LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 292: Seven-Year Battle with Cancer, Part 1

You are dreaming of a honeymoon pregnancy! Instead, you come home to find your husband diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma! The heartache and battle begin! Arden and Esther Allison share their story of Arden's seven-year long battle with cancer.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! And I have to say, please forgive me!  I have never been late before in getting out a podcast especially for this podcast! Because this is going to be a very special one!

Colin and I came home the 11^th of January from our Above Rubies Retreat down in Panama. That was our winter retreat, and it was the most beautiful, beautiful retreat. Oh, well, I don’t know, they seem to be getting better and better. I think it is that so many, although there are lots of new people, many are coming back. They’ve got to know one another, and the comradeship is so wonderful.

The young people are getting to know one another more and more. There was such a great anointing of the Lord upon the young people and the children. It was so amazing. One night the anointing of the Lord came down and they couldn’t stop worshiping until 2 o’clock in the morning and praying for one another. It was so beautiful!

But anyway, I came home. We had it all arranged the next day. I was going to do a podcast with Arden and Esther. They are sitting here with me now. But unfortunately, instead of doing the podcast, my head hit the pillow, and I couldn’t get up!

For three days I couldn’t lift my head. I couldn’t even keep down water. So, I don’t know what happened to me. Then, of course, I’ve got this cough. I’m not right yet, but by faith we’re going ahead today even though we are late. Please forgive me, once again.

Esther and Arden are sitting here with me. Arden is Serene and Sam’s oldest son. He’s married to beautiful Esther. Want to say hi?

Arden: Hello, everyone.

Esther: Hi!

Arden: I was going to say when you said you’re never late on a podcast, but sometimes I can be late on editing your podcast!

Nancy: Well, right from the beginning of starting our podcast, Arden has been the one who sets our podcast up and has been with me in all of this. He edits them so he’s such a very big part of this. Thank you so much, Arden!

Arden: I can be blamed for the bad parts! [laughter]

Nancy: Today I want Arden and Esther to tell their story. They have such a powerful story to tell. Some of you know it, but most of you will not know it.

But let me start it off because it all started with Esther coming to Above Rubies as an Above Rubies helper. Amazing things happen when girls come to be Above Rubies helpers! Esther arrived, and it was my first time to meet her. She came all the way from Canada and her lovely parents brought her down with them.

It happened to be that the next night, it was Shabbat. Esther was reminding me about this just now. I had invited the Allison family over for Shabbat. We always like to have visitors at our Shabbat meal. Sometimes it’s family, sometimes it’s people who we want to introduce Shabbat to them, or friends we want to get together with. Sometimes it’s just the grandchildren.

This time, it was the Allisons. And I had no ulterior thought in my mind. [laughter from Arden and Esther]. They are giggling here.

Arden: I’m only laughing because it’s been a family joke. Maybe we haven’t mentioned it to you, but it’s been a family joke that you have started Above Rubies to get wives for your grandsons! [laughter]

Nancy: Which wasn’t in my mind at all, but it did happen! And it was more than Arden and Esther! They set the ball rolling.

Arden: I was the first.

Esther: And you swore you’d never marry a Rubies girl.

Arden: That’s the funny thing. Growing up, when I was younger, I’d get teased, and I swore I would never marry an Above Rubies girl. Never, ever, ever, ever!

Nancy: I know, because if you could know, there’s a season, you see. There was a season when all our grandsons were just little boys, real boys. They didn’t believe in showering, or most probably never even sleeping in bed. They were always out in the weather.

Arden: We were savages. Back then, girls had the cooties. We were young boys, and we made this pact that we’re never getting married, ever! I was lying. I knew it then. I knew it then that I was lying. I wanted to get married but with the group of savages, I was like, “No! I’m never getting married! I don’t want to!”

Esther: If you got married, definitely not an Above Rubies girl!

Nancy: And, of course, if you ever talked about girls, they’d want a bucket to vomit into!

Arden: Unfortunately, I was acting very mean to the Above Rubies girls.

Nancy: Oh, yes! In those days, these little boys, they’d find a snake, so they’d come into the office to scare them. They’d come in with spiders. They would come in, and they used to tie them up. They did all these terrible things to the Above Rubies girls. But then, wow! Suddenly they just started to grow up a little.

That night, Arden told me, he said, “Going home, my mom says to me, ‘I hope you could marry a girl like that, Arden.’”

Nancy: “What did you say, Arden?”

Arden: Yeah, we were driving home that Shabbat night after we hung out with you guys for a few hours, three or four hours. We were driving home, and Mom looked at me and said, “I wish you’d fall in love with a girl like that, Arden!”

I don’t know why she said that, because I hadn’t fallen in love with any girl. [laughter] But she’s like, “I wish you’d fall in love with a girl like that.” I’m like, “Mom, don’t worry. I already have my own ideas.”

Nancy: He was already thinking. He’d already seen Esther. But guess how old he was? He was only 16! Help! [laughter]

Arden: I was just 16, just about to turn 17.

Nancy: So, Arden didn’t take long to wait around. He decided, “Yes, that’s the girl I want to marry.” When Arden believes it’s time to do something, he does it!

Arden: I was raised that you don’t get into a relationship. I’m glad I was. There’s no absent-minded, just dating. I wanted to get married. I wanted that life. I wanted to be a responsible man. When I found the woman, I was like, “Man, this girl loves the Lord, she’s responsible, she’s smart as a tack.” [laughter]

I wanted to get to know this girl more and explore the possibility of marriage. I talked to her for a little bit in the office. You were there. And then I started emailing her dad. That was an adventure! He was grilling me over a whole array of topics and matters, especially theological and spiritual. It was definitely an experience!

Nancy: Yes! They weren’t expecting their daughter to come down, and this happen. It was furthest from their minds.

Esther: I was going to say, to bring it back a little bit more, I was raised in China (and adopted by my parents in Chiona). My mother received Above Rubies magazines in China. She loved them. They changed her mind on a big family, on homeschooling, on mothering, because she wasn’t raised like that at all.

So, I grew up reading Above Rubies magazines from the time I was a little girl. Interestingly enough, somehow it was always one of my dreams to become a Rubies girl. Even on my homework papers, one of my goals was to be an Above Rubies girl. I did not know, obviously, that I was going to find my husband there, in the end! But yeah, I had a passion for Above Rubies from when I was a little, little girl.

Nancy: And Esther came, knowing every single person in the family. She had known all about them, and knew who they were, right from a little girl, which is quite amazing. But at 16, Arden wanted more than a girlfriend. He was never interested in that. He was interested in marriage.

So, Esther’s parents were, “Wow! Help! We’d better come down and meet this guy!” So, they had to come down. Of course, when they met Arden, they couldn’t say no.

Esther: They loved Arden.

Nancy: They just had to delay things a little bit. Then, of course, Arden began to frequent our meal table. It was quite interesting.

Arden: The funny thing is, back then I did a lot of water hauling because Mom and Dad’s water was connected to . . . They didn’t have a spring, didn’t have a well at that point. Because the spring kept on drying up in the summer. In the winter it was fine, but in the summertime, I had to haul water.

That was toward the end of the summer. She came in October. Obviously, it’s fall by then. But I was still hauling water. It only took 30 minutes to fill the water tank, but I’d turn it off, and let it drain out so I could have another 30 minutes! [laughter]

Nancy: Oh! [laughter]

Arden: They made me come and help in the office with Esther and you.

Esther: I remember one time you called for Above Rubies helpers. It was only me at the time. There was a new magazine that had just come out. I was the only Ruby girl there, so you asked everybody on the land to come and help. Arden was the only one who actually ended up showing. We spent the entire afternoon together, in almost complete silence, working on Above Rubies magazines.

Arden: If I could go back to that young guy that I was, I would be like, “Man! What an idiot!” [laughing]

Esther: No, we were both nervous!

Arden: Not for falling in love with her, but. . .

Esther: No, we were just both nervous.

Nancy: But that’s all about falling in love! It’s all part of it. It’s all so wonderful!

So, Arden would come for supper. He had to eat rather strangely. He could only eat with one hand! [Esther laughing]

Arden: Yeah. Granddad always made fun of me because we were always holding hands. So, I’d eat with my left hand, and I’m right-handed!

Nancy: That was a wonderful, great time, and so exciting for all of us! We all had to be patient and wait until they were both 18, and the beautiful wedding day came. That was such a glorious day.

We all knew that Arden and Esther were going off on their honeymoon, hoping for a honeymoon baby. We were all hoping for a honeymoon baby! We were all excited about it. We all thought, “This is what’s going to happen!” Everyone was so excited. But that wasn’t what quite happened.

Esther: No, we both come from families with a dozen children. We both desperately wanted to have a big family. We both were pretty certain it was going to happen soon, as you know. Your parents are pretty fertile, and so are mine, so we thought it’s really unlikely that it won’t happen. But God had different plans.

Nancy: Yes, so you can start telling the story.

Arden: Just to put it in perspective, we met in October of 2014 here at your house. We started our relationship. Knowing her father, I got permission to start a relationship with her, talk to her, call her. We were in a relationship for all 2015 and then we got married in February 2016.

Nancy: That was when she had to go back home to Canada.

Arden: That was more like long-distance. I visited her a couple of times and she visited me. She wrote the majority of the letters. We were emailing, texting, calling, and a few letters. A few for me, and dozens from her!

Esther: We got married in February of 2016. Five weeks . . .

Arden: Blissful. Incredible. Wonderful.

Esther: Five weeks after our wedding day, we went in for a routine check-up for you. Arden had had some swollen lymph nodes a couple months back. But we figured it was because it was the cold and flu season. Plus, weddings are wonderful, but they come with an aspect of stress and busyness and beginning a new life.

We figured it was a minor infection that would go away. But because it stuck around for a few months, we asked the doctors to check it out. They were like, “Ok, this has been around for a couple of months.”

Arden: He immediately said, “You might want to get checked out by an oncologist because you might have Hodgkin’s lymphoma.” I was like, “What’s Hodgkin’s lymphoma?”

Esther: Both of us had no idea. You were freshly 18. Neither one of us had any idea what that was.

Arden: I didn’t know that much about cancer. I thought old people got it; unhealthy people got it. I didn’t know anything about it. That’s when we were like, “What are we going to do?”

