LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 242: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land, Part 14B

Our last session in this series, and we continue last week’s subject. What are your plans for Saturday or Sunday? How much time do you give to God on your set-apart day? One hour? Two hours? Or the whole day?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We are continuing our discussion of last podcast, about what do we do on the day we set apart for God? Some lovely ladies listening are those who keep the Sabbath and then there are others who keep Sunday. We’re not talking about which day, but what do we do on the day that we set apart for the Lord?

I had just a few more thoughts that I thought I would share with you. Last week we talked about it being a day of rest, and refreshing, and reviving of our spirits. Also, that it was not only a day of rest, but a day of rest. It’s not an hour when we go to church for an hour, or couple of hours, but a day. I think that we have gotten away from that concept of this day being a day set apart for God.

I’m thinking back to that famous old movie. I wonder if you saw it? It came out in 1981, so that’s about 42 years ago, Chariots of Fire. Did any of you see it? It’s a marvelous movie showing this guy, Eric Liddell, who went to the Olympic Games. He was a believer and did not believe in doing sports on Sunday.

But his final race was going to be on Sunday. He refused to run it, and although he was set to be the winner of, I think it was 100 yards, he did not go ahead. He stood his ground because he was committed to keep this as a day unto the Lord. Instead, he had to run in another race; I think it was the 400, which he won, although it wasn’t even his race. God honored him. But it’s an amazing movie and worth watching. Something to show your children.

We were mentioning about how some people are not actually committed to a church fellowship. I do believe that is so important, whether we are keeping the Sabbath, or keeping Sunday. We should be committed to the people of God.

Did you know that in the New Testament, the word “church” is mentioned 118 times? The word “synagogue,” where the Jewish people worshipped, is mentioned 57 times. We see how they were committed to a church. The word “church” is ekklesia. It means, “a Christian community of members on earth; an assembly; a congregation.”

We know that church is not a building. The church is the people. Yes, it’s an assembly of people. But the only way it can be an assembly of people is if we assemble! Yes, we have to assemble. Of course, that takes an effort.

That comes back to us as mothers, doesn’t it? We are the ones who really make it happen. We’ve got to even start thinking about it the night before. Preparing clothes to get everyone ready for going to meet with the people of God. Especially with children, we need to make sure that we’ve got all their special clothes ready for Sunday.

I think we should wear special clothes for Sunday, don’t you? That was always traditional. If we go back to the Word of God we read of how the priests had to change their clothes when they went into the Holy Place and before they came out. They didn’t wear the clothes they wore around in the Holy Place. They had to change into their priestly clothes.

I think when we’re coming to meet with God, we show respect. We show reverence when we dress nicely. Back in my day, we used to have what was called “our Sunday best.” Have you ever heard that little phrase, “Sunday best”? We didn’t have so many clothes in those days, so you had one set of clothes that was for Sunday. That was special for Sunday.

Today, we have so many clothes. I just went up to Goodwill the other day, and I couldn’t believe it. Everything was so cheap and then you could have half-price day. You can buy clothes for a couple of dollars, three dollars, maybe four at the most. Lovely clothes. You could actually have quite a big wardrobe these days and you’re not really spending much at all. It is different.

But I don’t, oh, please, lovely mothers, we have to watch our girls as they’re growing up. We live in this world where the fashion is not founded on godly principles. It’s founded on the spirit of the world. I don’t believe that it’s right for our daughters to wear jeans to church.

Jeans aren’t church clothes. They don’t belong to church, nor do any kind of pants belong to church. And yet there are some who will even wear, I don’t know what you call them, these totally knit skin-tight pants, which are so revealing. You might as well be naked. Clothed but naked, because you can still see every little nook and cranny and line. These are not church clothes.

Then we come to summertime. You want to go to church to worship God, and you’d think you were going to the beach! And here’s not only girls, but even older women, with shoulders bare. No, we don’t wear bare shoulders to church. We don’t wear clothes that show cleavage to church. We don’t wear short dresses to church. I believe they should be at least, minimum, to the knee when going to church.

You see, we are a holy people. God says: “I am holy; be ye therefore holy.” Well, it’s bad enough wearing those kinds of clothes around, let alone to church! It’s time we lifted the standard for church. Mothers, it starts with us. What are we wearing to church? Do we have a lovely dress for church? That is modest, feminine, lovely? We’re going to the house of God. We’re going amongst His holy people. We should be making it a holy place.

That’s another thing that it is called in Leviticus 23:2. God says: “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath rest, a holy convocation.” The word “convocation” in the Old Testament (I was talking to you about the New Testament. The word ekklesia is used 118 times, and that is “an assembly, a gathering together of God’s people.”

We go back to the Old Testament, and guess what, ladies? Sometime back I was doing a study on the word “assembly.” I found 12 different Hebrew words that mean “the assembling of God’s people.” Here’s one of them: “convocation.” It’s the word miqra. It means “a public meeting, something which has been called out, an assembly.” It’s a holy convocation, a holy assembly.

On the day that we set apart for God, we are to meet in a holy assembly. Therefore, we’d better be wearing clothes that are holy. Yes, they don’t have to be drab and boring, because as God told them when He was talking about the priests’ clothing, He said they were to be holy clothes, but also for glory and for beauty (Exodus 28:2).. We wear holy clothes, but beautiful clothes.

Talking about these different words for “assembly,” I’m not going to give you all the words, but we just looked at one there in the context of the Sabbath day, the holy “convocation.” That word is used, let me see how many times? Yes, 23 times that particular word is used for the assembling of God’s people in the Old Testament.

AN APPOINTED TIME

Here’s another one: Exodus 30:36. God is talking about how “in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee.” The word “congregation” is moed. It also means, “an assembly, a place of meeting, a congregation,” and it also means, ladies, actually this is the first meaning, “an appointment, a fixed time.” This word for “assembly” is used 223 times in the Old Testament.

If you go to the Strong’s Concordance, the first part of the meaning is “an appointed time.” Isn’t that interesting? Yes. I believe that we have an appointed time to meet with the saints. They had appointed times when God wanted them to meet back in the Old Testament. But now, we’re living in our day, and we also have appointed times. Different churches start at different times. Some start at ten in the morning, some at eleven. Some have it in the afternoon; some at different times.

So, whatever your church has, that’s the “appointed time.” And once again, I do believe we should try to get there by the appointed time, because this is biblical. This is biblical, precious ladies. These are little practical things we’re talking about on this day that we set aside for God.

We, as mothers, we were talking about the clothing. We have to get the clothing ready for our little ones. Yes, because, “OK, go and get ready, Johnny.” And poor little Johnny can’t find his socks and he can’t find his shirt. Then “Susie, are you getting ready?” But she can’t find whatever she has to wear. Then maybe they all come out in the wrong clothes. You have to organize the clothes.

Of course, even from your little ones, dear ladies. I was noticing, just been noticing lately, how most children today, most children are clothed in pants and jeans and so on. That’s the clothing of today. Somewhere along the way, mothers have just fitted into the clothing of our worldly society. Now they come to church, yes, even our fellowship. Children! They’re in pants, they’re in jeans, coming to church.

But that’s not their fault. It’s mothers. The mothers are dressing little ones. The mothers are dressing them in these clothes. They are dressing them like this, even to come to church. We’ve lost this along the way, ladies. It’s time we brought a greater reverence and respect into the house of God, which is the assembling of His people. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a house church, or a great big church, or a cathedral. Whatever it is, it’s not the building, it is the assembling. But in the assembling, we come dressed appropriately.

So, the night before, we are checking out for our little ones, their clothes. We have them ready for them to get up and get dressed into so that we’re not screaming around, trying to find things. We are preparing to be ready for the appointed time.

I know some mothers who have found that on Saturday night, they will put their clock, their watch, their whatever, they will put it an hour ahead, or a half an hour ahead, so that when they’re looking at the time, they think, “Oh, wow, OK.” And then, “Wow,” they can get to church early, or on time, because usually it’s so easy to be late. But they can eventually, actually, get there on time if they set their watch ahead, although a lot don’t even wear watches today. But whatever you use for your timing.

It is an appointed time. In that same Scripture, it says: “In the tabernacle of the congregation.” That’s the word for the “appointed time,” the assembling of His people. “Where I will meet with thee.” There is another word. “Meet” is another Hebrew word for “assembly.” It means, once again, “an appointed time, to meet at a stated time, to summon an assembly together.” It has both meanings, once again, of assembling together, but at an appointed time, at a stated time. Wow!

Now, I’m not making all this up, ladies. It’s just the Word. I think we have to be reminded of the Word, don’t we? We have to come back to His Word. We get away from it. I can see how much I have got away from things; how we lived in the early days.

Even in my lifetime, which is like a blink of my eye, as I said before, was it last session? I lived in the days when not only every Christian family set aside their day unto the Lord, but even the secular. They may not have been doing it unto the Lord, but they had to have that day, because no shops were open. They couldn’t do much on that day. No sports, no shops, no nothing. Well, now, of course, there’s everything. Just a reminder about it’s not just a day of rest, it’s a day of rest.

OK. We’re not only getting ready to go and meet with the people of God. We’re getting the clothes ready. We’re encouraging our teen daughters, that they will wear something lovely and beautiful to church. We’re showing them that church is a special thing, and such a wonderful privilege, and the greatest day of the week, where we say, “Oh, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord!” (Psalm 122:1). That should be our attitude.

A DAY FOR GOD AND A DAY FOR HIS PEOPLE

Then what are we going to do? Come home, and “OK, we’re home! Throw off all our church clothes and let’s get out! We’ll go to this sport, or we’ll do this, or go to this entertainment! Or we’ll just turn on the TV and watch sports!” That’s what happens in many homes. Dear ladies, it’s not just church. It’s a day. A day. A day. A day for God, and a day for His people.

A WONDERFUL DAY FOR HOSPITALITY

I think it’s the most wonderful day for hospitality. All throughout our lives, we have done one thing or the other. If the church that we have been involved in does not have a fellowship meal after the service, well, we will come home and bring guests with us. For many years, pastoring in New Zealand, and then Australia, this was actually what we did. We showed hospitality.

We would invite families, and young people, and whoever, home to have a meal with us. Oh, it is such a beautiful thing, ladies. It’s sort of a let-down to come home from being in the presence of God and with the people of God, and just come home, and you’re on your own. It’s boring!

Oh, I can remember one time. Oh, we had families every Sunday. Some Sundays we’d end up with about 30 people around. They couldn’t fit around our table, so we’d have people around our big table. Then our children would have friends sitting around somewhere else, and so on. I can remember one time thinking, “Oh, goodness me! I just think I need a rest!” So, I said to my husband, “Darling, let’s just not ask anybody next Sunday. Let’s just have the day to ourselves.”

So, we did. We didn’t ask anybody. We came home to, you know what? It was the most boring Sunday of our lives. We came home. We looked at each other. There’s no one else to talk to. The children were bored out of their brains, so we never did it again! Ever. We’ve always invited people.

Well, the logistics of this have been different also in different countries. Back in New Zealand, where it’s a sheep country, a typical New Zealand meal is roast lamb. Well, it’s not really roast lamb. It’s roast hogget or roast mutton, because we export our lamb. We would eat either the hogget, which is a year-old lamb, or we’d eat one that is older and bigger, which can feed more people.

