Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.

Strengthening Families Across the World through the encouragement of women in their high calling from God as wives, mothers and homemakers.

WATCH OUR LOVE GROW

WatchLoveGrowI am posting a series of articles each day about growing our marriages. I thought of a song which Pearl (Trim Healthy Mama) and her husband, Charlie sing together about watching their marriage grow. It’s from the CD, “The Richest Man on Earth,” a CD of wonderful songs for fathers. You can order the CD or download it from www.aboverubies.org.

Here’s the link for you to listen:
http://aboverubies.org/3476th/WatchOurLoveGrow.mp3

Enjoy!

I’ll print the words for you too so you can enjoy them as you listen.
You can’t put much weight on one single vine
But you can pull yourself up when two are entwined,
We two became one and True Love grew stronger,
So strong we believed it couldn’t grow any longer.

CHORUS:
But watch our love grow like a body of water
From a fresh springtime rain in the form of our daughter,
Watch our love grow like a good deed we’ve done
That will be passed along with the name of our son,
Watch our love grow.

I’ve seen the mountains, the deserts and seas,
All the latest inventions and cures for diseases,
There’s so many wonders beneath God’s blue skies
But nothing compares to when love multiplies.

This love that we planted will live on and on,
It’ll grow even after we’re gone.

Picture: Pearl and Charlie with their grandson, Warren.

Continue reading
0
  1223 Hits

YOUR CEDAR MARRIAGE

YourCedarmarriageThe next point . . .

b) CEDARS GROW TALL
Because the cedars are strongly rooted, they can grow to 120 feet high and 30 to 40 feet in girth. They grow slow and steady. That’s like our marriages. We constantly build into them and they gradually grow more beautiful, tall, and powerful in our personal relationship and our influence as a couple. Notice again Psalm 92:10: “The righteous . . . shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” We must never stay in a rut. Cedar marriages don’t stay in a rut; they grow

Ezekiel 31:3-7 (NET) is an allegory about Assyria, likening it to a cedar in Lebanon. Think of your marriage growing like the cedar as you read: “Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height, its top among the clouds . . . the deep made it grow tall . . . it towered high above all the trees of the field.”

We can either stunt our marriage or make it grow. We stunt our marriage by curbing each other. We must release each other into God’s wondrous plan. We let our husbands be men. We don’t expect them to be like us or even think like us. They don’t think like us. Forget it! They are different.

Let your husband be who he is. Let him take the responsibility of his role seriously to provide, protect, and lead you in God’s ways. Don’t take that from him. Many women think they help their husbands by going out to work. That doesn’t help them. It weakens husband’s mandate from God to be the provider
.
Let’s get it straight. When we embrace our high calling of motherhood and homemaking and release our husbands to their calling, our marriages can grow tall. Neither of us were created to do the job of the other. God made male and female with their own specific purpose. We accomplish far more for God and this world when we do it God’s way.

Grow your marriage today.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Continue reading
0
  2071 Hits

WHAT’S YOUR MARRIAGE LIKE?

LebanonCedarDid you know that God wants our marriages (and our families) to be like a cedar tree (Numbers 24:6)? As we learn more about the cedar tree, we understand why God likens our marriages to the cedar.

a) CEDARS ARE STRONG AND ROOTED
Cedars are strong and firmly rooted. In Psalm 80:10 (TLB) God likens His people to the “mighty” cedar trees. The word “mighty” is el in the Hebrew and means “strong,” a word that is also used of God. Psalm 92:12 (MLB) tells us that the “righteous . . . shall become mighty like the cedar of Lebanon.”

The Hebrew word for cedar is erez and means “from the tenacity of its roots.” I read that for every 10 feet of height above the ground, the roots of the cedar go down 30 feet under the ground. Amazingly, the tips of the roots have a substance that allows them to drill through the toughest rocks as they go down deep into the earth.

God wants our marriages to be rooted like this. He wants them to be strongly rooted in God’s principles and the covenant we made on our wedding day. He wants them to be strongly knitted together in commitment, faithfulness, morality, unity, and love. Nothing stopping them.

However, they don’t become strong automatically. We must proactively strengthen them. We must do something to build and strengthen our marriages each new day. With our words and our actions.

Are you doing something tangible to strengthen your marriage today?