You guys who are listening, we have not told this to anyone. Family members know this, and a few other people that family members told them. We’ve talked to other people personally in a one-on-one conversation. This is the first time we’ve really, really gone public about it. It’s been six years now, no seven years.

Nancy: Seven years, isn’t it?

Arden: Eight years, coming up on our wedding day. It’s almost a seven-year journey of battling cancer.

Esther: Yeah. Needless to say, we were both a little shell-shocked. Both not sure how to process or continue from there. My grandmother had died of cancer, and your grandfather several years before.

My grandmother used conventional treatment. You know, you see and hear horror stories of conventional therapy, so both of us were very hesitant to go into it, especially being so newly married.

We all know it greatly decreases fertility, or at least it’s known to. We didn’t want to take that chance straight off. The doctors assured us that Hodgkin’s lymphoma is extremely slow growing. In fact, if you’re going to get cancer, it’s the type you want the most.

Arden: Exactly. Yes.

Esther: Because you have so much time. We thought, if we have the time, if it’s slow growing, we might as well try some natural treatments.

Arden: That was what was going through my mind as well. The doctor told me, “Hey, if you’re going to have cancer, this is the one you want, because people your age . . .”

Esther: Almost none of them die.

Arden: “Young adults your age, they all beat it.” With that in mind, we were like, “OK, what are the options?” With my mom being an extreme health freak, and I didn’t care about health. I didn’t appreciate having a healthy mom and a healthy lifestyle. Back then Taco Bell was my life. I went to Taco Bell all the time.

Nancy: But you were blessed to be brought up healthy.

Arden: I was brought up healthy, ate healthy meals at home. But when I was out and about, bad food was incredible. But that said, we decided to go and do natural treatment in Mexico, alternative treatment in Mexico. We were there for one month, right?

Esther: Right. One month.

Arden: It went from stage one, seeming normal, to stage four pretty quick.

Esther: I would say stage three. At that point, we left. We came home in July. It was about two months from when we went to Mexico initially to where the point where he was at, stage four was about two months. It accelerated really, really quickly, and really, really abruptly. Neither one of us was expecting that. All the doctors had assured us that was not going to happen.

Arden: We came back from Mexico. I felt normal when I first got there. Then during the treatment, in the middle of the month that we were there, I started getting night sweats. Just didn’t feel right. I was lethargic, going through life in slow motion. Poor Esther. The whole journey, she remembers it more than I do. On the really hard days. I was kind of not there.

Esther: Also, because it initially started around your neck, your lymph nodes around your neck swelled up really, really, big.

Nancy: I’ll never forget the night you arrived home. In this room, where we were having the prayer meetings, all the cousins were here. Of course, we all expected you to come home healed from this great, incredible natural therapy. Then they looked at you, and all these growths had gotten so much bigger. They all began to cry. We could not believe it. It wasn’t what we expected to happen, was it?

Arden: No. It was not.

Esther: You got steadily worse.

Arden: The doctors were telling my wife and my mom that, “Hey, this is fine.”

Esther: “This is normal. This is the way your cancer should react. This is just reacting to the treatment.”

Arden: “The dying cancer cells are causing a little bit of inflammation and it’s going to go down.”

Esther: By August of 2016, your parents had had it. I think they were like, “This is enough. We’re not listening to those doctors anymore.” We went and got him different scans from a different doctor.

Arden: At Vanderbilt.

Nancy: But in between that too, we decided that we would pray. Remember? It was actually three months that every single night of the week, we’d come together as a family. It was so wonderful the way the family rallied.

By “the family,” I mean the family, right down to the little babies. Everyone came. The cousins would gather round Arden. They would pray over him. I can remember them praying and praying. We’d sing the songs of the Lord. And we watched him get worse! In fact, it was so bad that we couldn’t. . . We weren’t seeing anything for our prayers.

I actually put Scriptures, healing Scriptures, all around the whole room. We could walk around and pray over those Scriptures, and pray those Scriptures, and hang onto them. We had nothing else to hang onto. All we watched were these huge tumors get bigger and bigger, and Arden become less and less.

Arden: The crazy part with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, it doesn’t work like a normal tumor. It’s essentially a blood cancer.

Esther: It’s a blood cancer.

Arden: It causes your lymph nodes to be tumors. They swell up so much. Yeah, with all that said, and all the prayers, and the family support we got, I’m literally here by the grace of God.

Esther: In retrospect, over those few months, we didn’t realize at the time, but your body was shutting down. It was shutting down, and you were dying.

Arden: Yeah, like you were saying before, when we went and got those scans, they called us up immediately. Immediately after.

Nancy: Because you were having things in your heart, wasn’t he?

Esther: There was fluid around his heart.

Nancy: When he had to get to the hospital. . .

Esther: They said, “You have to go NOW!”

Arden: That night, we went to Vanderbilt Adult Emergency Room.

Esther: We were admitted immediately.

Arden: Yep. Generally, sometimes you’ll get cut. I’ve been to the Emergency Room so many times in my life for cuts, knife gashes, you know. I was a dare devil and a crazy boy. You have to wait 15, 20, 30 minutes sometimes. This was immediately. I walked in, immediately put me on a table.

My wife was sitting right next to me, holding my hand. There were droves of students, nurses, doctors, all these people. Doctors came in and told my wife that night, “This is the worst case of Hodgkin’s lymphoma we’ve ever seen. If he survives, you guys probably won’t have children. His lymph nodes will never get back to normal size.”

Esther: Basically, they were like, “If you don’t do chemo, you will die. So, you must do chemo right now.”

Arden: We were terrified of it. That was a big fear over my wife, and my life at the time. Like chemo terrified us. Right during that time, I know I didn’t. We had this peace about it. God opened that door, and we did not fear. That was the door that God had opened. It was definitely hard on my wife at that time because she had to face a few months being married.

Esther: Well, yeah, I was facing widowhood in the first year of my marriage. It was a very real possibility.

Arden: Her family’s in Canada.

Nancy: And you come home from your honeymoon, just thinking of a baby. And now you’re facing a husband who may not live.

Esther: Exactly.

Nancy: It was torture, wasn’t it?

Esther: Yeah. It was pretty much hell on earth. There’s not much worse that I could imagine. I’ve got to be honest. But by the grace of God, chemotherapy worked.

Arden: They started me on heavy-dose chemotherapy. Also, just to paint a picture here, when we got married, I was like 175 pounds. When I got admitted to Vanderbilt in August at the ICU, I was close to 125 pounds.

Esther: That was literally a period of six, seven months. Six to seven months.

Arden: I was on crazy, crazy diets the doctors in Mexico put me on.

Nancy: And I was juicing for you every night.

Arden: Mom was giving me all sorts of supplements and mushroom powders, and all this crazy stuff.

Nancy: Oh, I know.

Esther: If it was natural, we tried it.

Nancy: I could see it was the hardest thing for him to get down this juice. It was the most powerful juice, because I was going to get you well!

Arden: Jalapenos, tomatoes, carrots, everything!

Nancy: Yes, and okra leaves, and . . .

Arden: At that time too, I didn’t have a love for health. I developed this love for health over the years of the treatment I had. I had to actually buy into it myself. Like my mom has been bought into it, so I had to develop a love for it. At that time, I didn’t. I just wanted to get better! 

They started me on heavy chemotherapy. I lost my hair. I think I felt so bad that I didn’t feel any of the side effects from chemotherapy, besides hair loss. I actually was feeling better from taking the chemotherapy.

Nancy: Because you’d been so bad, yes.

Esther: All you did was sleep.

Arden: Yes, so I actually had more energy because it was beating down. It was taking away the large masses around my neck and underarms. My underarms had baseballs underneath both arms.

Nancy: The interesting thing is that none of us could ever imagine how you got it, because you were such a healthy specimen. But do you think it was that spraying you were doing when you . . . Lots of theories, I guess.

Arden: I have a lot of theories. But I did have to say Round Up. I dumped it all over my shoulders and neck in an accident when I was 17.

Nancy: It spilled all over you. And you were out and didn’t get back for how long?

Arden: I was out on a cell tower maintenance crew. Esther and I were dating. This was in the summer of 2015. I had a backpack sprayer with glyphosate. The lid must not have been on tight when I jumped over a fence. You know when you land, you kind of brace your knees and bend over a little bit. The lid popped off, and the glyphosate poured over my neck and shoulders.

Nancy: Oh boy. Yeah.

Esther: Another theory, because, honestly, no one really knows, is that Epstein-Barr virus has actually been known to mutate into Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His bloodwork had said he had had Epstein-Barr virus. So, it’s possible that’s also what did it. But no one knows exactly. There’s another theory.

Arden: Really, I used to churn. My brain would just go around, especially when I was feeling better. In the fall, a month after the heavy chemo, I used to churn. “Why? What if? Why? Why me? Why me?”

Over the years, I really got to the point where I was like, “Why not me? Why not me?” Because I’m kind of frustrated with myself because I feel like I wasted a lot of time, sitting down in self-pity, and wallowing in, “I’m sick. I can’t do this. I shouldn’t do that. Oh, no, life won’t be good until I get better.” I put those requirements on myself, like, “Hey! I’m going to be really happy when I’m cancer-free.”

I had to get to the point, even though I got to this point before I was cancer-free. I had to get to the point where “Hey! No, I’m happy now. Cancer does not define me. Sickness does not define me. Yes, I have cancer, but I am a man of God. I am not going to let this define and rule over my life like this.” I had to get to that point.

Esther: For the record, though, he was one of the most optimistic people I have ever, ever, ever seen go through anything like this. If you asked him how he was, it didn’t matter what time of day or what time or night, or he’s actually doing, he’s always great! Honestly, he never ever got down.

Nancy: I will vouch for that! He was always great and always had a smile on his face.

Esther: I was going to say, he never . . . There were very, very, very few laws, and I rarely even saw them. He was always very upbeat, very optimistic, very positive. Actually, to this day, I’m baffled by how that works!

Nancy: Yes, yes. They really went for it when they first found you at stage four. But then, of course, it was a seven-year fight. It didn’t just go!

Arden: After the big heavy doses for a few months, I went to low-dose chemotherapy, which I reacted really well with. Over the next couple of years, I had a couple of clean scans. Then it would come back. It was very aggressive. I’d reacted well.