So, I would put on a big roast of mutton, that’s an older sheep, in the oven, and put potatoes, pumpkin, kumara (that’s our New Zealand sweet potato) around the meat. It would be slowly cooking while we were at church. Yes, I did have the element on, but it was on pretty low. We’d cook it low and slow, long and slow. It would be cooking, and I would have frozen peas ready. I would have a salad made, and maybe something else. That was all prepared the day before.

Then, when we came home, we would often get hot bread from the shop on the way home, because that’s what you could do. I’ve always made our homemade bread, but we allowed our children to have hot white bread on Sundays. Oh, they thought it was amazing! Of course, now, we’ve got shops open on Sundays. So, we would buy hot bread and bring it home.

Some people would come and not bring anything. Others would also bring something. And somehow, we would feed everybody. Then we moved to Australia. Well, now I just couldn’t get my big legs or shoulders of roast lamb, or hogget, over there. It was too expensive.

I would, usually the night before, or early that morning, I would cook up a great big pot of chili, or something like that, that would feed a multitude. And once again, have a salad ready. Once again, we’re bringing loaves of hot bread home from the shop, loads of it. Everybody loved hot bread. So, we would do that and feed all the people that came. Oh, it was so glorious and wonderful! Fellowship with God’s people is so amazing!

I remember in our church in New Zealand, we encouraged everyone to show hospitality, because the Bible says, “Show hospitality to one another” (1 Peter 4:9). It’s biblical. It’s part of the lifestyle of the kingdom of God. It was the lifestyle of the early church. They not only did it once a week, they did it daily. They met daily in their homes the Bible tells us in Acts 2. We would encourage everyone to show hospitality. They learned as they came into our homes, and “Wow! This is so great!”

So, they began asking people into their homes. And then, it became a problem, because unless you called somebody during the week, if you were just asking someone there on Sunday, you wouldn’t be able to find anybody to ask home, because everybody had already been asked home! Oh, what a glorious church where everybody was showing hospitality to one another!

Well, now, we are doing it differently. And here, currently, we have church in our home out here on the Hilltop. It’s called The House of Prayer. But it’s not really a little lounge church, because we have our big Above Rubies packaging room. We can fit up to 100 people in this room, which such a glorious blessing.

CHURCH IS TOGETHERING

After our service here on the Hilltop, we have fellowship meal. And this is also such a blessing! Oh, it’s such a blessing because we can fellowship with one another. Church is not just coming to sit and listen to a message and go home. No, it is one-anothering! It’s togethering with God’s people.

So much of the blessings of being together is when we’re sitting talking over the meal. You begin to find out, oh, where the people really are. What are their needs? And what are their visions? What are their passions? What is happening in their lives? What are things we can do together? Oh, goodness me, every Sunday is so amazing! Even in just doing that, I still don’t get time to talk to everyone! But at least everyone can be talking with different people.

And the children can go out to play. They have fellowship. The young people have fellowship, and then they can play volleyball together and hang out. Play soccer together. Many families hang out right until the late afternoon. So, it is a togethering, an assembling with the people of God. That is just how He intends it to be. I think we’ve got to get into our heart that it’s not just going to church. It is a day unto the Lord. Also, a day for His people.

And then when you’re not with His people, you will find the things that you want to do as unto the Lord and to delight yourself in Him. For we are to delight in that Sabbath Day, or the day that we keep unto the Lord.

And another thing about it, it is a holy day. Yes, I did mention that when we were talking about, what are we wearing to church? What are our children wearing to church? Make sure the clothes are appropriate for a holy day.

Isaiah 58:13-14: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,” like, “Oh, OK, let’s go to the zoo today!” Or “Such a beautiful day!  Why don’t we have a picnic?” No. “Nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” 

Do you notice there, God calls it “My holy day”? Yes. Then, He also calls it “the holy of the Lord.”

The Knox translation says, “Walk warily. Keep My Sabbath unprofaned. It is a day I have sanctified, not for thy self-pleasing. A precious thing the Lord has made, holy and honorable.”

Now the word “holy day” is the word kadash. That’s the Hebrew word for “holy” in the Old Testament. It means “apartness, holiness, sacredness, uncommonness, withheld from ordinary use.” We see that it is a day that’s set apart, a day that is unto the Lord, because the word “holy,” kadash, actually means “set apart.” It’s not the sort of thing, “Oh, yes, that’s a holy person.”

No, “holiness” means a set-apart person, so a “holy day” is a set-apart day. It’s a day when we don’t do things we do on other days. And then we will do things that we don’t do on those other days, like meeting with the people of God, and assembling for our church service. Also, fellowshipping and showing hospitality to the people of God. Also, maybe having more time to spend in His Word, or read and meditate on wonderful, wholesome books and commentaries, and learning more of His Word.

Actually, there are two words for “holy” in that Scripture. The “holy day” is kadash, and then, the “holy of the Lord” is kadosh, just slightly similar, meaning “sacred, ceremonially and morally selected, pure, holy, consecrated, separated to God’s service.” It’s a separation.

Exodus 19:6: “And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” That’s who we are. We are a holy nation, set apart unto God, and we keep a holy day, whether we keep it Saturday or Sunday. And we keep it holy unto the Lord, a day that we keep holy unto the Lord. Amen?

Oh, wow! I just hope you’ve got that. Actually, I’ve got another couple of verses here that really speak to me. Oh, goodness me, I can’t believe where we’ve come to! I notice here in Exodus 16:29. Here it’s talking about the seventh day. On the sixth day, they had to go out, and they had to pick up the double portion. But on the seventh day they were not allowed to.

“Abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:29). In other words, don’t go out to find the food because there won’t be any there! Wow! I have to, oooh, repent, because I have got, wow, I have gone out and purchased on Sunday, because now all the shops are open!

And then I read in Nehemiah 10:31: “And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath day.” My, I should have read that verse before, because when was it? Sunday night! We went out to get some groceries. Wow! But then, of course, the Sabbath is actually from sundown to sundown. So, we did go out in the evening. But I could have gone in the afternoon, not even thinking! Wow!

Really, I’m not keeping up with really what God’s heart is for the day that we set apart unto Him. Because it’s just so easy to fall into the secular world, isn’t it? But we don’t belong to the secular world. We’re set apart unto God. My! Am I really going to do this? I am challenged. Yes.

No. 15. YOU MUST PASS THIS GOOD LAND ON TO YOUR CHILDREN

Oh, I might get a little bit late, but I just want to finish up, because if I tell you number 15, we have finished this series! Can you believe it? Number 15, of WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO IN THE LAND. You must pass this good land to your children.

Deuteronomy 1:8: “Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed [children] after them.”

This land of motherhood that we are embracing, that we are living in, is not just for us and our children now. It’s for our children’s children, and our children’s children’s children, and the generations to follow. We have got to pass on this truth, and His ways, to the next generation.

Deuteronomy 12:28: “Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.”

We read in 1 Chronicles 28:8: “Seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever.”

Jeremiah 7:6-7: “If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.”

Dear precious ladies, we have already lost so much that God wants us, as mothers, to pass on to our children and the next generation. We are responsible to pass it on to our children so they will pass it on to their children. Can we do that? Oh, may God save us from dropping the baton to the next generation.

I’m now going to start a new series next week, calling it “We Are the Transmitters of God’s Truth to the Next Generation.” We’re going to talk about some of the things we need to be passing on—God’s truth, many practical ways, even things in regards to etiquette and protocol which are being lost to this generation. So many things we’ve got to keep passing on. We’re going to talk about some of them.

So, let’s pray.

“Lord God, dear Father, help us to be lovers of Your precious Word, always seeking Your truths, seeking Your ways, that we will walk in Your ways, not to walk in the ways of the world, but, Lord God, You have chosen us to be a set-apart people unto You.

“You have even chosen us to have a day that’s set apart unto You, a day, Lord God. Oh, help us, Lord, to not just give an hour or two, but to give this whole day to You, a day that we choose to set apart unto You. And that You will be first in our lives, and in the lives of our children, and in the lives of our succeeding generations. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.aboverubies.org

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

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 241: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land, Part 14A

What are your plans for Saturday or Sunday? Do you set one of those days aside for God and for His people—and what do you do?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Always great to be with you. This morning, before I came to sit down here and do this podcast with you, I received last year’s stats from our podcast that we do with Buzzsprout.

I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that LIFE TO FULL is actually in the top five of all Buzzsprout podcasts. That’s wonderful, isn’t it? And I found out that it’s actually going to 98 different countries. That’s wonderful too! So, whatever country you are in today, wow! It is so great to have you listening and to know that we can all be connected together as we do these podcasts together.

And what else did I find out? The most popular podcast of last year was the series, “WE LOVE OUR KITCHENS, Parts 1-3.” I wonder if any of you listened to them. Well, lots of you must have been because that was the most popular one, especially number three. That was a very special one. I did those podcasts with Erin Harrison. If you never got to listen to them, you can go down the list and pull them up. “WE LOVE OUR KITCHENS.” The other two were from “THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD” series.

And then, I found out that most of our listeners are in the USA, which, of course, that would be right. Then comes Canada. Then Australia, then UK, then New Zealand (down at the bottom of the world, where I originally came from). Then, of course, there will be lovely mothers of 93 other countries. How wonderful! May the Lord pour out His blessings upon you all! Upon your husbands and upon your precious children that God has given to you.

May you be blessed as you listen to these podcasts this year of 2023. Do encourage other moms to listen because they are especially for wives and mothers. There are thousands of podcasts going on in the world, but there are really not so many that are specifically geared to the mother in the home, and encouraging her to be in the home, because this is where God has placed her. So, do encourage your friends and your enemies, and everyone you know to listen. Send it out on your social media or whatever. Let’s encourage many more mothers to listen to these podcasts.

COMING FAMILY RETREAT FLORIDA - APRIL

I was also talking to Allison Hartman yesterday. Allison and her husband Daniel are the ones who organize the Above Rubies family retreats down at Laguna Beach in Florida. She was telling me that Laguna Beach Christian Retreat Center have now just finished renewing 22 more apartments. That means that we can fill up 22 more apartments!

It’s already just about filled up for what we usually have. Now we have just got a few more available, so if you want to be part of this wonderful, glorious retreat on the beach in April, April 19^th to the 26^th, go to my webpage, AboveRubies.org. You can look up “Retreats and Camps” and look up the information there to contact them. If you can come, well, be in quick, because they are filling up fast too.

COMING LADIES RETREAT IN WASHINGTON STATE – OLYMPIA

There will most probably be at least a thousand who will be coming to this April retreat, but before then, we have a ladies’ retreat in Olympia, Washington state. Oh, we’ve had so many wonderful ladies’ retreats up there in Washington, year after year after year!

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to have them the last couple of years because they closed down. But they’re open again and we’re all getting together again! If you live anywhere in Washington or Oregon, or around that area, do come. It will be a wonderful time together. Go to the webpage and look up the information for that too.

All right. Now, we are plodding along in our series, “What Do We Have to Do in the Land of Our Motherhood?” I think we’re just climbing down. We’re getting it down, and I think we will finish either this podcast or the next one.

We’re up to point number 12.

No. l2. WE ARE TO WALK RIGHTEOUSLY AND UPRIGHTLY IN THE LAND

Deuteronomy 16:20: “That which is altogether just shall thou follow” (that means that which is righteous, and upright, and godly) “that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

Psalm 37:29: “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever.”

