just told by the Angel of God that she was going to have the Savior! And she had never been with a man.

But I remember her purposing to hide things in her heart, like she watched things. I remember thinking, “I'm going to do that. I'm going to watch and see what God is going to do in this situation.” I was not disappointed. It was absolutely amazing.

For instance, the day after the accident, all of a sudden, my four-year-old, out of nowhere, comes running in from outside. He was like, “Mom! Mom! Hannah's in the sky!” He goes, “I tried to get her to come down, but she won't come!”

I was like, “What?” I mean, I was like, kind of baffled. He grabs my hand and drags me outside. And he starts pointing up to the sky. He's like, “Mom, see? There she is! She's flying!” My daughter, my little daughter, she was three at the time. She's like, “Hannah! Flying! Sky!”

I looked up, and I thought they might be looking at a cloud. There was not a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I saw nothing. But I knew they saw something. I just broke into tears.

But that, to me, at least in my mind, well, where is she? What is she . . . you have all these things that you, you know are truth, but they're in your head. But until they're in your heart, it really doesn't mean anything. I mean, until you know that they're in your heart. I just remembered thinking, “My son saw that.” I believed, and it's like, she's fine.

NC: That most probably gave hope to him, too.

HB: Yeah. Oh my, yeah! So a few months later, we took the children to, we surprised them, and we all took a road trip down to Disneyland. One night the same son, my four-year-old, we were walking home, it was at night. He was skipping along, like little four-year-old boys do,

All of a sudden, he got very serious. He walked back to me and grabbed my hand and said, “Mom,” he goes, “I saw Hannah again.” He goes, “But this time she was big.” And I was like, “What?”

He said, he goes, “I asked her if I could come up to her, but she said not until God said.” And then he said, “And Mom,” he goes, “Do you remember when I saw Hannah when she was a baby?”

NC: He remembered, yes.

HB: Yes! He said, “It was in the daytime.” He goes, “But when I saw Hannah when she was big, it was at night.” And he points up to the sky. Down in California, there's kind of smog, so you can't see stars. “See up there, how there's no stars? When I saw Hannah when she was big, there were lots of stars.” And then he just ran off and started skipping.

NC: How beautiful.

HB: But you know what? One of the things in my heart is that she was my baby. And I missed my baby. But when he told me she was big, it was like, I, all of a sudden, was able to kind of let that go. Not that I don't miss her, and not that, you know, but there was a part of me that was able to just . . . the mothering little baby part of me was able to just let go. Because things had changed. Who says she's not bigger in heaven?

He knew, he was saying, that little four-year-old was saying stuff that I just was blown away by. In fact. the day after the accident, I went out to him, and I think it was the Lord, but I went out to him, because he had seen her in the sky.

No, this was the day after he had seen her in the sky. And I went up to him, and he was digging in the dirt. He didn't even look at me. He's digging, and I said, “So Levi,” I go, “When you saw Hannah in the sky, was she by herself?”

He said, “Nope.” He goes, “There was a Jesus helper angel in the front,” and Jesse was the little baby that I had miscarried, that Rachel had talked about. He goes, “Jesse was behind him, and Hannah was behind Jesse.”

NC: Wow!

HB: And he just kept digging. I just was like, “Whoa!” It was like, she wasn't alone, because you always, you know, it's just . . .

NC: He wouldn't think those things.

HB: No! No!

NC: And then, what a beautiful hope. There was your little miscarried baby.

HB: Yes! Yes! Yes!

NC: So glorious!

HB: I know! It was so awesome; things were just so . . . they were miracles to me. And they were answering just perfect in my soul. And it was like an answer for those.

NC: Yes...

HB: Now, did I still grieve? Of course, I still grieved! I think I cried so many tears. I remember purposely drinking water because I thought I would dehydrate.

NC: Yes, so many tears.

HB: I did! I did! But I'll tell you another time that the Lord really just ministered to me, is that one time . . . There were times where my, my heart would just be broken. And it would just be broken all day, like the heaviness of grief would just be on me, like all day long.

But a lot of times I would go to sleep, and then the next morning I'd wake up, and it would be better, because His mercies are new every morning. So I, one day, woke up, and it had been a hard day the day before. I just so, so felt the heaviness.

My husband, at the time, he was away a lot. He was away that day, and He sent a friend . And I'm not the type that . . . I can't just call somebody and say, “I need to talk.” I'm just not that way. Maybe if I was someone and I in depth talked about something, that's one thing.

But I knew that day I had a lot to get done, and I had to! So anyway I, before my day really got started, said, “Lord, I know I wouldn't even be where I'm at mentally, emotionally, if You had not been with me and helped me. Each day I have so much to get done. And I just, I need to talk to a human. I needed someone to come to me and help me, encourage me with words. And I need them to hug me. And I don't want to ask anybody for any help.” I go, “Could you please just send me somebody?”

So anyway, I had to drop my children off at a class, my older children. I had my three-year-old daughter with me. Did a little grocery shopping, went out to lunch. I had a minivan, and I had her car seat positioned in the center of the bench seat behind me so that I could look in the rear-view mirror and see her, so we could talk.

Well, there were a lot of times, that as I was driving, I would start to cry. And I would ugly cry, silently. Like my kids could be going crazy in the back seat, and not even know. I was a hot mess as I'm driving down the road, because I had it down, I had it down perfectly. I'd just be, my face would just be a hot mess, and I'd be bawling, but no sound would come out.

So we're heading back to go pick up my older children at their class, and I am bawling. All of a sudden, I heard this little voice from the back seat. She goes, “Mama, are you crying?” And I said, “Yes, I'm crying.” And a few seconds later, I hear this, “Mama, Hannah live God.”

NC: Wow!

HB: Because we would always say that Hannah was alive with God. That's what we would always tell . . .

NC: How old was she?

HB: Three. But I just kept driving and crying. A few seconds later, I heard her voice again. And she said, “Mama, Hannah live God!” And I just kept driving and crying. And then pretty soon, I heard the voice from behind again go, “MAMA! Hannah live God!” And I said, “I know Hannah is alive with God!” She goes, “Quit whining!”

NC: Ooh...

HB: (Laughing)

NC: Wow.

HB: I'll tell you, that shocked me! As that happened, I was just driving up into the driveway to pick up my children. I opened the car door, and unbuckled Mary. She leapt into my arms and gave the biggest hug ever!

And I will tell you, I knew that those words, God had sent her to talk to me. And I got my hug from my human being. (Crying)

NC: Isn't that wonderful?

HB: Isn't that so God? And I'll tell you, that turned my whole day around. The whole day. And I will never forget that.

NC: It's those little things God does to continue to help you along the way.

HB: Yes, because I purposed in my heartache and my heartbrokenness to grieve with my eyes open. I wanted to see Him move and work. I trusted that He would take this . . . It was a mess that we had created in our humanness and build something beautiful out of it. Which I knew He could! And I know He does!

NC: Yes, so great. I think that the thing we can, we are to mourn, I mean . . .

HB: Absolutely!

NC: But we don't mourn without hope. We mourn with hope.

HB: Yes.

NC: And as we mourn, looking to Jesus, and trusting Him day by day, He just comes and heals.

HB: Right. And even, it may not, for different people, it may not be a death of a loved one. It could be finances. It could be jobs. It could, I mean, there's so many things that can happen in people's lives that we may want to carry ourselves, that the Lord is waiting to carry for us, so He can teach us and help us grow through that.

Think of what Rachel, my daughter, what if we had fallen apart? What if she had not trusted? What would that have made her feel like?

NC: Exactly.

HB: It would have devastated her. I didn't want that. You know, I felt like God took the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land, which I feel like sometimes is our life. How they started to grumble and complain when He was taking them to the Promised Land. And I remember just going, “I don't want to stay in the desert for forty years.”

NC: That's right.

HB: And, on top of it, never getting to see the Promised Land! I don't want that. I want the fast ticket to get out of here! And I want it for my children. I'm not saying that I do not miss my daughter. I miss my daughter!

My heart aches for my older daughter. That is all there. But it's all in the hands of Jesus, because I can trust the Lord, through either me, or her dad, or people around, and I trust the Lord with my daughter Rachel. I trust Him with her heart. He can reach inside. He's the Great Physician. He's the Great Counselor. He's the Healer.

I mean, He's all those things that I told my daughter a long time ago. When this happened. I said, “Don't trust, rely on your parents or anybody else.” I said, “You hold onto God. You hold onto Jesus. You go to Him for all things because, don't let go of Him. You will need, you're going to need Him, we all need Him.”

But especially in something like this. I feel like there was a time where she was just walking on a tightrope, where she could just fall off. And yet there was Jesus, right in front of her. And He was just, hold His Hand, and you'll make it.

NC: And she held on.

HB: Oooh, yes!

NC: That's one of the most beautiful things to see Rachel today. Such a beautiful, holy daughter of God!

HB: Oh, she is! She is!

NC: She is victorious. So beautiful.

HB: She is in a place beyond even where I feel like I am. She's spiritually, she has gone to places that I . . . I feel so happy as a mom, looking at her, just going . . .

NC: I love to come to the Retreat, and just see her worshiping. It's so beautiful. Leading the whole of, all the ladies  in worship . . . that's victory.

HB: It is. What Satan can use for destruction, the Lord makes something . . . it's not just put together. It is something, a new creation. Because He makes all things new. That's Who He is.

NC: I always think of that beautiful example of the three men who went into the fire, because they would not bow down to the king. You know the fourth Man, the Son of God, came into the fire with them.

I love how the Bible says they came forth out of that fire without the smell upon them. I think people come through these tragedies either one of two ways: some still have the smell on them. It's that, because they've held onto bitterness and anger. They're angry at God.

HB: He can help them!

NC: But that is the saddest thing that can ever happen, because that smell of the fire is always on them, because they haven't given it to Him. Our God is a good God, and we have to trust that He is working everything out for good. He is a good God! We have to acknowledge Who He is. He is a good God, and even in tragedy, He is a good God.

HB: He is.

NC: Because this earthly life is just so temporal. It is so temporal. And there is a real world, a world that we really don't know anything about. It is the real world. It's a world where there'll be no more crying, and there'll be no more tears, and there'll be no more tragedy. It will, everything will be worth it all then.

So precious ladies, if there's any who might be still hanging onto anger or bitterness because of things that have happened, please let it go. Just give it to Jesus, because He will take it. He will, if you mourn, not in bitterness and in anger, but in hope and in trusting Him, He will heal you.

He is the God who is our Healer. “I am the Lord that healeth thee. Jehovah Rapha.” That's not only for our bodies, it's for our souls, our hurts, and the tragedies that we go through. He can bring you into that even greater place. So trust Him, won't you?

I see, of course, in Heather, which is why I asked her to share today, because she's sharing in victory. Therefore she can encourage you.

I think it's wonderful too, Heather, don't you, how often God prepares people. Sometimes it's amazing when a child, tragically something happens to them. And they find that, even beforehand, that child is talking about heaven, and wanting to go to heaven.

HB: Yes.

NC: It's amazing, isn't it? You know, God is in everything, isn't He?