More about our “cedar tree” marriages tomorrow.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Continue reading
0
  1047 Hits

YOU ARE DOING A GOOD WORK!

DoingGoodWorkBe encouraged today, dear mother. You are doing a GOOD WORK. The Bible tells us that mothering, homemaking, loving your husband, hospitality, and reaching out to the needy are GOOD works (Proverbs 31:10-31; Acts 9:36-42; 1 Timothy 5:10; and Titus 2:3-5). Some translations call them “BEAUTIFUL things.”

You are blessed. You are in the perfect will of God. You are involved each day in a beautiful work. If you think otherwise, you are listening to the lies of the devil who doesn’t want you to enjoy the beautiful life God intends for you.

Everything depends on our understanding of truth, on our attitude, and our thought patterns regarding what we do. Live in the truth rather than deception. And your life will change. You’ll enjoy your beautiful life.

And there’s more. God says that you will be rewarded for every good thing you do. You are doing GOOD things, and therefore your reward is coming. Be encouraged. Read these Scriptures:

Romans 2:6-11: “Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by PATIENT CONTINUANCE IN WELL DOING seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: . . . glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh GOOD . . . “

Ephesians 6:6-8: “Doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever GOOD THING any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.”

Every little good thing you do today is not in vain. It has eternal value.

Be blessed, Nancy Campbell

MORE SCRIPTURES TO READ:
1 Corinthians 3:8, 14; 15:58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Galatians 6:7-9; Colossians 3:23, 24; and Revelation 22:12.

Continue reading
0
  1229 Hits

THE SOURCE

TheSourceIf we hear powerful words such as the following, do you think we should take notice? Isaiah 1:1, 2: “Hear, O heavens, give ear, O earth: FOR THE LORD HATH SPOKEN.”

What does God want us all to hear?

The words He speaks are: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”

God is the ultimate Father. He is the Father of fathers. He is also the source of all maternal nurturing. He is the ultimate Nourisher and Nurturer.

Dear mother, when you embrace your motherhood--your nurturing and nourishing anointing which comes from the heart of God, you reveal what God is like to your family and to the world.

God is a family God. He is the One who planned marriage and family and the raising of children. God is into the business of raising families. He gathered a family to Himself when He established the race of Israel. They were His children and he poured out his heart of love and compassion upon them.

We see God’s nurturing heart as we read: “Listen to me, O house of Jacob . . . who have been upheld by me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: Even to your old age, I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:3, 4).

We read again in Isaiah 64:9, 10: “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his Presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.”

Did you notice the last words? God says again in Isaiah 65:2: “I have spread out my hands all the day unto rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.”

Have our poured out your heart and nourished and nurtured and yet your children have grown up and rebelled? Dearest mother, if you are facing this pain, I want you to know that God understands the grief and ache in your heart. He understands your burden. He has been through it and He knows the anguish of your heart.

But God never gives up. And He will help you to keep fighting the forces of evil in prayer to win your child back into the kingdom.

Be encourage today, Nancy Campbell

Continue reading
0
  1273 Hits

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

HeartMatterI am sure your heart yearns to stop the holocaust of abortion, the dismembering and burning alive of living babies in the womb.

However, I think that the devil, who is the mastermind behind abortion, has hoodwinked those of us who say we are prolife. The devil, who comes to “rob, kill, and destroy,” hates life. His plan goes beyond abortion. The trio he uses to rob, kill, and destroy are contraception, sterilization, and abortion. His first aim is to eradicate life before it is born. Abortion is his back-up plan.

Statistics tells us that clinic abortions are decreasing, but the aborting and stopping of life is increasing. Americans are now being introduced to “mail-to-your-home abortion pills” so mothers can freely annihilate their babies.

The American Life League states that “Using formulas based on the way the birth control pill works, pharmacy experts project that about 14 million chemical abortions occur in the United States each year.” That’s more babies killed through the Pill, and its various associated methods, than through abortion!

Since Roe v. Wade (46 years ago), over 61 million babies have been aborted in USA. If we count the babies that could have been aborted by the Pill from that time it would come to 644 million! Far more than abortion!

Recently my husband was speaking at a church in Louisiana. We were privileged to talk to the pastor of this church who has a passion for saving babies. He wanted to shut down abortion clinics in his area but did not have much success. He cried out to the Lord as to why he didn’t seem to be making a difference. The Lord spoke to him and said, “You are aborting children in your own home. Your wife is taking the Pill.”