Nancy: This is interesting now. They say, “Oh, well. This is the one you want to get.” But it wasn’t like that for you.

Arden: After studying, because I really poured a lot of man-hours into studying cancer and stuff like that. When a young person has cancer, it’s a lot tougher than when an older person has cancer.

Nancy: Really?

Arden: The immune system is tougher, so in order to overcome a younger person, the cancer has to be stronger. But an older person, like I’ve known several older people who have cancer (that’s not a blanket statement). I know that some older people have cancer, and it can be really tough and take them out fast and be really aggressive as well. But I do know lots of older people that have cancer, and it’s been dormant in a way. Not dormant, but it’s not super aggressive like mine was. There can be various types of cancer. It’s wild.

Nancy: Not one’s the same.

Esther: No, no.

Arden: No, they’re all different. It’s crazy. I didn’t even know how much cancer there was out there until I started getting treatment. Another thing, when I was in the ICU in the adult side, since I was 18. . .

Esther: Just 18.

Arden: I was 18 on December 15 in 2015, about to turn 19. But they gave me the opportunity. They said, “Hey, do you want to go to the children’s hospital?” I looked around, and the adult side was kind of morbid. It was kind of sad.

Esther: Yeah, but honestly, I think even more than that, was the main reason, we were trying to save his fertility. We wanted children.

Arden: Yes, that was the main reason.

Esther: We really, really, really wanted children. If there was a chance of saving his fertility, it would be in the children’s hospital, not the adult hospital. That’s why we opted for the children’s hospital.

Nancy: Yes, that was the best facility.

Arden: That was the main reason. The other reason was the adult side was kind of sad. But we went to the children’s side. That’s where I was receiving the majority of my chemo, like the lower doses. That’s where I finished out, on the children’s side as well.

Esther: Well, we went through seven years of ups and downs. We tried natural therapy a couple more times, actually, just to see how it would work, especially because his body was doing better.

Arden: In Arizona.

Esther: Mainly in Arizona.

Nancy: Oh, you went to some other clinics too, didn’t you?

Esther: We went to two other clinics in Arizona to try to see what we could do. In the end we always ended up going back to Vanderbilt. Conventional treatment worked best for him and his cancer. In 2022 . . .

Arden: Spring of 2022.

Esther: He had had clear scans. The thing is, like he had said, we had had at least two clear scans before, but his cancer kept on coming back. The doctors at Vanderbilt recommended that we do a stem cell transplant because sometimes there’s cancer on scans that can’t be picked up because it’s too small. But left alone, obviously it will grow and destroy the body again. But if you do a stem cell transplant, the idea is that you . . .

Arden: Give yourself a clean slate.

Esther: Yes. So, they give you doses of chemo so heavy that it wipes everything in your body, both good and bad.

Arden: That was something that we knew was on the radar from the beginning. They said, “Hey, this is the plan. We’re going to do this, do this, do this, and then stem cell transplant.” I’d heard so many crazy stories of stem cell transplants over the years. Esther and I were like, we don’t know if we want to do that. But then, in 2019 we had our baby.

Nancy: Shall we just stop here? We’re going to come back next session and find out what happened about that. So, you’ve got to wait for it, because it was the biggest, hugest decision. I can remember, oh goodness, even your mom just agonizing, agonizing.

We’ll tell you. We haven’t finished the story yet. We’re going to close out here, and we’ve got a couple more sessions yet with Arden and Esther. Be tuning in for next week, OK?

“Lord God, we want to come to You today, thanking You for your faithfulness. Here we are, talking on the other end of seeing Your great faithfulness, Lord God, as we continue to tell the story of all that You have done, we want to give You thanks.

“Lord, we want to bless and pray for any who are listening who have any kind of cancer. We pray that, Lord God, You will come through in miraculous ways. Show the path, Lord, for each one, we pray in the precious Name of Jesus.

“Bless each family today, Lord God, in their homes, and in this coming year. In the Name of Jesus, amen.”

Arden: Amen.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 291: What is the Answer? Part 2

We continue discussing the question of whether we do what is right, or what makes us happy? What does the Bible have to say?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We’re in our second session of the premise, “We do that which is right, rather than that which makes us happy.” Last session we were talking about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We were talking about how the original intent of our Founding Fathers was not so much to pursue that which makes us feel happy, but it was about property rights, not only of home and land, but also of our person. It was about virtue and raising it to a greater height than just shallow happiness.

In fact, I should mention that our First and our Fourteenth Amendments both have the words, “life, liberty, and property.” They are two times written in the Bill of Rights. I wanted to share that. Plus, recently, on a Sunday evening, we went through the Biblical Citizenship course. It turned out to be so great. We learned so much.

One night, it was talking about how our Founding Fathers believed that our homes are meant to be our castles. In fact, the man of the home is meant to be the commanding officer of his castle. He is to protect his castle. I’ll read you a couple of quotes, because I love these quotes. It reminds me of the phrase, “life, liberty, and property,” although now we have “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

This quote is by James Wilson. He says: “The great natural law of self-preservation cannot be repealed or superseded or suspended by any human institution. The right of the citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves shall not be questioned. Every man’s house is deemed by the law to be his castle, and the law invests him with the power, and places on him the duty, of the commanding officer of his house. Every man’s house is his castle, and if anyone be robbed of it, it shall be esteemed his own default and negligence.” Therefore, they had to protect their castle.

Another man, James Otis, was considered a father to our Founding Fathers. He wrote a similar thing: “I will, to my dying day, oppose with all the prayers, powers, and faculties God has given me all such instruments of slavery and villainy as this writ of insistence is. It is the worst instrument of arbitrary power, and it is destructive of liberty and the fundamental principles of law. One of the most essential rites is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle.

“But these writs totally annihilate this right. It is a power that places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer who may reign secure in his petty tyranny and spread terror and dissolution around him. Both reason and the Constitution are against such writs.” They lawed against them in stating that every man’s home is his castle. I do love that. I hope you see your home as your castle, and your husband, guarding, watching over that castle, and protecting it.

Last time, we talked about how God always does that which is right. Now we’re up to . . .

No. 4. GOD ALWAYS DOES THAT WHICH IS RIGHT

Because God always does that which is right, He wants us to do that which is right. Let’s see an example here.

2 Chronicles 31:20 is about Hezekiah: “Hezekiah . . . wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.” That means, “in the presence of the Lord.”

I love this Scripture. There are three challenges here, not just one to do that which is right. But this time there are THREE challenges. Hezekiah did that which was GOOD, and that which was RIGHT, and that which was TRUTH. Let’s look at it a little more closely, because I think this is a wonderful Scripture to emulate. It’s a wonderful Scripture to read to your children and give them this vision of doing this in their lives; to always make the decision to do what is good, and right, and truth, knowing they’re doing it in the presence of the Lord.

The word “good” is a very common word in Israel. Tov just means “good.” Well, I shouldn’t say it “just” means good, because although it’s just this little word, and it’s used all the time, it’s an amazing word. It has so many meanings.

When you look it up in a Hebrew lexicon and listen to all the descriptions of what it means, it means, “good, pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious, sound, cheerful, kind, correct, righteous, virtuous, happiness, moral goodness.” That’s a lot of wonderful descriptions, all contained in this word. I hope we can try to put all those into practice!

And then it has the word “right,” which is yashar. I’m reminding you that this word means, “straight, right, upright, level, just, righteous, pleasing.” Remember, we sometimes use this word in our language today.

 

“The straight and narrow way,”

“standing straight and tall,”

“straight from the shoulder,”

“straight shooter,”

“go straight,”

“straighten up.”

We even have Scriptures using this word.

Psalm 5:8: “Lead me, O LORD, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make Thy way straight before my face.”

Isaiah 40:3: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Isaiah 45:2: “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.”

Proverbs 4:25: “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.”

Then we have the word “truth.” The Hebrew word emet, meaning, “faithfulness, reliable, sure, stable, true, divine instruction.” My, that is so wonderful. What a wonderful way to live, in goodness, and in rightness, and in truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” God is truth. Jesus is truth. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. Truth is the way of the kingdom of God.

Oh, ladies, we are living in a world of deception. Let’s be those who stand on the truth, who seek the truth, who lead our children in the truth! The truth is found in the Word. It’s not found out in our society. It’s not found in our schools and in our universities and colleges. It’s not found in our media. It’s only found in God’s living and eternal Word. We’ve got to live in it and get this truth. Amen? I think it would be a great idea to share this verse with your children. Encourage them to live in these character qualities.

Ezekiel 18:5 & 9: “But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right . . . hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.”

The next point . . .

No. 5. GOD’S WORD IS RIGHT

Nehemiah 9:13: “You gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and made known unto them Thy holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Thy servant.” Do you notice three descriptions again about God’s commandments? They are right, they are true, and they are good.

Do you remember how many commandments there are in the Torah? That’s the first five books of the Old Testament. Anyone remember? Yes, it’s 613! 613 laws. Well, that’s a lot, isn’t it? That’s a good question for a quiz. Do you ever have quizzes in your family? We often have quizzes here on the Hilltop. Many times at our Family Camps we have quizzes.

I love to get quizzes ready with Bible knowledge and general knowledge, and wow! It’s such a great way to learn. Try and do a quiz for your family sometime. It’s good if you have enough people. Bring in some other families, and you can have sides, so you can have a bit of competition. That makes it all exciting.

Now let’s turn to Psalm 19. This beautiful passage here describing God’s Word: Psalm 19:7-11: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are RIGHT, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”

I love that passage. Don’t you? That’s a good passage for your children to memorize, about God’s wonderful work, which is right. Here are a few more Scriptures.

Psalm 33:4: “For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.”

Psalm 111:7-8: “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” That’s rightness. It’s the word yashar. 

Psalm 119:128: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” Did you notice? “I esteem,” the Psalmist said, “all thy precepts.” Every one of them. Not just one or two. Not just the ones that suit us. No, every one of them! Every word is for us. Every word.

When I’m reading the Word of God, I read every word personally, for me. That’s how He wants us to read it. And not only all His precepts but concerning all things. That’s talking about a biblical worldview. Some people will say, “Well, I believe that Jesus died for me. He was buried and rose again the third day.” They understand the gospel. They are saved, and they are born again, but many times, their brains, their minds, have not yet caught up with their hearts which have been made anew.