I think you were telling me once about this friend of yours who has a little boy, and he came to his mother and said, “I want to read Randy Alcorn's book Heaven.

HB: Yes.

NC: Now, you haven't even read that, have you?

HB: No! He was 10!

NC: Yes! And he wanted to read that!

HB: And he was reading it, and one day he came to their family devotions after he started reading it, and he goes, “I can't wait to die.”  And they were like, aghast, like, “Don't say that!” You know?

It wasn't long after that he actually did pass away.

NC: Yes . . .

HB: He did. He was thrown from a horse and trampled.

NC: Ooooh . . . And yet God was preparing them...

HB: Yes. Yes.

NC: Isn't that incredible?

HB: Yes, but we have to just . . . .those things, when I heard this story about little Isaiah, I just . . . what a blessing, to even hear that your child wants to go to heaven, and then he ends up going. And you know where he is.

NC: Yes.

HB: Even in your heartache. His mom is one of my dear friends, and it hurt, she's heartbroken.

NC: But she has hope, knowing that he was getting ready to go.

HB: Yes. And even when I sit there and I think of people in different grieving situations like, again, I say, financial, or family members going their own way. But we serve a God that, He loves us, and He's over all. And He reaches me to trust Him, whatever it is.

Don't be angry at Him for the path that your life has taken. Trust Him. Trust, and He will never disappoint. Never. Keep your eyes open and watch for what He is doing.

NC: Yes. Amen. Oh yes, you've found too, that reading books about heaven was an encouragement to you. You used to read them to the children at that time?

HB: Yes. Yes. Yes.

NC: Yes. Tell us about the books that were specifically helpful to you.

HB: Yes. My favorite, I'm more of a . . . I'm less of a Randy Alcorn Heaven type of reader. I'm more …

NC: You're not usually a reader, are you?

HB: Right. I don't really read. I'm horrible. But I love reading about people. So one of my favorite books was Heaven sis for Real. And it was a testimony of a little . . . he was four or five at the time . . . a little boy who had , , , I think they made a movie out of it. But the book is better.

NC: Yes. It always is, isn't it?

HB: Yes. Yes. He went to heaven while he was very, very sick. And the things, he came back, eventually sharing with his parents, like he told his mom that he had met his sister while he was in heaven. She's like, “What?” And he goes, “Yes, I met my sister.” She had miscarried before this little boy was even born.

NC: He didn't even know about his sister.

HB: No.

NC: Wow!

HB: Yeah. And he had met his grandfather. So when his dad showed him a picture . . .

NC: Interrupting here, that is just such an amazing encouragement to so many of you who have lost babies in the womb, who have miscarried.  You grieve, no matter what stage you lose a life. No matter at what stage.

But that little life, because every baby that's conceived is a life, is an eternal soul. And that life you will celebrate in heaven! That's an amazing thing, to think he saw his sister, and he didn't even really know he had one.

HB: Yes!

NC: Amazing!

HB: Some of those things . . . and he saw his grandpa. It was his dad's father who had passed away years before this little guy was born. His dad showed him a picture of his grandpa just before he had died, which was when he was older. And he's like “No, that's not who I . . . that's not my grandpa.”

They happened one day to be going through other photos, and he came across a photo of when his grandfather was early twenties and he goes, “There's Grandpa! That's him!” And he didn't even say, “This is your Grandpa when he was younger.” He was just flipping through the photos.

NC: And he saw . . .

HB: So those kind of things . . .

NC: Now that's interesting. Obviously, they're not old and tottering in heaven.

HB: Yes! So I just, those kinds of things encouraged me so much. This little child probably did see something, and that made heaven more real to me. I would read passages of books of people's experience of dying and coming back. It gave me a little more of an insight through someone else's experience.

I read it to my children. They just, I remember them just sitting there. You could have heard a pin drop. Because they wanted to know that too.

NC: Absolutely. And now that's how many years later? It's about 14 years since . . . or not?

HB: Well, she would have been 13. And she died when she was 14 months old. So it's been . . .

NC: So now, you know, you find that there's real healing in all the family.

HB: Yes. I feel like . . .  know for sure I feel very thankful where I'm at. Sometimes I feel like I should be sadder, but then I'm like, you know what? It's because I know she's alive. I do!

I remember the night it went from my head to my heart. It did! Literally, I had to wake up my husband to tell him. Because it literally, I felt it physically move. I feel like God did that for me.

NC: Wonderful.

HB: Yeah. It didn't happen just right away. It happened months later. But it did happen. And I know she's alive. I know! I remember when my dad passed away. I was like, I'd sit there and say, “He's in heaven.” And I know he is! But it was in my head.

But this went from my head into my heart. I know, I know. You know when you know that you know? I can't even explain it. But it is something that the Lord did for me, and I'm so thankful that I know she's alive! My husband and I chose to have her, and she is, even now, beyond this earth. But she is.

NC: Absolutely. When we conceive, and life comes, if that life is taken in the womb, or later, it was . . .

HB: It was still life!

NC: Yes! It's life. It's alive, and eternal, and will live forever! And we'll celebrate that life forever! It's just so amazing.

HB: Yeah, and I've had six miscarriages, so I must have a crew!

NC: You'll have a wonderful time, meeting all these amazing children!

HB: I know!

NC: Wow! Yes!

HB: It makes you have a completely different perspective on things.

NC: Oh yes! Now getting back to the raising of your family, you told me that after each baby, you've always tried to do something new. Tell us about that. I think that's rather amazing.

I think it must be the fact that when you're creating with God, it's God Who's doing it, but you're cooperating with Him in the creation of life, and somehow it releases that creativity.

HB: I don't know about that! I've tried to sew, and I wasn't very creative with that! (Laughing)\

NC: (Laughing) I think we are all creative in our different ways. Tell us the things . . .  

HB: Some of the things I have done is I've taken up . . . I've taken lessons on something after I've had a baby. Some of the things I remember, I took voice lessons once.

NC: Really?

HB: Yes, for a while, until it got too crazy. But I did. I'd always wanted to do that. I've done stained glass. I can't sew, but I did that instead of sewing, because you can piece things together. So I did stained glass for a while.

I tried all sorts of things. I do like to do crafty things. So I just, because sometimes being a . . . making meals three times a day, cleaning up mess after mess . . . I try and take time just to be able to pull out something really quick and be able to work on it. Even if it's for 20 minutes.

Now that my children have gotten older, I'm definitely, I can do more. You should see, I make signs now, and I sell them at the local shop.

NC: Yes, so now you have a store?

HB: Yes.

NC: You don't have to be there all day.

HB: No!

NC: You just make the things and put them in there.

HB: My husband and I, we work furniture, and I make signs and necklaces. You should see my kitchen. My kitchen is my art studio.

NC: Oh, lovely!

HB: Oh, it's, I've got signs and things, needle-making on one side, and signs being made on the other! (Laughing)

Or a lot of times I just stay up late. I stay up late because it's quiet. But I love those times. I'm up crafting, doing my thing. Then I have to be up at seven the next morning. I'm afraid I don't wake up before my children sometimes, but I stay up later than them to get things done. So . . . but, it works.

NC: Yes, Oh, that's just so beautiful. Well, thank you so much, Heather, for just sharing about this.

HB: Thanks for you having the podcast now, because I know you wanted me to write an article.

NC: Right, in Above Rubies.

HB: Oh, I couldn't do it!

NC: I just couldn't get you . . .

HB: I know, but I can talk! (Laughing)

NC: Yes, isn't that great! Yes, so anyway, we're going to close off again. We'll just remind you about the Retreat.

HB: Yes, the 28^th, 29^th and 30^th.

NC: Goodness me! Yes, of this month! So, OK, hope you can come.

HB: We'll take out-of-staters too. Maybe I'll have a prize for . . .

NC: The one who came the farthest. I know!

HB: What?

NC: One of your glorious signs? Yes!

HB: Glorious signs!

NC: Wouldn't that be amazing?

HB: Now, you cannot participate because . . .

NC: No, because of me having to carry it home on the plane.

HB: I know, I might just make you one to put in. I'll make it so you can put it in your suitcase.

NC: But anyway, now before we put that on Heather now . . . So the one who comes the furthest is going to get one of her absolutely amazing signs.

So, come all you old . . . not you old ladies (Heather laughing) . . . but all you old friends. Because so many of you come back year after year, and it's so exciting to see you!

But we just love to see all these new mums. Oh, we love all you young mums coming. And the daughters, and the grandmothers. Oh, it's just so great. We'll be seeing you all there in Olympia.

Let's pray.

“Father, we just thank You we can talk about family. We know, Lord, that here on this earth, life is not always perfect. Relationships aren't perfect, things happen, we face challenges, but Father, we thank You that we can look to You, that You are in it all.

We can trust You, even when things that look a mess, Lord, You are in control. You are above it. You have got it in Your hand, in the palm of Your Hand. Everything we say, you are bigger. You are bigger! Oh God, we thank You and praise You.

“We pray today for every precious one who has lost life. You've been able to relate today to Heather. But Lord God, we pray that You will just come and comfort them again. Just totally heal them, Lord. Bring healing into their minds, their souls, their emotions, every part of their being. Let Your healing flow through them, oh God, making them whole.

“That they can with their family, with their children, with their extended family, as they go out into this world, that they can go out with their heads up. And Lord, with not the smell of fire on them, even though they've been through the fire. Lord, we pray that they'll come forth with no smell of it upon them, but with Your Glory, and with Your anointing, and Your peace, and Your victory. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”

HB: Amen.

NC: And we bless you in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

P.S. The retreat was postponed because of COVID-19 SHUT DOWN, but keep checking www.aboverubies.org for the new date which will be posted soon.

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

PODCAST 90: YOU ARE WRITING YOUR STORY AS YOU RAISE YOUR FAMILY

Rocky Barrett: Welcome to the podcast, From our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies, it is always great to be with you. Today I have sitting right next to me my dear friend, Heather Bryant. Heather has flown all the way from Washington State to be with us and to do this podcast with me.

We have talked about it for so long and at last we are doing it. I know you are going to be so blessed by Heather. She lives up, as I said, in Washington State right by Puget Sound. I think there is a big cliff right by your house and you look right over to Puget Sound.

Heather Bryant: Yes, it is so beautiful.

NC: You are just so spoiled!

HB: I am! My husband says that all the time.

NC: Yes. Heather is a beautiful mother of a few children.

HB: Just a few.

NC: Yes, just a few! She actually has fourteen children, but you wouldn’t know it if you were looking at her.

She is going to share just a few things of her mothering.

We should start about getting married first, because you get married first, don’t you?

HB: Yes, yes indeed!

NC: Any way, tell us, were you in love with your husband when you first started out.

HB: No! No, I really wasn’t. He just came into my life and he, on the whole, just really irritated me on so many levels. I didn’t find him physically attractive and he bugged me. In fact when he would leave my parent’s house, half the time I slammed the door behind him.

My mom said later on that she would just shake her head and think, “He’s the one.”

NC: So what changed your mind?