Proverbs 2:21: “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.”

 So, we see how God’s plan, His vision for us in the land, is for us to walk righteously, that we would be righteous families.

No. 13: HE WANTS US TO C HOOSE LIFE IN THE LAND

Let me take you to Deuteronomy 30. As you know, this book of Deuteronomy was God’s Word through Moses, God’s Word to His people through Moses, and it was a great big, long word! Deuteronomy 1 right up to chapter 34. The whole thing was a word to the people, God’s vision for them, His plan for them, His heart for them, and His commandments for them in the land that He was taking them to.

And, of course, we are looking at this land as our land, the land of motherhood. This is the land that God has given us. In Deuteronomy, over and over again, it says, “This is the land I have given to you. It is yours. I have chosen it for you.” God has chosen this land of motherhood for us.

This whole book of Deuteronomy is telling us how to live in the land, and what He wants us to do in the land.

In Deuteronomy 30:15, it says: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. And that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgements, that thou mayest live and multiply. And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.”

Verses 19, 20: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

In this land that the Lord has given to us, He wants us to choose life. Always choosing life. Amen? From birth, well, before birth, while a little baby is in the womb, right up until the Lord takes that one home, we choose life. From birth to the grave. Yes, we’re even choosing life at the grave. We choose life to that very moment.

We’re not helping people to die and helping people to commit suicide, even medical suicide. No, we’re choosing life to the very end, because God is the author of life. He will take that person, and He will take that breath when He chooses. God is in control, and we trust Him for life, because He is the God of life, and He is the author of life.

In this hour, we’ve got to keep standing for life, keep fighting for life, keep speaking out for life. We were all rejoicing when Roe v Wade was brought back to the states and reversed. That was a wonderful, blessed thing. And yet, we have to keep watching.

Even here in Tennessee, some of our Republican senators (these aren’t the Democrats) but the Republicans are now trying to weaken the law in our state. They want to weaken it so that abortion is allowed for either rape or incest or the health of the mother. Now, of course, that sounds good, doesn’t it? The ways of the world always sound wise. They sound good, just like the devil tempted Eve in the very, very beginning. He made the tree look wise and look good (Genesis 3:6).

But it’s not the truth, because a little baby that is conceived and growing in the womb is a separate life than the mother. Even though something as tragic as rape or incest, even in such tragic circumstances, we cannot murder life. There is never an excuse for murder—and taking a life in the womb is murder. These people are speaking out of ignorance. They don’t understand truth. You cannot counteract one sin with another sin.

I have to tell you, and I’m sure you also know people. I personally know people who have been born from their mother being a victim of rape. And yet, they are living beautiful lives today. Mothers who are married and have children! Their testimony is, “Thank God for my life! I am blessed! I have a husband. I have children. I am blessed to be alive!” In the eyes of these people who think that they’re doing something good, they would be dead. Murdered!

I personally know people who were born from incest. And these people are living happy, beautiful lives today. We do not have any excuse for the taking of life. Let’s be those who stand for life. We choose life. We stand for life. We fight for life. We will not be silenced as people would come to try and take life.

I was thinking of my little eight-year-old granddaughter. She is staying with me at the moment. Oh, every time we have prayer time, at the prayer meeting last night, this morning at family devotions, she’s praying this same prayer. “Lord, please, help us NOT TO BE SILENT, but to be a voice!” I love it! She’s got the message. We dare not be silent in the face of this evil because we are a people who chose life, and we choose life in the land of motherhood! Amen? And amen!

Number 14: WE KEEP THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN THE LAND

It’s interesting. God gave the Ten Commandments back in Exodus, chapter 20, when He brought them out of Egypt. They were there in the wilderness at that time, at Mount Sinai, and He gave them the Ten Commandments.

But here we come to Deuteronomy. It’s now at the end of Moses’ life, and he reminds them again. In Deuteronomy chapter five, he once again brings back to remembrance to the people all the Ten Commandments. He says, “I want you to make sure that you do them in the land which I have given you.”

These commandments are not just something we turn aside, or maybe we say, “Oh, that’s just Old Testament, or legality.” No, they came from the very heart of God. We won’t go through them all, of course, because you all know them, don’t you?

But I do notice, in Deuteronomy 5 here, I notice when it speaks of the commandment to honor thy father and mother, verse 16: “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” So, once again, it’s reminding them, when you get to the land, make sure you keep doing these things.

What about verses 12-15? “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” And so, it goes on.

I do want to share a few little thoughts about this, but, oh, goodness me, ladies. Ladies, I do want to tell you I am not going to be speaking about or giving a discussion about which day people should keep. Now, the Bible says that we are to keep the Sabbath Day. There are so many commandments throughout the Word of God about this.

WHO DO YOU DO ON THE ‘LORD’S DAY’?

Many who are listening to my podcast, you are beautiful, faithful Sabbath keepers. And there are so many who are listening to my podcast who are also faithful Sunday worshippers. I’m not going into a discourse of which day we should keep.

But I want to go into, whichever day we keep, whether it is the Sabbath Saturday, or some believe the Sunday because that was the day of resurrection, the day Jesus rose from the dead—but whatever day we choose to keep, what do we do on that day? That’s what I want to talk about. What do we do on that day?

Before I do, I will read these Scriptures.

Romans 14:5: “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”

Colossians 2:16-17: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come.”

Other Scriptures speak of how all these things in the Word that we read about are shadows of the heavenly things. The Shabbat Day, the Sabbath Day is a reality, but it’s also a shadow of things to come. It’s a shadow of our rest in Christ. It’s a shadow of the seventh millennial day. It’s a shadow of the eternal realm of rest.

But it is a reality also. In fact, some people could say, “Well, I’m walking in the revelation of Shabbat. I walk in the rest of Christ,” and yes, that’s what we all need to learn to do, whether we’re Sabbath-keeper or Sunday-keeper. We all need to learn what it means to live in His rest, because that’s what Sabbath is.

But it doesn’t negate the day. The day is a day, a day that God has given, a day to rest. It has to be a day, because if we rested every day, we would be lazy! Because we wouldn’t be working. “Six days shalt thou work.” It is a rest in Christ but it is also a day.  

I know that there are all you beloved, precious ladies. Some are Sabbath-keeping, some are Sunday-keeping. Oh, how I love you all! And I have so many friends who are Sabbath-keeping, who are beautiful, godly women. And I have so many Sunday-keepers who are also my friends, and who are also wonderful, godly women. So, what we’re going to do is just forget about which day we are keeping and talk about what we do on that day.

I think this is important, as families, to talk about, because it’s a family thing. What do we do on Saturday or Sunday as a family? Of course, we, as mothers, are the HEART of the family. So, really, it gets down to us. What are our convictions for this day? Because that will really determine what we do on that day.

I will concede that our beautiful Sabbath-keeping mothers keep the Sabbath more diligently, more seriously, more holily, and more unto the Lord, than often Sunday-keepers. Somehow, Sunday-keepers, and although I love the Sabbath (we have Shabbat in our home, my husband spends the day in the Word on the Sabbath, we don’t do our Above Rubies on the Sabbath, but we have our worship day on Sunday).

SET APART UNTO THE LORD

But I find that so many Sunday-keepers don’t keep their day so seriously. Oh, they used to. I was brought up in a family of Sunday-keepers, but we kept that Sunday just like Sabbath-keepers keep the Sabbath, according to the Word. We kept it as a day of rest. We kept it as a day set apart unto the Lord. It was a different day than all the rest of the week. It was totally unto the Lord! I believe that’s how we must keep our day, whichever day we keep.

I just wanted to talk about a few little things. In fact, I was looking up the other day and found a study that I had done years and years ago about all the different things God talks about for His day of rest. I found 35 different things that God speaks about for this day of rest that He has given. I’m not going to give all of those to you. I just want to talk about a few little things, but firstly, as I mentioned, it is a day of REST.

Exodus 35:2: “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of rest” and many other Scriptures of how it is a day of rest.

I love this Scripture in Exodus 23:12. Let me take you to it. As we read this, I want us to read any of these Scriptures, taking them to us personally, whether we worship on the Saturday, or the Sunday, because we do need to have a day. God want us to have a day that is set apart unto Him.

THE REFRESHING

Exodus 23:12: “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.” Isn’t that beautiful? God didn’t give us a day, “OK, there’s a day you’ve got to give to Me.” No, it wasn’t given like that. He gave us a day to rest and to be refreshed.

Say that word: “refreshed.” Oh, don’t we all need refreshing? God is so good, isn’t He? He gives us day and night. He gives us the night to go to sleep and be refreshed. So many of you lovely mothers, especially with little ones all around you, you come to the end of the day, and you’re so tired! Oh, sometimes you feel totally worn out. You can hardly keep your eyes open. And you just go to bed—and you wake up refreshed.

Oh, maybe the baby woke in the night. Well, if you’re nursing your baby and bring him or her to bed, you’ll find that will be much easier. You’ll go back to sleep and you’ll both sleep. You will still wake up refreshed.

Then He gives us a day to be refreshed. Oh, I think that’s so wonderful.

I love the Knox Translation, an old, old translation. He says: “Six days shalt do thy tasks thou hast to do. On the seventh day, leave off working. So shall ox and ass have rest, and home-born slave and alien that works for thee, revive their spirits.” There’s another translation. To have our spirits revived.

That’s why, before the Shabbat Day, the Sabbath Day, God instituted another day. Did you know what it was? Yes, there’s another day mentioned in the Bible. It starts with “P.” Can you think of it? Yes, it’s called “The Preparation Day.” In some versions of the Bible, it actually gives it a capital “P,” “Preparation Day.”

That was the day before the Sabbath where they had to get everything ready. Clean the house, cook the food for the next day, and do everything to get ready for it, so that on the rest day, they could rest. It is impossible to rest, have a day of rest, unless you have a preparation day.

In our home, usually, we have Friday. I seek to try and do the Preparation Day so that we clean the house, and we get things ready for the next day so we can rest. If you’ve done it all, then you don’t have to do it, and have another day of work. That’s what God wants you to do.

I believe, ladies, I am such a believer in meeting with the people of God. Oh, that is part of our day of rest, of course, whether you keep the Sabbath (of course, you’ll be meeting together with the saints). If you keep the Sunday, you’ll be meeting together with the saints. I do believe we should make this a commitment.

Another thing we do find about the Sabbath Day is that it’s not only a day of rest, but it is a DAY of rest. Did you get that? It’s not only a day of rest, to be refreshed, but it is a day of rest. God didn’t say, “I give you an hour of rest on the Sabbath.” Or if you’re choosing to have the Sunday. No, He didn’t say, “I’ll give you an hour,” or “I want you to take two hours of rest and refreshing.” No, He said, “It’s a day. A DAY!” Did you get that, ladies? A day. A day.

Most Sabbath-keepers keep the day.

Sunday-keepers, are you keeping the day? Am I keeping a day? Well, that’s a challenge to me, because I remember, growing up, where it was easy to keep a day.

Do you notice, ladies, for those of you who are younger, you won’t be able to believe this, but I grew up, and not only did we, as God-fearing people, keep the day, but do you know what? Even the secular people kept the day, because no shops were open on Sunday. The whole place shut down just like in Israel. The whole place shuts down on Saturday, on Sabbath. You won’t be able to buy one thing on Sabbath.