When our hearts are born again, we are then meant to renew our minds, so that our minds will think God’s thoughts, think His Word instead of thinking what is all around us. It’s concerning all things. Every subject in the whole of the world, we have to know God’s understanding about it, His worldview about it. It’s all there in the Word. We can find His answer on everything if we will only search. 

It’s such an exciting thing to do, and you can do it with your family. If they ask a question, and you don’t know the answer, well, say, “Let’s search it out together!” Go to a concordance and find all the Scriptures on that subject. Read them all. Go to an app where you can find out what it actually means in the Hebrew and the Greek.

Find out what God says so that you know His mind, and you esteem His plan to be right concerning all things. Amen? Yes, on all things and all subjects. That’s a wonderful Scripture. That’s a good Scripture to learn, too.

Do I have any more on that subject? Yes, Isaiah 45:19: “I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.” Therefore, dear ladies, we can trust every word that God writes in His living Word is right. We can trust it. When we’re reading the Word, don’t just read it shallowly or gloss over it. Read every word. Take every word personally. Amen?

No. 6.  BECAUSE GOD’S WORD IS RIGHT, HE WANTS US TO ALSO SPEAK RIGHT WORDS

Job 6:25: “How forcible are right words!”

Proverbs 12:6: “The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright” (those who do right) “shall deliver them.” Right words are delivering words! They deliver people rather than bring them into bondage.

What kind of words are you speaking in your home? To your husband? To your children? Are they right words? Are they words that bring deliverance, that release them into liberty, that encourage them, that affirm them, that give them a vision that God has chosen them to do great things for Him?

Oh, just watch. We must watch our words. And to our husbands. What kind of words do you speak to your husband? Are they also right words? What are right words? Yes, they’re straight words, correct words, but they’re delivering words, they’re loving words, they’re sweet words, they’re words that build up our marriage, words that keep us together. Amen?

Proverbs 16:13: “Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.”

Proverbs 23:16: “Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.”

Proverbs 24:26: “Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.” Amen.

No. 7. WHAT IS THE CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO DO WHAT IS RIGHT

What kind of lifestyle do they live? Well, we can see a few things here.

No. 1. YOU’LL BE GLAD IN THE LORD

First of all, those who do right will be glad in the Lord. They will have a cheerful and glad countenance. They’re not going around depressed and gloomy and filling the home with a gloomy atmosphere. No. Psalm 32:11: “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous” (you right ones) and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”

No. 2. YOU’LL BE SHOUTING FOR JOY

Psalm 32:11: “Shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” Yes, those who do right actually shout for joy! That’s what the Bible says. Are they down in the dumps, no! They’re even shouting for joy!

No. 3. YOU’LL BE REJOICING IN THE LORD

Psalm 33:1: “Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright” (those who do right). What’s your lifestyle? Are you pretty gloomy around the home? Down, depressed? No! God wants you to be filled with joy, rejoicing in Him, shouting for joy, being glad in the Lord. Remember, it says, “in the Lord.” It’s not in your circumstances. Many times, you can’t be glad in your circumstances. But you can be glad in the Lord! In the Lord.

No. 4. YOU’LL THINK RIGHT THOUGHTS

Proverbs 12:5: “The thoughts of the righteous are right.”

No. 5. YOU’LL DEPART FROM EVIL

Proverbs 16:17: “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil.” That’s not toying with it or just hanging around it. No, it’s totally departing from it! This is the thing. When evil’s around or when we’re being tempted, we don’t hang around it and hope we won’t get tempted. No, we run from it! We flee it.

Back when the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt, God told Moses that he was to tell Pharoah that they had to go out with a three-day gap from Egypt. They had to be walking for three days before they would even think about stopping to sacrifice to the Lord their God. God didn’t want them just getting out of Egypt and just on the other side of the fence. No, He wanted a three-day gap. That’s a good thing to remember. That’s what we need if we depart from evil.

No. 6. YOU’LL HAVE A CLEAN HEART AND A RIGHT SPIRIT

Those who walk, doing what is right, will have a clean heart, and a right spirit.

Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” A right spirit. It’s easy to have a wrong spirit. Oh, sometimes you’ve got to get down on your knees. I’ve had to do this. Ask the Lord, “Please, Father, renew a right spirit within me. Help me. Come by Your Holy Spirit and move in my heart. Give me a right spirit over this thing.”

Maybe it’s someone who’s hurt you, said something nasty about you. You just feel so mad and upset. How dare they say that and how could they say that? But the Bible says to bless them. Bless them. So, as you bless them, you’re going to get a right spirit. It’s amazing. When you do what God says, then things will come into alignment. Circumstances may still be the same, but your spirit will be right.

Those are some of these things. Oh, yes, there are more yet.

No. 7. YOU’LL OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MAN

If we’re doing that which is right, we will obey God rather than man. That’s a big one. Oh, yes! So often we just give in and cave into man because, oh, we just don’t want to face the circumstances. What’s going to happen if we stand up for God? But if you’re doing that which is right, you will choose God rather than man.

Acts 4:19-20. This is after Peter and John had been in prison. “But Peter and John answered and said unto them” (because they told them, “OK, now you must not preach anymore in the Name of Jesus.”) So, what did Peter and John say? Peter and John “said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” You will know you’re doing right when you choose to do what’s right in the sight of God. Yes, we don’t listen to man. Amen?

No. 8. YOU’LL FOLLOW AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS

If you're doing that which is right, you will follow righteousness.

Psalm 94:15: “But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.”

Proverbs 11:5 “The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way.”

No. 9. YOU’LL WALK IN INTEGRTIY

And if you’re doing that which is right, you will have integrity.

Proverbs 11:3: “The integrity of the upright shall guide them.”

No. 10. YOU’LL BLESS THE CITY WHERE YOU LIVE

Proverbs 11:11: “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted.”

No. 11. YOU’LL DELIGHT TO PRAY

Proverbs 15:8 “The prayer of the upright is His delight.”

These are all some of the things that the Bible describes that those who are doing right are walking in.

No. 8. GOD’S PROMISES TO THOSE WHO DO WHAT IS RIGHT

Now, the last point that we have on this subject is the promises to those who do right. What are some of the promises? God always has promises. When we fulfill His conditions, then He gives promises. Let’s have a look at them, shall we?

First one: God saves those who do right. Psalm 7:10: “My defence is of God, which saveth the upright.”

Psalm 17:5: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness.” Those who do right will behold God’s face. Wow! What a wonderful promise that is! The Amplified says of that Scripture: “For the Lord is rigidly righteous. He loves righteous deeds. The upright, those who do right, shall behold His face, for He beholds the upright.”

The words there, “behold His face,” the Hebrew word is panim. It’s a plural word, because when we behold the face of Jesus, we don’t only see one attribute. We see so many attributes. The more time we spend in His presence, and the more we look into His Word, the more we will see of His face, and the more we will want to love and worship Him. It’s such a glorious promise.

Those who do right will have a peaceable future. Psalm 37:37: “Observe the blameless person, and look at the upright, for the person of peace will have a future.” The Amplified says: “Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright, for there is a happy end for the man of peace.”

A happy end!

That’s good, isn’t it? That’s what we have been talking about in these two sessions. OK, what is it? We do that which is right rather than that which makes us happy. But when we do that which is right, we will have a happy end! Are you getting it?

The New Revised Standard Version says: “Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable.”

Next one. Those who do right will dwell in God’s presence. Oh, what another wonderful promise! Psalm 140:13: “Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy name: the upright” (those who do right) “shall dwell in Thy presence.” I can’t think of anything more wonderful than dwelling in the presence of the Lord.

Psalm 16:11: “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” What a beautiful thing to build and create the presence of God in our homes for our husbands and for our children. That is so beautiful.

Those who do right will continue to receive God’s righteousness. Psalm 36:10: “O continue Thy lovingkindness unto them that know Thee; and Thy righteousness to the upright in heart.”

Those who do right will have light in the darkness. I love that. Going through a dark time? Can hardly see your way through? Well, if you seek the Lord, get His mind, and His heart, seek His Word, to know what He wants you to do, and you do that which is right, you will have light even in the darkness. Psalm 112:4: “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.”

Next one. Those who do right will have a good inheritance.

Proverbs 28:10: “Those who mislead the upright into evil ways will fall into pits of their own making, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance.”

Next. Those who do right will know God’s secrets. How about that? Do you want to know God’s secrets?

Proverbs 3:22: “His secret is with those who do right.” Wow, you can’t get better than that! Let’s look at a few other translations of that Scripture, shall we?

The Jerusalem Bible: “He sheds His secret counsel with the upright.” Wow. I love that.

The New Revised Standard Version: “The perverse are an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in His confidence.”

The Amplified says: “The perverse are an abomination, extremely disgusting and detestable to the Lord, but His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the uncompromisingly righteous, those who are upright and in right standing with Him.”

Now, I’ve just written a few different translations here. The Berean Study Bible: “For the Lord detests the perverse, but He is a friend of the upright.” This is talking about friendship with God.

The New English Translation: “He reveals His intimate counsel to the upright.” This word that means “intimate friendship” is the word sod in the Hebrew. It literally means “an intimate circle of friends and confidants, confidential discussion among friends in confidence, secret counsel revealed from one confidant to another and kept secret; friendship of intimacy with a person; a cushion, a pillow, or a divan.” The picture of sitting on a cushion with someone and intimately talking together.

This beautiful word is also used in a passage in Job. Oh, I love it! I must take you to it. Job 29:4. We’ll look at this as we close this session. Job is going through, oh, goodness me! He’s just had all his children taken from him, all his possessions taken from him, and now he’s suffering with boils. You know everything he went through is too unimaginable, although sometimes we think of Job, that was his life, just going through this terrible suffering.

But no, it was only a certain season that God allowed this, and then He blessed him doubly, even more. But he’s lamenting back to the times of the goodness of God. He says these words in Job 29:2: “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; When His candle shined upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness; As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle.”

In other words, when God’s intimate closeness and friendship was in my home, “When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil.” And so, he goes on. But I love it there again, as he says, “As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle,” when God’s intimate friendship and counsel graced his tent. God’s friendship was in his very home. Oh, that was so beautiful. That wonderful promise is to those who do that which is right.