HB: Well, like I said, I really didn’t feel all the superficial things but there was that still small voice, literally, that I probably don’t listen to as often as I should.

But at that time it was loud enough, and I felt God almost physically turning me back toward Barry (my husband now) and almost saying, “That is the one I have chosen for you.”

I had a lot of admiration for him. I felt like he was completely different from any other guy I had ever met before. So with those kind of things in my head and then that feeling that God had chosen him for me I just went forward.

NC: And now, isn’t it nearly thirty years later?

HB: Yes and I adore him. He is like my best friend.

I don’t even know why I didn’t think he was good looking because he is quite handsome, and I feel bad for all the other women in the world whose husbands are not as handsome as mine.

NC: That is so wonderful and together Barry and Heather have been writing a beautiful story. I often think that this is what it is about raising a family. It’s writing a story.

I was thinking about that at Christmas time. Colin and I went over to Serene and Sam’s. I thought, “Do you know what I will do? I think I will write a limerick for everyone in the family.” So I wrote a little limerick for each of the children about their personality.

This is the simple little limerick I wrote for Serene:

“An incredible mother lives in this home

Who brings love and blessings and shalom.

She shines with glory

As she writes her story

With each precious child in her home.”

That’s, of course, a beautiful testimony of Serene but I was thinking about that with you, too, Heather. That’s what you have been doing, you have been writing this story.

Dear ladies, that’s what all of you are doing. You are writing your story. Each one of your stories is going to be different. Wouldn’t it be boring if they were all the same?

HB: Oh indeed.

NC: God is so unique! And every child that comes into the world that God orchestrates, and God just grows and creates in the womb is so different, each one is unique.

There is not one child that is born that is like any other that has ever been born or any other that ever will be born.

It’s like that with every family. Every family is unique.

Wow, it’s just as well that all of the families are not like us it would be hair-raising! We’re all different. We have our own sort of personality about our family.

I know you have that about your family, Heather.

Isn’t it great hearing about other families and their stories? Heather is going to tell us about some of her story today.

We have got to start out, of course, with your children and all of their names.

HB: Oh yes, I hope you wrote that down!

NC: I did! I wrote the names in case you forgot them!

HB: I know! I don’t remember birthdays very well at all.

NC: Well we won’t put that in.

So Rachel is their oldest and I know Rachel because Heather has been putting on and organizing Above Rubies retreats in Washington State for, I can’t even remember how many years!

HB: I think it’s been almost fourteen years because Mary was little, and she is over fourteen.

NC: Isn’t that amazing? I just love faithful women who put themselves to the task and never give up and here we are doing another one again this year!

HB: You know what I think, that’s what it is, you never give up. Things don’t always go sometimes how you plan but it’s showing up after they don’t always go as planned.

NC: That’s right. That’s what life is about, isn’t it? Faithfulness, never giving up, just the duties of life.

So ladies, we are having another ladies retreat in Washington State. We have it in Olympia.

HB: Yes, in Olympia at Black Lake Bible Camp.

NC: Do you know the date?

HB: I do but I can’t remember! It’s the last weekend in March.

NC: Yes, the last weekend in March. Ladies, that’s coming up so quickly, but you can still get in. Don’t miss it! If you’ve never been before, make an effort to come. There is nothing like an Above Rubies retreat. You will be encouraged through the ministry but also through the wonderful fellowship.

HB: It is. I have friends at that retreat and that is where I go see them. We connect but just to be able to know that I will get to go see those ladies at that time. Some of my dearest friends I have met at the Above Rubies retreat.

NC: Even the children. This is not a family camp, but mothers bring their older daughters and they make wonderful friends, too.

In fact, I love people to come to our Above Rubies Ladies’ Retreats with three generations of grandmothers, the mothers, and the children. It’s great; it is just so wonderful!

So Heather is doing that again this year.

HB: Rachel, she leads worship at the retreat.

NC: Yes, Rachel is a beautiful girl. I knew her as a teen and now she is married with three little boys.

Then Luke, he is married with three little girls.

HB: Yes, I am Grandma six times over. Actually, I’m Mae Mae. That’s what I’m called, Mae Mae.

NC: Yes, everyone has their own special names they love to be called.

HB: I know, you’re Nana, right?

NC: Yes, I’m Nana or Nanny.

Then there is Bekah who is courting. I love courting.

HB: Yes, in Florida. She is not in Washington with us at this point.

NC: Yes, I was just counting up the other day, just in our family, and counted up six courting couples.

HB: Love is in the air around here, I’m not even kidding!

NC: It’s so wonderful!

Then Ruth is 21 and Simon is 20. Then Sam, he’s your tree-topper, isn’t he?

HB: Yes, he is 18 years old. He just applied for his business license and he’s got that all lined up and he’s been doing a few tree-topping jobs.

NC: Oh and we forgot to say what Luke does!

HB: He’s a bomb diffuser in the Air Force.

NC: That’s pretty exciting!

HB: Yes, I guess! He seems to like it. As a mother I’m like, “Did we have to pick that kind of a career?” But I guess to each his own.

NC: I think he’s already been in places with President Trump where he’s had to diffuse bombs if they are there.

HB: Yeah, yeah.

NC: Then Levi and Mary and they are with us here, too.

HB: Don’t forget Peter!

NC: Oh yes, we’ve got Peter, too. Then Hannah, she is with Jesus now, but we are going to talk about her later. This is one of the most precious things that Heather will talk about with you.

Then there is Chloe, Susie, and Jael, and Elisha or Ellie. She is three, isn’t she?

HB: Yes, I had her when I was 48.

NC: Wow, isn’t that wonderful? Forty-eight— you are blessed because there are many women who are still longing for another baby. I get emails from women that say, “Oh please pray for me for I am still longing for another baby.” They are in their forties, but no babies are coming. So you were really blessed.

HB: I really was and am. I still am.

NC: Oh, I know! You’ve hardly started!

HB: That’s what my husband says anyway.

NC: What does he say to you?

HB: He always wonders who else is in there. He looks at me and he says, “I wonder who else is in there?”

He’s very unusual for a man! He told me he would never get mad if I got pregnant.

In fact, I think when I got pregnant with Hannah, I called him, and I told him that I was pregnant ,and he was very happy. But then later he called me back and he goes, “I just want to thank you for being willing to have our children. I just know that you are older and it’s not easy. I realize that every time you do have a child you are basically giving up a part of yourself to grow this child and I see that, and I am really thankful for a woman like you.”

NC: Isn’t that beautiful?

HB: That was like the best. I was like crying! It was just so sweet.

NC: And with all these children you have been writing your story and building your home.

I was just reading again today that wonderful Scripture, Proverbs 14:1: “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.”

Actually three times in Proverbs it talks about the wise woman building.

In Proverbs 9:1 says: “Wisdom hath builded her house . . ..” Do you notice the three words there? Wisdom, build, house.

Then again in Proverbs 14:1: “Every wise woman buildeth her house . . ..”

Proverbs 24:3: “Through wisdom is an house builded . . ..”

The three go together. It is a wise woman who builds and if we’re building, we’re wise, and what are we building? We’re building a home and a family.

That’s what it’s all about.

Sometimes I love to go to some old translations. I have here the Knox translation and I love it. It is an old one.

It says: “It is by woman’s wisdom a home thrives; a foolish wife pulls it down about her ears.”

The Moffat translation says: “Wisdom builds the house of life; frivolity pulls it down.”

And so that’s what you’ve been doing, isn’t it? But I’m sure you had struggles.

HB: Oh for sure. Sometimes I’m listening to you and I’m just like, “I’m not all there.” On the whole I try to build my home and I ask the Lord to help me every day. You know there are struggles.

NC: That’s life.

HB: Yeah.

NC: Even having your children, did you have perfect pregnancies every time?

HB: No. I’ve been pregnant twenty times and have had fourteen live births. I’ve had a couple of really bad miscarriages that I ended up in the hospital with a DNC and a blood transfusion.

NC: And still you never gave up.

HB: No I didn’t.

NC: God was with you and kept you and He was faithful.

HB: Yeah. It was not easy. It was not easy, and it isn’t easy. Even as your children are growing, they’re making more and more decisions on their own.

You can’t just line up all the children in a row and tell them exactly what to do and they’re going to go do that thing exactly how you tell them.

NC: I know, I often thought it would have been just nice if I could have had robots!

HB: Oh I know, wouldn’t it?

NC: But they’re not robots!

HB: And just changing. When your children start growing up and becoming more independent but then you still have little children at home, it can get really confusing.

But you just plug on. Some days I just go, “I’m starting over today” and it’s all right.

NC: That’s right, that’s life—plodding on.

HB: And just giving yourself a break. Giving yourself, grace. Having your heart set on doing the right thing but we are human, we will make mistakes but just give your self grace.

NC: Yes—and plodding on. I think it is a powerful thing—plodding on. As the Bible says, when a righteous man falls, he gets up again. He can fall seven times and get up again (Psalm 37:34, 35; Proverbs 24;16; and Micah 7:8).

HB: It’s when you don’t get up that that’s the problem. Just get up!

NC: It’s like a little baby when they’re starting to walk. They walk along, they fall, but they never stay down.

They get up and that’s the secret, I believe, of life. We all face struggles and challenges in different ways and sometimes I feel like jolly well getting up and getting out of this place, but we can’t. We have to get up again and face the fray.

We don’t do it on our own, but we face it with God, and He enables us. And here you are, you’re still alive today!

HB: Yes, here I am! Who knew?

NC: What was your best and what was your worse birth?

HB: Levi was my best birth. I remember I was in labor and I knew I was. I had my husband call my midwife. I had just seen her the day before and I was barely dilated but she had stripped my membranes. The next day I felt something going on and I remember having a contraction and I said to my husband, “Call the midwife.”

He said, “Are you sure?”

I looked at him and I’m like, “CALL HER” and he said, “Okay!” because I was having a contraction that I just knew.

She came and she told me later she didn’t think anything was going on because I literally was not even dilated.

I said, “Well I just had a contraction.” I was lying in my bed and I said, “They were five minutes apart” and it had been great.

You can be in labor for quite a while when your contractions are five minutes apart, so we started talking. But about two and a half minutes into our little chat I started having a contraction and my water broke.

She goes, “Oh, something IS happening.”

So I just kind of labored for probably about an hour more. Then all of the sudden my water broke again, and I pushed once and boom— there he was.

In fact I knew my best friend was around the area and I called her and said, “Hey I just had my baby! Come on over!”

She goes, “What?”

I mean I don’t think the placenta had even come out. I was fine. I remember thinking, “Is this it? This was wonderful!”

I think Mary’s was a long birth.

NC: She was the next one after Levi?

HB: Yes, and it changed. I’ve had them all over the board!

NC: I know, this is the thing with childbirth. Sometimes, you know, maybe some of you precious mothers have been through very, very challenging childbirths and you think, “Wow, oh my, how could I ever do that again?”

But please, be encouraged, because every birth is different. Even if one birth is a difficult one, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be like that next time. It can be just so amazing!

