FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 115- BIRTHING BABIES, PART 2

Meadow joins me again today as we continue talking about birth. We talk about embracing birth, the power of birthing, and how God is very involved in the birth. We talk about the blessing of BIRTHING ENCOURAGEMENT PARTIES, which prepare young mothers for childbirth, and more.

Nancy Campbell:  Hello, ladies. Meadow and I are here together again. I'm so sorry that you didn't get the podcast on time. Meadow and I had done it together, but when it was time to be sent out to our webmaster, it was lost! It could not be found. o Colin and I came all the way back from Florida, where we had been having our Above Rubies Family Retreat. Now we've come down the track (a couple of hours) to Meadow's home, because she's just moved into a new home.

So here we are, and we're going to do this second session again. Well last time, I started off with a poem, so I'm going to read it to you. It's called:

BABY, YOU’RE WORTH IT!

By Jenny Silliman

Morning sickness, nighttime too,

Sleepy and tired the whole day through,

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Money’s tight and clothes don’t fit,

More to sew and mend and knit,

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Baby stuff is everywhere,

And I just sit here in my chair.

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Daddy declares, “We’re going out to eat!”

“Then ties my shoes, I can’t reach my feet.”

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Waiting and waiting, and pains at last,

Only false labor and due date past,

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Out in public, huge and humble,

“Is this your first?” “My sixth,” I mumble.

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Strangers’ advice, looks and sneers,

Taking comments, jokes, and jeers,

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Five children in tow, one on the way,

Out shopping my nerves begin to fray,

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Aches and pains and heavy with child,

Can’t wait to put Baby down awhile.

Oh thank You God! A baby!

The pains begin, they’re good and strong,

Pray and labor all night long.

Oh thank You God! A baby!

Labor and sweat and bear the pain,

Husband works to share the strain,

Oh thank You God! A baby!

The babe is born, oh sweet reward.

What a blessed gift from the Lord.

Oh thank You God! A Baby!

Well, in this session, we're talking about birth. Now that's the harder part. But of course, the reward is worth it. This precious, precious baby!

So it's great to be here with you again, Meadow. We've got lots of things to talk to you about in this session. Maybe before you share, Meadow, I should share with you . . .  I said right at the end of Part 1, we didn't get time to tell you about Evangeline's story.

We were just sharing, weren't we, about the “high” that you get after the baby is born, that oxytocin high. Meadow was saying how that you feel as though you climbed Mt. Everest. I said, “Wow, that's exactly what Evangeline said when she gave birth to Tiveria!”

Now that's quite a long time ago. I think Tiveria is 17 now, isn't she? I'm sure she is. Anyway, at that birth, Vange was having a breech baby. They decided that Howard would be the midwife. It was quite an amazing birth. He was an incredible midwife. He just was totally “hands on.” He was in control. He just knew how to bring this baby forth. When a baby is breech, you only have a couple of minutes to get that baby out, once the breech part, the buttocks of the baby, has crowned.

This baby, she was ready to push, and Howard said, “Yes, you can push, but as she began to push, Howard realized this baby was stuck. He had to manually go in, to bring down each leg, one by one, and then go in, and bring down each arm. All the while, he's just looking up at Vange, and saying “You're doing great! You're doing great!”

He was doing all this. It was just unbelievable. We were all gathered around Vange, and we were crying out, “Oh, God, bring forth this baby in the Name of Jesus!” And then the head was stuck! Oh goodness me.

But he had prepared and thought about if ever such a thing should happen, what would he do? He had worked out what he would do, which he did. This baby's head became unstuck and came out. We sort of thought, oh goodness me, it seems like half an hour that all this was happening! But it was only, barely a minute or so.

This baby came out, and it was just so glorious! Evangeline said, “Oh, I've climbed Mt. Everest, and I've put my flag at the top!” That's what you feel like after a birth. It's so amazing.

You know, sometimes, it doesn't work out that you have a natural birth. But we always love and long for that, and pursue that, if we can possibly do it, because it's how our bodies were created. Our bodies were created to bring forth a baby. Then you have this glorious, wonderful oxytocin high. You have such an empowerment. I think there's an empowerment in birthing, isn't there?

You know, I think it's sad for many mothers who just give over their birth to a doctor and hospital staff. They're not really participating themselves. They miss out. Because in participating and birthing your baby, you are empowered. It gives you worth as a woman. You feel that there's nothing you can't do!

Meadow: It reminds me about birth. “A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come. But as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers her anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into this world.” That's John 16:21.

NC: Yes, that is just so true, isn't it? So I believe, this is why our lovely young mothers, especially first-time mothers, they need encouraging. So many of them have never been encouraged, or even understood about how they can actually birth.

Along with my lovely daughters, a while back . . .  Actually Rashida was the first, wasn't she? We decided that we would gather together and put on a birthing encouragement party for our new mothers.

Meadow: I had one too.

NC: Oh you did. It was so great. We started with Rashida, and it was so wonderful that we thought, “Oh, wow, we're doing one for Meadow.” You made sure we did one for you, didn't you? You weren't going to not have that!

So, of course, we had the baby shower. But then, we had this birthing encouragement party. What we do, at Rashida's, and we did it for beautiful Meadow, too . . . We don't just have a great big party, because we only gather those who can positively share about birth, and give understanding, and little tips and know-how to these new mothers who have never been through it before.

I come, and Pearl, and Serene, and Vange, and one or two other close friends who just birth naturally. We begin to share. It's just so wonderful. Vange, she has really studied birth, of course, had ten births. Between us all, we've all had so many births.

So each one will go round and share the things that they found helped them during birth, so that they could encourage this young mother. How was it a blessing to you, Meadow?

Meadow: Oh, after I had my birthing encouragement party, I remember thinking, every new mother needs to have one of these. It was so encouraging to me. It made me excited about giving birth! Another thing that they did at my party is they all brought freezer foods for me. That really helped out post-partum.

That's such a wonderful thing, because a lot of times in western culture, we throw a baby shower for the mother because we want to bless them with the new baby. We sometimes forget about the mother. I was thinking, this is such a wonderful way to bless the mother because she's the one having the baby. She needs a lot of rest, and she needs a lot of encouragement. I think it would be . . . A lot of women would have a lot more confidence as they approach their birth. In Japan they don't even have baby showers!

NC: Oh, really?

Meadow: Yes, I remember saying, “Oh, I'm going to have a baby shower” to my doctor, and they were like, “What's a baby shower?”

NC: Oh, really?

Meadow: So at least we have that! But this was just one more thing that's such a blessing to the new mother.

NC: Oh, yes, and it's so wonderful to have a baby shower, and get all these beautiful gifts and clothes for your baby, clothes that you'll never manage to get through all of them to wear! I remember Rashida's second baby shower, no, third, for her last little boy. That was her third baby. Oh, she got so many sets of clothes, I don't know how she'll ever use them.

But when you have a birthing encouragement party, oh, I don't know, I just think it would be wonderful, as Meadow did, for every young mother to have this.

Meadow: Oh yes, I would say, at your birth encouragement party, invite women who are only going to share positive birth stories. This is something I think is so important, to encourage young women and not scare them with their birth stories.

I think that's why so many women, they want to have epidurals, because a lot of times, when we talk about our birth stories, if we had a traumatic experience, that's how we cope with the trauma, is by talking about our birth stories. But that can cause fear for young women who have never given birth or been pregnant. So I think it doesn't mean that we can't talk about how our birth was hard, but it's about the way we talk about it.

Like when you, Nana, were talking about Auntie Vangie's breech birth, it was the way you talked about it. You talked about it as a victorious experience. But if you had said, “Oh it was terrible, she had a breech birth, and she was really scared to go through it again. I don't know how she did it! It was so scary!”

Well, that would cause a lot of  fear, I think. So I, when I talk about my birth, there were some physical things that I went through, but my point is, “Oh, but God got me through that. It was so beautiful, a victorious experience.”

Yes, some things were hard, like I had back labor with both of mine. Their head was in the wrong position. It was down, but it was facing the wrong way. So that was very painful. But it was not traumatic. I was so able to get through it, and still look back and think it was a wonderful experience.

NC: Yes, yes! That is the thing. Because something can be hard as you're going through. You know, labor is labor! It's hard, hard work. Like some men have to get out and work so hard. You know, even when you work hard, if you're really doing something that takes all your strength, you go, uhhhhh. Yu kind of groan, and you do that with labor, too.

Of course, that's one of the little secrets, isn't it? You do have to be vocal in labor. It's important. There's something about being vocal that helps you move these things. So when you're in labor, and you've just got to let it out, but the secret is, you keep it to that low groan.

You don't get high and scream, because that doesn't help. It just completely makes it worse. There's something about this intense, uhhhhh, this groaning, this low groan, even if it's loud, loud, loud. Because it helps you in that intensity of the labor. But it's not as though you're dying, it's just you're doing intense labor!

Meadow: I can add that, yes, I remember before I gave birth, not to scream, not to make any high-pitched noises, because that actually makes it worse. So when I had to push Warren out, I was pushing a really long time, over an hour. I was doing like heavy metal groaning!

I have a very soft, high-pitched voice, so that noise was kind of surprising, coming from me, I guess. I just had to do everything I could to get him out, because his hand was up there, so I did that deep, deep, almost growling noise. But it seemed to help!

NC: It does, it does help, yes. I would notice with many of the births of our daughters, and our wonderful midwife would be there. They would maybe start to get a little bit high and she would say, “Come on, get that noise down!” Because it's so much better for your labor contractions.

Another thing I love to tell the young mothers, and this is something I found a blessing for me. I had to know it, because you're going through labor, and you're getting up to six and seven and eight, and then you're getting closer, you're coping. OK, you're groaning, but you're coping. You ride and you raise, or whatever you do.

That's another thing too. You know, when each contraction comes, it's important to think of something that you will do as you go through that contraction. Everybody will think of something different. For me, to me it was like riding a wave. I guess, because I was brought up near the sea, by the Pacific Ocean, with the pounding waves kind of coming down, and loving to ride on those waves. It was something that I loved.

In fact, we were just down at Panama Beach, because that's where we had the family retreat. The hurricanes had been coming through nearby. We didn't get them, but it made the sea very rough, especially for the Gulf.

It was fun. I just love going out, but although it was sort of rough, it was still not like what I was used to with living in New Zealand, and then in Surfer’s Paradise in Australia. So I, as each contraction came, I would just think of riding this wave. Instead of tensing, I would seek to just go with the contraction, and go with it, and ride it out to the finish. So that was my mental image. What did you do with yours?

