Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Today is the first day of Hanukkah, or the Feast of Dedication as it is called in the New Testament (John 10:22-23). It is a festival of lighting candles for eight days to remember the dedication of the temple and the relighting of the lampstand which God commanded should never go out (Exodus 27:20-21).

It all happened because of a very brave family. At this time in history Antiochus Epiphanes ruled over Israel and commanded all Jews to renounce their way of life, practice pagan observances, and live like the Greeks. He erected the "abomination of desolation" in the temple. Many Jews assimilated to avoid persecution and being killed. BUT NOT THIS FAMILY!

Mattathias was a godly older man with five brave sons--John, Simon, Judas (known as Maccabeus), Eleazar, and Jonathan. When the officials came to their town of Modein, they tried to get Mattathias to influence the people of his town to turn away from God. Listen to his reply, "Mattathias answered in a LOUD VOICE: What do I care if everyone in the king's entire kingdom turns from their own religion and starts obeying his laws? MY FAMILY AND I WILL ALWAYS KEEP THE PROMISES OUR ANCESTERS MADE TO GOD. WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP OUR FAITH OR DISOBEY EVEN ONE OF GOD'S LAWS. WE WILL NOT OBEY ANTIOCHUS!" (1 Maccabees 2:19-20).

When a cowardly Jew stepped forward to obey the king by offering a sacrifice, Mattathias was so furious that he rushed over, killed the man, destroyed the altar, and killed the official who ordered the sacrifice. He and his sons then ran to the hills leaving everything they owned behind. But, thus began the bravery of the Maccabee family to conduct continual battles against the enemy and eventually deliver Israel and Jerusalem.

We don't face being killed for our faith today. But, we do face subtle indoctrination to succumb to the Satan's plans and give in to humanist, progressive ideology. Will we be those who give in or will we have courage, individually and as families. to stand for God, even if no one else is standing? The Scripture says, "Let God be true, but every man a liar" (Romans 3:4).

Love from Nancy

I have prepared Scriptures for us to read at our Family Devotions each day during this week of the Festival of Lights. I will post them here for you too in case you would also like to use them. Because this celebration remembers the rededication of the temple and the relighting of the menorah, the Scriptures are about God who is the light and how He also wants us to be His light in this world.

Feel free to use the Scriptures in the way that best fits your family. You may like to take half of them at Family Devotions in the morning and the other half in the evening. If you have older children, it's a lovely idea for each one to have their own Bible and give a Scripture for each one to read aloud--and to share what they feel God is saying through the Scripture. If you have little ones, you may only want to take one Scripture from the list.

And don't forget to ask your children questions as you read the Scriptures. This is how you learn and receive enlightenment from the Scriptures together.

Day 1
God is the Source of Light and gives Light
Genesis 1:3-5
Exodus 27:20-21; 40:24-25; cf. Leviticus 24:1-4; Numbers 8:1-3
Exodus 13:21; Nehemiah 9:12,19
Psalm 36:9
Psalm 104:1-2
1 Timothy 6:16
James 1:17

Day 2
Jesus is the Light of the World
Isaiah 9:2, cf. Matthew 4:12-17
Luke 1:76-79; 2:27-32
John 1:4-9,cf. Job 18:5-6; Proverbs 27:20
John 3:19-21
John 8:12
John 12:44-46
Acts 26:22-23

Day 3
Shine the Light of Jesus to the world
Proverbs 4:18
Isaiah 58:6-8, 10
Isaiah 60:1-2
Matthew 5:14-16
Luke 12:35
Philippians 2:14-15

Day 4
God's Word is our Light
Ezra 9:8
Psalm 19:7-11
Psalm 119:18, 105, 130
Proverbs 6:20-24
Ephesians 1:17-18

Day 5
Walk in the Light
Psalm 89:15
Isaiah 2:5
Romans 13:12-14
2 Corinthians 4:4-7
1 John 1:6-9
1 John 2:8-11
Ephesians 5:8-20