He was surprised. He spoke to his wife who was not very happy to hear this news. It took her some time to come to the realization of this truth and to stop taking the Pill. However, when she stopped, God began to move. God gave strategies to this pastor and he has now closed down nine abortion clinics in his area.

The devil does not have the power to give life. He cannot give conception. And therefore, He seeks to undermine God’s power to give life. We, as God’s people of life must be truly pro-life. We must think pro-life. We must have God’s mind about pro-life. If we have the mindset to stop life by our own decision, or the pill, or other contraceptive devices, that’s not pro-life. It’s pro-choice.

When we limit our families and stop life coming into the world, it is an abortive spirit. It belongs to the kingdom of darkness, not God’s kingdom of life. God is pro-life! His first mandate to mankind was “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.” He did not say “Contracept, sterilize, and abort.” God wants His image to fill the earth.

May God give each one of us a truly pro-life thinking. To think like God thinks. To always be open to life. Until we come to this understanding, how can we win the battle against abortion? We must be totally against the spirit of abortion which is the same spirit as contraception.

Let’s be true battle soldiers for life.

Nancy Campbell

Continue reading
0
  2195 Hits

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT DOES WONDERS

EncouragWordWhen did you last say something encouraging to your husband? #encouragement #lovingwords #encouragingwords #upbuildingwords #sweetwords #affirmingwords #forgivingwords #aboverubies

Continue reading
0
  2072 Hits

IGNITING DIVINE VOLTAGE

DivineVoltageBy Renee Ellison

Prayer's deepest secret is that it is never a solo act. We begin by staggering around offering initial fumbling words. God picks up the spark, immediately arrives to step into the abyss, and then unfurls what the rest of THAT prayer is. Little prayers or big. This is the duo dynamic . . . a mortal/immortal team, igniting continual fireworks in the universe throughout all history, together.

We're not talking about ANSWERS to prayer here; we're talking about the mystery of the actual ACT of praying. We may have vaguely realized it before, but often in only in a foggy sort of way that every time we pray we enter into supernatural activity borne of a divine unction in a split second.

In every case, all the time, we merely start to pray but God finishes the praying. The action of prayer is just like stepping onto a moving sidewalk at the airport. It is already traversing. If we get both feet planted there, we WILL arrive somewhere where we weren't when we began praying.

In all prayer, there's man's part and there is God's part. For our part, we merely provide the initial posture/condition for prayer and offer initial words. That's it. Then whoosh . . . we are ushered into the heart of God, the words of God, the supernatural power of God. The Holy Spirit prays the remainder of the prayer! Lock-on to this fact . . . we never finish our own prayers, alone. We are helped to "get there."

The posture/condition of prayer that we offer may take a multitude of forms over a lifetime. Sometimes our prayer posture is one of closed eyes, to enhance focus.

Sometimes our prayers are offered with wide open, stark, unblinking eyes as we navigate an ice patch of highway near a cliff as we pray AND drive.

Sometimes we humbly get down on our knees, or down flat on our face.

Sometimes we stomp up and down a country road with raised arms furtively, urgently praying gusts and blasts of promises from Scripture. .

Sometimes we offer empty stomachs as we fast, our body praying, too—even when there are no words for huge chunks of the day. And sometimes we just marshal racing thoughts with no destination into a vertical column of appeal, purposing now an absolute destination, tired of our own run-around.

But in every case, we offer SOMETHING of our body posture and our mental condition to begin each prayer. This sets off all the red lights on God's dashboard that a saint, somewhere in the world, is ready to enter the divine act of praying. They are in the "go" posture and condition. Time for Him to show up.

God begs us to get in the avenue of prayer, in the condition to pray. Like he said to the Apostle Paul: "Get thee to Rome for there you SHALL be my witness." Or to Moses: "Go to Pharaoh, get into his courts and down his hallway and upon his rug before his throne. I'll do the rest." And to the early believers: "Do not worry about what you shall say before kings and courts, just open your mouth."

Then come our faltering words. But suddenly they aren't so faltering. Something begins to pray through us and upon us and with us. The God who made man's mouth makes man's prayers. We can count on it. Never is it an idle act to BEGIN to pray. IT HOOKS UP DIVINE VOLTAGE.