Meadow: Yes, I think women have different approaches to how they manage their contractions. I remember when I gave birth to Raymond, I would open up my palms every time I had a contraction because that would prevent me from tensing up. Because if your palms are tense, then it's likely that you're tense down there.

I would thank God. When the contractions came, I would be like, “Thank You, God, because my body is working to get the baby out.” Contractions are progress. That's how you have to view them. You can't fight them. You have to surrender to them.

So I would just focus on one contraction at a time. Don't worry about the next contraction. Don't think, “Oh, if this one is hard, how am I going to handle the next one?” Just take it one at a time. Because you get breaks, and God's grace is sufficient for that moment.

NC: Yes! That's beautiful. I love that, Meadow. Oh, I think Serene is a little spoiled. She always has quite a little wait between her contractions. I have even seen her at some of her births sort of nod off to sleep between them.

Meadow: That happened to me!

NC: Really?

Meadow: Yes, not with Warren. It was very intense with Warren, my first. But with Raymond, it's like my body gave me a break during transition, and I almost felt like I could take a nap.

NC: Wow!

Meadow: And I remember hearing my midwife say, “Yes, sometimes this happens when you're at a ten. Your body will put you in rest mode before you push, to reserve energy.” It was amazing.

NC: Amazing! Yes, God is so good! He is with us in labor. He is with you, dear mother, in your labor. God is with you every moment.

That's another thing, talking about transition. To me, I always had to have that there in the back of my mind, knowing that when I got to transition, when I'm opened up to ten, that's those last two or three contractions, they are so intense. They are the most intense. It's that time that many mothers think, “Oh, no, I can't do this! I can't do this!” And they want to get an epidural or get something else. They will give in.

But if you know, you've got to remember, OK, when you get to that intense time, that's transition. “Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! I've nearly got my baby!” So many of them, after those last few transition contractions, you're then, maybe you'll have a rest like you, but then you're going to begin to push.

And you're doing something entirely different. You're now pushing your baby out. So if you can just remember, especially dear new mothers, when you get to that most intense time, maybe your midwife or your nurse will say, “Yes, you're just at nine or ten! You're just about there, and you can do it! You can do it because you're right at the end!” So it's remembering at what stage you're at.

Meadow: That's right. With my second, transition was a lot faster. My water broke, and two contractions later, he was here. But with Warren, I had a long transition. But I, one thing I never let myself think was, “Oh, this is going to take forever! How am I ever going to get through this?” The mindset is so powerful, so I just kept thinking, “He's coming soon, he's coming soon,” even though I was pushing so long. You just have to thank God, “Oh, Thank You Lord, that this baby is coming!”

And you have to really envision yourself opening wide, because if you envision your body opening up wide, then you're more likely to open up wide, because our mind has a powerful influence over our body. But if you think, “Oh, I don't know how this baby is going to come out! I don't know how I can get this baby out of  my body!” Then you're more likely to tense and close up. So one of the best tips is to really envision yourself opening up.

NC: Yes, yes! Amen. Oh yes. So I hope you're getting all these little things. These are just some of the little tips, along with many others, that we would share at these encouragement parties. I'm just thinking, maybe we should do a podcast—I should get Serene, Vange, and Pearl...

Meadow: We'd have so much to share!

NC: Oh, yes, it would be a great idea, because, oh, it is so necessary to have that encouragement. It is just such a beautiful experience. I would have to say that giving birth to my babies were the most, some of the most beautiful, even though they were intense, and I had true, real labor, but oh, when you think of the whole birth, and the joy of that baby coming! They were some of the greatest experiences of my life!

Meadow: Oh, yes, after giving birth . . . two of the most amazing moments I can think of in my life were just after I gave birth. Because you have all of these endorphins, natural hormones of responding with your baby, oxytocin . . . It's just oh, it's hard to describe it!

NC: You cannot describe it until you have experienced it. That's why I want to encourage every new mom to just not give in and, “Here I am, just do what you have to do to get this baby out.” No! You birth this baby, and you will then get that beautiful, wonderful experience that God gives to you. Because God is in it all.

Oh, can I read you one or two Scriptures? There are so many Scriptures, but I wrote down a couple here I wanted to share with you.

Psalm 22: 9. David is speaking, and he says: “But Thou art He that took me out of the womb.” Now David is saying, “Oh, God, You are the One Who brought me out of the womb.”

He would have had . . . sure, there were midwives around. That was very much part of Biblical life and historical life back then. There were always many midwives around who would be there to help the mother with the birth.

But David acknowledged: “Oh, God, You are the One Who brought me forth from the womb.” I want you to get this, dear mothers. Ultimately it is God Who brings forth the baby. You may have a doctor there, you may have nurses, or you may have a midwife at home. But whoever is with you, it is God Who will bring this baby forth. He is the One Who does it.

In my margin, it says: “You were the One Who kept me in safety.” That's actually the root understanding of that Scripture. Quite a few other translations say: “You delivered me safely from my mother's womb.” Yes, now actually the New English Translation, in their comments say: “You are the One Who pulled me out.” They say the word is “pull out,” or “burst forth,” or “kept me safe.”

So these are beautiful understandings of that Scripture. “You are the One Who took me out of my mother's womb, Who brought me safely forth.” Oh, that's a Scripture you need to write down, and have it there, so you can have it in your heart, and in your mind, and speak it forth.

Yes, the Knox Translation says: “What Hand but Thine drew me out from my mothers' womb?” What hand was it? It was God's Hand. He's the One. His Hand is there to help bring forth your babies.

And then we have the Message Bible, which is a little more kind of down to earth. It says: “And to think that You” speaking of God, “Oh, God, You were midwife at my birth, setting me at my mother's breast.” Ultimately, God is your midwife. He is the One Who will bring your baby safely forth from your womb. So take hold of that. Oh, what a promise!

And then there's Psalm 71: 6. “By Thee, Oh God, have I been holden up from the womb. Thou art He that took me out of my mother's bowels,” or my mother's womb. “My praise shall be continually of Thee.” Isn't that wonderful? That's how I think of birth, every time I think of it. For my own . . . I think of it for every mother as I pray for her, for her birth. Thank You, Lord.

And maybe I just want to pray over every mother who's getting ready to have a baby. You're pregnant, your birth is coming up soon.

“Oh, Father, I bring every pregnant mother before You now. I bring her birth before You. At that moment, when this baby says it's time to come, because it's the baby who says it's time to come . . .

And Lord, I pray that You will come to her, and You will bring their precious baby forth, Lord. Oh, we thank You that You are the One Who does it. You are the One Who brings the baby safely forth. Lord God, I speak that promise over every mother waiting to have her baby. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Meadow: One more topic I can cover really quick. I just, I remember in our last podcast, we were talking about pain. And we were talking about fear of childbirth, but more specifically, I want to talk about fear of the pain, because that's why so many mothers get epidurals.

A lot of times, when we think of pain in childbirth, we think that it's going to be the most excruciating experience we've ever had. And in some cases, it might be the most pain a woman's ever gone through.

But not always. I've actually experienced some things that I thought were worse than childbirth, like when I had my root canal. Like this is worse than childbirth! It's more intense.

The thing about contractions is, they're not a sharp pain. They're more of a deep pain that grows. The nice thing about it is, you get breaks. You're not in pain the entire time, like if you have really bad tooth pain that hurts almost the entire time until you get it fixed. That's not the case with childbirth.

Another thing is when the baby comes out, when you have the “ring of fire.” I know some women are scared of that. What I would say to them is that's actually an exciting pain. Like when the baby starts to come out, and you feel that happening, that's one of the most exciting experiences ever, because you can actually feel the baby coming out of your body.

You're not really focusing on the pain. You're focusing on the baby, on the process of giving birth, and pushing out the baby. I don't remember that part being scary. It was like, “Oh my goodness, it's happening! He's almost out!” So don't be afraid of that part.

NC: Yes, Yes! Oh, I know! Lovely ladies, you don't have to look with just, oh, that fear, as you come to birth. You look forward it with joy because it is a very beautiful experience. And the greatest thing is, God is with you! He is the One Who brought conception. He is the One Who has mightily, supernaturally, amazingly, created this precious life in your womb.

He doesn't abandon you when this baby is to come. He is there! He's bringing this baby forth. Yield to your birth. As you yield to it, you will find that it is so much easier. God will be with you in the most wonderful way. Amen!

Meadow: Amen, Nana!

NC: Anything more you want to say about it?

Meadow: Oh, I guess I'd have a couple of practical tips. Get your husband on board. Let him study with you so that he can be your coach. So you can be a team. I love that my husband was my coach during birth. With my second, I didn't really need coaching so much, because it was so instinctive for me. But it can be comforting to know that your husband can remind you to keep your palms open, and how to breathe through the contractions.

NC: When I was breathing and preparing for my births, so many years ago now, but there was a wonderful book called Husband-Coached Childbirth. I'm not sure whether it is around today, but I'm sure you can get old books that are still there on Amazon. Look for it. It was a powerful book. I loved it. It was one of my favorite books on childbirth. Just look it up You might find it. It will be a real blessing to you.

It's so good to get hold of positive, encouraging books on birth that would encourage you to see it as a beautiful, God-given experience that your body was created to do. This is also what we need to be reminded of, lovely ladies, especially beautiful young mothers, or even mothers who had difficult hospital births, had invasion. And you haven't been able to be free to just do it how you want, and to position yourself how you want, get down on your knees, or do however you want to birth this baby.

Go after that, even those who've had C-sections. You know, many times you are informed by the medical staff that, “Oh, you've had a C-section, you'll just have to keep having C-sections. You know, you can't have a natural birth now.” That is not true.

There are literally thousands of women who have had VBACs, vaginal birth after C-section. It is something to go after. Go after it, and seek out a good midwife, or someone who will help you do that. Because it is so worth it! Your body was created to give birth! You're created to do it! So you can do it!

Meadow: Yes, that's great, Nana. So I just wanted to go over some of the practical tips we've already discussed. We've talked about opening your palms. We talked about low deep noises. We talked about envisioning yourself opening up wide, and how to handle each contraction.

Another one is to push out slowly. When I pushed with Warren, my first, I had to push out really long and hard, because his hand was stuck, so I couldn't really help with that. But he came out flying, and the doctor caught him thankfully! So I couldn't really push slowly out with him.

But with Raymond, I was one my knees, which helped so much. I actually gradually pushed him out really slow. That can take a lot of self-control, because you really, really feel like they need to get out, when they're in there like that. But that gave my body time to open up. So I think that really helped, the fact that I didn't tear.