Day 6
Out of Darkness into Light
2 Samuel 22:29 (Psalm 18:28)
Isaiah 42:16
Isaiah 50:10
Acts 26:17-18
1 Corinthians 4:5
1 Thessalonians 5:5
1 Peter 2:9

Day 7
Living in God is living in Light
Psalm 4:6
Psalm 27:1
Psalm 37:3-6
Psalm 43:3-4
Psalm 112:4
Micah 7:8

Day 8
God is the Light of Heaven
Isaiah 24:23; 30:26
Isaiah 60:19-20
Revelation 21:22-25
Revelation 22:3-5

For this coming week I will continue to tell stories and insights regarding the Feast of Dedication. Stay tuned and don't miss each day.

Love from Nancy

The Psalmist said, "I LOVE THE LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, THEREFORE WILL I CALL UPON HIM AS LONG AS I LIVE" (Psalm 116:1-2).

If we love the Lord, what will be our response? We will call upon His name. We will be continually crying out to Him. Did you know that the early Christians were known as those "who call upon the name of the Lord"? (Check out Acts 9:14, 2; 1 Corinthians 1:2 and 2 Timothy 2:22).

If we are families that love the Lord, we will take time to gather together and pray and call on the name at least once each day, don't you think? Let's not get too busy that we don't make time for what is most important.

And if you don't have a desire to call upon His name, ask Him to revive you. Asaph, the psalmist cried out, "Revive us, and we will call upon your name" (Psalm 80:18). We know we are need of revival when we don't have a desire to pray.

Love from Nancy

I read Isaiah 66:10-13 again in my Bible reading this morning. These Scriptures talk about how God is going to bless Jerusalem, but in doing so, they liken Jerusalem to a nursing mother. As we read the words we get an understanding of how God sees a breastfeeding mother.

When I started off my mothering journey many years ago I was brainwashed by the four hourly schedule. It nearly sent me crazy. My precious baby would cry and be hungry well before four hours was up and I would feel a guilty mother for picking him up to feed. Instead of enjoying the freedom of motherhood, I was constantly frustrated.

I remember crying out to God for His answer. Praise God, every answer I have ever needed I have found in the pages of God's Words. He led me to these Scriptures and the revelation changed my mothering. I picked up my baby whenever he cried and laughed with the joy of my new freedom. Not only was I happier, but my baby was happier.

Have you ever read Isaiah 66:10-13 and noticed that although it is talking about nursing a baby, there is no mention of food? Instead, the words used are:

SATISFY which in the Hebrew means "to fill to satisfaction, have plenty of, satiate." This sounds like abundant nursing, doesn't it? No holding back.

CONSOLE means "to give compassion and solace." Nursing a baby is more than giving physical nourishment. It is ministering to the inner needs of our baby. It is satisfying the sucking instinct of our baby. The breast is not only for food, but to console. It's certainly not compassionate to leave a baby crying because their scheduled time to feed has not arrived.

DELIGHT. Nursing becomes a delight to both mother and baby when we realize it is not only for food but to comfort every need.

ABUNDANCE. The Hebrew word is "ziyz" and means "fullness of the breast." It comes from a root word meaning conspicuous.

FLOWING STREAM which means "to gush out, to pour out abundantly." This is a familiar experience, isn't it?

CARRIED IN HER ARMS AND CUDDLED ON HER KNEES speaking of an older baby continuing to nurse at the mother's breast.

COMFORT. The Hebrew word is a strong word. It means "to breath heavily with the feelings of compassion and comfort."

Enjoy your mothering today.

Love from Nancy

Are you downcast today? There's no need to stay discouraged any longer. Your God is waiting to lift you up. David confessed, "But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head" (Psalm 3.3). Don't forget, your confession will determine your attitude.

The word "lifter" in the Hebrew is "ruwm" and means "to be high, exalted, the state of being on a higher place, or movement in an upward direction." God's intention for you is not to be downcast, discouraged, disheartened, dejected, depressed, dispirited, dismayed, disconsolate, and down in the dumps! Help! It's time to come UP!