Well, there was a time when, in our country of New Zealand, it was the same in our western countries, and here in USA, where you could not buy anything on Sunday. You could not do anything. There were no sports. There was no entertainment. It was a day set apart unto God.

We grew up like that. We would go to church in the morning. We would come home and have our Sunday dinner together. Then we would, us children, we would walk back to our church and have Sunday school for the children. Oh, we didn’t have it in the main service. We didn’t have all the families separated, and children going to this class and that class. No, we worshipped together as families. That was the norm back then.

But we would have our special children’s Sunday school class in the afternoon. Then we would walk home. We would just hang around home. We could read and play, but we didn’t go out. Then Sunday night we would come back for service again. It was a day set apart for the Lord.

But things have changed. Wow, how they have changed! Now we live in a nation, every country in the world, every shop is open on Sunday, although I think it’s still, what is that fast food that doesn’t open on Sunday? Chik-Fil-A! Hallelujah! Goodness, there’s one company that’s still sticking to God’s one day! And they’re not even going for an hour. “Ooh, we could go for an hour and just get people all coming home from church.” No, they stick to their day.

Now, ladies, not only should we stick to a day, but do we stick to meeting with the people of God? I cannot believe how many people I know who are really not fellowshipping with other saints. They think they can live unto themselves. No, we can’t. No. God wants us to meet together.

NEVER FORSAKE ASSEMBLLING YOURSELVES WITH OTHER SAINTS

What does He say in Hebrews 10:25? “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.” The assembling of yourselves. That doesn’t say, “Oh, you could stay at home and worship, or you could just listen to the preacher on TV or on Zoom.” Oh yes, now, you might just get blessed by the message. But that is not the assembling of yourselves! And that’s what God told us not to forsake, “the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Look at Romans 1:12. Paul is writing to the new Roman Christians, and he says to them in verse 11, “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”

Do you get the picture there? He’s explaining, describing our faith. It is not a singular faith. It is a plural faith, a mutual faith. Look at these words. “Together.” “Together.” It’s not isolation. It is together. And then he says: “our mutual faith.” The word in the Greek there is translated everywhere else in the New Testament “one another.” It’s a one-another faith.

I wonder if you’ve purchased yet my 100 Days of Blessing, No. 4. In this particular volume, I talk about our one-anothering faith for our families and even in our church lifestyle. I found 41 different one-anothers that God wants us to do to one another. They’re all listed in that book, The 100 Days of Blessing, Volume 4 It’s a one-anothering faith.

And then he says “both of you and me.” My faith is not just me. It’s you and me. You and me. We can’t do without one another. Now, I’m talking to you over a podcast, and I trust you are being blessed. But you need more than this. You need the assembling together of the saints, because this is where we one-another each other. We pray for one another, and love one another, and show hospitality to one another, and be kind to one another, and minister to one another, and bless one another. We’ve got to see one another to do these things.

I do believe, lovely ladies, that we must be committed to the gathering of the saints, and not just when we feel like it. There are too many people who do it when they feel like it. No, we are committed, because we are training our children in this most powerful, God-given, biblical habit. Even as Jesus Himself. It tells us, let me see. I’ll give you the reference. In Luke 4:16, it says: “And as His custom was, Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.” It was His custom, His habit.

Then we read about Paul in Acts 17:2, as he went to this particular place, “as was his custom.” He went into the synagogue, and he preached in the synagogue for three Saturdays (Sabbaths) in a row while he was there, because it was his custom to do it. It should be our custom, our habit.

We don’t, when there’s something, “Oh, wow! I heard about that festival down in the city. My, it would be so good to go to that! But it’s on Sunday. Oh well, we can miss church for the day. We’ll go to that.” I beg your pardon? I beg your pardon? Do you mean to say some bit of a festival is more important than your commitment to God? Your commitment to His people?

Oh, I’ve heard of people who say, “It’s a beautiful sunny day. Oh, let’s go to the zoo today!” And they go to the zoo! And they forget about church! Truly, where is our commitment? Where is God in our lives? I don’t believe there is anything, any entertainment, or any. . . “

Oh, visitors arrived! Oh, help! Oh well, we’ll stay home and entertain.” No! If the visitors arrive when you’re going to church, take them along with you! We don’t have any excuse ever! Because we’re a committed people.

And what are we teaching our children? Oh, any little excuse comes up. “Lovely day. Some entertainment. Just people, whatever. Or just can’t be bothered.” And we don’t go. And our children learn, what do they learn? “Oh, well, God is secondary in our lives. If it fits in, my parents can take us to church, but whatever works out.” No, we are training them in habit, in commitment, just as Jesus did, as it was His custom.

Oh, precious ladies, let’s get back to God’s heart. Let’s be those who are people who are truly committed to Him and His people, to understand that our faith is going to grow stronger when we meet with others, because it’s a mutual faith, a together faith, a one-anothering faith.

Well, maybe we’ll talk some more next podcast. Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You so much again. How we love Your Word! It always keeps us on our toes. Lord, we pray that You will save us from being lukewarm. Oh, God, Lord, You said You’ll spew us out of Your mouth if we are lukewarm. Oh, God, help us to be those who are totally committed to You, committed to Your people, Lord God. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.aboverubies.org

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

 

100 DAYS OF BLESING, Volumes 3 and 4

These books will bless you and give you meat for your mothering soul. You have the most powerful career in the nation as you teach and train the new generation. You determine the destiny of this nation. But it is not an easy task. I know you often feel overwhelmed and worn out. That’s why I make these devotions available to you—

So you can get fuel for your soul.

So you can be strengthened each new day.

So you can receive fresh vision and inspiration.

You will be blessed as each devotion brings Word revelation to you each day.  There is a prayer and affirmation (which relates to the devotion) at the end of each devotion. 

You can purchase these books separately, or DISCOUNT PRICE FOR BUYING

THE TWO TOGETHER! ONLY $25.00!

These books are a beautiful gift to yourself and for others.

Go to: https://tinyurl.com/100DaysBlessingV4

 

MARCH 10 – 12, WASHINGTON

LADIES RETREAT at Black Lake Bible Camp, Olympia

Contact Heather Bryant

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

April 19 – 26 THE POPULAR ANNUAL RETREAT

Above Rubies Gulf Coast Spring Family Retreat 2023

Registration fee: $200 (non-refundable)

Meals $60/person ages 3+

Housing is assigned through Gulf Coast Above Rubies Organizers, but payment for your housing will go directly to Laguna. 

This is our biggest retreat serving over 100 families during our week of fellowship, sessions with Nancy and Colin Campbell, breakout sessions with gifted speakers and teachers, family activities, and incredible worship! Come as a friend but leave as family! If you aren’t already registered, sign up now! We still have room!

If you have any questions about this family retreat, please email us at .">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Registration link:

https://forms.gle/iERkREjdmgkA6D1V7

 

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 240: The Shabbat Meal

I have received a number of requests recently asking how we do the Shabbat meal. This podcast tells you what we do in our home. Be blessed and inspired.

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

Nancy Campbell: Well, my husband and I have just come back from Florida, from the Above Rubies Family Retreat, the first winter family retreat that we have had. We have an April retreat every year in Florida, but it has got so big that we wondered what to do! We can’t fit any more people in. So, Allison and Daniel, who organize these retreats, decided to have a winter one in January so that they could give some of the families an option of coming to this one.

Well, it wasn’t as big. It was a smaller retreat, but it was so wonderful. It was so great that I think it will now become a tradition every year. It was so great for people. Some came from Canada, some from way up north of USA. They could get away from the cold and the snow and get down to Florida where it was kind of warm. The water’s still very cold, although I did brave myself and went in with some of the young people one day. It was pretty cold, but once you got in, you could survive. I then went back a couple more times and was very invigorated by that.

We had a meeting every morning with the folks, and in the evening. In the afternoon, they had lots of wonderful things for the people to do. Of course, the favorite is going to the beach, but they had a volleyball competition, which was very, very competitive. They have such good players. Games on the beach, tugs of war and everything. It was so great!

On the Friday night, we had a Shabbat meal for all the campers. In fact, there were so many children and young people. They outdid the numbers of all the adults there, because the parents brought many big families. It was so wonderful.

On the last night, there were two single moms there. They so graciously volunteered to put on a beautiful meal for all the couples, which they did. It was so delightful. Such a beautiful meal! Such a wonderful evening. Then my husband spoke about marriage. Oh, it was such a great retreat!

But at that retreat, as I said, we did a Shabbat meal. I’ve begun to get people emailing in, and messaging in, saying, “Look, couldn’t you share more about the Shabbat meal?” Then, we came home Wednesday. Friday night was Shabbat. Friday night we sat around our table with nine beautiful girls gracing our table. Six of our granddaughters and three lovely Above Rubies helpers, two who are here, and one was visiting. What a beautiful thing, to have all these glorious girls around our table!

I posted a picture on my Instagram and had more people saying, “Would you mind talking about it on your podcast?” I thought, “Well, I may as well.” So here I am doing it. Now, I hope those who have asked me are actually listening! But we have been celebrating the Shabbat meal for over thirty years, because we started it when we were in Australia. We’ve been in the States for 33 years, so it’s been a long time.

What is the Shabbat meal? Shabbat is just the Hebrew word for “Sabbath.” It’s a Sabbath meal, and it’s a Jewish meal. We do not do it because we are Jewish, because we are not Jewish. We do it because it is a very family-oriented meal.

I first heard about it when we were living in Australia. A wonderful man of God had been ministering in Israel and living there for some time. He came back, and at this meeting, he said, “There’s something very special I would love to bring back to you all, the most beautiful thing that I experienced in Israel.” And he said, “It is the Shabbat meal. It’s a Jewish meal, but I want to bless you Christian families with doing this meal.” He shared about it and how to go about it.

Of course, being one who wants to hang on to anything that will strengthen families, I caught ahold of it. I thought, “Wow, if this is going to bless our family,” and at that time, our children were still around us, “I’m going to do it!” So, I began to do it, and I’ll tell you what we do. We take the basic foundation of a Jewish Shabbat meal, but we adapt it to how it fits in with our family. We make it very personal.

Another reason we do it is that it is a meal that has blessed Jewish families over centuries. We are so blessed by the Jewish people. The Bible says that “In Abraham all the families of the world would be blessed.” It's from the Jews that we have our Savior. Jesus Himself was a Jew. He was born into Jewry. He was a Jew. It’s the people of God, the Israeli people of God, who brought forth our Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessing!

It is through the Jewish people that we have the Bible. What would we do without this precious living Word, this Word which is alive and active, and speaks to our souls and our spirits every day? Every word was divinely inspired but each book was written by a Jew. There are some people who would say, “Oh, but there was Luke. He was a gentile.”

But if you do a little bit of study, you will find that that is actually tradition. You will find that, really, they don’t have any Scriptural reference for that. Although there’s no Scripture saying that Luke was a Jew, we get to realize he obviously was. In fact, one time, when Paul came to Jerusalem and there was a riot because they said he brought Trophimus into the temple, because he was a gentile; he was from Ephesus, an Ephesian. There was a big riot about that, but Luke was traveling with Paul all the time. There was never mention of a riot with Luke. It is obvious he was a Jew also.

The whole Bible was brought to us by the Jewish people. What blessings they have brought to the world!