NC: The pushing out is so important to do like that. I just love watching our lovely midwives, who were with so many of the births of our daughters. I think, well, she's hardly, of all the thousands of births she's done, she's hardly ever had a tear. She would just massage the perineum, helping to open it up, just as the baby was crowning.

She helped them so much with bringing forth this baby, just little by little. That's important too, although usually with your first, the baby is coming out more slowly, and you will have many more pushes. Subsequent babies, oh, I've found that I just got faster every time, until in the end, they would just fly out. I didn't even have to push! I think your body just gets used to birth. That can happen too. 

But I think our time is gone. I trust you have been so blessed and encouraged. Let me pray again.

“Oh, Father, we want to give You thanks. Thank You for Your design. Lord, Your works are perfect. And every design and plan of Yours is perfect. Your design to bring forth a baby is perfect. So Father, I pray that You will help every lovely young mom to understand this, that Lord, Your design is perfect, and that You are there to help them bring forth this baby safely.

“And Lord, as they yield to Your design, that Lord, You will be with them, and their birth will be so much easier. Maybe hard, but easier, because, Lord, You help us know how to do it, and you teach us. We thank You, Lord, that also You teach us, Lord.

“Every birth, we can understand more of how to do it as we learn to do it Your way. I just pray, Lord, again, for every mother who's pregnant, who's ready to give birth. Be with her in a powerful way. We pray that Lord, their baby will come forth triumphantly, victoriously, beautifully, wondrously. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Now, just before I go, I was thinking as I prayed, Serene and Pearl wrote a beautiful song about birthing. It's on one of their CDs. You can go to my web page, and all their songs you can download. So just check around for the one on birthing. It will so bless you. Maybe you'll want to put it on your playlist for your birthing. You made a playlist, didn't you, Meadow?

Meadow: Yes, I did. they were mostly worship songs.

NC: Yes, that's beautiful, to have worship songs. But this was a great song for birthing. Oh, it would so encourage you! Anyway, we've got to say goodbye. Love you all!

Transcribed by Darlene Norris.

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 114- BIRTHING BABIES, PART 1

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 so wonderful to be with you again.

Today I have my lovely granddaughter with me, Meadow. I know many of you have gotten to know Meadow. She is the daughter of Pearl of Trim Healthy Mama. In fact, Pearl is looking after little Warren while we are doing this podcast. We have little Raymond right here just cuddled into Meadow while we’re going to talk.

I’m looking forward to this session. This is number 114 Podcast and the last time Meadow did a podcast together was number 11 when we did “Facing Modesty Head on.” Then we did number 12: “Modesty and Femininity in the 21^st Century.” If you haven’t gotten to hear those, you will love to hear them.

As I was saying to Meadow, “Oh Meadow, it’s time we did a podcast together again.”

Of course Meadow has been away for quite a long time living in Japan with her husband who is an engineer. But when this COVID thing all happened, they had to come back because Japan was shutting down. So she thought she was going to have her second baby in Japan, but it worked out she was able to have him here. That was lovely because you got to have family all around, didn’t you?

Meadow Hall: Yes, the support has been so nice.

NC: Yes. And so, I said to Meadow, “What would you like to talk about?” Of course because she’s just given birth again, she said, “I’d love to talk about birth, Nana.”

I think this is going to be an amazing session that all of us have been through, or are going through, or will go through.

But before we do, I just want to just finish reading you the last of the “ness” words.

Remember for the last four sessions I read to you over eighty words that all end with “ness” that belong to motherhood. They are all beautiful words. I would love to talk to you about some of them as the days go on.

The rest of them are right down at the end. We got up to uniqueness, uprightness, usefulness, virtuousness, wifeliness, willingness, womanliness, wombness (I think we’ll get to talk a bit about that as we talk about birth), queenliness and zestfulness.

We always have to come up with a “Z” at the end, don’t we? Zestfulness is the quality of being full of energy and enthusiasm. I think we need that in our motherhood role, too, don’t we?

Of course we had queenliness for “Q.” Actually, that makes me think of Meadow, who’s sitting right beside me. I always think of my Meadow as a queen because she always dresses so femininely, and yet so full of dignity and beauty. She’s just a picture of such a queenly young mother.

MH: Thank you, Nana.

NC: You are Meadow! In fact, Meadow has always had just something special about her. I remember when she was just a young girl and until she married, she lived right here on the hilltop with us. Their home was just a couple of minutes from ours.

Back in the days when Meadow didn’t have an iPhone she had to come over and check things on my computer. I would see her walking over. She would always come over dressed so beautifully and here we are out on the hilltop and nobody is seeing us.

I have to confess, you know, I don’t always put on my beautiful clothes for around the home. I look like a bit of an around-the-home person until I go out.

But Meadow always dressed as though she was going out, even though she was just on the hilltop with no one to see her except her rough and tumble brothers.

Then I would see her walking down the path to her home out the window of my office. She would walk with her head up, just like a queen. She wasn’t trying to because there was nobody to impress but it was just how she does it. You’ve always had that anointing of queenliness, Meadow.

NC: Thank you, Nana. People say I get that from you.

NC: I think maybe you just got a little more of it.

MH: I don’t know about that!

NC: Maybe it will get better as it goes down the generations. At the moment Meadow just has two little boys. But I am sure that down the years the Lord will bless her with some daughters, too.

Anyway, Meadow, tell us about little Raymond. He’s your latest.

MH: Yes, he is three months now.

NC: Wow, the time goes.

MH: Yes, I flew over here when I was 37 weeks pregnant and so I just gave birth to him shortly after I got back to the States.

NC: You were just in time!

MH: Yes! I had to find a new midwife and a new birthing center. We had to work that out very quickly when we came back. He’s such a healthy big boy. I need to dress him in size 6-9 months clothes now and he just turned three months. He’s very long.

NC: Oh lovely. Anyway, how did this birth go here?

MH: It was a beautiful birth. It was much faster than my first. My first was about 27 hours. Both of these births were natural, and they were both very beautiful, but the second was easier.

NC: I always think that the first baby paves the way for the coming babies. That was my experience anyway.

MH: Yes that was mine, too.

NC: Of course you’re learning, too. You don’t know quite how this baby is coming out. Then as you experience that and as your body sort of opens up and paves the way for future babies it becomes easier.

I think also you learn a little bit more with each birth. I really believe that birth is an art. It’s something that you learn. I think that all the beautiful things of homemaking and mothering are very much an art. You don’t always know what you’re doing when you first start out.

Even nursing your baby is an art, like the book, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League, which is a wonderful book.

There it speaks of it as an art. I found it was an art, too, I didn’t know what I was doing when I first started but then you learn the art and then you become a pro.

It is the same with birthing. You kind of learn as you go. So lovely, precious young mothers, maybe you had a long birth or a difficult birth with your first one. Don’t despair, because it can be so much better next time.

MH: Yes that is so true, Nana. I believe that birthing is an art. I also believe that even if your first birth is really long and really hard it can still be a beautiful experience. That’s what it was for me.

NC: Yes, yes, I think that’s the wonderful thing about birth. Sometimes you can have a short very, very hard birth and then you can have a long more kind of prolonged but not so intensive birth. It’s amazing how every birth is different. All my births were different.

I often say to young mothers, “Don’t expect it to be the same next time.”  Maybe you’ve been through something even quite traumatic in your birth. Well that doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same next time. Every birth, the labor and the actual birthing are often different each time according to the position of the baby and all kinds of different things.

MH: Yes, for sure. My mom, when she had me ,that was a traumatic experience for her. I was her first and I think it was because she wasn’t really prepared, and she didn’t know what to expect. She did not really spiritually prepare for it the way I did. When she started having that pain, she fought it.

She didn’t learn how to handle that and so it was a very traumatic experience for her when it didn’t have to be.

NC: No, I think it was in her mind. I was there, right at that birth. Yes, I don’t think she expected it to be so intensive as it was.

MH: I know. So I had that at the back of my mind that my mom had a very difficult first birth. But then when I got pregnant and I started learning about how childbirth is supposed to be and how God wants us to experience it and how it can actually be a blessing, I realized that just because my mom had a really bad experience the first time doesn’t mean I have to.

So I decided, I’m not going to accept that for myself. My birth experience can be beautiful. I held on to that hope and it was, and you know what? I think my first birth could have been traumatic. It could have gone badly, the same way my mom’s had, if I had a different mindset.

NC: Exactly, that is true. I think the biggest thing is your mindset and preparing yourself. Reading as much as you can about natural childbirth and filling your mind with that understanding and preparing your heart and preparing your mind.

I actually have a testimony in that. I prepared myself as much as I thought I could for my first, but I wasn’t really so prepared. The next time I prepared more, and I found the more I prepared just mentally and in every way. I remember when I came to my fourth birth and I thought, “Oh well, fourth birth, I know now, everything will be great.” I really didn’t read again. I thought, “I know it all, this will be great.”

That was actually my hardest birth and I realized after that birth I hadn’t prepared myself. As I had continuous births, I always would take time and prepare myself like I was a first mother and prepare my heart and prepare my mind.

I would prepare for it because if your mindset is right it has such a huge bearing on the kind of birth you’re going to have.

MH: I agree. It’s like if you’re going to run a marathon, you need to train for that, you need to prepare.

With childbirth you need to prepare physically, mentally, and spiritually. I think preparing spiritually was the most important factor for me.

I think we’re going to talk about some practical tips for childbirth because like my Nana said, it’s an art, but along with that we’re going to talk about how childbirth can be such an intimate experience with God and it can draw us closer to Him.

NC: Now tell the ladies, Meadow, how did you prepare?

MH: So when I got pregnant with Warren, I did have a lot more time back then to read. I read a lot of blog posts and books. That’s one benefit when you have your first: you don’t have a toddler to chase and you have more time to prepare.

But some of that knowledge I was able to carry over with me into my second, but I still spent some time learning with him. I read one book that made such a huge impact on me. I think that if I had not read that, my birthing experience could have been different because it brought so much revelation to me about how we as Christians are supposed to view childbirth.

The book is called Redeeming Childbirth by Angie Toplin and she is a Christian. The book talks about how we should be inviting God into our birthing experience and how we can embrace natural childbirth and it doesn’t have to be a traumatic experience.

Even if it’s hard, even if it’s painful, God walks us through that.

NC: Can you say the name of the book again in case they didn’t get?

MH: Redeeming Childbirth by Angie Toplin.