God's intention for you is to live on a higher plane--a plane where you trust in His unfailing love, a plane where you know beyond all shadow of doubt that God is bigger than your problem, a plane where you look at your afflictions in the light of eternity, and a plane where you rejoice in the Lord even when you can't rejoice in what is happening.

God is waiting to lift you up to this plane. Look up to Him today.

My heart has no desire to stay,
Where doubts arise and fears dismay.
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith on Heaven's table land.
A higher plain than I have found:
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Dear ladies, Some asked yesterday where I got the information about women only ovulating about 100 times in their lifetime years ago. I have known this information for years. It is easily researched. However, I read an interesting study recently about a study conducted by scientist, Beverley Strassman who lived amongst the Dogon tribe in Mali, Africa for two and a half years. Her purpose was to study their womanly cycle. It is interesting that in this tribe, who are not influenced by our western culture, they still only cycle about 100 times in their lifetime. This is typical of most tribes around the world who are not influenced by western society. They mother intuitively, not by conditioning of modernism, or what they have read.

Strassman found that the women had their first period at about 16 years. This was also normal many years ago. I myself didn't start until I was 16--I'm a bit older than most of you! I think that one of the reasons girls begin their periods so early today is that they are reaching their body fat much earlier. When the female body reaches about 20 percent body fat, menstruation usually begins. Today, with fast food, fattier food, sugary food, and so much MORE food to eat, and a more sedentary lifestyle girls reach their 20 percent at an earlier age. Tribal women do not live on this kind of food and live a very active lifestyle and therefore reach 20 percent body fat later.

The Dogon women give birth eight or nine times during their childbearing years and only menstruate about 100 times in their lives.

Of course, they nurse their babies--wear their babies all day and sleep with them at night, consequently they don't start menstruating again until their babies are about 20 months. I happened to be reading this out to Serene and she replied, "I'm right on plan! Breeze is 20 months and I have just started my cycle." This is normal for Serene as her babies nurse day and night.

Strassman believes that the basic pattern of late mencarche, many pregnancies, and long menstrual-free stretches caused by intensive breast-feeding was virtually universal up until the "demographic transition" of a hundred years ago from high to low fertility. In other words, what we think of as normal frequent menses is in evolutionary terms abnormal. She states, "It's a pity that gynecologists think that women have to menstruate every month. They just don't understand the real biology of menstruation." The shift from 100 - 400 menses is enormously significant. It means that women's bodies are being subjected to changes and stresses that they were not necessarily designed to handle.

Love from Nancy

Did you know that most modern women menstruate about 400 times during their childbearing years? Did you know that this is ABNORMAL? God intended the ovaries to have resting times through pregnancy and lactation. Did you know this is one of the reasons why there is such an epidemic of ovarian and endometrial cancer?

Did you know that a hundred years ago women only ovulated about 100 times in their entire lifetime? Did you know that this is NORMAL for the female body? Did you know that every time a woman gets pregnant and bears a child, her lifetime risk of ovarian cancer drops 10 percent?

Did you know that women in their childbearing years are meant to be predominantly "suckling mothers" rather than "menstruating mothers"? This is far kinder to their female body and how God intended it to function.

Malcolm Gladwell quotes Drs. Coutinho and Segal when citing an anthropological work by scientist, Beverly Strassman in Mali, Africa. "Incessant ovulation serves no purpose except to increase the occurrence of abdominal pain, mood shifts, migraines, endometriosis, fibroids, and anemia." And again, "Ovarian and endometrial cancer are characteristically modern diseases, consequences, in part, of a century in which women have come to menstruate 400 times in a lifetime."

Love from Nancy

I read this morning in Isaiah 29:16,"Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that made it, He had NO UNDERSTANDING?"