They’ve also brought the blessing of this meal, which although it was originally a Jewish meal, you can take it into your family, and do it as you would love. Make it part of your family life. It has so blessed us. We would never miss doing it unless we are away. We always do it.

How do we go about it? Well, when I have our Shabbat meal, I want to make it different from every other night of the week. Every night of the week, I love to make the table special. I don’t want to make any meal just some boring thing; just throw some food on the table. No, I want every meal to be special.

In fact, I may have shared this with you before, but years ago, when I was watching that movie, “Babette’s Feast,” there was a line that I picked up from that movie. This man was speaking. He was speaking about a woman who was a famous chef in Paris. He had been to her restaurant. But now he was away from Paris, away, way out in some sort of land, way up in the snow. Here he was, amongst this little wee group of people. But the food he was eating reminded him of this amazing restaurant. Actually, it was the same woman, and she was behind the scenes, cooking it, but nobody knew who she was. It’s a movie worth watching.

But he got up, and he was giving a speech. He said, “There was a woman who knew how to make every meal into a love affair.” Wow! I heard those lines. I have never forgotten them to this day. They are part of me. It’s what I want to do. I want to make every meal into a love affair.

You can take up that phrase too. It will change your whole life.

Every meal, don’t think, “Goodness, got to cook another meal!” No, never think like that, ever! Think, “How exciting! I have the opportunity to make another love affair for my family!” You’re thinking of how you can make it special and even how you can make the table inviting.

I always love to use a tablecloth. I think you know that about me by now. Sometimes I have folks who will be here, and they say, “Oh, can I set the table for you?” I say, “Yes.” Then they’ll go get the knives and forks and begin to put them down on my table. I’ll say, “Oops! Just a minute! We don’t eat on a naked table. We like to use a tablecloth.”

So many people today just use a naked table! Well, my table is naked during the day, except I do have a runner and a vase of flowers upon it. But in the evening, I don’t want to put down food on a naked table. I want to put a tablecloth. I love tablecloths. I love all different colors and designs, so I can change them.

Some of you are in the throes of little ones all around you, and you can’t bear the thought of a tablecloth! “Oh, goodness me, with children dropping stuff on it, and you’ve got to wash it every day!” You just couldn’t even imagine it. But you can still do it, because you can buy a beautiful tablecloth. You can put clear plastic over it which just has to be wiped down. You’ve got to wipe your table, whatever. Even if you have a naked table, you’ve got to wipe it down.

Or you can got to Joann’s or somewhere like that. These days you can go look for all these rolls of plastic of the most beautiful designs, even lace. Oh! They’re all so glorious you don’t know which one to choose. You just cut it off the length for your table. There, you’ve got a beautiful tablecloth. You don’t have to wash it. You just wipe it down after the meal. You do that every night.

So, what am I going to do on Shabbat? Well, I always keep Shabbat, mostly . . .  Sometimes I have a change, but mostly I will use a white tablecloth, and white dishes, and everything white, because the Jewish people think of the Shabbat meal as the bride, just entering into the Sabbath day. So, I love to use white.

If you have best china, you can get out your best china. I don’t really have best china, so I get out some nice china. Or I will use white plates to match my white tablecloth. I set it nicely.

THE MOTHER LIGHTS THE CANDLES

Then we begin the meal with my lighting the candles. They usually have two candles which I will light. That is traditional for Shabbat. There are some people who say, “One candle means “observe,” and the others say, “remember” because the Scripture does use both those words. It says we are to “observe” the Sabbath day and we are to “remember” the Sabbath day. Some say the two candles represent “creation” and “redemption.” I love that.

In fact, this is what I usually do when I light the candles. I will start off with the normal Jewish prayer, “Blessed art Thou, Oh Lord God, King of the universe, who hath given us the privilege to light the Shabbat candles.”  

Then I will pray my own prayer: “And, Lord, we thank You so much, that You are the Creator of light. You brought light into the world. Oh, we thank You for Jesus, who is the Light of the world, and we thank You, Lord Jesus, that You have brought light into our hearts.

“Oh, Lord, we ask that You will fill each one of us around this table with Your Light. We don’t want to be little lights. We want to be big lights, shining in this world, shining in the darkness, pushing back the darkness and deception of this world. And we ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

You can pray whatever you like. Just something like that. I usually pray something about the Light of God filling in our hearts and that we will be filled more and more with His Light to shine in this world. And also, the light of the revelation of His truth. We do that. And it is the privilege of the mother of the home to light the candles, because she has the responsibility to keep the Light of God burning in her home.

Sometimes I will also give everyone a little votive candle around the table, so everyone has a little light at their table place which they can all light after I have lit the candles. Children love that. They just love to have their own lights. If I have a little candle in glass, they can then hold it. We will hold our candles up, and we’ll all sing together, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” We are really getting them all to realize that we are lights in this world, shining for the Lord Jesus. You can also do that, and the children will love that.

FATHER READS PROVERBS 31:10-31

The next thing that happens is that the father of the home reads Proverbs 31 because Proverbs 31 is a blessing to the wife. The ultimate goal of this meal is to bless the wife and mother in the home. Isn’t that a good idea to have in your home? Wouldn’t you love to be blessed every week by your husband and your family? Well, that’s worth having.

That’s one of the biggest goals of this meal. Of course, that is something that does keep families together. When the children can see their father honor and bless their mother, that is something that is so wonderful for the children. He reads Proverbs 31, all about the virtuous woman. My husband reads from King James Version, but he actually has his own translation with all his little comments that he brings in.

THE CHILDREN STAND UP AND BLESS THEIR MOTHER

Then we get to Proverbs 31:28, where it says” “And her children arise up and call her blessed.” At that moment in the meal, he stops reading. He says, “OK, children, all the children stand up!”

Now, because all our children are grown, we often don’t have our children around our table. Every Shabbat, Colin and I never have it on our own. We have never had it on our own in our whole lives! We will always ask people. Sometimes we will ask some of our grandchildren. Usually, I’ll ask the granddaughters. And then another night I might have the grandsons. Or I might have some of the couples, or some of our immediate couples—our children and their spouses. Or then some of the grandchildren couples. I don’t have the whole family because our family is now so big, I would have to have this huge sit-down meal for over 100 people! That would just be too big every Friday night.

So, I just choose to ask different ones, or we’ll have visitors. We love having visitors! Friends, and even people we’ve just met, and people that we would love to introduce the Shabbat meal to them.

Now, if we have a family around the table, or if we have granddaughters, Colin will usually say, “OK, all the children stand up! Now, I want you to look at your mother in the eye, and say one little thing to her, like “I love you, Mom.” Or ‘Thank you for caring for me.” “Thank you for all you do for me.” So, each child will say just a little thing to their mother. Then they sit down. Oh, what a beautiful thing it is as Mother feels the appreciation of her children around her. It’s such a beautiful thing.

THE HUSBAND PRAISES AND BLESSES HIS WIFE

 Then it goes on, at the end of the chapter, to talk about how the husband praises her too! That’s what it’s all about. He’s been praising her the whole chapter. In verse 28 the “children arise up and call her blessed.” Then her husband also. And he praises her. What does he say? “Many daughters have done excellently, but thou EXCELLEST them all.” When he finishes the next two verses, he’ll stop. The husband will then begin to honor his wife, and say all the good things he can think of about her, to her. Of course, we, as wives, get so blessed.

This last Friday night, Colin decided to read another translation, just for a little change. I got the Knox Translation which is an old translation. It says here, in this translation, “Her husband is loud in her praise.” Then what does he say? “Unrivaled art thou among all the women that have ENRICHE DTHEIR HOMES.”

I love that, because that was praising all the women who love to enrich their homes. I thought, “What a lovely phrase. ‘Enriching their homes.’” Dear wives, dear mothers, this is a wonderful vision that we can have in our home. This is what we’re to do, TO ENRICH OUR HOMES.

Every day is a new day to enrich—to enrich our husband by what we do for him, what we say to him. To enrich our children, encourage them, to enrich them by encouraging them and affirming them, and building them up, and of course, training them. And disciplining them, and preparing them for life.

Your home, everything you do, you really haven’t got time to have another career. A mother in the home does not have time for another career if she really, truly has the vision to enrich her home. Now, this Scripture was talking about all the women who love to enrich their homes. But then he says, “You, oh, you have, you’ve just outdone them all. You are unrivaled.” That was another beautiful thought.

Then my husband will begin to speak to me, and say all the things that he loves about me. Remember, ladies, we have been doing Shabbat for, I can’t remember (33 years we’ve been in the States, and we started in Australia, so it’s many, many years). I keep saying to my husband, “Darling, you can’t say the same things every Friday night. That is just too boring.” So, he has to try to think of something new every week! Wow, that’s a challenge for him, isn’t it?

Now, traditionally, the Jewish people will often just give the blessing. It’s a traditional blessing. “May you be like Leah and like Rachel,” and some of the beautiful women in the Bible. They bless their wives that way. But we do it very personally in our home. Colin speaks personally into my life. That is such a blessing.

When we have other couples or families around our table, Colin will say to the husband, “Now it’s your turn.” Wow! Sometimes the man is, wow! He’s never done this before! He’s never done this in front of his family. He’s never done this to his wife before! Maybe personally, on their own, but never in this setting. It’s quite amazing.

You see the wife. Wow. She’s looking up at her husband with BATED breath. What will he say? Her eyes are big. She’s just waiting for this encouragement, these words that she wants him to say. Oh, it is so amazing, how many times we see . . .  the husband will begin to speak and maybe say things he’s never said before and the wife will begin to cry. Tears are just rolling down her face. It is the most incredible thing.

THE SHABBAT MEAL IS A MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STRENGTHENER

You know, the Shabbat meal is such a marriage strengthener, such a family strengthener. You can't have a marriage that is falling apart when every week your husband is speaking beautiful words into your life. It is so powerful. What are you going to do? You’ve had a quarrel during the week. Well, today you’d better get it right before Shabbat! Because you’ve got to speak into one another’s lives.

THE WIFE BLESSES HER HUSBAND

Then I will usually reply. I’ll read Psalm 112, which is about how the Lord blesses the man who fears the Lord, and so on. Then I speak into Colin’s life. Then, if there are other wives around the table, they will do the same thing. It is so wonderfully powerful. And not only for the husband and wife, but also for the children who are listening. They are hearing their father honor his wife. That is a powerful thing for children. It is very powerful.

Also, they know their turn is coming. Usually, OK, when you have little children, or even getting bigger children and they come to the table, if the food’s not there, they can’t start eating at once, they’re going to be groaning and grizzly, “Where’s the food? I’m hungry!”

But something happens on Shabbat. Somehow, this peace comes over them and they’re not screaming and yelling and grumbling and crying. There’s something about listening to what their dad is saying. Then they know their turn is coming. “What is Daddy going to say to me tonight?” Then, of course, he begins to bless the children.

FATHER BLESSES AND ENCOURAGES HIS CHILDREN

It can be done two ways. Usually, traditionally, in the Jewish family, the father will go and put his hand on each child and bless them, and give them a blessing. Or they will come to him, and he will bless them. That is beautiful and powerful.

Once again, we do it more personally in our home. Colin will speak into each individual life. He will speak into them, affirming the good things that he sees in their lives, what he sees about them, or what he’s been noticing. It’s very personal. I think that this is so wonderful for the children. They’re ready to wait for that. They love it. It is life-changing for them.