NC: I can remember from your first birth with Warren you had this list. Because you were going into the hospital . . .  the moment you go into those hospital doors you have to watch your guard that they don’t take over your birthing experience because it’s your birth and your baby.

I remember you had a big list that Kendall had to have to watch and make sure that this didn’t happen and that did happen.

That was a very good thing, wasn’t it, because when you’re in birth, oh goodness me, you’re going to forget so much and you’re not in a place to take authority and say, “No I don’t want that” or “I can’t have that.”

So you made sure Kendall was the guardian, didn’t you? Tell us about that and some of the things you felt were so important that you wanted him to protect you and guard you.

MH: Yes, with Warren, my first birth, I gave birth in a hospital. We gave birth in a small town at the time and there weren’t many options. There weren’t natural birthing centers, so I found this hospital.

I had heard that some hospitals have very strict policies and you have to make it clear to them what your birthing plan is otherwise they might just take over and sometimes you have to be firm.

So I took a long time preparing my birthing list and I wrote it all down and printed it out. We took it to the hospital, and we showed it to the nurses. I was very blessed to be at a hospital where they really respected my wishes. Some hospitals can give you a tougher time on that. I think more hospitals, at least in Western culture, are starting to respect the parent’s wishes more.

When I was in Japan I had very limited rights. That’s when I was thinking in this case, I would have preferred a home birth, but it would have been hard to do that in a foreign country and a high-rise apartment.

I was very blessed with a Christian doctor, too, who was very respectable of my wishes. In that case, I didn’t have a very hard time at my particular hospital.

I would suggest that if you are planning on giving birth in a hospital to do your research on that hospital’s policies and to do your research on your doctor’s policies. Ask them how they handle childbirth and if they’ve done a lot of natural childbirth. Just make sure that they will go along with your birth plan.

One thing I told my nurse the first time was not to offer me an epidural, not to even bring it up, because sometimes that can be a temptation if you’re offered it.

NC: Yes. That’s good to lay those things down before you even get there. That’s so great. It is true, you can be tempted, so yes that was a good thing.

What other ways did you prepare?

MH: Well I would say, physically preparing is important, too. I wasn’t as fit with my first pregnancy because I wasn’t chasing a toddler around.

I believe I was more fit in Japan with my second pregnancy because I was walking all the time. That’s one thing American’s don’t do as much, is walk, because we just drive everywhere.

When I was in Japan we would walk to the supermarkets. I believe that is why I was more fit and that may have played a factor in making it an easier and smoother birth.

Being physically fit is important. If you don’t have a good neighborhood that you can walk around you can just work out at home.

That’s one thing that I think is a good practical tip. It’s good to study about practical tips you can learn during natural childbirth. Like I learned my second time around that there were some things I wanted to do differently than in my first birth. One example was the position of pushing.

During my first birth I was on my back.

NC: Oh I know that’s hopeless.

MH: I was slightly elevated but still I was working against gravity.

NC: I know, I don’t understand why they expect mothers to work against themselves.

MH: The thing is, and this is one downside about most hospital rooms, they are not designed for natural birth. When I was in the birthing center, it was designed for natural birth.

But in normal hospital rooms you just have very small beds where they t usually give you an epidural. It’s not good for a lot of other positions.

When a mother is laying on her back, that’s more convenient for the doctor. It’s actually one of the worst positions for mothers to give birth in.

NC: Yes, it causes it to be longer and harder.

MH: Yes and that was the case for me.

NC: It’s often the cause of C-sections.

NC: With my first birth I pushed nearly two hours. I think part of the reason was my position. Another part was Warren’s fist was up here with his head. I think even if I was in a different position it still would have taken longer.

If I had been on my knees like with Raymond it would have gone faster.

NC: I think that the position is just so important. All these things are just so important.

How did you prepare emotionally and spiritually for your births?

MH: I think it’s good to really pray and invite God into your birthing experience.

It’s good to ask Him what you want but to also not make your birth plan so important that if something goes wrong you freak out or you can’t let it go because ultimately God’s plan is the best.

I don’t believe that means He brings on the problems and the issues that could happen because we live in a fallen world and sometimes problems happen and things go wrong but He can get us through that and it still can be an incredible experience.

My whole approach was that I would like to have a natural birth and I would like God to be there and these are my hopes of what would happen.

But if some things don’t happen the way I want them to, I know that God will still be there for me and God will still help me go through that and just releasing that to Him.

Some other things I did to prepare, I wrote down some birth affirmations because words have power. I spoke those over my baby and myself when I was pregnant, and I also wrote them down and gave them to my husband so he could speak them over me during the birth.

Another thing I did was I wrote down some Bible verses to encourage me and I had Kendall read those to me too.

I built a childbirth playlist. I found a lot of songs that I felt were really relaxing and encouraging and brought me closer to God. I created a playlist and had that playing throughout the whole birth.

NC: So you really prepared and were ready to go.

MH: Yes. I wanted to create an atmosphere of worship.

NC: That’s so great. Did you bring any of your affirmations? Have you got them with you?

MH: No I didn’t bring them. I would have to print them out and I don’t have  a printer.

NC: When we do each podcast, it’s transcribed. We may be able to put some at the bottom of this when it’s transcribed.

MH: Oh yes, that would be a good idea.

NC: I love to give mothers something practical. If you’ve found them such a blessing maybe they would be a blessing to them too. So I think we will try and do that.

MH: Okay!

NC: That would be so good. I think to me, one of the biggest things that can really hinder a birth from flourishing is fear. Especially with your first baby because you don’t have a clue what’s going to happen next and you can have this fear.

If you have fear, that can cause you to tighten up and not just go with your contractions and ride with them.

How did you conquer fear? Did you have any fears?

MH: I’m so glad you brought that up, Nana, because the number one thing I like to say to my friends who have never gone through childbirth and may have concerns is, “Just don’t give into fear.”

I believe fear is probably the worst thing during childbirth because it can create tension, which can slow you down, which can cause more complications, which can just ruin an otherwise beautiful experience.

And so I decided I was not going to allow any fear. It doesn’t mean that the enemy won’t try to tempt us with fear.

It means that if it ever tries to pop in our heads, we take every thought captive and we’re like, “No, I am not accepting that.”

I believe that there comes a point with every woman during their birth that they start to think, “I can’t do this.” If you get that thought, you cast it out and you say, “No I can do this. I was designed to do this.”

NC: Absolutely, our bodies were designed and created for birth.

In fact many scientific studies prove that the more births a mother has the greater blessing it is for her body and the greater deterrent against female cancers. The more babies a mother nurses at her breast, the less incidents of breast cancer.

We were created for birthing and nursing babies. This is who we are. This is our body. It was created for this. We just have to have our minds renewed and educated into what is right.

Many mothers out there today have been brought up in families with one or two children. They have never seen babies around them, and they haven’t been around mothers birthing babies and nursing babies. They haven’t got one clue and they don’t know anything about it.

Unless they really can get around mothers who can really encourage them or read some good natural childbirth books, fear is going to enter in.

Knowledge really helps to counteract fear, doesn’t it? It really does.

MH: Yes.

NC: Actually, getting on to fear, these were my Scriptures for this morning. I’ve been reading through Deuteronomy and I read this morning Deuteronomy 3:22. God is speaking to them about going into the Promised Land and how they are going to come up against enemies that are bigger than them. They’re going to face cities with walls that are so high and gates and bars that are bolted. They’ve got giants in the land and in the cities.

I mean, wow, it was totally beyond them, but He said to them: “Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you.

He told them not to fear. In fact, it wasn’t just a suggestion, “Well, you know, it would be a good idea not to fear them.”

No, He said, “YOU SHALL NOT FEAR THEM.”

There are so many Scriptures in the Word where it says, “You shall not fear.”

Yet all of us, I know I can be prone to facing a situation and feel fearful. Although I have found the more I get to know God, and the more I know of His Word, the more I can trust Him.

You see, the antidote to fear is trusting implicitly in God’s Word and His promises knowing that what He says is true, and I will stand upon it because it cannot fail.

I think we have got to come to this in many areas of our lives. We are facing different situations all the time where fear can come in and we have to learn this. But we can also face this in the area of childbirth.

We go on to chapter 7:17-21 and God says again: “If thou shalt say in thine heart . . ..”

That is interesting. Did you know we talk in our hearts? Yes. The Word says, “If thou shalt say in thine heart” and I looked it up and it actually means: “To talk, to declare.”

We do talk to ourselves in our hearts and sometimes we don’t say it out through our mouths, but we talk a lot in our hearts. Sometimes we talk a lot of fear in our hearts, you know, and God doesn’t want us to do that.

“If thou shalt say in thine heart, these nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?”

You were just saying that Meadow. I think nearly every mother comes to a point in her labor where she says, “I can’t do this! I didn’t think it would be this intense” and you have that little thought.

It comes in, but as you said, you have to cast it out. You have to know, “Oh but my body was created for this. Of course I can do it and God is with me.” Amen?

MH: Yes.

NC: He goes on: “Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the  Lord  thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt . . . Thou shalt not be affrighted [or dread or in terror. That’s quite a strong, fearful word] at them: for the  Lord  thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible [or fearful].”

In other words, it goes back to, do we fear God, and do we trust in His Word and who He created us to be, or do we trust in our fear? Because fear is not from God, it comes from the enemy.

Pop that little one in your hearts, dear ladies. Be ready and practiced to overcome fear. There are so many Scriptures in the Word of God about fear and overcoming fear. Go through those Scriptures.

If you are preparing for a birth, write those Scriptures down.

Be saying them over yourself, and your baby as Meadow did while she was pregnant, and then have the list so your husband can speak them over you if you are not in a state to speak them, he can speak them over you because the Word has power.

Matthew 4:4: “ . . . Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

We can even go through labor with the Word of God coming out of our mouths. It will take us through because it is so powerful, isn’t it?

MH: Yes, it is so true. And maybe we should bring up why so many women have a fear of childbirth.

NC: Yes, yes.

MH: I think it is because our culture literally thinks that you’re just ridiculous if you have an un-medicated birth. There is so much fear of the pain in childbirth.

That’s why we have so many epidurals and I have heard so many people say, “I just can’t imagine not having an epidural” when that’s actually what we were designed to do.

When I was in Japan, they rarely did epidurals. It was just considered so normal to have a natural childbirth.

NC: I was once speaking to a chiropractor. He said to me, “Most of my patients are women who have had epidurals at childbirth because it has affected their backs.”

You know, I always believe, of course, there are always certain situations where we maybe have to have these things where we maybe we have to have something, but on the whole, birth is meant to be natural because God designed it.