HB: Yes, in fact I remember the first birth, with Peter, which was before Levi, that I actually prayed and asked God. I actually had three things that I had asked Him. I remember reading this book about the man who started Royal Concern and he used to pray about everything.

His wife wrote a book and she said that there were actual knee prints in front of his bed because he had prayed and never asked for anything. I remember thinking that the only reason he does that is because of his faith.

I thought, “Well I just normally go into childbirth and just beg God for mercy.” I remembered you always say, “The Lord has mercy on those who give suck.” It’s basically saying that the Lord has mercy on mothers.

Anyway, I decided that there were three things that really stressed me out about birth and one of them was laboring through the night.

Once it passed twelve o’clock, I just wanted to go to bed! I wanted to be done. So that was one of the things that prior to Peter’s birth I asked for. I said, “Lord, could my birth be done before midnight?”

The second one was I did not want to push for a long time. I was just asking. He didn’t have to answer. I can’t remember the third one because those were the two really big things.

I’ll tell you, that was my first time that I did not have to push for a long time. I would have to push for a long time, for hours. I literally pushed, I remember, three times and he was born at 11:30 in the evening.

NC: Wow, so every time the Lord answered your prayers! How wonderful!

HB: Well I wouldn’t say I prayed every single time but that one I did pray.

NC: Well, no, but those times that you did pray. Then it makes you think, you have not because you ask not. You think, “Why didn’t I ask the other times?”

HB: I even do that now. I’ve had some pretty big things happen in my life where I have literally laid it down at the feet of Jesus and I’ve just left it there. I never took it back and I’m thankful I did.

But then after that happens life goes on. There are times that later on I look back and I think, “Why didn’t I pray about this? Why didn’t I pray and ask the Lord to help me? Why did I pick it up and take it and start doing it on my own?”

NC: Yes, yes. Then you had precious little Hannah. Tell us about that. She went to be with the Lord at about 14 months, didn’t she?

HB: Yeah, she was 14 months old.

NC: Tell us what happened there.

HB: Well my oldest daughter, Rachel, she accidentally ran her over with our car and she basically died pretty quickly after that. So it was two of my daughters were affected highly at that moment.

NC: So she was just backing out, was she?

HB: Yes, yes.

NC: Yes, that’s something that happens quite often, doesn’t it?

I know the mothers around here have that fear because we have so many teens now with cars and then so many little wee ones.

They’re all saying, “Okay, you must not even drive your car before you go around the back and look around and look around again.”

HB: Oh yeah, it’s something that people just in everyday life kind of forget.

It was very devastating. Not in a permanent way but it was terrible. You just sit there and go, “If I had only walked around the car. If I had only checked.”

NC: Oh I know, but who does ever check? Unless you have that constant reminder, it’s just not something you do. That’s something we try to do around here now because of the teens driving and the little wee ones at the same time.

Didn’t that happen about three months after it had happened with Steven Curtis Chapman?

HB: It did, and I remember my daughter came to me when we had heard that and she said, “If that ever happened to me, I would die.”

And it was three weeks later it happened to her.

NC: Oh yes.

When it happened what did she do? Were you there?

HB: I was there. I was across the street. We were getting ready for Vacation Bible School and our house is a field away from our church.

My son came and he’s like, “Mom, something really bad has happened. It’s Hannah.”

I go, “Well what happened?”

He goes, “Just come.”

I go, “WHAT HAPPENED?”

He goes, “Rachel ran her over.”

I’m like, “Oh my lands.”

I arrive in our yard and all my nieces and nephews are there because we were all getting ready for Vacation Bible School and all my children were there. There were ten including Hannah.

It was chaos. It was absolutely chaos. There were children crying everywhere. I couldn’t find Rachel. She had just panicked and ran off.

My daughter Ruth had called 911 and they had told her not to touch the baby, so she was just bent over her, kneeling down on her knees over Hannah’s body, crying.

You could tell she was out of it. She would breath every now and then. It was terrible.

I remember walking and trying to find Rachel. My neighbor had come over and was doing CPR on Hannah.

I remember just walking by our kitchen window and I said, “Oh God, I won’t be mad, and I won’t even question, but You have to help me take care of my children.”

Because all of a sudden you have all these children and they all hurt different and they process different and I knew there was no way I would be able to do that on my own. I couldn’t do it and I needed His help. There was nothing I could do about Hannah.

In fact there was something inside me that I knew she would not make it. There was a little abrasion on her forehead, so she didn’t look horrible. Actually I was very thankful for that.

But I knew she wouldn’t make it. So my focus was on my children who were alive, especially my three older children, Rachel, Luke (who had brought Hannah outside), and Bekah, who was supposed to be watching Hannah, but she was inside making lunch.

I mean it was all normal things. Luke brought her out to play. She was a baby that was super laid back. She had just kind of started walking and crawling. She was a late bloomer in that.

NC: So she was barely walking?

HB: Well she was on a sled. They had been pulling her around and she crawled behind the car. It just doesn’t take that much time for things to go bad.

Anyway, I got to tell you. Do you want me to tell you the story about the police officer who was the first to arrive on the scene? It was kind of an interesting story.

NC: Yes.

HB: This happened in June and in December I was doing errands and I was in a vehicle that was not our family car. It was our commuter car. I guess the tabs had expired on it, so I got pulled over by a police officer.

They ask for your license, proof of insurance, and your registration for your car, so I give it to him. He was taking a little while because they’re going back, and I don’t know what all he was doing.

I am sitting there, and I look in the rearview mirror and he’s kind of digging around in his car and I thought, “What is he doing?”

As he was doing all this I prayed to the Lord and said, “It would be different if I was speeding; but I wasn’t speeding, I didn’t know about the tabs. Could You please make it so that the policeman couldn’t give me a ticket?”

It was Christmastime and we were trying to buy presents for our children, and we have a whole bunch of them, so I was just like, “Please!”

It probably would have been about over three hundred dollars for me to make it right. I had gotten my husband a container of candy to put in his stocking at Christmas. I got so nervous I opened it and just started eating it while I was waiting for the police officer to give me a ticket because my tabs had expired!

Anyway, he eventually comes up and I said, “Is everything okay?”

He said, “Well I lost your driver’s license.”

I said, “Well I gave it to you.”

He said, “I know you did.”

So he had me pull up into this gas station and he has every door open and his trunk open. He’s like digging around in his patrol car.

He comes up to me and he gives me back my registration and proof of insurance and he goes, “Well, I cannot find your driver’s license and so I cannot give you a ticket. I have been doing this for over 20 years and this has never happened to me.”

I go, “Well I know what happened?”

He goes, “What?”

I said, “I prayed that you can’t give me a ticket and God answered my prayer!”

He said, “Well I’m a praying man myself. It worked!”

So fast-forward to June when the accident happened. Just before that I was at our local pizza place getting cards for our junior helpers for our Vacation Bible School because we reward them at the end of the time and there was the police officer.

In the meantime I had shared with a friend of mine who was a teacher at the high school that he had worked as a police officer to watch over the young people. I had told her what had happened and so she had gone and talked to him about it.

He had vacillated between police officer and a pastor. He had come and asked if he could come to our church and preach in that time, but it never worked out.

So anyway, I went up to him at the pizza place and I said, “Hey, do you remember me?”

He looks at me for a second and he goes, “Driver’s license!”

NC: Did he ever find it?

HB: He did. He went to the mechanic at the police station and had to take out his front seat and the driver’s license had fallen into a little crack between the front seat and the consul.

NC: Well it was God answering your prayers!

HB: Yep, yep. So we were able to, at the pizza place, just chat as a Christian brother and sister and remember and laugh and stuff.

Anyway, he was the first police officer to show up on the scene. When something like that happens, you’re scared, and you don’t know what’s going to happen.

NC: So it was someone familiar to you.

HB: Yes, yes. Just before I left to the hospital, News helicopters were flying over so we had brought all the children in my house.

I remember my friend and I were about ready to leave to the hospital. They had brought all of the children in; all of my children were inside.

Officer Johnson had come up to me and he said, “My heart is just broken. Is there anything that I can do?” I mean, he had tears in his eyes.

I said, “Could you just go into my children.” I go, “As a father, as police officer, as a Christian, you can say whatever you want to them. I just want them to know that it was an accident.”

I didn’t know how Rachel’s brothers and sisters would respond to her. It was just such a blessing to have John Johnson, the police officer, just be there. I knew he was a Christian; I knew he wanted to help in that way and just to send him in before I left was so comforting.

Later on I was told by one of his colleagues who had found out that he was the one who had shown up first, he said to me, “You had the best.”

Literally when I talked to someone about the doctor who took care of Hannah, the lady I talked to said to me, “You had the best.”

I kept over and over hearing that and I believe it, and do you know what? It was the most comforting thing to know that we had the best even though the worst did happen.

In these hardest moments I just felt so cared for and loved and I knew that He loved all of us. He even loved Hannah.

In fact, I know that Hannah is more alive than you and I right now. She’s at the feet of Jesus! What could be better than that?

NC: So wonderful.

Well, our time is gone but I think we’ve got to talk again.

HB: Yes.

NC: I think we’ll come back next podcast because there are many more things that Heather will share about this. I know it’s going to be especially encouraging to those of you who have had miscarriages, those of you who have had stillbirths, those of you who have lost little ones, and even those of you who have lost bigger ones.

Let’s pray now.

“Father, We are just thinking today of so many precious mothers whose hearts, Lord God, some of which are still aching. They don’t even know how to get rid of this burden.

“But Lord, we pray that You would come to them today. Come and bring Your comfort again. Let them know that their precious loved one is with You. This is the comfort that we have. We have an eternal hope.

“We thank You, Lord, we thank You that we look forward to the eternal realm, which is the real world and where we will celebrate life with all those who have gone before.

“I pray that You will bless them and comfort them and strengthen them this day, in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.”

Come back next week because you are going to hear more from Heather, and I know you are going to be so blessed and encouraged and strengthened.

P.S. You can email Heather at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Olympia retreat was postponed because of COVID-19 SHUTDOWN. However, keep checking the webpage, www.aboverubies.org for the new date which should be posted soon.

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

PODCAST 88- LIFE, DEATH, COURTING, WEDDINGS, AND A TRIP TO ISRAEL!

Rocky Barrett: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies! It is so wonderful to be with you again.

This morning I have my dear friend, Alison Hartman, with us again. They have just arrived back from Israel.

Alison and Daniel and their two oldest daughters, Makenna and Eden, along with Serene, Sam and their two oldest daughters, Chalice and Cherish and little Remmy and Solly all went to Israel together, the ten of them. A great team!

How did you all survive together?

Alison Hartman: Oh my goodness, ha-ha! It started off a little rocky. We brought the stomach bug with us from Tennessee. That was interesting. Every day we had somebody sick; but even in that we had lots of laughs and it really bonded us quickly.

It really worked out great timing wise because it was right when we got there, and we had jetlag and needed a few days to relax before we hit the road running.

NC: I think you did hit the road running, didn’t you? Here you are pregnant and how many weeks are you?

AH:  Thirty-two.