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

P.S. I believe we LEARN TO PRAY BY PRAYING. You can read all the books on prayer and yet never really pray. I trust you are inspired by this article to just begin praying. We also teach our children to pray by praying. At your family worship time each day, make sure everyone in the family prays, right down to the youngest who is just learning to talk. If you pray “religious” prayers, they will pray religious prayers. If you pray passionate, heart-felt prayers, they will learn to pray passionately. I find that Prayer Boxes with cards of certain needs to pray for are a great blessing for children. It gives them something specific to pray for. Often, when they are learning, they don’t know what to pray for and this is a help to them.
~ Nancy

Continue reading
0
  1524 Hits

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

NoWayBroVal Halloran writes her thoughts about birth control and abortion:

I have some thoughts about the abortion crisis that are probably not shared by many but make some sense in my mind. While there have always been those who don't value life and will look for ways to avoid consequences of their own choices, I can't help believe that since birth control became widespread, it also gave rise to the use of abortion as a means to the same end, namely, that of preventing an inconvenient disruption into one's plans and lifestyle.

The subtle acceptance that life and death are in human hands lends itself to the belief that life is just a random act of biology, rather than a foreordained creation of an almighty and sovereign God.

As readily available and fairly reliable options for birth control became widespread, so did the belief that couples could “have their cake and eat it too,” so to speak. Both married and unmarried couples could now easily engage in the pleasures of sex without the fear of having to take responsibility for a child that could come from that union. It also removed any need for trusting in God in the area of conception, financial provision, sacrifice of health and personal goals, and all that's involved with having and rearing children.

Rather than believing what Scripture says about children always being gifts from God, the subtle attitude began to grow, even in the church, to the point where society at large sees children as a burden and disruption to better and more important things. There's not time here to go into all the ramifications and negative consequences that we are currently and will in the future suffer for having that attitude, but that's a different story.

In my humble estimation, it was at that point where the subtle devaluing of human life began, along with the belief that we are entitled to have pleasure without any commitment or responsibility. If life can be prevented in the first place (by using birth control), demonstrating the perception that children are an annoyance and disruption to personal space, is it really any different of a root attitude towards the sanctity and miracle of life than the choice to have an abortion?

I believe the acceptance of and even encouragement of the casual use of birth control propagates an attitude of selfishness and the idea that we are sovereign over our bodies and lives. I'm certainly no authority, but these are some of my thoughts on where the widespread devaluing of life may have started.

VAL HALLORAN
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.valhalloran.com

Continue reading
0
  1154 Hits

A CHEERY GOOD MORNING

CherryGoodMornChatting with a couple recently, the husband said to me, “I’m concerned about our teenage daughter. When she gets up in the morning, she is very uncommunicative and miserable. The wife spoke up on her behalf and said, “Oh I think she’s just tired.”

I couldn’t let it pass. “Just a moment,” I replied. You don’t allow her to get up with this attitude, do you? And if you think it’s tiredness, make sure she gets to bed earlier.”

There is no excuse for any member of the family to come to the family kitchen in the morning with a sour face and uncommunicative attitude. We must teach our children to come with a cheery Good Morning. Of course, as parents, we set the example.

As each one comes into your kitchen each morning, greet them with a smile and a cheery welcome such as, “Good morning, welcome to the day.” If they don’t give a cheery reply, keep saying it until they do. Get them into the habit.

Dear mothers, family life is where we prepare our children for marriage. Your children should never have to go to a marriage seminar to prepare for marriage. You are preparing them each day of their lives. You are training them into the right habits for their future lives.

What a terrible thing for a husband to wake up to a wife with a sour face and grumpy spirit. And non-communicative. That doesn’t build a marriage. It slowly pulls it down. Don’t ever let your children get into this habit in your home.

Don’t let them get into entitlement habits either. They will destroy their future marriage too. Deal with every negative habit in your children’s lives that would be detrimental to their future marriage, and the future success of their lives.

I cannot even believe how many parents allow their children to be a “wet rag” in the home, stay in their sour moods, or act selfishly.

Don’t allow it to continue for one minute! You are setting them up for heartache later on.

Blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell

Continue reading
0
  1344 Hits

AT THE MOTHER’S BREAST

AtMothersBreastWhen do you begin reading the Bible to your children? Or perhaps I should ask, “When did you start reading God’s Word to your child or children?”

I don’t believe we must wait until they are able to understand the Scriptures. God’s Word is “alive and active.” It goes beyond the mind. Hebrews 4:12 (NET) says that His word goes beyond the intellect and pierces “even to the point of the dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow.” It ministers to the soul, the spirit, and the body.

This means we start at the beginning of life, even in the womb. 2 Timothy 3:15 gives us understanding. Paul writes to Timothy and says: “From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

I love the Message which says: “You took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk!” Don’t you love that? You can read the Word aloud to your baby as you nurse him or her at the breast. As your husband reads God’s Word to your family each day, your baby imbibes the Scriptures even as he nurses from the breast.

The word for “child” in this Scripture is revealing. It’s the Greek word “brephos” and from other Scriptures we see that it means:
a) a child in the womb (Luke 1:41, 44),
b) a newborn babe (Luke 2:12, 16), and
c) a little child as in 2 Timothy 3:15.

This Scripture also tells us that God’s living word leads us to salvation. A child growing up in a godly home where the Word is read daily will come to salvation at an early age. Some are ready for salvation at three or four years of age.

And the sooner our children receive God’s salvation the better it is. Satan wants the souls of our children. He subtly woos them from an early age.

Is your baby hearing the Word? Are your little toddlers being filled with God’s Word? And of course, are your older children being daily and richly filled with God’s Word? If you are not filling them with God’s Word, they will be filled with the influences and spirit of this world.

How can it be that little six-year-olds from Christian homes can know the words to worldly songs and yet not know the Scriptures?

Let’s fill them with the powerful, living, and eternal Word of God from their earliest moments.

Love rom Nancy Campbell

Painting: "Maternity," 1959 -- by Jurandir Ubirajara Campos (Brasil, 1903-1972).

Continue reading
0
  1240 Hits

THE MOMMY I AM NOW!

MommyIAMNowI am sure you will be blessed, challenged, and inspired by the beautiful words in this poem from Anna Frey . . .

THE MOMMY I AM NOW!
I sometimes wonder what they will say
When my children have their own children someday
And they tell them about their mom,
The mommy I am now.

I hope they’ll say she treated their dad
Like the most noble king anyone ever had,
On his arm she loved to lean,
She was happy just to be his queen.
She supported him through thick and thin,
Stood by his side, smiling up at him.

I hope that’s what they will say
When they have their own children someday
And they tell them about their mom,
The mommy I am now.

I hope they’ll say she looked straight in our eyes,
She listened to us through our lows and highs,
She encouraged us, prayed for us, helped us do more
Than we ever thought we could have done before.

I hope they‘ll say she laughed and smiled,
She worked hard, but all the while
She whistled and sang, and you can be sure
The most mundane job was an adventure.

I hope that’s what they will say
When they have their own children someday
And they tell them about their mom,
The mommy I am now.

I hope they’ll say she loved braiding hair,
Playing outside and catching toads there,
She planned picnics, tea parties, and wooded tree forts,
Expeditions, outings, games of all sorts.

She said our giggles were her favorite sound,
We’d tickle each other ‘till we rolled on the ground,
And when she read a story, the book came alive,
We could hear all the voices if we tried.

I hope that’s what they will say
When they have their own children someday
And they tell them about their mom,
The mommy I am now.

When Mommy taught us something new,
Hearts mattered more than how much we could do.
And now as we look back and see
Because of the helpers she let us be . . .

Her jobs took longer and made more mess,
But she knew relationships were the best.
And she always would include us too
In all the things she had to do.

I hope that’s what they will say
When they have their own children someday
And they tell them about their mom,
The mommy I am now.

Mommy always said, without a doubt
We were the best friends she’d ever known about.
We knew she was our best friend too,
And felt quite certain it was true.

Whatever the day, the plan, the weather,
We were happy just to be together.
Side by side and hand in hand
We learned to grow and understand.

I hope that’s what they will say
When they have their own children someday
And they tell them about their mom,
The mommy I am now.

She would quickly say she that was sorry,
Ask forgiveness for when she got angry.
We often heard her pray and ask
For strength for this important task
Of raising us, for well she knew
It was far more than she could do.