That’s what we’ve just so got to get into our brains. If we know, “Wow, I was born for this! I was created for this. My body was created to do it.” When we have that, we get the right mindset, and we’re going into it with a whole different attitude than, “Okay, we’re just giving up our body to the doctors and the nurses. Just do what you’d like, and this is all how it happens.” It gets hard and then you end up with an epidural or even a C-section.

That’s so sad because, dear ladies, I know sometimes that happens and I know some precious mothers who are just so set to have a natural birth and then they have to have a C-section. Those are rarer cases. But we miss out when we don’t experience birth. There is such a power in experiencing birth, even if you have been through intense pain.

There is something so powerful, which I’m sure those of you who have experienced a natural childbirth will say. There is such a power in it and there is empowerment.

In fact, after a natural childbirth, how do you feel?

MH: Oh I had endorphins. I couldn’t even take a nap that day.

NC: Oh no, you cannot.

MH: No.

NC: You feel you can conquer the world.

MH: Absolutely.

NC: I mean, I have just done something, and I can conquer the world!

Talk about oxytocin and endorphins. It’s the biggest high that you can experience in your life and I would go through it again and again to experience that high, it’s so incredible.

MH: You don’t get the same experience if you had an epidural.

NC: No you do not, you don’t have it. It’s something you don’t want to miss out on.

MH: It feels like you just climbed Mount Everest.

NC: Do you know what? Did you know that’s what Evangeline, Aunty Vange, said at one of her births? It was one of her births that I was there. It was one of hers that was a breech birth. She knew was having a breech birth and she decided that they would not be going to the hospital.

They didn’t even have a midwife. Howard, her husband, was the midwife. Now, not every husband could be a midwife at a birth, or specially a breech birth.

But Howard, on the hilltop, we call him our family doctor. When something goes wrong, we call him, “Howard, come quick!”

I mean, he stitches up and he does that. He usually checks out if either we can fix this or says, “Nope, you better go to the hospital.”

He is incredible and he really prepared for this birth, knowing this was breech. He talked for hours with a very experienced midwife. She could not be there although she had helped many of their births. It was unlawful for her to be at a breech birth.

He had also worked out if things could go wrong. But hey, we’re getting beyond time so I’m going to tell you the story next time! Wait for it!

You listen next session and I’ll tell you what happened next time, okay?

Let’s just pray and we’ll come back with Meadow, if that’s okay, Meadow? We will do one more session about birth.

“Lord, We just thank You that we can talk about these things, these beautiful womanly things, Lord. It is something that is just so part of life because this is life, this is how we bring life into the world. Lord, we pray that You will teach us and show us Your ways.

“I pray for all the childbearing mothers who are listening, Lord, that You will bless them and You will teach them and You will help them to understand more as they go into birth. We just ask this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.”

Transcribed by Morgan Roth

MEADOW’S LISTS:

DECLARATIONS FOR BIRTH:

The Lord is my Deliverer and my baby’s Deliverer.

In my weakness, He gives me strength.

My body was designed to do give birth naturally.

The Lord will help me.

The Lord has good plans for me and my baby.

Because I worship Jesus, He takes sickness away. No harm will come to me or my baby because God guards me with His angels  and my safety comes from the Lord.

In the name of Jesus, I trust God to give me a safe delivery. The Lord safely brings my baby out of the womb and I am kept safe also.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I refuse to give in to worry and fear. God has not given me a spirit of fear. The Lord is with me and helping me from the beginning to the end. I will not be afraid; I will only believe God's Word.

BIBLE VERSES FOR LABOR AND DELIVERY:

“Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you; his ear is not too deaf to hear you” (Isaiah 59:1).”

“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a).

“You delivered me SAFELY from my mother’s womb” (Psalm 22:9 NLT).

“I HAVE LEANED ON YOU SINCE BIRTH; YOU PULLED ME FROM MY MOTHER’S WOMB. I PRAISE YOU CONTINUALLY” (Psalm 71:6).

“AND THIS IS THE CONFIDENCE THAT WE HAVE BEFORE HIM: THAT WHENEVER WE ASK ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, HE HEARS US. AND IF WE KNOW THAT HE HEARS US IN REGARD TO WHATEVER WE ASK, THEN WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE REQUESTS THAT WE HAVE ASKED FROM HIM” (1 John 5:14-13).

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust;  my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” Psalm 18:2

“The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace” (Psalm 29:11).

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear,  but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

“Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your GOD IS WITH YOU wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

“FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU, be not dismayed, for I am your God.   I will strengthen you, Yes, I will  help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

“For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13).

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“If you make the Most High your dwelling -- even the Lord, who is my refuge -- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:9 NIV):

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

Podcast 113: MAKING A HOME OF REST— PART 4

Discover the beautiful truth of exchanging our old fleshly life for the life of Jesus. All the good and beautiful things that are in Jesus are in us because He lives in us. This truth will revolutionize your life and mothering.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. This is our fourth session on making our homes a home of rest. This is what God wants for our homes. In Isaiah 32:18, it says: “And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.“

Isn't that a beautiful description? And that's God's intention for our marriages, and for our homes. The words in “quiet resting places,” that is the same Hebrew word, menuchah, that I shared with you in our  first session about how marriage is a place of rest. When Naomi was talking to Ruth about getting a husband, she used this very same Hebrew word.

It means “resting place,” so that's why we're talking about it, dear ladies. We want to make our marriages a place of rest, our homes a place of rest for ourselves, and ultimately for God, because He's looking for a place to dwell. He is a dwelling God. He loves to dwell, and He doesn't want to dwell in strife and tension. He wants to come and dwell in rest.

In Proverbs 24:15, it says: “Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place.” Now that is a warning in that Scripture. God gives a warning to those, or anything, that would come against the resting places of the righteous. So we ourselves have to guard our homes and guard our marriages, that we don't allow anything to come in that would spoil our rest, spoil our resting place.

So a good idea is to get into the habit of thinking about your home as a resting place. If you think of your home as that, you're more likely going to be making it into a resting place. You'll be thinking of ideas of how to make it more restful. You'll be guarding against things that can come into your marriage, or come into your home, amongst the children.

All these outside things, but we have to guard . . . You see, we, as mothers and wives, we are the guardians of the home. That's the truth that comes out in Titus, chapter 2, where it tells the older women to teach the younger women to be keepers of their homes.

The word in the Greek is a word that means “to be a guardian, to watch over.” It's a picture of a keeper of a castle, who keeps the keys. He does not allow any intruder into that castle. We don't allow any intruders, enemy intruders, into our homes because we want to keep them a resting place.

Now also I want to read you a beautiful hymn. I love the old hymns. This is one of my favorites, by Horatius Bonar.

It actually goes with one of our points. We're going through our ten points on how to make our homes a home of rest. It was way back in the beginning, about how we're to make our homes a home of praising, because God loves to indwell the praises of His people. This is where God delights to be, amongst the praises and worship of His people.

Now if God loves to live among praises, don't you think that we should live among praises too? So I was reminding you about how we need to be praising our husband, praising our children, making our whole home a praising home.

This is a hymn about a praising life. It's a beautiful prayer.

Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,

In ev'ry part with praise,

That my whole being may proclaim

Thy Being and Thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,

Nor e'en  the praising heart,

I ask, for but for a life made up

Of praise in ev'ry part.

Praise in the common things of life,

It’s goings out and in,

Praise in each day and deed,

However small and mean.

Fill every part of me with praise,

Let all my being speak

Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,

Poor though I be and weak.

So shall no part of day or night

From sacredness be free,

But all my life, in every step,

Be fellowship with Thee.

May that be our prayer for our lives in our homes each day.

Number Eight

CEASE FROM YOUR OWN WORKS

All right, ladies, we are now up to point number eight, in seeking to make a home of rest. Each one of these points are not something that I've made up. They come from the word of God. So we're going again to Hebrews. Remember Hebrews, chapters three and four, are all about entering into rest, or not entering into rest, because of our unbelief, or our hardness of heart.

Now this time, we're going to talk about something else. So we'll read Hebrews chapter four, verse nine, “There remaineth therefore, a rest . . . ” The actual word means a Sabbath rest to the people of God. It's the picture of a Sabbath rest. It's not talking about . . . We're not going to just have a Sabbath rest once a week, but a whole life of a Sabbath rest. This is talking about the lifestyle of a Sabbath rest.

“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

So number eight is, we have to cease from our own works. We're not going to be able to enter into rest in our own souls, in our own life experience, or in our home, if we are trying to do it by our own effort. We can't make things happen by our own effort. It's only by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So we cease from our own works, and we allow God to work in us.

I think of Zechariah 4:6, one of my favorite Scriptures. I think I pray this Scripture nearly every day. “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.”

There's so much that we long for in our hearts. There's so much we long to see in the lives of those we love, in our children, in our husbands. But you know, we can't do the work. We can't do it of ourselves. It can only happen by the Spirit of God.

So when you are concerned, and when you are desperately praying concern for a loved one, remember you can't, you can't make this happen. You can come before God, you can cry out to Him, to move by the power of His Holy Spirit. And He will do it. It's by His Spirit. It's only by the power of His Holy Spirit.

That's why, even now, in this time in our nation, when we have these uprisings and this scourge of anarchy that's coming into many of our cities, how can this be stopped? The greatest, most powerful way is through the power of prayer, which releases the Holy Spirit to move.

Of course, He will move through people. But it has to be by the power of the Holy Spirit. Take that Scripture. Oh, make it part of your life. “Not by might, not by power, by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.”

Who is speaking? The Lord of Hosts. The Lord of the armies of heaven. The One who fights for Israel. The One Who fights for you. The One Who fights for His people.

And in our own lives, we have to stop our own striving and trying to work everything out in our own lives. We have to allow the Spirit of God to come in and live His life. I have always been blessed by that Scripture in Philemon, verse six. And it says: “That the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

Now what is it saying? It's talking about how to make our faith effectual. That's what we want, isn't it? We want our faith to be effectual. We want to live in rest. We don't want to have strife and tension. We don't want to be filled with unbelief and hardness of heart. We want this life of calming rest.

How do we get it? Not by striving, but by doing what this Scripture says. So let's go back. Let's look at it, little by little. “That your faith may be effectual, BY THE ACKNOWLEDGING . . . ” OK, you've got to acknowledge certain things, “acknowledging of EVERY GOOD THING which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

So what's its saying is that every good thing that is in Christ, His rest, that's what we're talking about. His rest, He's the only One Who lives in perfect rest. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He doesn't get His stomach tied up in knots. He's not fretful and in despair. No, He lives in rest. And when He comes to live in you, He comes as the One Who lives in rest. His rest comes into your spirit. Isn't that amazing?