NC: Thirty-two weeks and she just ripped her legs off, didn’t you?

AH: Yeah, Remmy and I earned the trophy for walking far more than we should.

NC: Yes, poor little Remmy, he’s four and he had to walk everywhere. They all arrived home and came walking into our lounge and Sam, I think it was a joke, said to Remmy, “Come on, Remmy, let’s go for a walk!”

Remmy started crying and crying. “Oh help, no!”

AH: They’ve ruined him for ever walking again! We walked miles and miles and miles. A lot of it was uphill; a lot of them were steep hills. We only called a taxi once because I just couldn’t do it.

NC: You did so amazing.

Anyway, we’re going to talk more about Israel and what they did there in this session. I think Pearl and Serene are back to doing their podcast today and I am sure Serene will be talking about it on the Trim Healthy Mama podcast.

But before we even go on to that I must share that this time we’re going through a grieving time here in our family. Life is not all just roses, is it?

Just a couple of days ago my granddaughter-in-law gave birth to a stillborn baby. She is Evangeline’s daughter-in-law. Evangeline was sharing just a few weeks ago on podcast 85. Did you listen to Evangeline? That was just so amazing. If you missed it, get back to it and listen to it. I think we mentioned there that her son Jireh and Alyvia were expecting a baby.

This beautiful baby was kicking and beautiful. Mother and baby were both healthy. Then all of a sudden, life went. They believe that the baby must have been doing such incredible acrobats in the womb that something happened to the cord and life stopped.

So many of you, I know, you have lost babies. You have lost babies in the womb. Even in the womb it is grievous as losing a little one who is born. There is something about life. I mean, you bond to life in the womb, you bond to this baby, and you name this baby. This baby is a living being.

This couple has just been going through horrendous, horrendous grief. It just makes you realize, and you can’t even believe it, how so many today can just discard life in the womb.

They are not aware of the preciousness of life.

We have governments in our nation who are prepared to make it law that a baby can be killed even after birth if it is destined for abortion. How can we even take this in when someone who knows it is life must go through such grieving?

Life here in this world is embracing life and then many times we must face the death of life, which is always the most horrific thing that we will ever have to go through.

We mourn, but we can mourn in hope. For those of you who have been through this, you know that we have to mourn in hope, don’t we? The hope of eternity! This little darling life will be celebrated into eternity forever. That’s the wonderful thing. Although we miss life here, we have the hope of eternal life. It is so incredible.

I think often we have got to live beyond the day-to-day and see that the eternal realm is the real world. I often have to remind myself that this is not the real world, but this is the temporary world, preparing for eternity. Do you have to do that?

The eternal world is the real world.

We look to that as we face what is going on.

But then again, we have other beautiful things happening. I was counting up the other night, that in our family life, we have about six courting couples. Isn’t that amazing?

Some of them are young and waiting for that time when they can be married but it is so beautiful, and it is so wonderful. I don’t think there is anything that rejoices my heart more than to see God bring a couple together. It’s miraculous. It’s incredible. There are all the people in the world and God just brings two special people together.

It’s so amazing.

Then we have the hope of weddings and babies coming after weddings! Isn’t it amazing?

God loves all this. Did you know that in the Bible God talks about the joy of weddings? God loves it. Today some people just go to a registry office and get married. They don’t celebrate it.

So many couples today are not even getting married. Oh, it breaks my heart. They don’t even get married; they just live together. They have lost the awe and the wonder of weddings and of a marriage.

I’m just thinking of Jeremiah 33:10, 11 and it says: “Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place . . . The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever . . ..”

This is God talking about the blessing of God coming again upon Israel.

He says this is what is going to happen: When I bless you again, what will happen?  There will be the voice of joy, the voice of mirth, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. There will be merriment, rejoicing, and joy. There will be weddings and out of weddings will come babies and the godly seed.

It’s God’s blessing. It is God’s blessing on the land when godly virgins are coming together and then they marry and then they embrace children and then raise godly families.

This is God’s plan.

Then conversely, there are Scriptures similar that say that when God is bringing His curse upon the nation because they have turned away from Him, they have habitually sinned and sinned and sinned and He says: “Now this is what will happen.”

It says here in Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; and 25:10. Three times God says: “For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.”

When we no longer have lots of weddings, that is God’s curse.

We need to see God’s blessing is on marriage and the beautiful celebration of weddings and God bringing a couple together and establishing a family. It is the most beautiful thing.

Anyway, we are here today to find out more of what happened in Israel!

So, you first stayed in Jerusalem, didn’t you?

AH: Yes.

NC: Tell me the view you had of Jerusalem.

AH: Oh my goodness, we never dreamed we’d have such a neat accommodation. We had met a missionary in Pensacola where we live. They were visiting, from Israel, one of their sons. I had just met her a couple of years ago. She said, “If you’re ever in Israel, look us up” so we did. They have a ministry called Road to Emmaus.

They are a family with seven children. They’ve actually made Aliyah because he has Jewish heritage. They are just the neatest family. They let us rent their top apartment. We had the whole place to ourselves.

The back view was the Mount of Olives. It was just like the cherry on the top. We never dreamed that we would have such an amazing view in an apartment in a city, but you overlook the most amazing background.

This family didn’t just give us a key and say, “Have a good time.” They really were there. Their ministry is to bring in fellow believers and share the experience of Israel with them. They really walked it out with us. We even shared the stomach bug with them, and they still loved us!

They do a Shabbat meal and their church service up in the apartment we were staying at, so we had to let them come in. But it was great because they included us, and we made food together. It wasn’t like they treated us like a visitor, they treated us like family.

It was so neat because we got to see their perspective. As the podcast goes on, I’ll tell you about all the others we met. It was so neat to see a little snapshot of their place in Israel and what they are doing to serve the Jewish people.

NC: Yes, so that was right in Jerusalem. I think you walked the streets of Jerusalem, didn’t you?

AH: We did. We did rent a car, which was a little scary because Sam, I think purposefully, left his driver’s license here in America so my husband, Daniel, drove.

It was a stick-shift nine-passenger van. When you’re driving a stick and you haven’t done it since you were a teenager, it can be a little scary. Everything is a hill. We live in Florida and everything is flat. So he would get stuck on the top of a hill. The car would die, and we would start rolling back.

Serene would start singing, “JESUS!”

It was pretty funny!

Anyway, we had funny laughs, but some scary moments.

The funniest thing was when Serene said, “For some reason I feel like we’re in a foreign country, we really can’t die.” I kind of thought the same thing but I didn’t want to say it. But I said, “Yeah I kind of felt the same way but our chances of dying keep increasing the more we drive.”

These Israeli drivers are crazy. They love to honk. They love to cut in and you don’t expect it because you’re not used to that. Turn signals are never used.

We had quite the adventure! We rode the bus a couple times.

Sam accidentally hit this lady with his backpack, and he didn’t realize he did it. Then he turned to say he was sorry, and he hit her again. I think he hit her a third time! Nobody spoke English and he was trying to say he was sorry, but he couldn’t speak Hebrew.

Another funny story was we couldn’t figure out how the bus system worked. We looked at the sign and finally found somebody and said, “Can you speak English? Can you tell us when the bus is coming?”

He looked at us and then looked at the sign, then looked at us and looked back at the sign and the sign was in English and we didn’t know it!

He said, “Right there it says it will be here in seven minutes.”

We were all just kind of like, “Oh!”

We had the big sign “Dumb Tourist” written all over us.

NC: Of course you went on your own and explored without a tour guide.

AH: Yes, no tour guide, no tour bus, and honestly no plans. That was the coolest part.

We had many people, including my family, say, “What? You can’t go to Israel without a plan! You’re going to waste two weeks.”

Well, I just can’t wait to tell you how untrue that was. It really maybe wasn’t wise. we didn’t plan anything because we have just been so busy.

We got there and man, the doors got opened. We couldn’t have even planned such a wonderful trip.

NC: I know, it’s just so amazing. I was just looking through this morning and I must show you some of my albums of Israel. When we lived in Australia, Colin and I took tours to Israel. I was reading this beautiful poem, which I have in my album:

Words fail me when I think about the Holy Land;

I only know that where my Saviour stood, I stand.

And thus the hills He did behold, mine eyes have seen,

And where hath trod the Son of God, I too have been.

That’s the thing, isn’t it, when you go to Israel you’re not going just as a tourist to visit another country.  You go, and you experience, and you feel. That’s the wonderful thing.

Now, on the way there, just as you’re getting on the plane to Israel you met the Waller’s, didn’t you?

AH: Yes, well you had told us . . .

NC: Yes, I said, “You have got to get out to the West Bank!”

AH: We thought, “Well, we’ll get there if we can. It would be great, but who knows?”

We were in line getting on the plane from New York to Israel and I think I had gone potty (because I went to every potty in Israel because I’m pregnant.).

When I came back Serene was hugging somebody and I thought, “Who in the world does she know in New York?”

It was the Waller’s. They had just visited their daughter in America, and they were heading back. They were in first class because they had a buddy pass and God blessed him with first class.

NC: Yes, she said that was the first time that ever happened.

AH: It was such a sweet blessing because they were in America to grieve the loss of one of their grandchildren that their daughter had just lost and so what a neat little kiss from God.

I went up to them and I said, “Hey, you don’t know me but I’m friends with the Campbell’s, friends with Sam and Serene, but we have no plans for the next two weeks. Do you think you could help us?”

Mr. Tommy Waller just looked at me and he goes, “We gotcha. We gotcha covered.”

We ended up not seeing them after the flight because they were first class and they were out of there. But then we contacted him a few days into our trip. Daniel, Sam and he all talked, and they had a plan. They invited us and we spent three nights with them and boy, did they roll out the red carpet. I mean they treated us so wonderfully.

NC: Yes, I am so glad you got out there to the West Bank because I think that is one of the most incredible things you can do if you go to Israel. That is the heartland of Israel. It is the very place where Joshua brought the children of Israel into the new land that they had to begin to conquer.

Of course you stayed right up on the Mount of Blessing, didn’t you? How amazing!

AH: Yes, that was so neat!

NC: Now ladies, I wonder if you know what the Mount of Blessing is.

When Joshua brought the children of Israel into the land, he brought them right into a little valley between two mountains—the Mount of Blessing (which in the Bible is called Mount Gerizim) and Mount Ebal.

Mount Gerizim is the Mount of Blessing. I think today they call it Har Brakha, don’t they?

AH: I think so.

NC: Yes, that’s what they call it. I’m sure some of you who are listening know this precious family, the Waller’s. Some of you have most probably been out to even work with them.

Their ministry is HaYovel, which means “Jubilee.”

When they first went out to the Land, God was leading them and they didn’t know what they were going to do but God was saying, “Go to Israel.” That was fifteen years ago and their youngest was just a little boy.

One of my Above Rubies covers had their little boy praying at the Wailing Wall. Now all these years later they are still there. Their children have grown. They took their eleven children out there to the West Bank where most people often fear to go because it is overrun with Arabs there who are not friendly to Israel.

God just so sovereignly, miraculously, and amazingly began to show them His plan of how He wanted to enable them to help the farmers of Israel who were planting the hillsides with vineyards.