Truly God has fashioned the male and female bodies awesomely and wondrously (Psalm 139:14). In fact, we don't have to be very intelligent to see that a predominate part of the female body is for the purpose of childbearing. Our womb, (the divine sanctuary where God plants an eternal soul to grow, develop, and come forth into this world,) is our most distinguishing feature as a woman. And God also designed breasts to nourish the life that comes forth.

And yet, thousands of men and women in our society today spurn the intricate design of their Creator. Men vasectomize. Women sterilize. They make sure their womb cannot function, even though it is the very spring of who God created them to be.

Does God have no understanding? Or, is it we who have no understanding?

Love from Nancy

Dear Lovely Ladies, Can I urge you with all my heart to keep your heart soft toward your husband? I believe that one of the secrets of a happy and successful marriage is to keep a soft heart. Don't let hardness creep into your heart.

Life is not easy. Relationships are not easy. Your husband may say and do things to hurt you--many times he has no idea how much he has hurt you! You are tempted to harden your heart. But, let me tell you, it is the worst thing you can do. Hardness breeds hate, and hate leads to divorce. And it is the ploy of the enemy to break up marriages which is the first institution God ordained and the strength of the family and the nation. Every divorce is another victory for the devil.

You think your husband is too hard to crack? The truth of God's Word is truer than your thoughts. Proverbs 15:1 says, "A soft answer turns away wrath" and Proverbs 25:15 says "A soft tongue breaks the bone."

Ask God to give you a forgiving heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to come into your heart and flood your spirit with His love. Ask Him for a soft heart.

When the Pharisees came to tempt Jesus about divorce, He told them that the only reason Moses allowed divorce was because of the "HARDNESS OF YOUR HEARTS... BUT FROM THE BEGINNNING IT WAS NOT SO" (Matthew 19:3-9). It was never in God's original plan.

In the Greek, the words "hardness of heart" mean "stubbornness, obstinacy, perverseness, and destitution of spiritual perception." Now that's interesting. I am tired of hearing of women leaving their husbands and saying, "God told me to do this." They are deceived and certainly destitute of spiritual perception.

It's easy to get hard. It's harder to be soft. Let's all continually yield to the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and ask Him to work a soft and submissive spirit in our hearts.

Love from Nancy

How many times have you exclaimed, "This baby won't let me put him down. He wants me to carry him all the time! You feel frustrated, and sometimes even angry, because you have so many pressing things to do.

Dear mother, have you stopped to think what you are really doing when you carry your baby? You are revealing a glimpse of what God is like. He is the tender Shepherd who loves to hold us in His arms. Isaiah 40:11 describes Him, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

Our Shepherd doesn't leave us isolated to cry on our own, but gathers us in His arms and carries us close. It is not a nuisance to carry your baby. It is not time-wasting. It is God-like. It is so much part of the character of God, that He not only carries us when we are helpless babies, but right through our lives, even to our golden years (Isaiah 46:3-4).

Have you noticed that babies, toddlers, and even little children love to be lifted up and held. The baby cries and cries, but the moment you lift him up, he stops crying. Why? Because he is meant to be lifted up and held close to you. Babies love to be up at our level. I remember staying with a family in Canada years ago. Like all little ones, their little boy loved to be held and would say, "Uppie Campbell, Uppie Campbell" until I lifted him up.

Of course, I know that your arms get tired. We are not like our great Shepherd whose arms never get tired and of whom the Scriptures says, "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27. But, why not get a baby carrier? I think a baby carrier is indispensible for a mother. My daughter, Serene's baby carrier is like another limb of her body!

David prayed of his people Israel, "Lead them like a shepherd, and carry them in your arms forever" (Isaiah 28:9 NLT).

Don't forget that when you carry your baby today that you are being like the Great Shepherd whom you love and want to emulate.

Love from Nancy

Now that you have children and babies, do you find it difficult to make a time when you can quietly (???) pray and read God's Word? You may not be able to do it the same way you did before children came along. However, here is a little idea for you.