Jeremiah 23:18: “For who hath stood in the counsel,” sod, that’s the Hebrew word, “of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard His word?” Oh, that is wonderful. Yes, how I long to do that, to be in God’s presence and hear His Word.

Any more promises? Yes. Those who do right will have gladness. Psalm 97:11: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”

Those who do what is right will dwell in the land. Proverbs 2:21: “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.”

Those who do what is right will be blessed. Psalm 112:2: “The generation of the upright shall be blessed.”

Next. The home of those who do right will flourish. Proverbs 14:11: “The tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.”

Next one. They will receive wisdom. Proverbs 2:7: “He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous (yashar).”

OK, I think I’ve got to the end of all the promises so time to close again! So, dear ladies, these were our two sessions about doing what is right rather than what makes us happy. But remember, if we do that which is right well, we are sure to end up happy.

“Dear Father, we ask that You will help us to keep on Your track, to walk in your tracks. We thank You that You go before us, and You leave Your footsteps for us, to put our feet in Your tracks. And to travel the right way. Lord God, You show us the right way.

“Your Word is filled, every word is filled with the right way to live. Help us to always choose Your way. I pray for everyone listening, that You will bless them, and help them. Lord, I pray we will all be those who choose the right way. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 290: What is the Answer? Part 1

“Do we do what makes us happy? Or do we do what is right?” What is the correct way? We know our three “inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What did the founding fathers mean by “the pursuit of happiness”?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Happy New Year! Wow! It’s quite amazing to be embarking again on a New Year. We don’t know what this year will unfold, but we know that God has it in His hands, that He has all the nations of the world in His hands. He is planning everything towards the ultimate, final end of bringing everything into subjection to Himself. We don’t know when and how God is going to do everything He has promised in His Word, but we trust Him.

I pray that God will be with you personally, and with and your husband, and all your children, and your home. As you travel this year, put your trust in Him. There may be difficult times, but no matter the good times or the difficult times, we keep looking up, looking up to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Be encouraged!

I’d love to give you this Scripture as you go into this New Year. It’s talking about the land that the children of Israel were going into.

 Deuteronomy 11:12: “A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.  And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.”

But my blessing to you is that God will give you the blessing of verse 12, that His eyes will be always upon your home, “from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year.” Amen. 

Well, I have a subject I’m going to start today which I believe is a very important one to start the New Year. It is “WHAT IS THE RIGHT WAY?” Now, there is a way, there’s a right way, and there’s a wrong way. Many people today are counseled to do that which makes them happy, to follow the course that will bring them the most happiness. Like some people who are in a difficult marriage, they think, “Wow, if I can only get out of this marriage, I’ll be happy!”

But I believe there’s something greater than just choosing happiness. Yes, I know God does want us to be happy. But I believe that we don’t choose what makes us happy. We choose what is RIGHT. I believe that when we choose what is right, that it will result in happiness.

Because we have this tendency to lean on our own resources, our own understanding, how we feel, it’s amazing how we will base so many of our decisions on how we feel. Feelings are deceiving. Feelings come, feelings go, but they’re not always the truth. We must get back to the truth and find what is God’s way. His way is the right way! Amen?

Yes, He’s given us His Word, which is an accurate map to show us the right way. The world gives us many, many maps to follow, but they are usually faulty maps. They lead us in the wrong direction and down destructive paths. They’re by-paths. But God wants us on His path, on the right way.

I want to encourage you in these next couple of sessions, to make this your precedence: to choose and do that which is right, rather than that which makes you happy, because I know that you will know happiness when you choose that which is right. I hope you can say “amen” with me.

Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

And verse 7: “Be not wise in thy own eyes. Fear the LORD and depart from evil.”

To know the right way, we must trust in the Lord, and not lean on our own understanding. I’ve got so many Scriptures. It’s amazing how much God says about this in His Word. But before we even get onto that, I have to talk about something that I have a little problem with, actually.

That is, in the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence, that great statement that we all confess and say when we’re in some occasion, especially a political occasion: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Well, those are great words. But I’ve always had a little problem with the last phrase: “the pursuit of happiness.” I wondered, “Well, why, why is that so important, to pursue happiness?” I don’t feel it really lines up with the Bible as we read it. In fact, those words have already been used to get people on the wrong track. Gay people have demanded same-sex marriage because they say that will make them happy. They’re pursuing happiness.

What does that phrase really mean? I have read that in past times, the original intent of the pursuit of happiness was actually property, that the inalienable rights are life, liberty, and the freedom to own your own property. But, anyway, we really need to go back and have a look at what our Founding Fathers say, to see if we can get some sense of what they really meant by this pursuit of happiness.

We know that it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote that Preamble. Then there were five people who were committed to writing it. The others edited it. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingstone. What was in their minds?

Thomas Jefferson, I guess you well know, was very influenced by the writings of John Locke.

John Locke was a British political philosopher who wrote about life, liberty, and property. Yes, he used those words. He lived nearly 400 years ago, from 1632 to 1704. But he had some wonderful understanding. Many of our Founding Fathers lived in his writings. It was his writings that helped to write the Constitution.

I’ll give you just a few wee quotes from Locke. “The pursuit of happiness engages the intellect, requiring careful discrimination of imaginary happiness from true and solid happiness.” We see he wasn’t just saying, “Oh, you just pursue whatever makes you happy!” No, it was a higher thing than that.

He writes again, “Reason, which is that law, teaches us, all mankind, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” There we have that thought, of possessions and property.

Another quote: “Private property is absolutely essential for liberty. Every man has a property in his own person.” I’m stopping there.

That’s very interesting, isn’t it? He’s here not only talking about owning a home and land, and having your own property, but having ownership of your own thoughts and beliefs. Even that is property, which is our liberty that we have and shall not be taken away from us.

He goes on to say, “This nobody has any right to, but himself. The labor of his body, the work of his hands, we may say are properly his. The great and chief end, therefore, of men united into commonwealth, and putting themselves under government is the preservation of their property.” That means their possessions, and also their convictions, their beliefs, their thoughts.

Are you seeing, ladies, although we have the pursuit of happiness, their original intent we see written in these quotes is that it did mean the preservation of property and liberty, to have property, and not only in estate, but also in our beliefs and convictions, and in our own person.

One or two more quotes. “Government can never have the power to take to themselves the whole or any part of the subject’s property without their consent.” He believed that government is morally obliged to serve the people, by protecting life, liberty, and property. He thought happiness meant gathering property and riches without interference of government.

To me, this is really a picture of the blessing and liberty that we read about in the Bible. In 1 Kings 4:25, it’s talking about the wonderful, peaceful, and glorious reign of King Solomon. His father David had been a man of war. He conquered all the enemy nations round about. So now, Solomon has this peaceful reign.

The Bible tells us that he is ruling right from the river Euphrates, which is right into the middle of Iraq, and down to Egypt. He had so much land that was originally given to Israel divinely by God. It says here, in 1 Kings 4:25: “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” There is the picture: “every man under his own vine and his own fig tree,” the picture of each family having their home, having their vineyard, having their fig trees.

Colin and I have traveled quite frequently in the Middle East and Europe and stayed in many homes. In that part of the world, they have their home, and they have their vineyard. That’s part of what you have. There it’s talking about that great liberty in the Bible.

It is the opposite of what we are currently facing with the New World Order and the World Economic Forum who want to bring in the opposite of this glorious freedom that is in the heart of God. Their first mandate, as I’m sure you have read it, but if you haven’t, do you know what it is? “You will own nothing, and you will be happy.”

Well, that can’t be! Because we were brought to that place “in Christ” that we can learn to be “content with whatever state we are in” but that is not how God wants us to live. He wants us to have the blessing of home and our own place to live. But they want to own everything, and say, “OK, you will own nothing.” Many people don’t realize that this is their mandate. We need to be standing against that.

I was reading to you some of the quotes of John Locke, and Jefferson, who lived in much of his writings. Let’s hear from what Jefferson said. I’ve got a few quotes from some of the letters he wrote. “The order of nature is to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue.”

In another letter to someone, he writes, “Without virtue, happiness cannot be.”

Another letter which he wrote to his daughter, he said, “Health, learning, and virtue will ensure your happiness. They will give you a quiet conscience, private esteem, and public honor.” We see that Jefferson is taking that pursuit of happiness to that higher realm of virtue. It’s not only just to make yourself happy. That’s “me, me, me,” and that’s never a good way to live. When we try to live for ourselves, we will never ever be happy.

What did Jesus say in Mark 8:35? “He that will save his life will lose it, but he that will lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall find it.” That is a principle of the kingdom of God. We’re not looking after our own lives. When we try to do that, we lose. But when we’re prepared to lose our lives, to save others, to pour out our lives for others, that’s when we save our lives.

John Adams was one of the people who edited that Preamble. He writes: “The happiness of society is the end of government. The happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue.” So, he also relegated it to a higher plane of virtue.

Then Benjamin Franklin, who was also one of the five, Benjamin Franklin, it says of him that actually his whole education was in much of Locke’s writings. He was self-educated. Did you know that? Benjamin Franklin, one of our great Founding Fathers, was self-educated. He didn’t go to school. Much of his self-education was reading the writings of Locke.

Benjamin Franklin’s IQ was 160. That’s pretty good. The average IQ is about 95 to 115. Perhaps we could say 100 is an average. He was well above average. Thomas Jefferson’s IQ was also 160. Do you know which president has the highest IQ? It was John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams. He had an IQ of 175. That’s very, very high.

It’s interesting to go back and look at the IQs of the past presidents. What is an interesting thing, is to find that those who had the highest IQs were those who were many of our very first presidents, such as John Quincy, and then John Adams and so on. Most of them were self-educated. But they were well-educated, of course.

Let’s read some of Benjamin Franklin’s writings. He wrote in 1728: “I believe God is pleased and delights in the happiness of those He created. Since without virtue, man can have no happiness in this world, I firmly believe He delights to see me virtuous, because He is pleased when He sees me happy.”

In 1735, he wrote: “The science of virtue is of more work, and of more consequences to man’s happiness than all the rest of the sciences put together.” We are seeing that even Benjamin Franklin put the pursuit of happiness into that place of virtue.