Because they had had experience in farming, God had been preparing them. God put on their hearts to give their lives to befriend the Jewish people and to help them. For these last fifteen years or so they have gone to Israel, poured out their lives, stood beside these farmers and helped them prune, plant, and harvest their vineyards.

They have gathered young people and families in from all over the world to come and help them, especially in the harvest season. It is amazing.

Their children, of course, have gradually gotten married and now I think there are only three of their children left who are not married and they’ve gotten on to almost thirty grandchildren!

AH: Yes, twenty-nine under ten.

NC: Isn’t that amazing?

Wow, what a privilege to go out there!

AH:  Yes, and they are fulfilling prophecy. They are literally fulfilling prophecy.

They shared with us a story about when they had first got there. It’s not easy for believers to come into Israel, which I didn’t realize.

I was taken back by that because I just assumed it was like any other country but no. They said the Jewish people look at Christians and they lump them all in one category and relate to them as Catholic or Hitler-lovers because Hitler claimed Jesus, which is ridiculous because there was no love in his heart.

Anyway, when they first got there, they had a hater, someone who really just didn’t want them up there. They took a photo of Mr. Waller and printed it and put it on bus stops all over their city and the country saying. “Get rid of him.”

They thankfully have a rabbi who just loves them. He really loves them. He knows they are Christians; he knows that they are believers.

The Waller’s have not held that back, but they respect their culture and they embrace the Jewish life and culture, not out of law and duty but out of respect and because they love the traditions.

It’s just so neat. We got to hear so many stories and they took us around. Whenever they would stop and tell us something about a view, they would take their Bibles out, and it was literally like you were in Bible school again when you were a little child.

He would say, “Do you remember the story of when Abraham and how he went to sacrifice his son Isaac? Well guess what, it’s right there!”

I can’t remember if it was Mrs. Waller or one of the other families we stayed with, but one of them said to me, “Israel is like going and having the Bible going from black and white to color.”

It’s so true. It just came off the pages. The stuff that we’ve read but didn’t understand, you could literally see these locations.

The Waller’s are amazing. They are really living it, but they are so humble, even though they are doing amazing things. They are planting, harvesting, and pruning hundreds of vineyards for these Jewish people, just volunteering their time, but showing them love.

NC: They have had people come to help them in the harvest from thirty different countries of the world. It’s just something you can do to serve the Lord.

AH: They have a discipleship program, too. You can send your daughters, or your sons and they will basically house and feed them and put them to work.

In fact, Cherish, Sam and Serene’s daughter, came back home and she has decided that in the summer she’s going back. She’s on fire and she’s excited.

NC: That is so cool. Yes, it is called “Daughters of Zion” and then they have one called, “Sons of Zion.” I would encourage you to go to their website. It is just www.hayovel.com and you will see it all there.

You will see what they are doing. You will see the opportunities for families to go and help. You will see the opportunities to send your young people. Some of you have older young people that are looking for something to do to serve the Lord. There are many areas where we can serve the Lord, but this is one way.

AH: A lot of people say, “Don’t go to the West Bank.” It is safe. I felt just as safe there as I do in my own town.

Of course there is stuff that goes on, but they know the areas not to go to. The area they are at you will feel so safe. I would send my daughter any day.

They have a lot of rules to where they keep the young people safe because they are taking care of someone’s eighteen-year-old for three months.

You don’t even have to go for three months. They have a day program.

Sam and Daniel got up at 5:30 in the morning one day and they went to men’s prayer and then they put them to work. They went out on the field and they pruned to where their hands were falling off at night.

Even if you want to come as a family, they have accommodations where they will put you up.

That’s what they want. We were leaving and we said to them, “How can we support you?”

We were thinking more financially but he said to Sam, “Oh, I don’t want your money.”

I mean of course they could use the money, but he said, “I want your time. I want you. I want you to send your children.”

That’s what they want because they have more work than they have helpers.

NC: The more people they get, the more they can help those farmers and they have to possess the land.

You see, usually, ladies, we’re talking about marriage or we’re talking about motherhood but here today we are talking about Israel.

But this also affects us as families because I believe that we must be FAMILIES THAT LOVE ISRAEL. We need to be families that have Israel upon our hearts and therefore we’re praying for Israel.

I know a lot of young people, young people who even come into this home. They don’t know one thing about Israel and yet they have been brought up in Christian homes. We shouldn’t allow our children to grow up in our Christian homes without understanding about Israel; without knowing God’s purposes for Israel; without having a heart for Israel.

Therefore if we know about it, and we know God’s heart, and then we get His heart in our heart we’ll be praying for Israel.

I think that’s a big thing. That’s somewhere where we can start and where we can pray for Israel.

I’ve often talked to you about how we have prayer boxes in our home. At our Family Devotions we have our Family Prayer Box but then we have nine different prayer boxes. One of them is our Praying for Israel Prayer Box.

Just last night we were praying out of that box and I have cards in it all about different areas and needs to pray for Israel. Actually I picked out just a few of them this morning. I’m not going to pick out the ones which have the needs for Israel, which are so many.

But I also have some of the cards that just have a Scripture out of the Word of God, which we can pray or be reminded to pray.

I’m just picking up this one here, Isaiah 62:6-7: “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord [which means we are reminders to the Lord], keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

That is the Word of the Lord and that’s a Scripture to all of us and to us as families. When we gather each day to read the Word and pray together that we remember to pray for Israel. We’re to be watchmen on the walls and we’re not to give God rest. We’ve just got to, as it says, give Him no rest and keep not silent.

Oh goodness me, I think some families have never opened their mouths to pray for Israel in their lives and here the Scripture says, “KEEP NOT SILENT.”

We are commanded to pray for Israel.

I was just thinking of when they came into the land. We talked about how you stayed on the top of Mount Blessing.

Let me give you the reference to Mount Blessing. It is Deuteronomy 11:29: “And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.”

Again it tells us about that in Deuteronomy 27:11-13. It is amazing!

Now, Allison, we’ve got your husband, Daniel, here, too, and we’re going to get him to speak but we’re running out of time and we’ll do it next session.

But Daniel was telling me how he couldn’t believe that right there where Joshua brought the children of Israel in and they all had to stand in that valley between those two mountains, the Mount of Blessing and the Mount of Cursing. Half the tribes of Israel had to stand on the Mount of Blessing (Mount Gerizim) and half on the Mount of Cursing (Mount Ebal) and Joshua read all the blessings and all the curses.

They had to all stand there with their children, with their little ones, with their toddlers, and holding their babies.  Every person had to hear the blessings and the curses before they went in to conquer the land because all the blessings came if they kept His commandments.

He said, “If you keep My commandments I will . . .” and He gave all the blessings. You can read them in Deuteronomy 28.

But Daniel was telling me how, it’s unbelievable! The acoustics are so incredible.

You think, “How can you read them, and anybody hear?”

But apparently Daniel was saying you could be up the mountain somewhere and you could hear people talking in Shechem, which is where it is. The acoustics are just so amazing.

So way back there, God prophesied and told them that this is where you will do it because God knew this was the best place for the acoustics. Isn’t that incredible?

AH: He had all the details taken care of.

NC: But I wonder, out there on the West Bank you saw a lot of amazing things. Maybe we do just have time for Daniel.

Daniel, Alison’s husband, was telling me how out there in the West Bank you see things that tourists don’t see. He was telling me about the UN and all the camps round about it. Tell us about it.

Daniel Hartman: As we were standing there looking down on the Mount of Blessing to the city of Shechem it looked like a nice town. Then you see right by the UN they have a refugee camp that looks like it’s a third world country.

We were talking about it and asking Joshua Waller and he said, basically it is just a photo-op. They only have a person or two living in there as best you could tell. There is no movement or cars.

They pull all of the Palestinians or Muslims or whatever they are called to basically make it look like it’s squalor, and basically show the nations and have this heavy deception as is expected for the media.

Of course I personally don’t know of anything good that comes out the UN.

It is personally sad to see how the whole world is being manipulated with this propaganda over lies about how they are in squalor. Then right next to this third world make-shift city they have beautiful buildings that the nations have poured in billions and billions of dollars that no one is even living in.

They build them so fast. They were telling me about a city where they built it so fast that they didn’t even plan to put sewage in it. No one could live in it because they didn’t have any facilities for sewage.

Basically Israel has sections A, B, and C. It is all state property. What they have happening is whoever comes to possess the land first are the ones that get it. So the countries of the world that hate Israel, that hate Hebrews, are paying all these cities that are built and no one is living in them. It is just the most bizarre thing.

As you’re standing on these mountains looking down you see across the valley where Abraham came into the land first and was promised the land by God.

Then you see the place where Joshua addressed the whole nation of Israel, six tribes on the Mount of Blessing and six tribes on the Mount of Cursing. You see where Joshua built the altar to sacrifice to God right there.

You see the place where Joseph was thrown into the cave and given and sold into slavery to Egypt.

You see Joseph’s tomb sitting right there.

Then you see Jacob’s field as you’re looking down.

Then you see Jacob’s well and right next to it is this UN debauchery. I don’t know how else to say it, just with the lies and the propaganda, and how everything is being manipulated.

Nancy, if you don’t mind, I am going to read this really quick and then I’ll be done.

It is Zechariah 8 and of all verses I was actually listening to this on the way on the flight in.

Me going to the land, I knew I needed to go there, but I didn’t really understand how to connect and how powerful it would be.

This is what I read as I came in, Zechariah 8:1-7 in the International Standard Version: “This is this message from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies: “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘I’m greatly jealous about Zion [which is Jerusalem], and that makes me furious about her.’”

He is just jealous about Jerusalem with a great love.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Zion and I will live in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be called, “The City of Truth” and the mountain of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will be called, “The Holy Mountain”.’”

This is where Christ is going to reign. This is where we’re grafted in as Christians, is Jerusalem.

Verse 4 says: “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘There will yet be old men and old women sitting in the parks of Jerusalem . . ..”

This is talking about peace. There is not peace there right now.

Literally, we were talking to the missionary guy that we were staying with. His son is in the IDF and three Muslims walked by and just spit on his feet.

If you are a tourist they don’t mess with you because that is money coming in, but if you’re a Hebrew that’s what is going on, especially if you’re in the IDF because they don’t allow any Muslims in their army.

So: “In the parks of Jerusalem, each one of them holding canes in their hands due to their old age [meaning they lived a long life]! The city parks will be filled with boys and girls. They will play in the city’s open parks.’ “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says [these are the armies, the Leader of God’s army and the role that He’s putting on in place]: ‘It may seem impossible to the survivors of this people, but is it impossible for me?’ declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘Look! After having saved my people from the land of the east and from the land of the west, I will also bring them back to live in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will truly be their righteous God.’”

NC: Yes, amen.

Well time has gone. I think we’re going to have to talk in another session because there’s more to talk about Israel.

Daniel, I love to pray at the end of each of our podcasts. I wonder if you could pray today and ask the Lord to open all of our hearts more and more to truly understand all of God’s purposes for Israel?