Now we don't often experience this, dear ladies, but this is truth. There's so much in the Word of God that is so powerful, and liberating, and victorious, and overcoming. But we don't live in it because we don't take hold of the Word.

And actually, we don't even believe it. We've got to start believing it. We acknowledge it, and we believe it. And so we say, “Thank You, Lord Jesus, that I live in rest ,because You live in me. And You are rest. I thank You for Your rest that fills my soul.”

Are you in turmoil about something today? Are you upset? your stomach's all wound up? Oh, just come to Jesus. “Oh, Lord Jesus, I thank You that You live in me. And You live in rest. Oh, I thank You, that Your rest fills my soul. Thank You, Lord Jesus!”

And so you're doing what the Scripture says. You're acknowledging this truth, that every good thing that's in Jesus is in you.

 Are you having trouble with having patience with the children? Oh, they're driving you crazy! You're getting mad. You fly off the handle! Oh, you've just got to change this habit. You see, what you're doing, you're relying on your own strength. But you've got to cease from your own works, and you've got to trust in His. And so you cry out to the Lord Jesus. You say, “Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You live in me, and You are patient! And so Lord, I am patient!”

Yes, you can confess that you are patient, and you're filled with longsuffering. Because Jesus Christ dwells in you, and when he comes into your life, He doesn't come in with a little bit of Who He is. He comes as Who He is. He is patient. He is longsuffering. That's Who He is. He wants to live His life through you.

Instead of living your own life, we say no to the flesh, and yes to the Spirit. We put off the old man, and we put on the new man. Instead of wearing these old clothes of unbelief and tension and worry, and all these old clothes that we've been so used to using, we put on our new clothes, our new man, which is Christ Jesus. All the good things that are in Him...Are you getting it? If you can get this truth, it will revolutionize your life.

God revealed His truth to me as a young mother, when I was just so emotional.  Up one day, down the next. Screaming at the children. And then God began to show me, no, that's not how you live as a mother, living your old life. No, you live according to My life. My life in you is patience, rest, longsuffering, joy, yes!

You’re down in the mouth, you're depressed, you're grumbling, oh . . . No, that's the old man! But Christ Jesus in you is joy! He is JOY! That's Who He is!

So we're either going to live according to our feelings and our old man, or according to the life of Christ, who dwells in us by His Spirit. And we have to learn to choose what we're going to do.

We have to learn to acknowledge the truth. You see, we can live according to lies. We can live according to our feelings. But feelings are lies! I mean, yes, they seem pretty true, because that's how you feel. Yes, you really feel lousy, and you really feel mad. You really feel depressed.

But feelings come, and feelings go. They're just a very temporary thing, and we do not even have to give into them! We do not have to yield to them at all. Instead of yielding to them, we say, “NO! I do not yield to them! I yield to the Life of Christ, Who dwells in me. His life, His joy, He is joy! He is victory! He has overcome the enemy.  And he dwells in me!”

And so you speak the good things that are in Christ. You speak them out. and you acknowledge that they are in you! Precious ladies, you may have to listen to this podcast again, to get this truth into your very soul, so that it becomes part of you. I

I'm just thinking now of a Scripture in Ephesians, I think it is . . . let me go to it. Yes, or was it Ephesians one? Maybe I'll go to Ephesians three, or maybe I'll go to Colossians. Oh my. I would love to get it for you. Let's see, Let's see if it's here. You know what? I'm not finding it. Yes, I am, here it is! It's Colossians, OK?

Colossians 1:10: “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might.” Woo! Don't you want to be strengthened with all might and all the power of God?

Yes, it goes on to say: “. . . according to His glorious power . . .” Wow! “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power”! Then it says: “Unto.”  Wow, what is this “strengthening with all might,” with this “glorious power?”

What is it for? For “PATIENCE AND LONGSUFFERING. “Isn't that amazing? You see, when we have the power of Christ operating in our lives, it will release patience and longsuffering, because that's Who Christ is. Yes, the power of God in us, is to help us to be patient and longsuffering, with thankfulness and joyfulness!

Yes. And so, the power of God comes into your life to give you that enabling, to live the life of Jesus in you. The life of patience, and longsuffering, and joy, and thankfulness, and victory, and rest. Amen?

Have you got it? Well, if you haven't, go back and listen to it again. Let the truth of God's Word fill your life. Amen?

All right . . .

Number Nine

SEEK TO KNOW GOD AND HIS WAYS

We're still in our Hebrews chapter. I'll have to find it again myself. Hebrews 3:9, 10: Yes, “When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.” For forty years they saw the miracles of God. Yes, they were going through the wilderness, but in the wilderness, they saw such mighty miracles.

“Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in in their heart; and they have not known My ways.” Yes, verses 11- 13, we'll read those too: ”So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Here we see another one of those Scriptures, those “one anothers.” Remember I talked to you for four sessions about TOGETHERNESS? And how that God has given us all these “one anothers.” Here's another one.

But some translations say: “encourage one another.” The King James says: “But exhort one another.” Some say: “Warn one another.” The actual Greek word is, let’s see, what is it? I've got it written down here . . . yes! Parakaleo. Now kaleo means “by the side.” So this word means, “to call to one's side.”

Do you remember, if you listened to those podcasts, how that we found that our faith is a mutual faith? It's FACE TO FACE, and SIDE BY SIDE. Oh, I love those phrases, “face to face,” “side by side.” And here it comes again.  This word is literally, “to come alongside.”

We are meant to come alongside one another, to encourage one another, to build one another up, to warn one another, to keep one another in the faith. And so this is quite a strong verse. “Take heed, brethren, and exhort and warn one another daily”! Not once a week, but every day, “while it is called TODAY.”

So we're coming alongside. It's not enough to stay in our home and just listen to some Zoom meeting, which is great! But we have got to get tangible, and real, and get alongside one another.

This whole social distancing thing, I don't believe is from God. OK, I will acknowledge, of course, people who are sick and vulnerable. They don't go out and mix amongst others. They protect themselves. They can even wear masks if they have to go out.

But those who are well and healthy, I don't believe that we have to be hidden away, or social distancing from one another. From the very beginning of the first acknowledgment of this COVID-19, we have never social distanced, never worn masks, and never stopped meeting together.

And I still don't know anyone in my community, my state, in this nation. I did have a friend in England who did get the virus, but apart from that dear friend in England, I still don't know anybody in America. And I know loads and loads and loads of people. Of course, we know that many people have got it, but I still don't know any personally. You'd think if it truly was this incredible pandemic, that I'd know somebody! But here, this whole thing has stopped God's people from getting together, and side by side to really encourage one another. . (I’ve since heard of two or three, but they are all fine and well).

Anyway, we're talking here about knowing the ways of God. They saw the miracles, but they didn't know His ways. There's another Scripture, in Psalm 103:7 where it talks about how God shows His acts and His miracles to the children of Israel, but Moses knew His way.

Dear ladies, let's be those who not only just see or hear about God doing great things, but let's be those who know His ways. We seek Him, we seek His Word. We're not just listening to everything all around about. We go to the Word. We're Word-wise. We're Word-mothers. And I believe we have to be that. I believe, as mothers in the home, we have to be Word-mothers.

In fact, if there are young people listening to me today, and I hope there are, you don't start to be a Word-person when you become a mother. You become a Word-person when you are young, because that is your preparation for motherhood. You go into motherhood with the Word in your heart! So you know how to live as a mother. You know how to overcome as a mother, because you know the principles of the Word of God. And you also have that Word in your mouth, not just in your heart, and not just in the Bible, on the bookshelf.

But it's in your MOUTH, ready to impart to the children that God gives you. What does it say in Isaiah 59:21? “As for Me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit which I have given unto to you, My Words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth . . . ” Notice it says, “mouth,” every time. “Nor out of the mouth of your children, nor out of the mouth of your children's children, and henceforth and forever, saith the Lord.”

And so we become Word-people when we're young. And we go into motherhood as Word-people. But then again, if you haven't had that growing up, and here you are, you're mothering. Perhaps you didn't have the blessing of the Word as you were growing up. But seek to get it now.

I know, young mothers, you don't have much time to get away in the Word of God. But put the Word of God up on your windowsill, in the Psalms, where you can look up, and get a little sustenance. Put it in the toilet where you have to go.

Have another Bible where you sit to nurse your baby. Have Bibles around the place, open. Open. Not to Ecclesiastes, but no, open it to Psalms or Proverbs, where it's easy to get a little Word.

When you wake in the morning, try to grab a little Word. Just get little bits if you don't have time for big lots. You can get little bits to sustain you. But let's be those who know God, know His ways. Because when we know Him, lovely ladies, you know what? We can trust Him. We can trust Him. We know that He is faithful.

As you get to know Him, you know that you can trust Him. This brings rest into your soul. Yes, you're not fretting, you're not worrying, you're not in a state of panic, because we only get into those states when we don't realize God is in control.

But when we know who He is, we can say, “Oh God, I don't know how to get through this, but I thank You, You are with me. I thank You, that You are bigger than this, this thing I'm facing, this mountain. You are bigger and I trust You, and I thank You, and I give it over to You.” And as you do this, rest comes into your soul. Because you know Him, and you know you can trust Him.

Number Ten

KEEP A HOME OF ORDER AND CLEANLINESS

OK. I've got to finish. I want to finish this session, so let's do our last point, number ten. And this is practical. Seek to keep your home a home of order and cleanliness and discipline, because you can't have rest without these things. When you live in chaos, you can't have rest. It's impossible. And of course, let's just start with a little bit of discipline.

Something has happened in our society today. You see, what is happening in society filters through into the Christian world as well. It seems that so many people today don't believe in discipline. And now, even many Christian parents don't believe in disciplining their children. The children run the home.

I have been amazed to watch children really order their parents around. They're the ones who are in control. This is not right! Parents are in control. Parents have the authority. Children are to obey and submit to their parents. That's what the Word of God says. Children are to honor their parents. They are to obey their parents. The Word of God even says they are to fear their parents. “Fear thou thy mother and thy father” (Leviticus 19:3).

And this is meant to be the attitude of children. I love the Scripture, I wrote it down . . . Let me see, I'll go to it in the Word. Proverbs 29:17. Let me get my glasses on here: “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest.” Oh, this is one of my favorite Scriptures. Well, I have so many favorites.

