Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

I know there are very few women who would have the capacity to do what Lois did. She is not the ordinary person! But God says that women are builders! We don’t have to build a house with hammer and nails. We are building a family. We are building godly generations.

Proverbs 14:1 says: “Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish plucks it down with her hands.” What are you putting your time into? Into building up someone else’s organization or business? Or are you building up your home? That takes being at home. It takes time to build up your home and family. It doesn’t happen by gadding about here and there,

What about your marriage? Are you building into your marriage? That takes time too. What are you speaking into your marriage? Loving words? Encouraging words? Sweet words? More than anything else we build our marriage and our family with words. Words either build up or destroy.

Let’s be builders, not destroyers.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Photo: This is the home Lois built (and her beautiful garden), Palmerston North, New Zealand. I was blessed to see Lois again in New Zealand in March of this year.

He also made statements to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in which he claimed that Americans have a distorted view of the world and put forward the idea that the people of the United States need to be ruled by a world government “for their own good.”

The Pope also believes that guarding America with the full muscle and might of a governmental oversight will be good for all humanity. In conversation with reporters from Ecuador’s El Universo newspaper, he said that it was essential to do so in order to formulate a cohesive, international stance against climate change. Can you believe what you are reading?

You can read and watch this and much more on this link: http://www.disclose.tv/…/popes_latest_warning_relati…/139720

Does this not grieve your spirit? I personally know many born again Catholics who love Jesus and walk godly lives. I hope they will stand up against this deception. But I think of so many who don’t know Jesus personally and how they will be so easily deceived.

It is false and reveals an antichrist spirit. As we see more of this, it is so important to ingrain our children in the truth of God’s Word. Are you daily implanting God’s Word into your children’s hearts? It’s only God’s Word that will keep them from being deceived, even by Christian leaders. The Bible is the great lie detector!

If you want your children to stand strong for Christ in this end time, fill them with the Word. It is imperative that you and your husband make this a priority in your life.

Matthew 24:24 says: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”

Will your children know how to discern? Will they stand strong for truth even when Satan comes as an angel of light and with signs and wonders? Will they see through the lies? Will they will be willing to be persecuted or even face death for the sake of truth?

We must be preparing them now. We have a big task on our hands.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

The greatest antidote to deception is God’s Word. It is our plumbline for everything we believe and do. It is also the great lie detector. Many times, we don’t know things are lies until we line them up with God’s Word.

One of the ways the enemy robs families of what is best is many of our extracurricular activities. None of them are bad. They are all good. And yet often they rob us of what is the most important. The tricky thing is that most of them are always around about the time we should be in the home preparing meal for the family so we can enjoy family togetherness around the table each evening. And of course, to have family devotions and worship together. And pray together.

The devil hates families praying and he will use good things to stop us. He’ll get us doing all these great things for our children, which are good, but which stop us from coming together as a family to pray. And the devil laughs. He wins the victory.

It’s praying families who are world-changing families. And as you know, this doesn’t easily happen. It takes a complete life change in our families to make it happen. But world-changing families are also sacrificing fmailies. They’re families who know what is the BEST, not only what is good.

Blessings, Nancy Campbell

Nancy Campbell

Perhaps you don't feel very loving to him at the moment? Forget your feelings and do it by faith! And watch what will happen. Plan a delightful meal and have it ready for him as he walks in the door this evening. Write a love note to have waiting on his pillow as he goes to bed.

How many extra things are you doing outside the home this week? How many evenings have you planned to go out? Why not cancel something and stay home with your husband and family instead? Think of a special thing you can do together as a family this evening. Turn off the TV and read a story together. Or, get each one to do a mime, read a poem, put on an act, or do something fun. You and your husband will be the audience, but be ready, the children will want you to perform something, too!

Batten down the hatches! In other words, close your doors to the outside world and shine the warmth of God's sunlight inside your home.

Build up your family life rather than things outside your family.

Make surprises happen today,

Nancy Campbell

Painting: Art print by John Walter

Do you need encouragement in your marriage? Or do you know of friends or acquaintances that are struggling in their marriage? I’d encourage you to forward this testimony to them. I have published this testimony twice in the Above Rubies magazine, but I want to share it with you again today. I think it is one of the most powerful marriage restoration testimonies I have read. There is absolutely no situation too hard for God!

Go to: http://tinyurl.com/Marriage-BringHimHome

We are out of step with the world but in step with God. We are out of sync with public thinking, but we are listening to the mind of God. It’s not the easy life, but it’s definitely NOT ordinary.

Why live in ordinariness when you can live in extraordinariness? If God has anything to do with your life, it will be extraordinary, for God is never ordinary. Where do you and your family live?

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

However, we live in a society where many women don’t want to have babies. They don’t want to live the way God designed their bodies so they use contraception, or even sterilization, to make sure God cannot bless them with life.

Sterilization tampers with the Creator’s design for our bodies. It changes the function. More accurately, it stops the function! It stops the ultimate plan of our Creator. Therefore, in doing this, is it possible to glorify God in our body? Let’s be honest now.

We need to read the Scriptures again: 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 (ESV): “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN, for you were bought with a price. So GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY.”

And the Scripture we all know, but need reminded of daily: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1, 2).

We notice that this Scripture exhorts us to present our BODIES to the Lord, not just our spirits. How are we to offer them? “Acceptable” to God. This word means “what is agreeable and well pleasing to God.” And its repeated in verse 2. The perfect will of God is that which is agreeable and well pleasing to Him. It’s not what is agreeable to us and fits in with our lifestyle, but what is in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose.