This is such a beautiful time. Although we still haven’t eaten yet, everybody is always so happy because it’s such a wonderful thing. Then there is another thing. We don’t always do this. We only do it every now and then. You don’t have to do it, but it is traditional to have the hand washing, where the mother has a bowl of water and a towel. She can go round each person, or just pass it around. Each one will dip their hands in the water and then wipe them.

It’s symbolic of our purifying ourselves, and having clean hands, and a pure heart. If anyone has anything or any quarrel or anything against one another, it is a beautiful time for them to say “Sorry.” This is a very special part of Shabbat that many families do make a priority because that way everyone in the family can be in the right spirit with one another. If they’re not, well, it’s time to say “Sorry.” If we’re doing that, we will usually sing that song, “Create in me a clean heart, oh God.”

THE BLESSING OF THE BREAD AND WINE

Then the next thing that happens is the blessing of the wine and the bread. We have the wine first. We usually have grape juice because we usually have lots of children around our table. In Israel they have wine, even for the children. But here we do grape juice. You can do whichever you prefer.

We pass around the wine, the grape juice. Then, in our home, Colin gets everybody to hold it up. We hold up our glass, and we all say together, “Blessed art Thou, oh Lord God, King of the universe, Who bringeth forth the fruit of the vine.” Then he will pray and thank the Lord for shedding His precious blood and so on. It becomes a time of communion in our home, another time to remember how Jesus gave His life, how He poured out His blood for us.

We do that, and then we have the bread. The bread on Shabbat is called the challah. It is a bread that is braided. Actually, I have to confess that often, sometimes, I just don’t get time to make my bread on that day. I make all our bread, and I make sourdough bread. It is, perhaps, a little denser than the normal bread. I make it with spelt and rye. It’s a very, very healthy bread, which I love.

But sometimes on Shabbat, I will forget to make challah. Challah is usually a bread that you use eggs, and it’s sweeter, and you braid it. It’s traditionally braided in three, or you can braid it in four. You can braid it in six, as long as it comes from a little lump of dough that makes into 12, to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. But you don’t have to worry about all that.

If you don’t have time to make challah, or even braid it, well, this is what I do. I always have in my freezer already, some raised round loaves, or sometimes oval loaves, that I have there, ready for Shabbat. So, if I have not had time, I get them out. They are ready.

You don’t have to think, “Oh, we can’t have Shabbat tonight, because I haven’t made the challah when I haven’t had time!” No, we can still do it. I will still use those loaves, but I will always heat them up. We always love to have hot bread. It’s beautiful.

When I set the table, of course we’re putting the grape juice on the table and the butter. And, of course, we always use butter knives. Well, I know, a lot of American families don’t even know what they are! But we grew up with butter knives.

You were never, ever, ever allowed to take butter off the butter plate with your own knife! That would be disgusting because who wants to have somebody who’s licked their knife? I hope nobody ever licks their knife, but sometimes I’ve seen people doing it! And then they put it in the butter! Then who want to touch the butter? So, we have butter knives. They’re just little wee knives, especially for that. That’s all ready to have it with our bread, our lovely hot bread. Hopefully challah, but if I haven’t had time to make it, well, it’s just bread I have in the freezer.

TWO CHALLAH LOAVES

But something special about it is that we always have two loaves. Two loaves remind us of the sixth day, because now we’re going into the seventh day, which is the day of rest, Sabbath, or Shabbat. But on the sixth day, you’ll remember that in the wilderness God sent a double portion of manna. The Lord sent to them in the wilderness, He sent manna every day. It was miraculous food! It was called “angel’s food.” It was miraculous! It just arrived there every day for them!

And they could cook it, and bake it, and do all kinds of things with it. They could make up loads of recipes. I’m sure if Serene had lived back then in the time of manna, she would have made a recipe book for recipes of manna, because she always does that. When she went on her extreme thing of seven years when she went raw, some of you may remember when she made this incredible recipe book of raw recipes, although eventually she realized that it was something that you shouldn’t do for a lifetime.

Raw is for times when people are maybe, in some way, very, very ill, with cancer or something. Going on juicing and raw food can really help them. But it’s not a lifestyle. She had to come to realize that, of course. But while she was doing that, oh did she ever imagine and dream up the most glorious recipes that you could ever think about! They were so amazing. In fact, one time, while she was on that roll, she put on this great evening. It was a feast, and it was for over 100 people, and every recipe was raw. Every recipe was so delectable!

But anyway, I’m getting off my subject! Yes, we have the two loaves because it’s a double portion. Because on the seventh day they went out to get their food for the seventh day, and there wasn’t any. They would starve. So, they had to have the double portion.

It is traditional for people to make enough, not only enough bread, but enough food for the next day so they don’t have to work and cook and do everything on the Sabbath day. It’s the day of rest.

We have the two loaves. I cover them with a little cloth, because that represents to the dew, the way manna came.

Then my husband will hold up the two loaves, and we’ll say the blessing together with him, “Blessed art Thou, oh Lord God, King of the universe, Who bringeth forth bread from the earth.” Then he will pray and thank the Lord for His body which was broken for us all. Then we will take the bread.

We don’t take it like a little, in communion, a little wee piece. We will say to everybody, “OK, just break off a hunk! Take as much as you want!” They will have it with butter and be enjoying this, because yes, it is communion, but it is more than that. Today we have communion in our churches which has become just a little token. But back there in early church, they were love feasts where they had the bread and the wine. They feasted, but it was all part of the meal.

NOW WE CAN EAT!

This now becomes part of the meal. They’re eating their bread and waiting for me to go and get all the food and bring it to the table. Now, at last, we’re ready to eat! But it is amazing. It took me a while to tell you all that, but it doesn’t have to take too long. Then we enjoy the meal together.

So, lovely ladies, that’s just a little bit about the Shabbat meal. You can also go to my webpage and look up “Shabbat meal” if you want to read up about it again. Another thing about it is that, and it’s so amazing, the Bible is so incredible. The day before Shabbat, I wonder if anybody knows what that is called? It has a name, too. Yes, and it has a capital.

In the King James Bible, it calls it the “preparation day” and in some translations it has a capital “P.” You actually can’t have a rest day without a preparation day, because if you don’t, you’ll be still working the next day. So, usually in my home, Friday is Preparation Day. We clean house from top to bottom. We prepare the meal, and we get everything beautiful, so the next day we can relax. We don’t have to do all the things that we do every other day of the week. Isn’t that a beautiful thing?

So, ladies, I’m sure you will love it. You may like to start bringing it into your family. You’ll be blessed. Your children will be blessed. As you get to enjoy it, you can ask others in to sit at your table to be blessed, too. OK?

“Dear Father, we thank You so much for all these beautiful ways that we can strengthen and build our families. Thank You for this beautiful meal which has come down the generations of Jewish people that we can also take hold of it, just as we have taken hold of salvation, just as we take hold every day of the Word, which has all come down through the Jewish people. We thank You for them, Father. We thank You for Your blessings.

“I pray for every mother and wife and family listening today that You will bless them, that You will inspire them, that, Lord, this goal of enriching their home will be upon them. And that they won’t be hankering after all the other things around, Lord, that are really so vain and shallow that are not building for eternity. But, Lord, everything we do to enrich our home, that is building for eternity. I pray that You will bless them with this vision. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.aboverubies.org

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

 

REJUVENATE YOUR LIFE – RECIPES FOR ENERGY

By Serene Allison

Serene no longer eats totally raw, but TRIM HEALTHY MAMA. However, her recipes in this book are so delectable that I know you’d love to try them.

15 CHAPTERS OF RECIPES as well as other chapters. It’s worth it for the DREAMY DESSERTS and LITTLE TREATS and so many other interesting, easy, and mouthwatering recipes.

If you’d like to check them out, go to:

Rejuvenate Your Life Recipes for Energy by Serene Allison (mybigcommerce.com)

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 239: Scary Birth Stories

Even in challenging pregnancies and births, God will be with you. Our God is a miracle-working God and far exceeds the diagnoses of doctors. Today you will hear two birth stories from Michelle Schrum.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! I should be continuing our series today, but instead I thought I would have a little change. I have asked my neighbor to come and share with us today. Michelle is living right next to us in their RV while they are building up on the Hilltop. It’s so wonderful having their family near us. We so enjoy them all.

Randy and Michelle have seven children, and you have heard from Michelle before, because we did seven podcasts together on “The Four L’s of Raising Children.” I had been talking to Michelle about family life, and she happened to mention how they used “The Four L’s.” They are teaching their children to Love the Lord, to Love Learning, to Love Labor, and to Love Liberty. We ended up doing seven sessions, didn’t we?

Michele: We did! We expected two or three, but we ended up with seven! [laughter]

Nancy: That’s so great! You can go back, look them up, and you can listen to them.

Today I have asked Michelle to share about a couple of her birth experiences. We all love birth stories, don’t we? I love wonderful, natural, amazing birth stories. But sometimes birth stories are not always perfect.

Michelle has some good birth stories, but she had a couple of really, kind of, not-so-easy ones. I thought I’d get her to share about them today, because they can be an encouragement to others who face difficult situations because life isn’t perfect. Not every pregnancy or birth goes perfectly, but God is always there. We’re going to see how God was in it all.

So, Michelle, maybe you could tell us about your twins’ birth. Michelle has 15-year-old twin sons. Tell us. Start from the pregnancy and let’s go from there.

Michele: OK. Well, this was my third pregnancy. The first two were pretty great. Good birth stories. This one was certainly miraculous and good as well, but a little more difficult. Some challenges came along the way pretty early. We thought it was a single. Of course, we were so super excited. Seeing the midwife, planning a homebirth. Everything was going great.

We expected twins pretty early on. Things were getting a little tight, but, hmm, I’m suspicious. It was like, well, third pregnancy could dispute that. But it was a few weeks after that, that another midwife came, and they did hear two heartbeats, so we were pretty sure.

But, of course, had to go for an ultrasound to confirm that. We did. We went to the ultrasound. At first, they said, “Nope, just one.” Then she started looking some more, and said, “Oops, wait a minute! Nope, there are two. They are back-to-back.” So, we were really excited.

We found out they were both. . . We weren’t going to find out what we were having. We wanted it to be a surprise. We found out it was twins. We were already surprised so we went ahead and found out that we were having two boys. That’s all we knew. It was enough. High-tech ultrasound or anything.

We were excited and went on. A few more weeks passed by and I started experiencing some early-on back pain. Just getting larger, even for twins, than expected. My midwife took me to a doctor in town that was experienced with home births. He checked me over. He was a very kind older man. He said, “Nope, I think this is twins. You can expect things like this with twins.” I’m like, “Well, OK.”

Went home, and a few more weeks passed. It got very intense. I couldn’t even sleep. My back felt like it was breaking in two. I got huge and my midwife was like, “I’m taking you into a high-risk doctor.” She’s also a friend of mine who has been a midwife for years and years and years. Had experience with twins.

I kind of fought her on it. I said, “Nope!” I did NOT want to go see a doctor where I lived because it was a big war between midwives and doctors in that area. She wanted him to give me the approval that everything was going well and that I could continue with my homebirth. I was thinking, “There is NO doctor around here that’s going to OK that.” She said, “No, this one will. He’s a high-risk doctor but he and his wife have had five homebirths.” I said, “Oh, OK.”