Do you remember that virtue is the very first quality or character trait that God wants us to add to our faith? We read that in 2 Peter 1:5: “Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.” There are seven things the Bible tells us to add to our faith. But the very first one was “virtue.” The others were: “and add to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance,” which is self-control. “And to self-control (temperance) patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity,” the seventh one.

I’m getting there, but I am just wanting to give you an understanding of the original intent of this phrase, “the pursuit of happiness.” We look at George Mason. He was the one who wrote the Preamble in the Virginian Declaration of Rights. He put them all together. He wrote it on June 12, 1776. He wrote about life, liberty, and property.

It was only a few days later, on the Fourth of July 1776, that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Preamble, “our inalienable rights,” and changed that word to “the pursuit of happiness.” I think he wanted it to be a broader thing than just property, so it was more than thinking of the state, and wealth, and home, and land, but even that which is of our own person, and even virtue and so on.

I’m sharing that with you because I had to really check this out myself, because I didn’t think they would be thinking shallowly, of “Oh, we do just what makes us happy!” Oh no, that was not their original intent at all. In the Bible, we are encouraged to enjoy happiness. Oh yes, the Bible talks about happiness, oh, so many things!

“Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.”

“As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.”

“Happy is the man that finds wisdom.”

“Happy is the man that fears the Lord.”

“Happy is the man that keeps God’s laws.” And on and on and on.

But we’re not told to pursue happiness. We’re told to pursue and seek God, seek His face, seek justice, seek His commandments, seek His precepts, seek good, seek first the kingdom of God, seek peace. These are the things we’re told to seek after in the Word of God.

With now giving you that foundation, let’s begin to look at the Scriptures about what is right, because remember, I believe we pursue and seek that which is right, or we could even say, we do that which is right, not necessarily that which makes us happy. Many times, the right way may not make you happy in the beginning, but it will in the end, because God’s ways are perfect. God’s ways bring blessing and happiness, because this is God’s delight. This is God’s plan for us. But we start with finding the right way.

The word “right” in the Hebrew in the Old Testament is yashar. It literally means, “straight, upright, correct, right, just, righteous.” This word is reflected in some of our modern expressions. Often, we say:

 “the straight and narrow,”

“standing straight and tall,”

“straight from the shoulder,” that’s speaking from the heart.

“straight shooter,”

“go straight,”

and sometimes we’ll say to our children, “Come on! Straighten up!” because they’re getting out of hand. We’re using that word, “straight” because that’s part of the meaning of “right.”

I’ve got a few points here.

No. 1. WE MUST DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN GOD’S SIGHT, NOT OUR OWN

We find that in so many of the Scriptures, when God is speaking about doing that which is right, it’s doing it in the eyes of the Lord, or in the sight of God. It’s not doing that which is right in our own eyes. That’s pretty easy to do, isn’t it? But we’re to do what’s right in God’s eyes. To do that, we’ll have to go to His Word, won’t we? And find out.

Let’s start with the very first Scripture where this word is used. Remember, the first Scripture we have is the law of the first principle. It’s always important the first time God uses a word.

Exodus 15:26. This is a wonderful Scripture. It has such a wonderful promise at the end, but it begins with four conditions. So many of God’s words have conditions and then they have the promises. They have both.

We don’t just get, “Oh, yes, God will just give everything we want!” No, there are conditions first.

“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God,” first condition,

“and wilt do that which is right in his sight,” second condition,

“and wilt give ear to his commandments,” third one,

“and keep all his statutes,” fourth condition,

“I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”

Isn’t that a wonderful promise? Oh, I love it, but remember, it’s got the conditions before it. One of them is doing that which is right, “THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD.” Amen.

Deuteronomy 6:18: “And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.”

Deuteronomy 13:18: “Do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.” There are more Scriptures, but I think you’ve got the idea!

No. 2. EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO DID THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD

In 1 Kings 14:8, it talks about David: “who kept My commandments, and who followed Me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in Mine eyes.” Only! He only did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. What a wonderful testimony to have over your life!

Then we read about Asa, 1 Kings 15:11: “And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.”

Then we read about Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22:43: “And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD.”

Jehoash, 2 Kings 12:2: “Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” We see there the power of godly mentoring from an older man. While he had the priests teaching him, and there by his side, guiding him, “he did that which was right.” We all need that guidance, don’t we? Everyone needs it from someone older and more experienced than them.

Maybe you have younger mothers who you can encourage and teach in the ways of the Lord, and show them the truth, the way God wants them to walk, the right way. Most young women today, even in the church, are not walking in the right ways of the Lord, for their home, for their families, even for their marriage because they’re living in this society where they’re doing everything according to how they feel and what society thinks. They don’t know the right way. The right way is God’s way.

There are so many other examples I could give you. It just goes on and on. In fact, when you are reading about the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, every time you read about a new king, you’ll notice it says one of two things: “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” or you’ll read, “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” God is watching over all, but it’s all in God’s eyes and in His sight. They did either one or the other.

No. 3. GOD DOES THAT WHICH IS RIGHT

Genesis 18:25: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I love that Scripture. Don’t you? Many times, we think, “Oh, my. How could this happen? What is God doing here?” But I always like to say, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” God knows what He is doing and what He does is always right.

Deuteronomy 32:4: “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” I’m often amazed at how people can get angry with God. They don’t like what is happening. It’s not suiting them. They’re going through a tough time, and they get upset with God. Who are we, as puny men and women, to get upset with God? Everything He does is right. Ultimately, as we trust Him, it will work out for our good.

Psalm 25:8: “Good and upright,” that’s the word “right,” yashar. “Good and right is the LORD.”

Psalm 92:15: “The Lord is right. He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

Isaiah 26:7, 8: “The way of the just is uprightness: Thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.”

Nehemiah 9:33: “Thou art just in all that is brought upon us, for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly.”

I think our time has gone, and we will begin the next session on our next point. So, you’ll find out what it is then! Shall we pray?

“Dear Father, I pray for every family who is listening today. I pray for their marriages, I pray for all their children, I pray for Your blessing over their homes. I pray that You will watch over them from the beginning of this year until the end of the year. Lord God, I pray that You will lead them, and I pray above all that you will help them to learn to trust You and keep their eyes upon You, Lord God. In the Name of Jesus.

“And help us, Lord, to be families and individuals who do that which is right in Your sight. Lord God, teach us to be people who do that which is right, rather than that which just makes us happy! Lord, to do that which is right is virtue. It is a far greater status than just trying to make ourselves happy, which so often ends in destruction because it’s not the right way! Help us, Lord to be these people, biblical people according to Your Word. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 289: A Culture of Death

Another life is taken prematurely. They took away every chance he had to survive. Becky Leski joins me today to tell the story of her physician husband, and how he died at the hands of the medical profession.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. Today I have a very special visitor with me. I know you love it when I have someone with me here. It’s always a surprise who it will be. Today I have Becky Leski with me from Georgia. She is going to share with us with us today a tragic story, a story, though, that I know we all must hear. In fact, I hope that you can pass this podcast onto many others, because it’s something that we must know.

Becky’s husband was a doctor. Sadly, he’s not with us today. She’s going to tell you the story about that. He was a doctor, Dr. Mark Leski. He started his practice as a doctor in family practice. He was 27 years in sports medicine. He taught sports medicine also at Columbia Hospital in South Carolina.

Then he moved into specialized medicine of wound care, treating patients with wounds from diabetes, radiation, and infections often after bone surgery. Plus, he had such a high rate of infections coming from the ICU, where he worked in the Newman Hospital in South Georgia. He had been doing this for ten years.

It’s amazing how many people get hospital infections in the ICU. He was kept very busy. But he was really a genius in his field and had a great gift of healing. In the hospital he had three hyperbaric chambers. He would often use God’s wonderful healing remedy of manuka honey! But I’m just introducing her husband. Now I’m going to introduce Becky. Hi, Becky.

Becky Leski: Hello. Thank you for having me.

Nancy: So great to have you with us. Well, that’s what Dr. Mark was like, a great doctor, a man who poured his life into his patients. Do you want to say anything more about that, Becky?

Becky: I think you covered it pretty well. He was an excellent, excellent physician, because he cared and because he believed in healing. He loved people. He loved his family, and he loved his patients.

Nancy: This is back in the covid plandemic. Both Becky and her husband Mark got colds. Of course, he, being a doctor, he had to be tested as to whether he could go to work or not. You both got tested, and it was positive, wasn’t it?

Becky: It was a home test, and we were both positive.

Nancy: Yes, you were positive. But you just felt like you had a cold. You got better, but then, Dr. Mark had some problems with his respiration. Can you share what happened?

Becky: He was struggling a little with breathing. He didn’t want to go, obviously, to the hospital, because he knew what was going on. But I pressured him there, at the last, to go. I thought we could go and get some antibodies, and get him some oxygen, and we’d get back home where he could mend. But that’s not what happened.

Nancy: So, when he got there, they said he had to stay. What happened?

Becky: Initially, on that Monday, we went to the ER where he was employed at that hospital. They did some x-rays, did a CT scan. They said that he had pneumonia. He asked for the antibodies. They denied him. He wasn’t vaccinated and we felt that that was a big part, that played a huge role in that refill. They sent him home, basically, with nothing. Just a Z-Pak.

Nancy: They didn’t even give him antibiotics?

Becky: They gave him the Z-Pak antibodies, but they didn’t send him home with oxygen, steroids, nothing. It really was a wasted trip.

Nancy: Wow! Because of the pneumonia, he was getting worse. Then you found that he needed help with breathing.

Becky: He did.

Nancy: You got him to hospital. He didn’t really want to be there.

Becky: He didn’t.

Nancy: He was seeing a lot of things that were going on. But I think he thought he could most probably handle it. He was a doctor, also, in that hospital, and he could let them know what he wanted.

Becky: Right.

Nancy: But it didn’t happen that way, did it?

Becky: It didn’t. His biggest fear wasn’t covid. It wasn’t anything to do with covid or pneumonia. His biggest fear of not wanting to go there was because he was afraid he would catch an infection that would become septic, which is what happened.

Nancy: He was constantly having to fix up infections from the hospital.

Becky: Correct.