What about a Meditation Basket? Place in a suitable basket all the things that will inspire you when you have your Quiet Time (or not so quiet if the children are around you). Place in the basket...

Your Bible
A Daily Devotional of your choice (you may like to put in 100 DAYS OF BLESSING, Devotions for Wives and Mothers, available from www.aboverubies.org)
You may like to add a different version of the Bible than you normally read
An old hymn book (it is wonderful to read some of the wonderful old hymns to inspire you in your walk with the Lord).
A hard-covered diary in which you can write the most important Scripture God gives you for the day.
Two or three pens (or even more as they seem to disappear quickly), as you want to have a pen on hand to write when God speaks to you. You won't want to forget what He says to you.
And now I have to remember to put in my glasses! Or perhaps two pairs because they are forever disappearing!

Now you are organized, you can pick up your basket whenever you can make a few moments to meditate in the Word. When you pick up your baby to nurse, pick up your Meditation Basket too. You may get a few minutes of blessing to your soul as you nurse your baby. You can take it anywhere with you in the house.

Or, in nice weather, take it outside under a tree to gather a few minutes of inspiration while you are watching the children play, or wherever you want to go. It’s all in the basket.

Your Meditation Basket will help you to make these moments to spend with the Lord as you don’t have to run around finding your Bible and added inspirations. They are all in the basket. Try it.

Love from Nancy

I love how the author of Hebrews describes what happens to us when we are born again. In Hebrews 10:32 it says, "After ye were ILLUMINATED." What a great word to describe our salvation. We are no longer in darkness; we have come into the light. We should no longer be victims of deception because we have come into truth. Our hearts and minds are illuminated and enlightened by the power of Christ.

The actual word is "photizo" and means "to shed rays, to shine, to brighten up." Let's walk in the fullness of what God has done in our lives. Allow God's rays of love and joy to shine through your face to your husband and children today. Brighten up your home with the light of God. Blow away the clouds of darkness--and shine!

Can you believe that this same word "photizo" is used of God lighting the whole of heaven (Revelation 21:23; 22:5). Surely we can light up our little homes with God's light that has shined into our hearts.

2 Corinthians 4:6 Knox says, "The same God who bade light shine out of darkness has kindled a light in our hearts, whose SHINING is to make known his glory as he has revealed it in the features of Jesus Christ." The word "shining" is "lampo" and means "to beam, to radiate brilliancy, to give light, to shine." We shouldn't be a little flickering light, but a beaming light which totally exposes the darkness and fills our home with God's love, light and joy.

Illuminate your home with God's light today.

Love from Nancy

Have you found a good health tonic? The problem is that a good one is usually very expensive so that you can't afford it anyway. I have good news. I've found a great health tonic--and IT'S FREE!

Better than medicine, expensive vitamins, or pep pills is a cheerful heart. This is the tonic God prescribes. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Of course, this is easy to say when everything is rosy, but what about when we go through trouble and heartache? We can only have a cheerful heart that is not dependant on circumstances when we put our trust in God and acknowledge that He is in control of every situation and is always working out everything for our eternal good. It is this kind of trust that enables us to have a cheerful disposition.

Here are a few other translations of this Scripture. Choose the one that impacts you the most, write or type it out in big letters, and post it on your wall to remind you.

New Living Translation, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength." As mothers, we can't afford anything in our lives that saps our strength, can we?

New Century Version, "A happy heart is like good medicine, but a broken spirit drains your strength." Our attitude either builds up our emotional and nervous system or totally drains us. Which do you want?

Good News Translation, "Being cheerful keeps you healthy, it is slow death to be gloomy all the time." I have always loved this translation of this Scripture.

Message, "A cheerful disposition is good for your health, gloom and doom leave you bone-tired."

Love from Nancy

Thanksgiving is Family Time. That doesn't mean to say that everything is always perfect. There are often relationships within families that need to be healed. This can be a time for forgiveness, healing, and restoration. And this is what our God is all about.