DH: “Dear Lord, Thank You for this time that we were able to go to this land, Your land, to walk in Your city that You will reign from, God. Thank You for continually opening my eyes to how precious Israel is to You, God.

“Lord God, we just pray that the people there would turn to You, God; that they would turn from their works-based religion and see You, the true Messiah, as You will stand and come down that Mount of Olives, God, and rule and reign forever

“I know they will see You and You’ll be revealing Yourself to them and they will turn to You then, God, but I pray for these people.

“I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, God, that all these people of these lands, God, and the world, would just see peace in Jerusalem; that they would see peace and not the division and that the division would stop in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

Episode 87 - EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS (PART 2)

Are you praying for Christ to come? We need Him in homes—and in the BEDROOM! We need him to come and bring REVIVAL—in our homes, in our churches, and in the land. Are you praying for Him to come? 2020 is a year for prayer!

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. Well, I'm hoping that it won't be very long . . . Well, I hope that it's very soon that you will be receiving your new issue of Above Rubies.

I'm so sorry you've had to wait so long for this issue. This last year it seemed that it took longer than usual for the finances to come in, because we rely completely on just the love offerings of God's people, and those who have a heart for families, who want to see marriage, motherhood, and family encouraged and strengthened, and the families of this nation and around the world...

We just rely on them to give, so we can get this magazine printed. It does cost well over $60,000 to print, and to send it out across the world. God is faithful, and at last, we're just about to get another magazine out into the nation. I pray that you will be blessed.

If you are listening, and you are not on the mailing list for Above Rubies, just send your name and address to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We'll be happy to send it to you. It doesn't matter what country of the world you live in. We'll send Above Rubies out to you. It goes to well over 100 countries of the world. You can get it, no matter where you live.

And by the way, ladies, don't keep Above Rubies hidden away to yourself. I know that it's a great blessing to you when it comes to you in the mail. You're encouraged and inspired and blessed. In fact, there are so many thousands of women over the years whose lives have been completely changed and revolutionized through this little magazine.

It happens through sharing it, giving out to others, sharing it with your friends. Put Above Rubies in the waiting rooms of doctors and dentists and hairdressers. I love to put an Above Rubies magazine in the little baby changing tables in restaurants and supermarkets, wherever we go. And when we meet people, always have one in your handbag so you can give it to them.

Do you remember listening to Evangeline a couple of weeks ago, about being unapologetically unashamed, and what was the other one? Unoffendable! For your faith, and the Kingdom of God, and for motherhood. Let's never be ashamed of our great salvation, and who we are as mothers, for this is God's plan for us.

Let's tell the world!

Well,  I want to continue a little more today from last week. I was sharing with you about the word “come,” this beautiful word, “come.” Jesus said, “Behold, I come quickly.” And so, we are to be looking for His coming. We're to be hastening His coming and trying to hurry it along. But I was saying last week how we also need to pray that God will come, EVEN NOW. That we're just not waiting for His coming, but He'll come now into our lives.

ASK GOD TO COME INTO EVERY ROOM OF YOUR HOME

And we were talking about His coming to our table. I believe we should ask Him to come into every room in our house. We need Him in every room, don't we? We need him in the kitchen, where we're rushing around, trying to cook the meals, and our little toddlers are wanting us, and everybody is wanting us at once.

Don't you find that, as a mother, everybody needs you at once? My, mothers are so wanted, aren't they? You can't say that you're rejected as a mother, because everyone needs you and wants you at once! So you can rejoice in that.

But we need God. Oh, how we need Him! How we need His Presence! But of course, He loves to come. He loves to dwell in your heart, and He loves to dwell in your home. He loves to fill your home with His Presence. So keep praying, “Come, Lord Jesus, come, fill this room.” You can go through every room in your house.

ASK GOD TO COME INTO YOUR CHILDREN’S BEDROOMS

What a lovely thing for you and your husband to do. Go, take a moment, take some time, when you go into every room in your house, and you ask God to come into that room, where each child sleeps, each bedroom. And pray over their rooms. My, what a good thing to do! Over your children's, or getting into their teenage years, go and pray in their rooms.

And also, we need to watch what they have in their rooms. I am not one of those mothers who believes, “Oh, because it's their room, they can just have what they like in their room, and they can pin up any pictures they like in their room.”

Oh no, it's YOUR house, not their house. YOUR house. You are responsible for everything that's in your home, and in your teenagers' rooms too. Not that I like to use the word “teenagers” because it's not in the Bible, and I don't believe . . . well, it wasn't even in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary.

It is now, today, of course, because we've come into these teenage years, which really are not meant to be. God intended our children to move into maturity, and to move into adulthood, from that time of 12 and 13 years of age. We know even today, in Israel, when a young boy becomes 12 years old, he has his Bar Mitzvah, and he is then moving into maturity.

We don't want our children to be those who just hang out in teenage years. We must watch over their rooms, and watch over what is there, and what books they're reading, and what they're watching on social media. In going and praying, “Come, Lord Jesus, into this room!” Oh pray and cry it out!

ASK GOD TO COME INTO YOUR BEDROOM

You can pray it over your own bedroom. “Come, Lord Jesus, into our bedroom!” Because the Scripture says that the bed is honorable and undefiled. The bed, the marriage bed, is a holy place, a place of holiness, where there is nothing that is defiling. Don't allow anything that is defiling to come into your bedroom.

God has provided a very holy sexual act for husbands and wives in their bedroom, and it is to be holy. It is to be glorious. You do not need to be trying any other things. Today, there are many other things that people want to try, and they're not godly. Keep your marriage bed holy, and ask God to come in. Ask Him to come. Yes, this is what we're meant to be doing, precious ladies. Asking God to come.

Let's go over to Proverbs. Proverbs 5 is a beautiful passage about marriage. It's actually in the context of talking about the husband here, talking to him. And it says, “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.” This is talking about the marriage, and really, what it's saying is that marriage is a private possession. It's not something to be shared with all. It's private. It belongs to the husband and wife only. We must watch that.

I am so upset, and I've seen it more than once, when I've seen people write on Facebook, “Well, is it just ok for me to go out and have a cup of coffee, you know, with another guy friend. I've known him for years. I knew him at school.”

And then you see people answer, “Oh yes, there's nothing wrong that! What's wrong with your husband if he's going to get jealous of that?”

That is the pits. No! Marriage is a private possession. It's for the husband and wife only, and I do not believe that we can ever, ever again, when we're married, have a personal one-on-one friendship with another person of the opposite sex. No.

Of course, you can have wonderful friends. My husband and I have such wonderful friends that we enjoy together as couples, and as families. But I would never ever dream of going out and even having a cup of coffee with another man on my own. Goodness me! Help! That would be sacrilege to my marriage!

You see, marriage is a private possession. “Let thy fountain be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed; and rejoice with the wife of thine youth.”

Your bedroom, your bed, is meant to be a place of rejoicing, a beautiful place ordained and condoned and anointed by God—od, Who is the One Who so intricately and amazingly created us, and created the man and the wife to become one flesh. That's how He created us! It's amazing. And out of this one flesh union comes forth the godly seed. That's how God intended it.

But God made that one flesh union such a glorious and beautiful thing. I think He did that because, if it was just some very mundane thing, that it wouldn't be something that a couple would be that interested in doing. And yet God so looks for the godly seed that He made it something so glorious.

What does it say in Malachi, chapter 2? Talking about marriage, and it says: “And what does God want from your marriage?” And then we listen for the answer. We read the next phrase. And it says, “I want a godly seed.” Some translations say: “I look for godly offspring.” God looks for the godly offspring to come forth from that godly union of the one flesh marriage.

So it goes on to say: “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times.” Now this is talking to the husband, but it says that his wife is to satisfy him. That word, in the Hebrew, means “to slake the thirst, to make drunk, to satiate abundantly, to soak.” Wow, that's pretty amazing.

It's amazing when you go into the Hebrew to understand what a word means. That sounds so incredible, but that's God's glorious design. It is a very beautiful saying. God wants to come in, because this is God's design, and God's plan. And then, what does it say next? Oh yes! “Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times.” Well, not just on the odd occasion, but at all times.

And it goes on to say: “And be thou ravished . . . ” Ravished? Ravished, that's a pretty powerful word. What does it say in the Hebrew? The Hebrew word means “enraptured, intoxicated, lost in her love forever.” The Holman translation says: “Transported with delight, captivated.”

And so, God has made this beautiful thing something that is to not be some boring thing. No, God created the man and God created the woman in such a way that they would intoxicate one another. Yes, did you hear it? Intoxicate. Enrapture. Captivate. And they don't need to do any other kinky things. The way God has created is all that is needed.

You see, and if you are, if perhaps in your marriage relationship, things are not what they ought to be . . . you’re not enjoying this part of your life, of your marriage, which is marriage, because when God puts a man and woman together, He says that he will leave his father and mother, and they would be joined together, and they would be ONE FLESH. That is marriage. That is exactly the description.

So if you are not experiencing what this Scripture is talking about, cry out to God. “Come, Lord Jesus! Come. You created us for this glorious divine union. This is Your plan. Come, come into our bedroom.”

I remember, at an Above Rubies retreat years ago, in question time, a woman brought up some issue on this subject, and a dear older woman got up. She said, “There were times in my life that, you know, we didn't fully experience this. As we came closer and closer to God, He brought us into such a wonderful experience together.”

And she said, “I have always, as I began to cry out to God, I began to see a picture of the Lord standing at the end of our bed with His arms outstretched in blessing. And as I began to see this, I could come into knowing that yes, this was God's blessing. I could receive it. I could open my heart, and open every part of myself to my husband, because it was God's blessing, God's plan.” And this is what it is.

Sometimes, some couples have been through horrific things in their past days and it brings in a spoiling of what is meant to happen in a marriage bed. But God is bigger. He is able to cleanse you and heal you and forgive you. And He wants you to know that this is His blessing over your marriage bed.

And so it goes on to say, we haven't even finished yet. “And be thou ravished always with her love.” Once again, we have this at all times, and always. This word is tamiyd in the Hebrew. The word means, “continually.” It's not a word that means haphazard, every now and then. It is a continual, that's continually, and in other Scriptures, it's translated “continually.”

It's the same word that's used for the continual bread upon the table of the showbread, which was always to be there. It was never to be off the table. It's the same word that is used for the daily sacrifice, which was a morning and evening sacrifice.

Well, I'm not saying that, you know, you have to, OK, morning and evening, no, but I'm giving you the picture of what the word is, as it is a pretty continual word, because this is God's plan. So, dear precious ones, don't ever settle for less than what God has for you. Ask Him to come, to come.  You see, God wants to come into every part of your life.

ASK GOD TO COME IN REVIVAL POWER

Oh now, the prayers that I'm praying, I'm constantly praying, and I'm praying it in this hour, “God, please come in revival! Come, and bring revival! I need revival in my life. I need revival in my home. Continually. I need revival. We need revival in the church.”