Nancy: There he was. You were very, very blessed that you were able to stay with him, weren’t you? Was that because he was a doctor there in the hospital?

Becky: I do believe we did get that permission because he was pretty demanding about that. He would not go unless we were allowed to stay with him. To our knowledge, at the time, the Piedmont Hospital System had not allowed a family member to stay with a covid patient full-time. We were the first family, to our knowledge, that was allowed to be with a covid patient full-time. We never, for 31 days, we never left his side. We saw, we heard, we experienced, some horrific things during those 31 days.

Nancy: So, you were right there. That, I think, was one of the saddest things during that plandemic time, because it was a plandemic, that no one was allowed to be with their loved ones. I think people were made to believe that that was because it was a plandemic, that more people would get sick. But the reason was, they did not want anybody to know what was happening and what they were doing to their patients.

Becky: That’s my belief. Absolutely, 100 percent, that’s my belief.

Nancy: So, here you are. Your husband’s fit, well, healthy, but he got pneumonia. I got pneumonia earlier this year. It took quite a long time for me to come right, actually. But I didn’t need to go to the hospital.

Of course, I think too, in that time, because great fear came upon everybody. If somebody couldn’t get their breath, they were rushing to the hospital, thinking they were dying.

So, you were there and knew what he needed. But everything that he needed you found they were doing the opposite?

Becky: Right.

Nancy: Tell us the story.

Becky: We all knew by that time; even non-medical people knew that the antibodies were working. They refused him the antibodies, not just at that hospital, but even locally, at our local hospital. Once he was asked if he was vaccinated, he was denied. We could only assume that was the reason, because we had neighbors that had gotten them at these same places.

But what was interesting was, he was credentialed at this hospital, he had privileges at this hospital, he was an employee there. He had really not much say in his care other than some things, he denied treatment. He wouldn’t take remdesivir, which is a whole other story. He refused the ventilator.

When he got there, within probably an hour of being in the ER, they were pressuring us to sign a DNR on him.

Nancy: Which means “Do Not Resuscitate.”

Becky: Correct. Here he is, sitting up in the bed, talking and conversing, saying, “I would never consider signing that. I’m fine. I’m going to beat this. I’m going to get out of here and get back to my patients and my family.” But that was not their plan and that’s not what happened.

Nancy: So, even though he didn’t sign it, they still went ahead with what they wanted to do. When I was talking to you on previous occasions, I was amazed at how they treated him, and their standards of cleanliness and so on, which was obviously purposeful. Can you tell us about some of those things?

Becky: Again, I’ll preface my answers with this is what our family believes, based on what we saw, what we experienced. This is our opinion, what we believe happened.

He was first admitted to what they called the “step-down unit,” which is not ICU, but it’s a step down from ICU. He was given, we didn’t know at the time, way too much oxygen. They blasted him from the very beginning. Now we know that it was too much. He would ask that, and they would ignore him, or they would give him a reason why. They said they would bring him down later; they would wear him down. But he never got a satisfactory answer.

He was constantly trying to be the teacher, because in the step-down unit, a lot of the staff were new, fresh out of school, or not skilled properly. They would come in and they would stick him for one blood draw, sometimes he would be stuck eight or nine times, because they couldn’t get a vein.

He would ask, as a patient, as a physician there, he would ask, he wanted a central line put in so they could draw most of everything from that central line. They refused the entire 31 days. I’m getting ahead of myself, but he ended up acquiring several hospital-acquired infections, which is the second cause of death.

Nancy: Of course, he went in with no infections.

Becky: None.

Nancy: You were saying that they dropped something?

Becky: This happened multiple times with different departments, from the phlebotomist, teachers, blood, to the nurses, to the respiratory therapists. There’s a suction tube that was on the side of the bed, for if we needed to suction him, or clear out his nose, whatever we needed to do, it’s called a “Yankauer.” Multiple times during his stay, they would drop it on the dirty floor.

Even once we moved to the ICU, the care got much worse. They would drop it, and then put it right back on his bed. They didn’t bring a new one; they didn’t wipe it with alcohol. They would put it right back. We were constantly having to be involved in his care.

I had to clear my daughter … The day he was moved to ICU, the room was so filthy. It was covered in blood splatters and vomit stains. It looked like a third-world hospital room. I used hot water and towels, and I cleaned the room on my hands and knees. It was so filthy. Blood on the bed they put him in.

He had phlebotomists who would come in who would have their masks down. They would clearly have a cold, and they would wipe their ungloved hands on their nose to wipe their nose, and then touch the things they were getting ready to use on him. We had a nurse who had a long wig that she wore down which is not protocol. That is a no-no in a hospital, especially in an ICU, where people are very vulnerable.

By this time, he had wounds, and several wounds. I was helping her bathe him. Her wig continued to roll across his wounds. He would look at me, and he would say, “They’re going to kill me. They’re going to kill me with infections.” We were at their mercy. We could sit here all day, and I could give you examples.

Nancy: I can’t even believe what I am hearing. In fact, didn’t you try to have a meeting about it all?

Becky: I did. Not just about the lack of protocol not being followed, but the treatment from some of the respiratory therapists and some of the nurses. The lack of care, the negligence. It was the communication from one shift to the next. If you saw a nurse for hours, and this is ICU, if they knew he needed something, they would just continue to wait for the next shift to do it and pass the buck along. He would decline when we would have those type of people.

So, I called the meeting with the department heads. I begged them. I told them I would pay them. I would pay the salaries of the people, if we could just have the handful of people, the staff members who really wanted Mark to live. They cared truly and were administering care to him. We would pay. We would donate. We would do whatever. I was begging for his life.

The doctor that was in charge of his care was in charge of the meeting. He described Mark as if he were giving rounds to his students. He described him as “non-responsive,” naming all these things, that he should be a DNR, but his family is resisting.

I said to him, “It concerns me that you’re his primary doctor, and you don’t know that right now, he’s in the room with an occupational therapist sitting on the side of the bed, trying to do exercises. He’s very much responsive.” But that was the type, even in his medical records, that one moment, a nurse would have him unresponsive, and another nurse or respiratory therapist or the doctor would have him doing exercises at the same exact time. But there were no changes.

Nancy: So, it just depended on the nurse, whether they were going by the protocol, hoping, doing everything they could to help him live.

Becky: Yeah, it was. . . When you were living it, when you were in it, it was so surreal, but I think the biggest thing that Mark, myself, and my daughter, who was an ICU nurse at that time at a different hospital, was the evil that we had never seen or experienced before. It was a level of coldness and callousness that I never, I never thought could happen in our hospital systems, our healthcare system.

Nancy: What gets me is the fact that they could do that in your presence with you there, and to one of their own doctors. What were they doing to people who they never allowed loved ones in? They were just doing the protocols.

Of course, the protocol for most was remdesivir, which poisoned the kidneys, which was a poison, which was planned by Dr. Fauci, and became the protocol through every hospital. And then onto the ventilator. Rarely did a patient come off the ventilator.

Becky: Sadly, it’s still the protocol today.

Nancy: That’s what I can’t believe. This is still so you get the message. If you have little Miss C, (I will never call it the word, because I am not giving into their narrative in one way). It was all planned.

If you would, I would hope you wouldn’t go to the hospital for that, but if anybody, or friends are going, you’d better let them know what the protocol is. It’s remdesivir, and then the ventilator. Both kill. And yet, there were remedies that so many doctors who were seeking to bring healing to patients, some were absolutely, always healed.

Becky: He asked for certain vitamins. They would order it in such a way that he couldn’t take it. I called down to the pharmacy at the hospital to ask for different vitamins to be put in a bag. They said it wasn’t possible. Why aren’t vitamins possible in the hospital when we knew that C and D and zinc work very well in helping build the immune system.

Nancy: Absolutely!

Becky: We knew from the very first that they were . . .

Nancy: They could have intravenously put vitamin C into him.

Becky: Oh yes, yes. The nutrition they denied him. His staff brought over a very high protein, because of being in the wound care center, they brought him high-protein drinks. The ICU nurses confiscated it and threw it in the trash can, because the hospital itself didn’t give it to him. But yet, the drinks they were bringing up were just sugary-nothing drinks. Then they denied him anything, water even. It was an unbelievable, horrific experience.

Nancy: Unbelievable all right! I guess most of you do know that ivermectin has been found to be such a great remedy. I think it is a good idea for people now to stock up, because we don’t really know what’s ahead.

They did this, and we realize now that it was part of the plan of depopulation, because that is the number one list on the plan of the World Economic Forum and the New World Order. In fact, on the Georgia Guidestones, in your state . . . of course, the Georgia Guidestones are no longer there, praise the Lord! God did a mighty miracle there and wiped them out. It was obviously God because they were wiped out with lightning. Nobody has ever found anyone who had anything to do with it.

But on the top of their ten commandments for the New World Order was to reduce the population of the world to 500 million. The current population of the world is eight billion. So, they have got a lot of billions to get rid of! They are wanting to get rid of them. This is their plan in their deceived, evil brains. This plandemic was part of this plan.

In fact, they were really wanting to bring in another one this fall. I can remember Biden and many others saying there is going to be another pandemic coming, and you will have to wear masks again, and you will have to be vaccinated. But there was such a pushback. You could go onto Facebook, Instagram, and everybody was, “Not me! You’re not fooling me again!” Pushback, pushback.

Now we’re hearing nothing. It shows you that standing up for truth does work. But there are still people who are so vulnerable and somehow believe these things. I don’t know how. But we have got more and more to stand up against them. We must stand up, because we have to know their insidious plans, what they are trying to do.

We do have to be prepared, that when they try to bring in these things, we will resist. Also, that we are prepared. I think we can, on this transcript of this podcast, we can put sites. You’ve got some sites, haven’t you, where they can get ivermectin? There are other things too, which are important to stock up on. We do have them, and we have used them. I think that is important. Now, I remember your telling me that when this was all happening, you tried to get ivermectin, and it was $500 a dose!

Becky: We did. I was able to get it, I think, the Wednesday after being at the ER, on Monday. $500 apiece for both of us, but by Friday he was in the hospital, and I couldn’t give it to him in the hospital.

Nancy: You were able to get it for yourself.