But oh, this is so true, Ladies, hear it again. “Correct thy son, and HE SHALL GIVE THEE REST; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.” Now every mother loves her children. But many mothers are just haggard and overwhelmed, because their children are out of control. Their children rule them. They go to town, and they're whining and complaining, and they want this, and they want that.

“Can I have this?” and “Can I have that?” And if they don't get it, they keep whining. So the mother buys it for them, just to keep the peace. Now that is not true peace! That's giving in to your child, and training them to have an entitlement mentality, and that anything they want, they can get it, anytime.

That is not training your child! Sometimes you've got to sit down with your children before you go to the shop. You say, “OK children, we're going out to the shops. We're going to have a lovely time together, but we're just buying the groceries. That's all we can afford. We're not buying everything we see. OK, if you see something, just because you see it, doesn't mean to say you're going to get it. So today, when we go out, we're not getting anything extra. If you ask for something that you know we're not planning to get . . . we’re just getting the groceries, OK, well, we're going to have deal with that.”

Maybe you'll say, “OK, we'll just go straight home” even if you have to forget your groceries. You keep your word. You're going to train your children. So that they know. Look, we've got to train them. Yes, we correct them, we discipline them. We also have to train them. Because how we train them, that's how they're going to grow up.

Children whine. Do you really allow your children to whine? I've never allowed our children to whine. Nor has my husband. Our children were never allowed to whine. We soon put a stop to that. They weren't allowed to get in moods. We broke those habits from little children. They have grown up, and not one of them has a whining spirit.

Never in my life do I ever hear them complaining about anything. Not one of them ever has a mood. In fact, they hardly know how to really get into being down about things.

I remember one time, Evangeline was, oh, she got, I don't know what was wrong with her. She was terribly ill. She came upstairs to our place, and she could hardly walk. She was bent right over, and oh, I said, “Vange, what's wrong? How are you?” And she said, “I'm incredible!' She didn't even know how to say, “I'm lousy!”

Because they have, well, maybe that's a bit over the top, but that's really how they are. And yet, if we allow whining and all these things, that's how they're going to grow up, and that's what they're going to be taking into their marriage. That will even spoil a marriage.

So we discipline our children for disobedience, and for those things that are totally wrong. We keep them in check. We train them! We correct them, we chasten them, we train them. We train them into the right habits instead of these selfish and negative habits.

And what happens? We get rest. Oh, do you know that raising children can be such a beautiful thing of rest? If we train our children in obedience? And they are not ruling the house instead of the parents? So this is an important thing, too.

Make sure that you know who you are, and who God's created you to be. You are the mother. Your husband is the father. And your children are to obey you, and to honor you, and to fear you. That is biblical. OK?

And you will also seek to live your lives so that you keep your home in order. Now that doesn't mean to say, well, you've got little ones, and oh, you know, things can get messy, and everything can get everywhere.

But at least before your husband comes home . . . I used to have a one-two-three. OK, and toys can be strewn all over the floor, and everything's around and I would say to the children, “OK, let's have a one-two-three! Daddy's coming home soon. Let's go for it!” And so we'd go one-two-three, and we'd go! And everyone would run to put everything away.

Now of course, everything should have a place where it belongs and goes to. Sometimes you don't even have time for that, because Daddy's coming home soon, and the little ones have just made a big mess. At least you can have one cupboard where you throw it all in, and it's out of the way. And Daddy walks in, and he doesn't even trip over. He can walk in the door. Isn't that wonderful?

Oh, but time has gone, lovely ladies. We could talk so much more. Let me pray for you.

“We thank You, Father, again, for Your wonderful goodness, how You love us, and how You just want to draw us into Your way. We ask that You will teach us Your way. I pray for these darling ladies who are listening today, that You will teach them Your ways, and lead them more and more into Your truth. I ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.”

Transcribed by Darlene Norris.

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

Podcast 112: MAKING A HOME OF REST— PART 3

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 again.

I started off a couple of sessions ago, talking about all the beautiful “ness” words that belong to marriage and family.

We are actually talking about one of them at the moment, which is restfulness.

Let me give you just a few others: Peacefulness, pleasantness, positiveness, prayerfulness, pureness, respectfulness, restfulness (which we’re going to talk more about today), righteousness, sacredness, selflessness, sensibleness, sereneness, steadfastness, softness, soberness, songfulness, submissiveness, sweetness, teachableness, tenderness, tenderheartedness, thankfulness, thoughtfulness, togetherness, trustworthiness, truthfulness and I will leave some more for next time.

All these beautiful words relate to us in the home and in the family. I hope to talk to you about some of them. We have too many to talk about each one.

Currently we are on our third session of how to make a restful home, a home of rest for God because He wants to dwell in our homes, and He wants a place of rest where He can dwell.

David had a vision to make a home of rest for God.

We are up to point number five.

Number Five

ERADICATE ALL TENSION

Of course you know you’re not going to have any rest in your home while you’ve got turmoil in your home.

Last session we talked about how sometimes we have to have a battle before we can have rest because we can’t have rest until we conquer the enemy and also, until we’ve eradicated all tension, strife, turmoil, and all moods, too.

Moods are a terrible thing. They don’t bring rest into the home. They bring such a horrid atmosphere. Many times children grow up being allowed to have moods and then they take them into the marriage.

If perhaps that’s been in a habit in your life and maybe, though I hope not, if you’re doing that in your marriage that’s something you have to work on. Because if we get into a mood because our husband has said something we don’t like and we feel hurt and get into this silent treatment and give him the cold shoulder that’s not what we’re meant to do.

That doesn’t bring restoration. That doesn’t bring rest. We have got to sit down and gently talk about it. We have to seek to eradicate these things that upset the atmosphere of our home.

Number six

WALK IN FAITH NOT UNBELIEF

We go over to Hebrews. Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 talk about rest; they are all on the subject of rest.

We will start reading at verse 12 of chapter 3: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”

Wow, they are pretty strong words, aren’t they? It says an EVIL heart of unbelief. Sometimes we are so used to being unbelieving that we don’t think there is anything really wrong with it.

We think, “Oh well, I don’t have much faith.” But the Bible calls it an evil heart of unbelief.

When we don’t believe the words that God has written that He has given to us, His eternal words that can never lie, if we don’t believe them, God says we have an evil heart of unbelief.

We go down to verse 18 and it says: “And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in [enter in the rest] because of unbelief.”

Unbelief stops us living in rest. This is something we often have to work on, too.

Let’s have a look at some more Scriptures in Hebrews chapter 4. Both these chapters are all about rest.

Verse 2: “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”

In other words, when we read the Word of God but if we don’t believe it and don’t mix it with faith to act upon it and live those words, we might as well have not read it because it doesn’t do anything for us. We have to mix the Word of God with faith when we are reading it.

We go down to verse 3, the next verse: “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Verse 6: “Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.”

The Passion Translation of chapter 3:12-13 says: “So search your hearts every day, my brothers and sisters, and make sure that none of you has evil or unbelief hiding within you. For it will lead you astray, and make you unresponsive to the living God. This is the time to encourage each other to never be stubborn or hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

And so let’s watch unbelief, dear ladies.

Sometimes I have mothers saying to me that they are so concerned about having another baby because they don’t know how they could provide for another child.

Often it seems to me that it is more husbands who are lacking in unbelief than wives regarding this subject. Often, they don’t want to have any more children because they don’t believe that they can provide for those children.

But when we don’t believe, what does the Bible say? We have an evil heart of unbelief because when we get to the bottom line, what are we really doing? We’re saying, “God, I don’t believe You. Goodness me, I don’t think I can provide and really I’m god in my home.” Because if we think we are the ones who provide, we’re making ourselves as God.

But when we trust God and His words, even when we cannot see it happening in the physical, when we trust Him, we will find that God is faithful to His Word.

In Psalm 78:19-22 it says: “Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth [angry]: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel . . ..”

Why? “Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.”

We say, “Can God really do this? Can God really provide for another baby?”

Why do most Christians stop at two or three children? Maybe because they think they cannot provide for them. Maybe they think that when they get older, they wouldn’t be able to provide a college education for them.

Of course, sometimes we wonder if that would even be a good idea with the state of our colleges today. They have become breeding grounds for socialism. Unless we can send our children to a very conservative college they are going to be brainwashed in this socialism and Marxism.

We’re seeing the fruits of that happening in our nation right at this time.

Getting back to believing God: What does God say? Let’s go back, shall we, to Deuteronomy chapter 7. I love these verses.

Deuteronomy 7:12: “Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the  Lord  thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee . . ..”

Interesting, isn’t it? Here God is sharing His heart and how He feels for His people. He says, “I’ll show mercy to you.”

That is the Hebrew word racham, a beautiful word that is a word that is also used for the womb. It means compassion, and mercy, and pity.

“I’ll show mercy and compassion to you and I’ll love you and I’ll bless you.” God says.

How is He going to show us His love and His blessing? He says, “By multiplying you.”

“And I will multiply you and bless the fruit of your womb.” That is how God wants to bless us. Here is the Word of God and that is literally what it says. How does He want to bless? By blessing our womb.

Sometimes mothers may think, “Help, I don’t know if that’s a blessing. I don’t know how I will provide for this child that’s being formed in my womb.” But you haven’t read the end of the Scripture yet because God goes on. He starts off first blessing. Always the first blessing is the fruit of the womb.

He says I “ . . . will also bless the fruit of thy womb . . .” and listen to what He says next: “and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.”

Do you see the progression there? When God blesses with the fruit of the womb He doesn’t stop. He says, “And I’m going to bless your land and your sheep and your cattle and your fruit and everything.”

Why? To provide for the fruit of the womb. The whole reason for the blessings of wine and the fruit of the land and the cattle and the sheep to feed us is all to feed the fruit of the womb.

Let’s go over to Deuteronomy 28. This is the blessing chapter, which I like to read. It is also the cursing chapter, which I don’t like to read that quite so much. In fact, there are more verses about cursing if we are disobedient to God’s ways than there are blessings if we follow God’s ways.

Anyways, it starts with the blessings.

Let’s start at verse three: “Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.” I love that. God will bless you wherever you are placed.

Some people think, “Oh if only I could get out to the country. It would be so much easier to raise my family there. It would be so much easier to have children out there in the country. But I’m stuck in the city, right in the heart of the city. How do you expect me to do that here?”

Well, God says that He will bless you in the city and in the country. If God has placed you in the city because that’s where your husband’s work is, He will bless you there.

I know it is a blessing to raise children in the country. Currently many of our grandchildren live out here on the hilltop in the country. Not all of our grandchildren live in the country because some live in the city, too, but those who have lived out here in the country have had a beautiful blessed life.

