Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

An Above Rubies reader, Susan McMahon sends a request:

"Hello to my Above Rubies family! Have you ever dreamed about going on a mission trip? Do you think it’s impossible since you are a mom and a homemaker and cannot leave your children? Well let me tell you about the mission trip that comes to YOU!!! Be Love!

Orphan Outreach Missions (BLOOM) is a Christian organization which brings school-aged orphans from Ukraine and Poland to live with families for approximately 7 weeks over the summer. During this time, the children experience the love of Christ through Christian families who exemplify His unconditional love to them. In addition, through family time together, children quickly develop a basic understanding and use of the English language which helps develop a higher self-esteem and a feeling of accomplishment in many ways! The children also witness healthy relationships between parents and their children, perhaps for the first time in their lives! These basic skills provide tremendous social, educational, and emotional improvements that help the child as they return to their homeland. Happily, for some it doesn't end there: Many of our host families decide to adopt these children after hosting!

Why else is hosting these children so important? As the children age out of their orphanages (usually at age 16), what happens is truly heartbreaking. Most of the girls will turn to prostitution as a means of supporting themselves, and most of the boys will become hardened criminals. Perhaps saddest of all, however, is that 10-15% of these children will end up committing suicide before they turn 18 years old. (See statistics here: http://worldorphans.org/…/upl…/2015/05/Orphan-Statistics.pdf)

Orphan hosting changes all of this. Orphan hosting saves lives!!!

If you would like to host a child from Ukraine, the deadline to decide is May 10th. And matching for our children from Poland ends May 15th. Please take a look at our website for all the details about orphan hosting: https://www.bloomworldwide.org/hosting2.html . In order to look at the photo listing of available children, you’ll need to fill out a very brief registration form.

Please prayerfully consider coming along on this mission trip! All of our children have very generous scholarships which have been given towards their hosting fees. (And all hosting fees are fully tax-deductible.)

We believe that God has a plan for each of these precious children of His. Perhaps it is YOUR family who He is asking to bring a child to America! If you cannot host, will you please take a look at the photos of the children anyway and spend a few minutes praying for families for them? Let’s not let any of them be left behind this summer!

May each of your families be blessed as you advocate for “the least of these children of His” in the spirit of James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (NIV). Thank you for whatever you can do to help!

International Orphan Hosting Programs - BLOOM

Orphan Hosting: A short term family mission trip - but, the mission, the orphan, comes to you! Share love of family, Christ & more 4-6 weeks in your home!
bloomworldwide.org

Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in the way
He has no tongue but our tongue to tell men how He died
He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.

Our God is a blessing God. He wants to bless His people. How can He tangibly do this? He wants to use us as a physical expression of His love and compassion. We are His hands and His feet to our family and to the world. We are His smile of affirmation and encouragement to our husbands, children, older people, and the lonely and hurting around us.

Paul acknowledges the blessing that Onesiphorus was to his life. The Bible tells the whole world that Onesiphorus was an encourager and refresher. In fact, when Onesiphorus came to Rome he sought Paul out diligently until he found him to bless and encourage him.

I read this morning: “The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases daydreams lacks sense” (Proverbs 12:6 TLV). This is one of the promises we have for provision. Make sure we grow a garden.

“That’s okay for you,” you say. “You live in the country whereas I live in the city.” However, I have only lived in the country for the last 16 years and I used to grow a garden even when living in the city. In fact, to grow a garden here in the country, we had to purchase our dirt! We live on a hill top and the ground is churt-like. It was hard and impossible to dig. Therefore, we made long raised beds and purchased our dirt to fill them. I have kept them going with manure and constant composting.

Do you feel dead inside? Is the love you once enjoyed in your marriage smoldered and gone out? Are all the beautiful plans for your family life buried in the grave of hurts and disappointments? Nothing has worked out the way you wanted.

Please don’t give up hope. Read this powerful promise from Job 14:7-9: “For there is hope of tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”

Many people today work in jobs that are not satisfying. It’s a paycheck and that’s all. As mothers we are very blessed to be in a job career where we do beautiful things. We are so privileged.

“Beautiful things?” I hear you say. “ I’m trying to keep a messy house clean. I’m doing the same mundane things every day. What beautiful things am I doing?”

Go to: http://tinyurl.com/OnShelfOrInHeart

Check out: http://tinyurl.com/HowShouldIReadBible

Check it out at: http://tinyurl.com/ReadWordInQuietTime

Check it out at: http://tinyurl.com/QuietTimeLittleChildren

An Above Rubies reader, Brittany Howell writes:

“Nancy, thank you again for providing the wonderful Prayer Box at the conference. I had read all your articles on the importance of doing Prayer Boxes and had been convicted. I had even put aside a box to decorate and make up but had not completed it. So the box you gave me was just the push I needed to get this habit started

Since my three children are under three years I made a Family Prayer Box and put pictures of the family members on each card. I want to show what it looks like in the hope that it inspires others to start their own box too! Once we have used this box for a few weeks I plan to make a World Changing Prayer Box, an Evangelism/Unsaved Prayer Box and several other boxes you mentioned!”

How are you training your children? Are you training them to be grown up babies or mature sons and daughters in the Lord? Sadly, too many adults are still babies in the Lord, even though they may have been Christians for years. They haven’t yet learned to feed from God’s Words daily. They still rely on their pastor or minister to give them a meal once a week when they go to church? But during the week they starve. They never open their Bible and don’t know how to feed from the Living Word each day.