She actually went and made the appointment for me. She went with my husband and myself to the appointment. I was exactly 23 weeks along. We walked in and he introduced himself. He immediately started an ultrasound in his office. Then he starts talking to me about twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. I’m listening. I’d heard of it before, but I didn’t ask him why he was telling me about this.

Then, as he was doing the scan and looking and kept talking in more depth, it dawned on me. I looked at him, and I said, “Wait a second. Are you telling me that my babies have twin-to-twin?” He’s like, “Yes, and it’s very serious. This is not looking very good.” I’m like, “Oh.” I immediately started tearing up as he was explaining to myself and my husband who had never heard of twin-to-twin, what it is.

Basically, what happens, we found out our boys were identical twins. With identical twins, they share a placenta. In that shared placenta, they should have their own set of blood vessels. Well, some of their blood vessels were connected and they were sharing blood. They call one baby the “donor baby,” and the other baby the “recipient.” The donor baby is not getting enough blood, because his blood is going to the other baby, brother in this case.

So Niles, who was our “Baby B” at that point, was very small, didn’t have any fluid, wasn’t receiving blood. He was “shrunk wrap,” and he wasn’t growing. He was dying. His brother, which is now Nolan, who was referred to as “Baby A” back then, had enormous amounts of fluid. He had fluid around his heart, he had fluid around his brain, and his heart was in distress because he was receiving too much blood.

Nancy: So, both were in distress in opposite ways.

Michele: Very much so. They were both in trouble and it wasn’t looking good. We’re at his office at the hospital, so he sent me down for more tests, a more in-depth ultrasound. I had to see (I didn’t even know this existed) a fetal heart specialist that looks at babies in the womb’s hearts. That’s his job.

I had all this testing all day long. We get home at 4 PM. At 8 o’clock that night, the high-risk doctor I went and saw called me and my husband and went over everything with us. He had already called a doctor in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is seven-and-a-half hours away from us. He said, “The only chance for these babies to survive, if at all, is if you go have this surgery. We need to see if you’re qualified even to have this laser surgery.”

There were only three doctors, at the time, in the United States that even did it, and the closest one was in Cincinnati, Ohio. We’re like, “OK.” That was Thursday night. We had to be at the Cincinnati, Ohio, Children’s Hospital at 6 AM on Monday morning. We left on Sunday. We had to stop by the hospital, the original hospital first, to check on the babies’ heartbeat. You can imagine. Oh, and it was Mother’s Day.

Nancy: I can’t even imagine that!

Michele: Yes, not a very memorable Mother’s Day that I want to remember. But the doctor comes in in his suit, unlocks the door just for us, does the ultrasound. Both babies still have heartbeats, so we’re on our way to Cincinnati.

We arrive in Cincinnati the next morning. At 6 AM they started testing. It was a full day of every kind of test you can possibly think of. I even had an MRI. I had another fetal heart specialist, two of them actually. Blood tests, you name it. Ultrasounds, everything you can imagine, from 6 AM to 4 PM.

At 4 PM they sit me and my husband in this huge conference room with two high-risk special doctors that would be doing the surgery, if I was even qualified for the surgery, specialized nurses, all these people. Sitting right next to me was the chaplain which was not comforting. I couldn’t even finish. He sat down, and I knew what the chaplain . . .

I couldn’t stop crying the whole time they were talking. They filled a white board in that room, filled with the statistics, our options. “You do this, this is the baby’s chance of survival.” If we did nothing, they said the chance of either one of them surviving was practically nothing. It was like a 99.9% chance they would both die in the womb. At this point it was not looking good.

One of the options they gave me, which I couldn’t even believe they were saying, was to cut Baby B’s cord and it would give Baby A an 80% chance of survival. I couldn’t, and I was crying. I said, “That’s not even an option! That’s not even an option for us. I don’t even want to hear that spoken again.” I said, “What is the option, the best chance to save both babies?”

They said, “Well, we can try this laser surgery and see how it goes. In order to save both babies, if it’s successful, that’s your best chance.” I’m like, “OK. When do we have it?”

It was a day and a half later, back in the hospital bright and early, to get me already for surgery. They take me back and it was in the Children’s Hospital. I had just had a spinal. I was awake during the surgery. I was awake the whole time. They made two little incisions. One they went in with a microscope. The other they went in with a laser.

Nancy: So, you’re able to see it all on the screen?

Michele: Yes, I can actually see. I was exactly 24 weeks at that stage. I could actually see the babies onscreen in my uterus. It was like watching Discovery TV. It was absolutely incredible.

What they did during the surgery, is they go in and they map out the placenta, and see which blood vessels are connected, that they’re sharing the blood with. It can be one, it can be 50. They mapped it out several times and they found five in my placenta that were connected. They laser them with the laser. Then they go back through and see if they can tell if they missed any. Then they sewed me back up and took me back to my room.

I was on medicine to stop contractions because they’d poked a hole in my uterus. It was normal to start contracting but they had to keep upping that medicine all night long, because my contractions weren’t stopping. Thankfully, by morning, they had let up. I hadn’t gone into full-blown labor or anything but they were starting to get a little concerned as it was lasting so long. But the medicine made you feel completely loopy and so thirsty.

The one thing they did when we went back to the room was that they turned off all the monitors because they had me hooked up, listening to the babies’ heartbeats. They turned it all off, because they said, “If anything happened, you’re just going to hear babies in distress, and there’s nothing we could do. You’re 24 weeks but these babies are sick. They’re not in good health.”

It’s a miracle for 24-week-old babies to survive, but these babies, if born, there is nothing they can do. They were in bad shape at this point. So, you turn everything off. I laid there, praying all night, believing God’s diagnosis and not the doctors.

Nancy: So, nobody knows what’s happening, doctors or you. It’s just, ohh.

Michele: Yes. The next morning, I’d had two surgeons. They both came back in, and they turned on the ultrasound machine. Me and my husband are holding our breath, I’m sure. At this point, we’re praying. They start scanning and a couple of seconds in, they’re like, “OK, there’s Baby A’s heartbeat.” I was like, “OK! What about Baby B?” And then, “Oh, there’s Baby B! Has a heartbeat!”

Nancy: That’s really miraculous.

Michele: Oh, it was. It was so God. The whole time, going through the process and beyond, the big takeaway was trusting God’s diagnosis and not the doctors, not man’s diagnosis, or man’s wisdom. Cut Baby B’s cord? No! I couldn’t imagine.

Nancy: Because their diagnosis was that they would never make it, wasn’t it?

Michele: Right. They even gave me the option of terminating the pregnancy and just starting over. I’m like, I couldn’t even imagine! This was not the doctor in St. Louis. He was a Christian man, and very, very, very supportive. But some of the other doctors, that’s what they’re taught.

So, both babies had heartbeats. I stayed in the hospital.

Nancy: What happened with all the fluid?

Michele: Oh, yes, all the fluid! During the surgery, not only did they laser the blood vessels, but remember, I was 24 weeks pregnant, but I was measuring 42 weeks pregnant with all the extra fluid. They drained seven liters of fluid off of Baby A, which is Nolan. They drained seven liters of fluid out of his back. So, I could feel, me being awake, I could feel my stomach deflating. I came out of that surgery like, “Oh my goodness! My stomach’s gone! Where’s my babies?” But it was, oh, so much fluid and that was where all my back issues and stuff were coming from.

We had to stay in Cincinnati for a week, for seven more days, with lots of doctor’s appointments and scans. Every 24-hour period that passed, the chances of their survival went up just a little bit more. Every time we went in, it was like, “Please Lord, let them both have heartbeats. Thank You.” Then we changed our prayer to “Thank You, Lord, for letting them have heartbeats.” Believing God’s Word, and not man’s.

Then we had to make the drive back, seven-and-a-half hours back home. I was on three months of bedrest. Two to three doctor’s appointments every single week for scans because they were watching the blood flow. Different things could happen. Blood vessels could grow back together. They could have missed one and not known. They were watching the babies’ blood flow back and forth.

They prepared me for delivery. They said specifically, “If this is successful surgery, you’ll make it 28 weeks.” I toured in my wheelchair. You have to tour the NICU and get all prepared for that. But, again, we believed God, and we kept praying. “We’re not going to be here. We’re not going to be here in this NICU,” and believing God for the best.

Week in and week out, we spent the entire summer. People were rallied around us and supported us. It was wonderful. My mom even, I think I mentioned something about Thanksgiving. She came up in July with an entire Thanksgiving meal that she had made from scratch. That fed our family for a week. I did a lot of reading and coloring with my older children because I was in bed.

Nancy: I think you mentioned once, you even had a Christmas meal, didn’t you, at that time?

Michele: We did! We had a whole Christmas party. This young lady who is such a blessing in our family, she’s just like a daughter to me. My little boy had mentioned that he wanted to do Christmas. It was like the why. He wanted Christmas. So, she shows up with these two giant black trash bags and she goes downstairs in our basement and strings Christmas lights everywhere. Even a disco ball and puts on Christmas music. They had a giant Christmas party downstairs.

Nancy: I think that’s so beautiful. It just inspires us doesn’t it, how when someone’s going through a trial and a difficult time to think of fun things to do. To just lift the spirits of those who are going through. I think that was so beautiful. I think it encourages us. Don’t be boring. Let’s think of fun and exciting things we can do for people when they’re going through these times.

Michele: Oh, absolutely. It was such a blessing. For all the friends who came over and sat on the end of my bed and had tea with me, or brought me healthy, yummy treats, just spent time. The wonderful books that I was given to be able to read during that time. Time went by quickly, believe it or not.

Babies kept on growing and all the issues they were having were improving. Niles was my Baby A that was shrink-wrapped and wasn’t growing. There was a big size difference between the two of them at the beginning of this. He was catching up to his brother. He was growing and catching up.

Nolan’s fluid around his heart and his brain were slowly deteriorating and going away. They were healing inside of me. I felt that too, like God’s healing hand was upon me and these precious babies. Passed that 28-week mark and just kept on going.

One of the doctors I had to see on a regular basis was the fetal heart doctor. He would look at their hearts, because with the twin-to-twin, Nolan had the distressed heart. It was enlarged. Niles’ heart was weak. But he found a heart defect in Niles, my Baby A, my little baby.

Even later on, as they started improving in things, he said, “Aside from twin-to-twin, when this baby is born, shortly after birth we’ll have to have heart surgery.” It wasn’t super-rare. He said, “It’s fairly common, but it is open-heart surgery,” so they were preparing me for that as well.

We started praying now for healthy hearts. These babies that they said, first of all, wouldn’t make it, have now made it all the way past 28 weeks and just kept going. I was able to go all the way to 37 weeks with these babies

Nancy: That is wonderful!

Michele: It was amazing. The high-risk doctor I had was absolutely wonderful when I came in to give birth to them. He knew I originally wanted a homebirth. The whole pregnancy was anything but. natural homebirth? He was so amazing.

I saw a nurse one time and she said some not kind things to me, because he told me that I could eat breakfast before I came. I needed my energy, which was against hospital protocol, of course. He was willing to do everything I wanted, as far as natural, and still keep a close eye on the babies and myself. He was absolutely wonderful. 