Oh, goodness me, the church at this present time in our nation, it needs revival! We are, and of course, there are pockets of God moving by His Spirit, and yes, we see that. But I’m talking over all. We are a pathetic church! There is so much world in there. Look, most Christians who love the Lord today, they love the Lord. Oh, I have so many wonderful friends who love the Lord! I know so many young people who love the Lord!

But really, when it gets down to tin tacks, they're more involved with the world than they are with the Lord. They go to more movies, or they watch more movies, or they go to more sports than they spend time with God. Oh, they'd rather just go out and be entertained than come to pray.

ASK GOD TO COME TO YOUR CHURCH

I mean, prayer meetings, just look at the church today. There are hardly any prayer meetings. And if you have a prayer meeting, it's so poorly attended. I mean, you only get the little wee few, the faithful few who come to the prayer meeting. What is it? We're not living in revival days.

Actually, I have lived in revival days. Back in the early days of our marriage and raising our children, we were living in revival days in the church that we were part of. It was just incredible. Oh, God was doing mighty things.

Oh, I mean, when we came to church, we didn't kind of, you know, get along to church. No! We just couldn't wait to get to church, and when you got there (one part, we had our church upstairs, it was a picture theater we had renovated) and you ran up the stairs! You ran! You could not wait to get in there because you did not want to miss one minute of God moving by His Spirit. And every service people were coming to the Lord. Every Sunday, we had baptisms. Oh goodness, me, it was just amazing!

And then of course, sometimes we'd have baptisms out in the river. The power of God would just come on people as they were baptized, and they would, oh, they couldn't even stand! If we didn't hold them, they would just be floating down the river! It was just amazing!

And then, those times passed. And it becomes more normal, and we can get used to normality. Oh, may God save us from getting used to normality, and getting used to apathy, and getting used to a normal church, where we just go along to church, but oh, how we long for God to come! Come, come, Lord, move by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Once again, “It's not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 4:6). I long for the moving of the Holy Spirit. Oh, do you long for that? Are you so passionate for it? I know it will only come by prayer. And so, as we pray for revival, in our lives, in our church today, and of course, in our government, in the swamp, oh, are you praying for that? Are you praying for mighty things to happen there?

And across the land, do you want righteousness to come to this land? Oh, that's what I long for. I just can't bear the evil. Can you bear it? I mean, to think that we now live in a nation where homosexuality is law. We can't get used to that, ladies! We can't get used to it. We've got to watch that we don't get used to things as an abomination to God.

Where we're seeing abortion still on such a massive scale. When we have leaders of our state who are prepared to kill babies after they are born! I mean, we couldn't even fathom this, even a few years ago, and now we're living in it. Does that make you want to cry out for revival?

Come, Lord Jesus!

If He is coming for a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, are we ready? Are we holding back His second coming? Or are we hastening it, and hurrying it along, as we pray and cry out for revival, and God exposing sin in our midst, and bringing a revival of purifying, and bringing righteousness back into the church.

And, oh, where worldliness will be gone, and sin, where there's so much sin and worldliness and apathy in the church today. We must look much different to the world. Oh, that we would pray. And of course, if we're going to cry out to God, we're going to love prayer. Do you love prayer, ladies?

This is 2020. This is the year of 2020. This is a strategic year. I know, for wherever you live in the world, many of you living in different countries, and I know you're crying out for your country.

ASK GOD TO COME TO OUR NATION

But here in the USA, this is election year for America. And it's a very strategic year. We have senators, we have people who are pouring, we have very wealthy people who are pouring billions and billions of dollars into candidates, Democratic candidates, who stand against everything of God, who promote homosexuality, who promote abortion, even after the baby is born. They're willing to kill the baby.

They want to make this a socialist state, and they're pouring billions into making this happen. It is a spiritual battle. We must pray. We have a president that God has given us. Now he may not be perfect, as not one of us are perfect, and yet amazingly, sovereignly, God is raising him up to stand for everything that is righteous.

He stands against homosexuality. He stands against abortion. He stands with that which God stands for. He stands for Israel. He stands for God's people and the evangelical church. He stands for Christians. He's seeking to stand for that which is right. He's seeking to protect our nation.

And I believe we need to pray for him. We have responsibility to pray for those who are in leadership, whether we like them or not. We must pray. Do you pray as a family each day? For our President? For those who are in leadership?

Do you even know some of the folks who are in leadership? I had recently some young couples around our table, and I don't know how we got onto the subject, but I asked at the table, “Who is the Vice President of the United States?” I nearly fainted and fell off my chair because not one of them knew who the Vice President was! All these American couples! Help! If you don't know who the Vice President is, how you can pray for him!?

OK, who is the Secretary of State? A very important person. Do you know? The Secretary of State is Mike Pompeo, and he is working so closely with President Trump, with all the strategic things that are happening in our world, with Iran, and with North Korea, and so on. And he needs our prayers. And he is a godly Christian man. And we need to pray for him.

President Trump, Mike Pompeo, Vice President Pence, and so many of the others, they need our prayers. We need to know who they are.

Do you know who the Attorney General is? William Barr. And who is the man who he has appointed to investigate the investigators, to investigate the CIA and so on, and all these people who have been, you know, been on about this Russian  hoax, which we all know is a hoax. But it must be exposed, and so William Barr appointed a man named John Durham, who is a prosecutor, and he is also a Christian man. He is investigating. We need to pray that God will show him the truth, because truth needs to be revealed. There's so much that is hidden, there's so much that is fake, there's so much that is corruption, and all the corruption and hidden things need to be revealed. Truth needs to be exposed.

ARE YOU PRAYING AS A FAMILY?

We need to be praying! Are you praying? Are you teaching your children how to pray? We're not only told in Timothy 2:1-4 that we're to pray for our leaders. But there’s another principle God gave, way back in Jeremiah 29, when His people were sent to Babylon. There they were, they were now in a foreign country, they were captives there, and God came to them through the prophet Jeremiah, and he told them, told them to do seven things.

It was amazing, He told them, “OK, live life just how I've told you to always live it. Build houses, plant gardens, have children, have grandchildren, and don't diminish. Even though you are now in a captive land, and in a foreign place, don't stop what I told you to do. Don't diminish, I want you to increase in that land! And I want you to pray for this city in which you live, and don't be deceived.”

And so God is concerned about praying for where we live. For the area in which we live, and the country in which we live. We must pray for the nation in which we live. And so, gather your children. Pray every day. Pray for our nation. Pray for our leaders. Pray for revival.

Will you please pray, “Come, Lord Jesus! Come to our nation. Come in revival, power. Come and bring the anointing of Your Spirit to expose all sin. Oh God, please make us a holy people without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” Teach your children to pray for revival.

I think the most important thing is to be praying in our homes morning and evening as we gather together as family. But also, you know it's a good thing to have a prayer meeting in your home. Have you ever had a prayer meeting in your home?

We've had a prayer meeting all our lives in our home, and we have a prayer meeting here once a week, every week of the year. Actually we haven't had it the last two weeks because people have all been away, but we'll be back to it next week. Every single week, we get together to pray.

Now, even if you only just get a wee, few people, just get a prayer meeting, where you're praying for the nation, praying for these coming elections. They're the most strategic elections, I believe, that will ever be held in this nation. These elections determine whether our nation will become a socialist nation or whether it will stand for righteous principles and for the Constitution. It's not going to happen without our prayers.

When President Trump first became President, God put it upon my heart that when I pray for him, to lift up my hands, just as an act of holding him up before the Lord. I remember how when the Israelites were fighting against the Amalekites, and when Moses stood on the mount, and held up his rod, the Israelites, they would win over the Amalekites. But when his arms got tired, and he let them down, the Amalekites, they would begin to take over. So Aaron and Hur, his two brothers, held up his hands, and as they held them up, they won the victory over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-14)

Trump today is fighting the Amalekites. It's a powerful battle, and they hate him because of this. They're seeking to assassinate him, to poison him. He's also already had two poisonings against him. In fact, one of his taste testers has already died. We need to pray. We don't hear all these things, but this is what has happened. We need to pray for his safety from assassins and his safety from poison.

We need to cry out to God to keep him in wisdom and righteousness, and sovereignly help him to be what God wants him to be, to bring righteousness to this nation. Hold your hands up as you pray, and you're holding him up before the Lord. Oh, and whether you're a little family, or a big family, pray!

I give you, as we close this session, a Scripture. Let's go back to Leviticus, chapter 26. And here, it's talking about the enemies that come into our land. And we've got many enemies that have come into this land of USA. I think our founding fathers would turn over in their graves if they could see what was happening today.

But in verse seven, it says: “And ye shall chase your enemies and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred. And an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.”

Five of you. Just five. Three children and mom and dad are five. Just a little family can put 100 enemies to flight as they pray. Because prayer is our biggest weapon in the battle. There's no greater weapon.

Why is it, darling ladies, that we're so reticent to pray? When it's our biggest weapon? It's because the devil is keeping us from prayer. He'll do everything in his power to keep us from praying. He’ll kind of help us to feel tired, or lethargic, or we can't be bothered. Or we'd rather relax. Or we'd rather watch a movie. Or we'd rather do anything else but pray!

Yes, prayer takes a lot of gumption. You've just got to do it! But you see, if you're in war, or if you're in a battle, you can't just sit down on the sofa and put your knees up. In a battle, you've got to go to war. That's what prayer is all about.

But five can put 100 enemies to flight. What about 20 families of just five? They can put 10,000 to flight. What about families who've got six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven children around their tables? You've got a prayer meeting!

Wow, you can go to war! You can go to battle! You can be used to save this nation! Because it's prayer that will save this nation. Oh, dear ladies, will we make 2020 a year of prayer? To cry out to God, to ask Him to come.

Jeremiah 10:25 says: “Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families . . . ” Wow, what families? “The families that do not call on Thy Name.” What a powerful Scripture!

That word is saying: if families, Christian families, godly families, don't bother to call upon the Name of the Lord, they might as well be heathen families. Because that's the difference between the heathen families and the godly families.

The godly families are those who call upon the Name of the Lord. They're calling upon the Name of the Lord for themselves, for their children, for their families, for their homes, and for the homes and families of the nation. They're crying out to God to save their nation.

We as families should gather around our tables, praying together. We can save our nation! Oh, precious lovely ladies, let's do it! 2020, the year of prayer, the year of crying out to God, the year of saying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Amen.

Let's pray.

“Dear Father, I pray that the words that are said today will not just be words. Oh God, that You will help us to truly get up, get into the battle, to take action. Oh Lord, we are in a spiritual battle. This is not yet our time of rest. Our time of rest is coming in the eternal realm. That is our time of rest.

“And Lord, although we can live in rest in our spirits, we are in a battle and we've got to go to war in the realm of prayer. Help us to be faithful pray-ers, praying with our families, praying with others, Lord, making things happen, making gatherings happen, even if it's once a week, or once a month. (Will we make a gathering happen, to pray with others for the nation?)

“Oh God, help us, Lord, to show us how You want us to do, and what You want us to do. We pray Lord, that You would take us from where we are now, no matter how much we've been praying up to this moment, You'll take us into a greater realm than we've ever known before. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”