But in His strength, she chose to rest
Knowing His will was the very best,
And living it with all her might,
She embraced it all day, and also night!

I hope that’s what they will say
When they have their own children someday
And they tell them about their mom,
The mommy I am now.

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

Continue reading
0
  1073 Hits

MASTERPIECE

MasterpieceAn Above Rubies reader, Paula, sent me a new song she has written.

I’ve created a masterpiece,
When you look at her, you’ll think of Me.
I’ve created a masterpiece
That will help you be all I made you to be.

But will you open the door
So that I can bring her in?
In exchange I’ll take
Your selfishness and sin.

I’ve created a masterpiece,
Uniquely designed for your family.
I’ve created a masterpiece,
By loving him, you’ll show your love for Me.

But will you open your heart
So that I can bring him in?
He will bring joy to your life,
You’ll never be the same again

I’ve created a masterpiece,
Believe the truth, don’t be deceived.
I’ve created a masterpiece
The world may scorn if you choose to receive.

So will you open your womb
So that I can plant this seed?
That will grow you in so many ways
And help you see I’m the One you need,
The Creator of this masterpiece!

PAULA SMITH
Pleasantville, Tennessee, USA
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Copyright ©2019 Holy Spirit (via Paula Smith).

Continue reading
0
  1095 Hits

A MOTHER’S LOVE

AMothersLoveA Mother's love is something
That no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
And of sacrifice and pain.

It is endless and unselfish
And enduring come what may,
For nothing can destroy it
Or take that love away.

It is patient and forgiving
When all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
Even though the heart is breaking.

It believes beyond believing
When the world around condemns,
And it grows with all the beauty
Of the rarest, brightest gems.

It is far beyond defining,
It defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
Like the mystery of creation.

A many-splendored miracle
Man cannot understand.
And another wondrous evidence
Of God's tender, guiding hand.

By Helen Steiner Rice

Painting by Helen Allingham

Continue reading
0
  1162 Hits

THE WHOLE WORLD WAITS TO SEE...

WholeWorldThe world waits! #powerofmotherhood #mothering #influenceofmotherhood #aboverubies

Continue reading
0
  1039 Hits

DAILY DUO DOIN’ THE DISTANCE!

DailyDouding below is tweaked better ...

DAILY DUO DOIN’ THE DISTANCE!
Are you struggling in your marriage? Please don’t give up. Push through the barriers. Don’t hold on to your hurts and rejections. Forgive. Love. You will be so glad you didn’t give up. Marriage is not always perfect. You keep pressing on learning to love one another and fit in with one another. And then you find it gets better and better.

Please don’t miss the rewards of a lasting marriage. You will be so glad you pressed through. And you will be amazed at how God molds you together over the years as you allow Him. I know you’ll love this writing from Renee Ellison, DAILY DUO DOIN’ THE DISTANCE!
~ Nancy

“Most marriages are a struggle in the beginning, but surprisingly, after several decades each good marriage discovers that they HAVE someHOW, someWHAT settled into their own unique way of communicating and operating between the two very distinct and different personalities and modus operandi.

Each good marriage has been building this lifetime "date" into something bigger than both of them knew. This steadfast commitment becomes something better than we each imagined. Such marriages emerge on the other side as dependable lead pipes of stability and "comforting slippers" in one's life. Marvel of marvels.

It is so interesting to note that no two couple's marriages ever look the same. Each marriage is world’s different in likeness and kind, apparently God's very design and intent. He fashioned each set of believer's marriages to differ like stars differing from stars in glory. Perhaps "glory" is too strong a word—more like "ordinary daily duo doin' the distance!”

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

Continue reading
0
  1162 Hits

I LOVE BEING YOUR MOMMY

BeckFamilyI know you will connect with these words as one of our Above Rubies readers writes about the joys of mothering.

I LOVE BEING YOUR MOMMY
By Lauren Beck

I love being your mommy! It really is the best!
I feel like the most blessed woman in the entire Southwest!

I love watching your joy when you learn something new
Or when you want to play Go Fish all afternoon.

I love the flowers and leaves you all pick for me
And when you call my name wanting me to see.

I love days filled with chatter, hugs, and questions,
Teaching, training, and discipline lessons.

I love teaching you to read and write,
Each one of you are so very bright!