I had one nurse who said some not nice things to me. I never saw that nurse again. He stayed on that hospital floor the entire day and into the night because I had them right before midnight. He didn’t leave. He stayed there, and he came and took them, and he did the ultrasound scans, and he came and checked their heartbeats. He was absolutely amazing.

My midwife, my friend was there with me, so I felt like I was in good hands. It came time to give birth. I did have to give birth in the OR, but I was able to have them completely natural, not even an epidural. It was amazing.

Nancy: Was one of them breech? Or they both came heads?

Michele: Yes, so their birth. Imagine the OR room stuffed full of people. Each baby, because they didn’t know, they thought Niles had this birth defect, and with the twin-to-twin, there are things that can happen. Even the blood vessel blood issue could happen during birth. I actually had an ultrasound going my entire birth. They kept the ultrasound machine on.

When I gave birth, Nolan came out first, headfirst. He was healthy, and his team of doctors took him in the room and checked him over. His team of doctors started leaving one at a time. He was left with one doctor who stayed with him for a little bit. But he was great.

But right when I gave birth to him, I started hemorrhaging, which I knew was a possibility, because they had messed with. . . I had surgery on my placenta. Things could happen with the placenta. The doctor actually reached up and grabbed. . . He was breech. Grabbed the first thing he could find, which was his feet, up to his elbow. Grabbed his feet and pulled his feet out. Then I pushed him the rest of the way out. So, they’re only 20 seconds apart.

If I wouldn’t have had the issue with hemorrhaging, they would have had different birthdays, because they were born right before midnight! [laughter] They were born at 11:54 and 11:55 PM, twenty seconds apart. I always think it's funny. The twin question I get asked all the time is, “Who’s older?” [laughter] They’re twins! They’re really the same! But it’s funny. Yes, he’s a footling breech.

Nancy: That’s pretty amazing. A footling breech. Hospitals won’t even do breech today. You have to have a cesarian for breech. Really, most midwives can handle a breech so beautifully. Footling breech is something else. When I had my twins, Evangeline was first, and she was breech. Then Stephen was headfirst. Often one is breech. But that is amazing. I forget which, Nolan, Niles, he didn’t even need surgery.

Michele: Oh! Yes! After they were born, and I hadn’t been anesthetized. I didn’t have an epidural. Even with him pulling the baby out, I didn’t feel anything, because when the first baby is born, it naturally, the head naturally numbs you. I didn’t feel any of him being breech, or him reaching up in me, or anything when Niles was born. The actual birth itself, besides the environment and the situation we were in, was probably my easiest birth. But they’re also my smallest. They were 5.5, and 5.14, which was a miracle!

Nancy: Such great weights! That is miraculous!

Michele: It really is. Niles had really caught up. He was not even a pound less than his brother. Niles’ team was over there, and his heart doctor was over there. They checked him all out, and one by one, they all started leaving. I was like, “Well, what about his heart?” And they were like, “His heart seems fine!” They did more tests the next day and no heart defect. It was a miracle. There was no surgery needed. Everything was perfect, and they’ve never had any heart issues.

Nancy: I never knew that story. And now, today, I see these young boys, because they’re living right next to us--15 years old, and they’re real boys, they’re out hunting and having this adventurous life with our grandsons around here.

They are two of the most wonderful boys, living for the Lord. They never miss a prayer meeting. They don’t just sit there on their chairs. They’re always into prayer and a part of it. Just shining lights for the Lord! Isn’t God so good?

Yes, and to think that they told you, “OK, you’d better maybe just finish it off.” You can’t listen to the diagnosis of the doctors. We can trust God. Oh, it is so sad that there are so many who listen to these false diagnoses and terminate their babies. And yet, so many who trust God, their babies come forth. Even with all you went through, God has brought these beautiful young men into this world.

Michele: Absolutely. I couldn’t imagine our life without them. They are such a blessing. Yes, you have to trust the Lord’s diagnosis, and not man’s. Even though I had to go through some of the hard things for pregnancy and such, I had to trust God. I knew it was going to be OK. Finding those prayer warriors to join you is an incredible, incredible thing.

Nancy: Amen! Well, I’m wondering, have we got time to hear about Ruthie’s birth story? Oh, we have! That’s exciting! I don’t know Ruthie’s birth story, so I’m going to be, wow! See what happens here.

But Ruthie, that is their youngest daughter. She is six years of age, the most beautiful little girl you could ever find. She’s always over here visiting me and helping me. Sunday morning, when we have church, she’s always over here early to help me put out all the chairs. She’s the greatest helper I have ever met! She loves to come and help me set the table. She loves setting tables. When I’m having visitors even, she’ll pop over, and she’ll help me set the table. Anyway, I’m looking forward to hearing, how did Ruthie come into the world?

Michele: Oh, Ruthie, yes. Actually, I had an amazing pregnancy with Ruthie. In between the twins and Ruthie, I did have Elijah, who was a beautiful homebirth story. Much less adventurous, which was wonderful. But Ruthie, fantastic pregnancy. Seeing the midwife again, planning the homebirth. Everything went fantastic.

Then, oh, fast forward to birth. I am notorious, except for the twins, to be a 42-weeker. So, here I am, getting past that 41^st week. I think she was 41 weeks and three days, or four days. We had had dinner that evening. Actually, my husband and my older son were supposed to be out for the evening. I said, “You know, I think you should stick around for tonight.” Both were like, “Well, OK, that’s fine.” So, he stuck at home.

We finished up dinner, and everybody had gone their ways. My girls were reading, and Randy had gone downstairs to finish up some work in his office. I was finishing up the last bit of dishes and things. I thought my water broke! I looked down, and it was blood. I was hemorrhaging, gushing.

I ran into our bathroom. I passed the basement door and opened it up, and said, “Randy, I need you!” I ran into my bathroom to grab my phone, and I called my midwife. She gets on the phone, and I’m telling her, “I thought my water broke, but I’m bleeding.” She’s telling me which hospital to go to. She’s like, “We need to check you out. I’m going to send you to this hospital,” that was probably 15-20 minutes away. “But they’re very midwife-friendly there. But first, tell me, how much blood?”

So, I started explaining things to her. She’s like, “Um, get to,” I had a hospital probably 3-5 minutes away from us. She’s like, “Get there now. It sounds like a placenta issue. Get in the car and go. I’ll meet you there.” But she lived 45 minutes away. I called my friend, who actually was my midwife with the twins. She was no longer practicing midwifery. She was getting older. She was much closer. I’m like, “Meet me at the hospital.” I called her on the way.

I grabbed my birth kit, which thankfully, I don’t even know how I thought of this. It was just sitting in my room and on top was a waterproof pad for the mattress. I grabbed it and put it our car, thankfully. We zoomed off to the hospital. We pulled to the Emergency Room. My midwife had called so they were ready for me.

But we pulled up to the Emergency Room. My husband jumped out of the car, left the car door open. The car is running. The valet parking guy was standing there, and he sees me. He gasped, and he grabs a wheelchair and brings it over to me. I get in the wheelchair, and the valet parking guy’s wheeling me in. Randy’s behind him. The car’s running, and the door’s open.

The valet parking guy walks into the ER. There’s a big, long line, and he didn’t know what to do with me. He’s like, “Um, wait here.” I look at him. By that time, the receptionist saw me, and she yelled across the room to a nurse that was pushing another patient. She said, “This is the one they called in!” She leaves her patient, comes running to me, and whisked me off to the elevator.

Up we go, and they took me up to labor and delivery. The doctor is in the room with the ultrasound machine on, ready for me. It was a whirlwind. On the way there, I also called our pastor’s wife, who is a dear friend of mine, to ask her to pray. She’s like, “Do you want me to come?” I’m like, “Yes!”

I get in there, and right when they start the ultrasound machine, my friend Melissa, the pastor’s wife, and my midwife friend both show up. I was so grateful that I had my prayer warriors there. My midwife friend is not only a prayer warrior, but also could tell me what’s going on, because here I am, in a strange place, with a strange doctor.

He starts scanning, and he says, “Oooh.” He’s like, “You have placenta previa,” which means my placenta was covering my cervix. I had probably started early labor and started dilating. When that happened, it started ripping the placenta. I would have known if I had an ultrasound during pregnancy, but we didn’t want to know if we were having a boy or a girl.

The pregnancy was pretty perfect. I had a great pregnancy. No issues. I never had any spotting or bleeding which is common when you have placenta previa. But I never had spotting or bleeding so I chose not to have an ultrasound. Looking back, if I had had an ultrasound, they would have diagnosed the placenta previa. I would have been on bedrest and they would have taken her early.

In the scheme of things, it worked out well on my part. Not that I would suggest doing that way. The bleeding had slowed down. There was no way for her to come out through a placenta. We both would have bled to death. I would have bled to death, and they would have lost both of us.

They whisked me off to the c-section. Because the bleeding had slowed, they were able to give me an epidural so I was able to stay awake. I really wanted my midwife friend to go in with us, which it was against hospital protocol. Only my husband was supposed to be able to go in. But the doctor was amazing, and said, “Yes, she can go in.”

So, she got to go in with us, which was great, because my husband was not going to watch a thing that was going on. He was like, down with not looking over that blanket, while she was watching everything, giving me a play-by-play, which I wanted, to know what was going on. She was such a blessing to have in there.

But the really neat thing, before we went in there, two different nurses at different times came in to pray with me. Then the doctor, before he started surgery asked me if he could pray. I didn’t know this doctor. And then they played Christian music in the operating room.

The whole time, I felt like I was kind of not in my. . . I want to say I was in my body, but I felt like I had this peace over me. I knew God was in control. I knew God was going to take care of us. I didn’t fully understand why we were in the situation we were in, but it was peaceful. I knew everything was going to be OK.

She was born. She wasn’t even out all the way, and she’s screaming, that wonderful, wonderful sound. She was born. She was healthy. I had some issues with my uterus. I was very close to having to get a blood transfusion from all the blood I had lost. But thankfully, didn’t have to get the blood transfusion, but did lose a lot of blood.

They had to very carefully stitch my uterus up. Apparently, where the placenta was located, it had started tearing, and left a very weak spot in my uterus. God sent my midwife friend there. She said they just took such good care of me. A lot of doctors would have just done a hysterectomy at that point. But they spent the time to sew me back up. She said double-blind stitch, whatever that means. They actually took my uterus out of my body to repair it, and then put it all back in.

Nancy: Amazing!

Michele: It was amazing. The whole time, little Naomi Ruth, we call her Ruthie. She was right there, and she was fine. She was healthy. It was a miracle. A miracle for everything, for the circumstance and everything that happened. We couldn’t have asked for a more incredible outcome. My first c-section, and I wouldn’t want to repeat that by any means. But I feel like, through all my different births, I pretty much have the spectrum of almost every birth story you can possibly imagine. But God is good, and He is faithful. Every birth is so miraculous.

Nancy: Yes. Now, and you have the blessing of these beautiful children. God is good, even in the different times, in the hard times, in the scary times. God is there. I pray you’ve been encouraged and blessed today.

“We thank You, Lord, that You are the One Who brings the babies safely from the mother’s womb. You are the One Who hovers over the babies in the womb. You are doing wonderful things that we can’t see. We thank You, Lord. We just thank You that You are the giver of life.

“We praise You today. We ask your blessing on every pregnant mother, on those nearing birth, that You’ll be with them, that You will, Lord, just bring their babies safely forth into this world. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.aboverubies.org

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