Is this the habit of your children? Or are you training them, as soon as they are old enough, to spend some time each day to read God’s Word for themselves? Are you training them how to hear from God as they read this living Word? It’s not enough for them to read, they must know how to HEAR from God.

To begin this training you may like to try this idea. Start your homeschooling day this way. Teach them to look for treasures in the Bible. Purchase for yourself and each one of your reading children a hard-covered diary with a page for every day of the year. Begin with opening your Bibles and journals at the appropriate date. Decide which book of the Bible you will go through, reading a chapter each day.

Pray first and then encourage them to silently read the chapter, LOOKING AND EXPECTING GOD TO SPEAK TO THEM PERSONALLY. Do it together. You, along with your children. We all look for the Scripture that speaks to us most powerfully in the chapter.

We write the Scripture at the top of the page and then write what God says to us. It is amazing how that even writing the Scripture brings more understanding. As you write the revelation, more understanding comes. We then write a prayer of response to the Lord. This makes the Word of God personal and real, rather than a reading chore.

After we have all finished, I read out loud the Scripture and what God has revealed to me. The children then read their Scripture and what God spoke to them. We are blessed not only by reading, but also by writing and sharing.

Of course, everyone has their own ways that suit their lifestyle and family life. You may prefer to encourage your children to find a special spot on their own where they can have their Quiet Time with the Lord. Whatever you encourage, inspire them to listen carefully to the Holy Spirit and to write down what God speaks to them. Writing daily what God speaks to me has been the greatest blessing of my Christian walk.

I remember reading about a wonderful father who as he came to say goodnight to each of his eleven children lay a Bible on their pillows so they would remember to feed from the Word of God before they arose for the day.

Also, when you have Family Devotions together each day, remind your children to listen to what the Holy Spirit says to them as they hear His words. Then, of course, ask them to share when you have finished reading. You will be amazed at what God speaks to your children. And they will get into the habit of hearing from God.

Mothers, don’t raise handicapped spiritual babies. Raise your children to be young men and women who are tall and strong in the Lord because they know how to daily feed for themselves?

Have a blessed day, Nancy Campbell

To read more, go to DON’T STAY A BABY. Link: http://aboverubies.org/…/916-bible-in-the-home-dont-stay-a-…

P.S. In the next few days I will post further articles that will help you and your children how to make your Bible reading exciting and how to really hear from God as you open the Word.

What is your relationship with God? Moses had a “face to face” relationship with Him. Exodus 33:11 says: “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto his friend.”

Sadly, the rest of the children of Israel had a “afar off” relationship. When Moses went out to the tabernacle, “the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshipped, each man in his tent door.” They saw the glory of God and worshipped from afar, but Moses went in and spoke with God face to face.

Are you going through a difficult patch in your marriage? Do you feel like your love is petering out? Perhaps you are even estranged from one another. I would encourage you to go to the following link on the Above Rubies website. There you will find over 30 testimonies of marriages that have been healed and articles about marriage that will encourage, strengthen, and inspire you. There is always hope. Check these amazing testimonies out now: http://aboverubies.org/index.php/2013-11-12-17-55-51/english-language/marriage

Is your husband one who does not know how to take the lead in your home? Perhaps he is not even a Christian. You will be blessed by this testimony where the husband always said to his wife: "Please yourself! You usually do!"
http://aboverubies.org/index.php/2013-11-12-17-55-51/english-language/marriage/256-marriage-please-yourself-you-usually-do

We all know that our thinking determines who we are and how we live. It determines the atmosphere of our home. It determines how we relate to our husbands and children.

Left to ourselves, we are prone to low thoughts. Self-pitying, discouraging, despairing, doubting, and negative thoughts. It’s unbelievable how we gravitate to these kind of thoughts. But there is good news. When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He died to not only save us from our sins, but from our debilitating thought life. If Christ dwells in our hearts, we have His mind.

Dear Mother, you are not only mothering for today, but for generations to come!

~ Love from Nancy

God, who touches earth with beauty
Make me lovely too,
With thy Spirit recreate me,
Make my life anew.

Does anyone remember singing the old chorus, “Trust in the Lord and don’t despair”! We used to sing it as children. We’d sing it everywhere we went with all our hearts and as loud as we could.

Trust in the Lord and don’t despair,
He is a friend so true!
No matter what your troubles are,
Jesus will see you through.
Sing, when the day is bright;
Sing, through the darkest night
Everyday, all the way,
Let us sing, sing, sing!

This is God’s daily admonition to us and our children. It’s not easy to take advice, but it’s a wonderful habit. Keep a soft spirit and always be open to correction and advice. As we cultivate this kind of spirit, it is easier for our children to pick it up.

By the way, have you taught your children this nursery rhyme?

This is what it is meant to be if your home is dedicated to God. How many times a day do you pray in your home? How many times a day do you pray together as a family? We can’t really confess that our home belongs to God unless we are a praying family (Jeremiah 10:25).

May each one of us be encouraged to fill our homes with prayer. Whenever your children nave a need, pray for them. If someone calls on the phone with a need, pray for them right then. When you face serious or urgent matters for payer in your family, set the timer every hour to stop and pray.