But I didn’t raise my children in the country; we raised them in the city. In fact, when my children were teenagers living on the Gold Coast of Australia, right in Surfer’s Paradise, right in the heart of nightclubs (it was a holiday place where everyone came to party).

Our house was right underneath the big Jupiter’s casino. The church that we planted was opposite the casino. Our children lived looking out on a casino and the heart of sin city. How do you raise teenagers for God in that kind of place?

Well, God is true to His Word. You see if that is where God has you, He will bless you. He kept our children. He blessed them even in that environment.

Of course, my, I had to pray. Every day I walked the beach. We weren’t far from the beach. Every day I’d go down and walk the sand with the Pacific breakers rolling in and I would be crying out to God, crying out to Him to keep my children from the evil in that place. He was faithful to do that.

We’re talking about how God blesses not only the fruit of the womb, but He blesses everything else to provide for the fruit of the womb.

That’s right, I haven’t read you the rest yet, have I? Verse four: “Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body [here it is again but it carries on] and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.” That means all the provision that you need. You’ll be blessed with it.

“Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” Now all these blessings come after the blessing of the fruit of the womb.

You may think, “Well I don’t know. The way we are living, I just don’t know how we could manage.”

Dear ladies, God doesn’t give you these blessings before the fruit of the womb. They come after the fruit of the womb. When God blesses you with conception, then He will provide for that precious child. God is faithful.

Let’s go over to Deuteronomy 30:9: “And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy womb . . ..” Notice how God always mentions the fruit of the womb first and now again, the third time we’re reading it.

“ . . . And in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good.”

And so you get the pattern. That’s what happens.

I could give you so many Scriptures. In fact, you may like to go to my webpage aboverubies.org and go to articles and stories and go to “Can God Provide?” There is an article there called “Is God able to Provide for Another Baby?” It gives you so many Scriptures. If you are feeling full of doubt and unbelief go to that article and print it off.

Read the Scriptures because it is the Word that will encourage you. As the Word gets into your heart it will give you faith. You see ,faith doesn’t come out thin air. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

As the Word of God fills our souls it generates faith to walk in that Word. You can’t do it if you don’t have the Word in you. So I would encourage you to go and read those wonderful Scriptures. Let me just give you one or two more in the meantime.

Deuteronomy 2:7: “For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.”

Nehemiah 9:20-21 says: “Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.”

They lacked nothing and yet, ladies, the children of Israel going through that howling wilderness didn’t live in homes like we do today. They just lived in temporary tents. They didn’t have all the mod cons that we have. They lived in the heat of the desert.

They didn’t have refrigerators. They didn’t have freezers. They didn’t have washing machines or dishwashers or vacuum cleaners. They didn’t have the nearest shop they could run to if they ran out of milk or bread. They just had to trust God each day.

They had the same diet of manna every day for forty years and yet God said they lacked nothing. We think that we have to have this and that and everything. We have such a high standard today.

But we don’t have to have everything to have what we need. In fact, we don’t even have to have a huge house. It’s amazing how even a big family can fit into a small home. Well, I do love big homes because my husband and I are lovers of hospitality. We love to have people.

God has been so good, and we sometimes have lived in little homes but often we have been able to live in large homes. But you don’t have to have a large home. You don’t have to have a bedroom for all your children.

People say, “How can we have more children, we haven’t even got enough bedrooms? “Well let me tell you: children don’t want to sleep alone. They hate it. They love to be together. They love to all sleep in the same room together.

You can have one bedroom for girls and one bedroom for boys. That’s all they need. They love to be together.

I remember when our children were growing, and we were moving into our first home we had built. We were so excited because had a few more bedrooms. Not that we all had a bedroom each ( the girls had one and the boys had one).

We’d put the children to bed and then we’d go back later as my husband and I were going off to bed and goodness me! What’s happened to the bedrooms? There are all these empty beds!

We found they were all in the one bedroom together. They had made a bed way up in a cupboard or something or the boys had gone outside to sleep out in some tent shack they had made. That was far more exciting! Children are quite happy to sleep together.

In fact, the Johnson children, some of my grandchildren, as they grew up, those boys, I don’t think they’ve hardly slept on a bed in their whole lives. They just slept on the floor in their sleeping bags.

Sometimes we think we  have to provide so much to have everything perfect when really all our children want is togetherness, unity, and love.

I love Psalm 37:25: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

Amen! Are you saying, “Amen,” with me? Yes. There are so many Scriptures in the Word of God about how He will provide for us. Look up that article and read them over.

Let’s be those who walk in faith and mix faith when we’re reading the Word of God.

Number seven

DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEART TO GOD OR YOUR HUSBAND

This is one of the things that come up when we are reading about rest in Hebrews chapter three and four.

We’ll read Hebrews 3:7-15: “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, TO DAY if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation . . ..” That just means in the times of rebellion when the children of Israel rebelled against the Lord.

When the spies went into the Promised Land to check it out, they came back with amazing reports of how incredible this land was. They brought back bunches of grapes that took two men to carry.

But ten of the spies brought back an evil report, the Bible says. It was a report of doubt. It was beautiful but, oh, there were giants there! They didn’t think that they could go in.

“We’re too little,” they said, “We’re just like grasshoppers and they’re giants!” They put fear into the people and so they were afraid to go in.

It’s a bit like what we’re facing now. Not quite the same, but we are in a time of so many people facing fear in our nation, fear of this COVID-19.

I’m truly amazed at how so many believers are filled with fear. Many of them are still too fearful to go back to their churches and yet we are not seeing thousands of people dying from this. It has flattened out.

Even though now there are many people testing positive but they’re not dying unless they’re a person who maybe has other underlying medical problems and it makes it worse for them. But if that is not the case, they’re not having anything much more than the flu. Why are believers filled with fear?

Oh yes, it was true; there were giants in the land. They weren’t telling lies. It was true. There were giants and when they went into the Promised Land, they had to face those giants and they conquered those giants.

It doesn’t mean to say that facts are not true but why are we filled with fear? We as the people of God are not meant to be filled with fear. We trust in our God. Therefore we’re not victims of fear and becoming filled with unbelief.

Here we are, they were filled with unbelief. This Scripture goes on to say: “When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)”

That generation did not enter into the rest and into the Promised Land that God had promised them. They all died of unbelief and hardness of heart.

We’ll go down to verse 15: “While it is said, TO DAY if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.”

 Then we go to Hebrews 4:7: “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Three times God repeats those words.

TODAY. That happened way back, back there. We read about that way back in Exodus but now it’s TODAY. You see every word of God applies to us today, right now. Today.

If there is any hardness in our hearts, any stubbornness, any unbelief, we better repent of it now, today, because God says: “TODAY if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart.”

We mustn’t harden our hearts to what God says in His Word. We have to be open to it, responsive to it, and obedient to it.

When we keep a soft heart to God, we keep a soft heart to our husband. The Bible tells us that the reason for divorce is hardness of heart.

We go to Matthew 19:8. The Pharisees had come to Jesus and they had asked Him if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife.

Jesus said in verse 4: “ . . . Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” or let not man separate.

Then He goes on to say in verse 8: “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.”

And so it happens through hardness of heart. Of course it is true that when we’re married it is God’s intention for us to be one. One together, one flesh, one soul, one spirit, one in unity; but we’re not perfect and life’s not perfect and that doesn’t always happen. Strife comes into marriage and sometimes things are said that hurt and then bitterness comes in.

Oh precious wives, don’t allow bitterness to ever get hold of your heart because it destroys you and it destroys your marriage and ultimately it destroys your children because they are affected, too.

Bitterness and hurt, oh, they are such destroying attitudes and that is why God says: “TODAY if you hear His voice DON’T HARDEN YOUR HEART.”

You’ve got to get down on your knees and let the Holy Spirit work in your heart. Our hearts are flesh and sometimes they just don’t want to do it. I’ve found that I’ve sometimes had to get down on my knees and say, “Holy Spirit, come, come into my life. Come and work in my heart. Work Your Spirit in my spirit that I would have a spirit of submissiveness, gentleness, softness toward You and toward my husband.”

So we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. We don’t let them get hardened. We don’t carry on holding this in our hearts.

What does it say in Ephesians 4:26: “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” You might get angry but let not the sun go down upon your wrath. You do not go to sleep tonight until you’ve got things right.

That’s the Bible way. That’s the way that works. That’s what keeps our hearts right.

If we want to have rest in our homes, “TODAY if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart.” There will always be things that happen in life and when they happen, on the day they happen, we allow God to work in our lives.

We let Him move in our hearts so we can get our hearts right with God, with our husband, say sorry, seek restoration AND THEN REST COMES! Praise the Lord!

That’s what this is all talking about: Rest. Do we want rest, or do we want strife? Are we going to continue to live in strife or are we going to do it God’s way so we can live in rest? Amen?

Well, I love The Passion Translation that says: “ . . . ‘They will never enter into the calming rest of My Spirit!’” That’s because of unbelief and hardness of heart. But if we yield those to God, we can live in the calming rest of God’s Holy Spirit.

In fact, this morning at our family devotions we sang the beautiful old hymn that says: “I am resting, resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art.”

I wish I could remember the rest of the words but anyway, let’s pray, shall we?

“Father, We thank You for Your precious Word. What would we do without Your Word, Lord God? It keeps us in line and shows us the way You want us to live. I pray that You will continue to work in our hearts. Expose any hardness of heart, any unbelief, bitterness, and hurt.

“Oh God help us to keep our spirits pure before You because we want to live in rest. We want to enjoy the rest that You provide for us. We want to make our homes a place of rest for You where You delight to rest. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

Transcribed by Morgan Roth.

Words of the hymn:

1 Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee,
as thy beauty fills my soul,
For by thy transforming power,
thou hast made me whole.

Refrain:
Jesus, I am resting, resting,
in the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
of thy loving heart.

2 O how great thy lovingkindness,
vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvelous thy goodness
lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in thee, Beloved,
know what wealth of grace is thine,
Know thy certainty of promise
and have made it mine. [Refrain]

3 Simply trusting thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold thee as thou art,
And thy love, so pure, so changeless,
satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
meets, supplies its ev'ry need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
thine is love indeed. [Refrain]

4 Ever lift thy face upon me
as I work and wait for thee;
Resting 'neath thy smile, Lord Jesus,
earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
sunshine of my Father's face,
Kep me ever trusting, resting,
fill me with thy grace. [Refrain]

Author: Jean Sophia Pigott (1876)