I love your grand imaginations when you play,
Each of you dreaming of who you’ll be one day.

When I’m grouchy and tired, thank you for forgiving me
A kinder, more patient mommy is who I pray to be.

Being your mommy has stretched me to see,
That life is no longer just all about me.

Some people say I’m crazy for having all of you,
We laugh on the way home because we know it’s not true!

My erratic sleeping patterns some may not desire,
But cuddling little babes in the night, of that I’ll never tire.

I don’t mind the time cooking you healthy food,
I’m learning to find joy in cooking for my little brood.

You see, nothing I’ve ever done or seen in my life
Compares to being your mother and your daddy’s wife.

I’m understanding the blessings that you all truly are,
Being your mommy is THE BEST CAREER by far!

LAUREN BECK * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Continue reading
0
  1293 Hits

DON’T LEAVE

DontLeaveGod’s Word is not an ordinary book. Every line is alive with the power of God. Every story of a Bible character is not only a story about their lives but written for our example. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says: “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

I was reading the story of Ruth the other day and God spoke a powerful word to my heart. Ruth had come from Moab with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to the land of Israel. She went down to the fields to glean after the reapers and God sovereignly directed her to the field of Boaz.

I love the words Boaz spoke to her in Ruth 2:8: “Listen carefully my daughter, Do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but stay here close by my maids.”

Although this was spoken directly to Ruth, I believe God also speaks His word to every mother through this Scripture. He says to us: “Don’t go and glean in another field. I have given you your field in which to glean. It is my perfect and best will for you. Don’t leave it. Stay close.”

If God has given you children, then this is the field He has given to you. He doesn’t give you children to give to someone else to look after. He gives them to you to love, nurture, train, and prepare for the future and for eternity.

Ruth could have looked over at other fields and thought, “Oh, there is so much more to glean over there, but now I am stuck here.” Instead, she submitted to Boaz’ words and ultimately received incredible blessings. She was blessed to marry Boaz. She became the great-grandmother of King David and also in the Messianic line of the birth of Jesus.

Be blessed in your home today,

Nancy Campbell

Continue reading
0
  1123 Hits

MORE THAN ONE MILLION TONS A DAY!

MillionTonsMy husband was talking with a young father yesterday. He commented on his lovely family around him and asked if he planned to have more children.

“Oh no,” he replied. “We couldn’t afford it.” This is a typical answer. What is the bottom line that we don’t believe that God can provide? This is not the God we read of in the pages of the Bible.

He is El Shaddai, the God who is Enough.

He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.

He is the one of whom David testified: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).

He is the God who states that pours out His blessing upon us to multiply us and give us children (Deuteronomy 7:11-15; 13:17; 28:1-12).

Do you remember how God provided for His people in the wilderness? When the provision of food ran out God sent manna from Heaven. Every single day (except the Sabbath) for 40 years! God never failed.

This was not a limited provision. God told the people that each day they were to go out in the morning and gather an omer of manna for each person in their family. I haven’t been able to determine the exact measurement of an omer. Different researchers give different answers such as it equaling 6 pints, 4 pints, 2 points, 9.30 cups. A couple did an extensive study and believed it was 3.4 US cups.

The Expositor’s Bible Study Guide gives this interesting information. To feed the three million people God would need to send down with the dew 18 million pints or about 13.5 million pounds each day! To get a better idea it would need a train pulling 45 cars with 15 tons of manna in each car to take care of one day’s supply. That means 1.5 million tons of manna gathered annually.

Has God changed? No, He is still the same God today. Do you believe in the God of the Bible? Or a god of your own imagination? A god who is only able to provide for two or three children? Sadly, this is the god that many believe in in the church today.

Let’s get to know the God of the Bible.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Continue reading
0
  1068 Hits

MAKE YOUR HOME A HAVEN...

MakeHmHavenAs the mother, you create the atmosphere in your home. In the power of Christ, you can make it what you want it to be. #powerofmotherhood #mothering #makehomeawonderfulplace #godlyatmosphere #love #peace #joy #aboverubies

Continue reading
0
  1246 Hits

Above Rubies Address

AboveRubies
Email Nancy

PO Box 681687
Franklin, TN 37068-1687

Phone : 931-729-9861
Office Hrs 9am - 5pm, M - F, CTZ