Because God is God, He is a God of justice and judgment. We don't receive God's forgiveness until we come to Him in repentance and humility. But when we take the first step of repentance God comes running as He reveals in the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

Isaiah 55:7 says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for HE WILL ABUNDANTLY PARDON." God not only forgives, but ABUNDANTLY forgives and pardons. In the Hebrew it actually means that He will MULTIPLY THE PARDON!

We should have the same spirit. Let's not hold back forgiveness when someone shows even the slightest turning toward us. Let's be like God and ABUNDANTLY forgive. When they take the first step, let's take 99 steps towards them!

There is nothing so beautiful as humility, forgiveness, healing, and restoration. It is the lifestyle of the kingdom of God.

Love from Nancy

Speaking recently about the liberal agenda (those who promote abortion, same-sex marriage and radical socialism) and those who stand for a biblical agenda, and life and marriage, a well-known minister and author espoused that we really have so much in common. I am sorry, but I have to take issue with this statement. I cannot see one foundation for this statement in the Word of God.

I know we are all a bunch of sinners. We are either a sinner needing God's salvation, or a sinner who has received God's salvation. We have either received the down payment for eternal life in glory, or we haven't (1 John 5:11-12. We either belong to the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light. We are either lost or found. Our minds are either blinded by the god of this world (including believers and unbelievers) or illuminated by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 4:3-4).

1 Corinthians 6:14-15 asks the question, "What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord (harmony) hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"

There is no middle road. We are either serving God's kingdom or the devil's kingdom. It's time for those of us who say we are believers to truly believe and stand on God's side. For if we are not standing on His side, there's only one other side.

As parents, we must know where we stand, for we must raise children who know where they stand. May God save us from raising wishy washy children who don't really know what they believe, who take on the devil's ploy of tolerance which is destroying the power of the church of God today, and who don't have any idea of hating evil and loving righteousness.

Ezekiel 44:23 says, "They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." And, Jeremiah 14:19 says, "If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth."

Love from Nancy

Some Scriptures to check out and read with your family: Psalm 97:10; Jeremiah 15:19; Amos 5;15; Matthew 6:24; John 15:19; 17:14-16; Romans 12:9; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 10:21; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:1-12; 2 Timothy 2:19; Hebrews 1:9; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; 4:5-6; Revelation 21:27; 22:11-15.

Have you noticed that many people who are deceived regarding God's truth are actually very loving and kind people? Some of them don't believe in God; others are "believers" who don't believe! But, they are still lovely people. That's where we can easily be misguided. Because they are nice we can think they are right!

However, truth has to be determined according to God and His living Word. Satan knows he cannot deceive us with blatant evil. He comes as an angel of light. He makes his philosophy look pleasant, nice, and wise as he did in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6). Deception is so close to the truth.

2 Corinthians 4:4 says, "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." When we do not believe, we give a foothold for Satan to blind our eyes. I am always challenged by Paul's statement in Romans 3:4, "Let God be true, but every man a liar."

This is the bottom line. Do we believe God and His Word? If not, what are we believing? If it doesn't line up with Gold's truth, it is a lie! Only God is truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 says, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first."

May God save us and our children from falling away from truth. Dear mother, one of the greatest tasks of your high calling of mothering is to infiltrate and penetrate your children with God's living Word. The Word of God, richly filling our lives, and the lives of our children, is the greatest deterrent to deception.

Believe God, or believe a lie!

Love from Nancy

Are you facing a difficult trial at this time? Are you suffering an affliction? Are you being persecuted for walking in God's truth? Please don't despair. There is more happening behind the scenes than what you realize!

After telling the Corinthian believers about the troubles and persecutions he was facing, Paul states, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

When you are going through something, it seems endless, but God reminds us that in the light of eternity it is only transitory. He also reminds us that it is working for us a great reward in the eternal realm. In fact, He uses five adjectives to describe the glory that will be revealed in us. Count them--FAR, MORE, EXCEEDING, ETERNAL, WEIGHT OF GLORY!