Becky: I was. I took the full dose.                                                                      

Nancy: And you were just fine. But imagine that! Because they did not want anybody to get it, and you could hardly find a place where you could get it. I know friends who got it from overseas, and down in Mexico. They were getting it from everywhere, because here in the USA, they would not let you get it. But you can get it now. It’s time to get hold of these things, isn’t it?

Becky: Yes, it is, it is. Also, this is a different strain now. What they called the Delta variant that Mark had, it did need, because of clotting, the whole thing with covid is micro-clotting. Even in the ER, they wouldn’t give him anything to break up those clots in the lungs.

His own doctor, who was also an employee of Piedmont, had to sneak. . . My daughter had to pick up, like it was some type of spy movie, in a brown bag, medication, because the hospital wouldn’t give it to him. It was the very thing he needed.

Nancy: Oh, I know. It’s so sad. Of course, since that time, your case is not an isolated case.

Becky: It’s not.

Nancy: You have been to a conference earlier this year, where there were 650 widows who have been through similar circumstances as you. Women who are crying, and who are bitter, and who are desperate, because their loved ones were taken away. They were taken away insidiously. It is unbelievable.

And there is no recourse. You have tried. Every one of these women have tried. Even just recently, you’ve been working with a lawyer, a very, very good lawyer. He said, “There is no way. Every loophole is tied up.” Before even this covid plandemic was released, they had it all tied up in the law courts so that no one could come back on them.

Becky: They knew what they were doing.

Nancy: When it was happening, I was often thinking, “Wow, there are going to be thousands and thousands of lawsuits, because of all these people who had these loved ones die, who were not meant to die.” But now, no lawyer can take it on. This is so unbelievable. I think the only thing left is that they can get hold of these stories. If they have the right person who can take it to Crimes against Humanity.

Becky: That’s our hope.

Nancy: Is there a place where people can send their testimonies for this?

Becky: Yes. If anyone in your audience had a loved one die with a covid diagnosis, or of covid, they can go to a website. You want me to tell it?

Nancy: Yes. Say it now.

Becky: OK. It’s https://chbmp.org That’s Covid-19 Humanity Betrayal Memory Project. There are hundreds, hundreds of cases of stories just like my husband’s. But the interesting thing is, social media has since heard so much about the c-word that it’s been difficult for widows and widowers to reach out to find each other. There are pockets, and there are sites popping up where there are 1,000 here, 500 hundred here, 1600 here. They’re everywhere. If your audience could share this . . .

Nancy: I will put that website on the transcript. If you have a story yourself, or know someone, they can send it in there. That is really only the last recourse there is, because the courts are completely tied up. They made sure that happened, because they obviously knew it was going to happen. But I think that if this could happen, it would be good, because justice has to be done. When you think about it, it has been murder.

Becky: That’s right.

Nancy: It is beyond serious. People who have been quite happy to murder patients are still there, still attending to patients! Help! It is so scary!

Becky: I think it’s easy for people to move on. Covid fatigue was a real thing. People were tired. They didn’t want to be masked anymore. They were so thankful to let covid be behind us. But we can’t forget what happened. We have to keep it. Just like the Holocaust, we can’t let it happen again. We can’t forget these people who gave their lives.

Nancy: Even DeSantis has shortened the time. There used to be a time of up to two years from grievances in a hospital of people who died, where they could go to the court to share them. But now he has shortened that to one year.

Becky: He did, he did.

Nancy: Why?

Becky: That’s a great question. I would love to be able to ask him that face-to-face.

Nancy: Because as you have found when you go through something as devastating as this, and your loved one dies, it takes so long to even be able to think straight again and get yourself together to do something like this. Then the time has passed when you can do something.

Becky: I had two years. Georgia has a two-year statute of limitations. Although I had my daughter, we talked to over 50 attorneys in two years. But your mind is so foggy and cloudy. You’re trying to grieve, and tell this story every day, over and over to people, to listen, to get help. But there was no help.

Nancy: Now, your husband actually went into the hospital, and really, all he needed was help with breathing. But he ended up with four infections, which he got in the hospital.

Becky: He had multiple hospital-acquired infections.

Nancy: And hypoxia, which came through the inadequate care.

Becky:  Correct. That’s exactly what we proved. We didn’t find out until we got his medical records a couple of months later. It’s just how sinister things were.

Nancy: And, he actually didn’t have covid. They never tested him for covid, ever.

Becky: They never tested him for covid, ever.

Nancy: But they did put that as number three on the list of why he died, because they had to get their money.

Becky: They did.

Nancy: Because if they put covid, they got money. If they gave remdesivir, they got money. If they put him on the ventilator, they got money. And now, the hospitals where this happened, they have made $100 million dollars.

Becky: I don’t know the exact number, but they are building a massive addition to this hospital.

Nancy: Hospitals everywhere are rebuilding out of the money, out of covid deaths, because everyone, they got money. They were out to get them.

Becky: An interesting thing is, right at the beginning, in 2021, when this first hit the scene, I think it was the beginning of March, beginning of April, when they approached my husband and the other physicians at this particular hospital, that they were in such dire straits, and their finances were not good at the time. They asked the physicians if they would be willing to donate 30% of their salaries towards this pandemic that was coming.

We didn’t know at the time what was going on. He gladly, even though he had some doubts of what was happening from what he was reading in his research, but yet he cared enough, he had a heart of gold. He donated 30% of his salary for months to that hospital. And now they’re building.

Nancy: You can’t believe that, can you? But then, we get back to really where this hit you personally, and the grief you’ve been through. But when you went to that conference with all these women, you saw such bitterness there. You knew you couldn’t live like that, so tell us, how have you have been able to forgive what happened? When they took your husband from you.

Becky: Forgiveness has been a journey, for sure. I remember being at the conference. That conference you’re talking about was in San Antonio in March. Some of the women were doing OK, but they were very active in politically trying to make sure this never happened again.

Then there were some who, you could feel the bitterness off of them. They were just devastated, and very, very angry. I remember looking, and talking, and thinking on the way home, flying back. Thinking, “God, I don’t want to go into bitterness like that.” I was pretty bitter. I was very angry. I’m still very angry. But I, in my heart, I knew that I would become just like those people who treated him that way if I didn’t forgive.

I was at the conference in Florida, and Allison Hartman’s husband spoke to me about forgiveness after I had talked and given Mark’s testimony there. Some of the things he said to me that day really, I took to heart, and I went back, and I prayed.

I said, “God, I don’t have the emotions to go with this prayer. I don’t feel like forgiving. I don’t feel like releasing this to You because it almost felt like a bomb. The hate and the anger. But I was able to say that I’m willing to give it to You.” Then I came to this fellowship here, not long after that, and I was able to take communion for the first time in two years because I felt like I was at a place where I wanted to forgive them.

Nancy: Thank You, Lord. I know it’s not an easy thing, but it’s such a powerful thing, isn’t it? Forgiveness is just, it’s that God’s way is always the right way. It’s what blesses us personally. Yes, praise the Lord.

Oh, thank you, dear Becky, for sharing this. You were saying that just recently you’ve met someone else who hav through exactly the same thing at the same hospital.

Becky: The same hospital, the same floor, the same doctor. Most of the same nurses, same respiratory therapists. We can finish each other’s sentences on the treatment. Both of her parents died there within weeks of each other. The same treatment, identical treatment. And that’s all over the country. The stories are nearly identical.

Nancy: So, precious ladies, who have listened to this story, and the heartache of Becky losing her wonderful husband, this is what we have been facing in these last two or three years. But let’s be aware. Let’s not cave into their evil narratives. Let’s be those who will stand up for truth, and for righteousness, and for justice, and not give in!

Many can think, “Oh, wow.” They give into the narrative that all these people had covid. Actually, it was so interesting. There was not one flu case that whole time. It was really just another strain of the flu. There are thousands and thousands who get the flu each year. In fact, I got the flu during that time. Oh, I was so proud. I said, “Wow, I am amazing! I’m actually famous! I’ve got the flu! No one else has got it!” [laughter] Because I knew what it was.

Thank you so much for sharing, and also sharing the greatest victory that you have, in being able to forgive.

‘Lord, we come to You. Lord, it’s so sad to hear about these situations. Not just Becky’s, but there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, Lord God. Oh, Father, we pray that You will be with everyone who has lost loved ones, and You will help them, and You will comfort them and encourage them.

“And Lord, help us all to not be deceived, Lord. Save us from deception. Help us to see through what things are happening. And Lord, to rise up and be those who will stand for truth, no matter what. It’s not easy to stand for truth, Lord God. It has consequences and persecution, but we pray that You will help us, Lord.

“We want to be practical. We want to be ready for the time, whether it’s in our generation or the next, or the next, when we do face the mark of the beast. And when no one will be able to even eat if they don’t take the mark. Where many, Lord, will be martyred because they will not give in.

“But we dare not ever give in. We dare not. Help us, Lord, to practice now in not giving in. We ask this in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

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

 

Tell other wives and mothers about these podcasts and transcripts!

 

Further references:

Live.children’shealthdefense.org

Covid origins

https://www.facebook.com/100000130826957/posts/pfbid0Gvp3KcsSXcUYLkJWWDgTG5kMsGcVXbycxnVvs2PsiXaQEtVPVURhMqBLcnkzV8Skl/?mibextid=cr9u03

RESOURCES FOR COMBATTING VIRUS

https://formerfeds.substack.com/p/covid-variants-preparing-in-advance?fbclid=IwAR04cuSM2zaT76gBJqg2pToBJWw0oNMR0XMVNF6EFro0pVRcgTgqzyeOBB0_aem_AWSoJ8xeHfB1ztFcXdNnR7ZCHInSCBDNKp3M7J7GePs-rhvpGrfkbzpafCtPtdna2eI

STORIES OF DEATHS

Go to this site to read stories of those who were treated wrongly and most given remdesivir.

You can also share your story of a loved one who was taken from you unnecessarily.

https://chbmp.org/?fbclid=IwAR0mxJYE9MwXO7WheXyBcdYPLMbl8t2-vFMDI-OsaLPHTQ_z9YfTo_Cngdw_aem_AWQqbxiYpDdq2BtY9hn48VQjg3daIFw3FYS3dsyKMUp4WqDfQmGqRRcnUDLh1XhE1XQ