The CEB translation says, "Our temporary minor problems are producing an ETERNAL STOCKPILE OF GLORY for us that is beyond all comparison."

The answer is: don't keep your mind fixed on your problem. Don't let it consume you. Instead, fix your gaze on the unseen, on the eternal, on what God is working in you. The difficulty you are going through is only temporary, but the work God is doing in you is eternal.

You are STOCKPILING for glory. You can rejoice!

Love from Nancy

Many years ago I remember seeing this cartoon. The mother was sitting at the table with the newspaper spread out before her. The home was in a mess, the toys were all over the floor, and the children were running wild! The husband came in the door and said, "What on earth are you doing?"

"I'm looking for a job," she replied. "I need a vacation!"

I'm sure there are times when you felt just like that! It's not an easy career to be a mother and efficiently run a home. But that doesn't mean to say we give up on the job. It is challenging because it is the greatest career in the nation. You, dear mother, are determining the destiny of the nation. You are a military training institute, training arrows for God's army. It's a high priority job.

Paul, the apostle, faced constant afflictions, infirmities, persecutions, beatings, stonings, perils, weariness, painfulness, hunger, and the burden of the church. But, he did not give up. What was his confession? "We faint not" (2 Corinthians 4:1).

You are not facing as many difficulties as Paul, dear mother. But, make his confession yours. "I will not give up." I like the Message translation of this Scripture, "We're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times."

Stick to your great career. You are doing the greatest job in the universe.

Love from Nancy

Have you ever said, “How can I raise godly children? I’m not good enough myself. I make so many mistakes?”

Dear mother, you don’t have to be perfect. But, you do have to be real! Of course you’ll make mistakes. You will blow it and yell at your children. You will often fail. I can't count how many times I've felt like a failure. Your children will forgive you for these things, but they will be twisted in their thinking and theology if they see hypocrisy.

More than anything else children want reality. They want parents who are real. They need to see that your relationship with the Lord is as real on Monday morning as it is worshipping the Lord in church. They need to see that God is high priority in your home every day of the week.

They need to see that if you say you are "believing" parents that you do truly believe and trust the Lord. You will go through hard times, and often lean times. How do they see you reacting? Complaining and in despair? Or, hanging on to God in prayer and faith--and still rejoicing in the faithfulness of God. It's often in the difficult times that they really see if we are real or not.

What about when people despise you and speak wrongfully against you? What do your children see? Are you bitter and speaking negative things about these people? Or, do they see you blessing them and continuing to laugh and rejoice anyway.

You won't be perfect every day. You'll be saying "Sorry" many times. But, be genuine in your faith and love to God.

Love from Nancy

I have just been checking www.numberofabortions.com. At this minute, there have been 55,642,804.4 (and climbing every second) abortions since 1973, Roe vs. Wade. Just this year over one million babies have been aborted in the USA and over 35 million worldwide. My heart is heaving.

How can we act as though nothing is happening? How can we live family life as usual? How can we do church as usual when so many millions of babies are aborted every year? And that is only the beginning. Babies aborted through the pill far exceeds the holocaust of abortion!

We often forget verses eight and nine in Proverbs 31, the famous Above Rubies chapter, "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."

The NIV translations says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves." Are we speaking up?

We cannot sit idly by while millions of babies die. We may not be able to do a lot to stop the millions of babies who are aborted, but we can speak up for those around us. We can lovingly encourage a mother to keep her baby who may be thinking of abortion. We can speak up for life at every opportunity. We can sign petitions and give financially. But, most of all, we can pray.

Pray about this issue with your family each day as you have Family Devotions. God hears your cry and the cries of your children.

Love from Nancy

P.S. Can you believe it? Over 800 abortions have taken place worldwide in the last 10 minutes (checking the abortion clock). Surely we cannot but speak up! Surely we cannot but pray!