We either live according to the humanistic plan of our modern society or according to God’s eternal plan that has never changed and never will change from the beginning of time.

In His love,

Nancy Campbell

This was his life. To pray for and exhort and encourage these young believers so they would be “pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (1:10 ESV). We should have this same passion for our children. More than any other aspiration for our children we should long for them to live lives that are “pure and blameless” in this evil society.

It was the same kind of society in Philippi. He exhorted them to “be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (2:15,16 ESV).

To keep our children straight and not veering into the humanistic lifestyle that is so prevalent today, and even in the church, we must constantly fill our children with God’s Word. It is the only antidote against deception. We must do it daily. Morning and evening. Without fail.

We must be strong to speak out against evil. We love people, but we don’t love and tolerate sin. If we don’t speak up against what is evil, our children will not know God’s standard and can easily fall into the groove of society. There are too many Christian young people who accept homosexuality! How can that be? Do they no know God’s Word? Do their parents not speak up?

We are not raising children to be like the word, but children who walk pure and holy lives. Children who will shine their light in the darkness of this world. Children who will be our “joy and crown” at the coming of the Lord.

We’ve got to become passionate parents for the Kingdom of God.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

2) A mother's love for her children. In Micah 1:16 (ESV) God calls our children a “delight." Our children are to be "loved," "cherished," and "fondled." They are too precious to give to someone else to care for, aren't they? We treasure them enough to take this responsibility ourselves.

3) A woman's love for her home. Micah 2:9 (ESV) says: "The women of my people you drive out from their delightful houses." God was angry with those who evicted women from "the homes they love" (GNB). It is inherently within us to love our home. It is how God created us. Adam was created before God created the Garden of Eden, but He had the home waiting for Eve (Genesis 2:7-8, 18-22). She woke up to life in the home God prepared for her.

And what did God call His first home? Eden means "delightful." God wants us to make our homes delightful--a delightful place for His presence, for our husband, and our children. And why would we want to leave our delightful homes? Why would we forsake something we love for something lesser?

Be blessed in your delightful home today,

Nancy Campbell

What a challenge to us as mothers. We have such a powerful ministry right in our own home. God has given us precious lives to lead to salvation and to nurture, train, and teach to be ardent disciples of the Lord. We have the responsibility to pray and pour into their lives so we can present our children to the Lord at His coming—sanctified and blameless in body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

We have no greater ministry. The Lord Jesus will not be interested in our presenting our career to Him. Or our material possessions. Or the great name we made for ourselves. He will only look for cleansed, purified, and holy sons and daughters. This will not happen without our intercession, dedication, sacrifice, and pouring out our lives (1 Thessalonians 2:7-12).

Are your children your boast in the Lord? This is my greatest burden of prayer and longing? I am sure it yours too. May our children be our “glory” and “joy” at His coming. Oh, may we not live in vain. I pay along with Paul in Philippians 2:16: “Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have NOT RUN IN VAIN, NEITHER LABORED IN VAIN.”

You are a full-time pastor in your home.

Be blessed and encouraged,

Nancy Campbell

Painting by Jessie Willcox Smith

Is it a beatific smile,
A holy light upon your brow;
Oh no, I felt His Presence while
You laughed just now.

For me ‘twas not the truth you taught,
To you so clear, to me still dim,
But when you came to me you brought
A sense of Him.

And from your eyes He beckons me,
And from your heart His love is shed,
Til I lose sight of you and see
The Christ instead.

~ Beatrice Clelland

Talking about all the blessings God pours out upon us—salvation, healing from sickness, and deliverance from affliction, etc. he writes: “And yet you do not pray to nor praise this your wonderful Benefactor together. Let the very walls within which these ungrateful wretches live be astonished at this! Let the very beams and pillars of their houses tremble! And let the very girders of the floors on which they tread and walk be horribly afraid! That such as dwell in such an house together go to bed before they go to prayer together! Let the earth be amazed, that the families which the Lord doth nourish and maintain are rebellious and unthankful, being worse that the very ox that knoweth his wonder and of less understanding than the very ass (Isaiah 1:2,3).”

Wow, were you able to take that? Not for the faint-hearted! But it is true, isn’t it? Are we truly thankful if we don’t gather as families to praise and worship God each day? We give more importance to all the plans we have for the day than taking time to praise and worship the God who gives us our very breath.

We praise God that there is no longer any need for the daily sacrifices for sin. Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb slain before the foundation of the world was slain ONCE AND FOR ALL (Hebrews 9:11-14; 25-28; 10:10-14; and 1 Peter 3:18). But just as every morning and evening sacrifice pointed to Calvary, I feel strongly in my heart to look back to Jesus’ great salvation. I don’t like to let a day go past without thanking Him for His eternal salvation which is beyond all comprehension. I love that we meet as a family to take the time to do this.

And not only for our great salvation, but for all His goodness to us. We pray daily for God’s protection over all our family. I know you do too. But we also need to thank Him for His covering and protection. Oh, how many times He delivers us, many times when we don’t even know it. In recent weeks, we have been miraculously saved from two fires, one that could have burned our house down, and the other on July 4th when our shed nearly blew up owing to a little boy who lit some fire crackers in the shed! There was gasoline, paint, and chemicals in that shed. But God miraculously delivered us both times. We sure remembered to thank Him.

Let’s be grateful people, not every now and then, but DAILY.

In His love,

Nancy Campbell

How do people around you describe you as a family? How do the people in your community describe the church you go to?

In the early church Christians were known as the people who “call upon the name of Jesus Christ.” Saul, “breathing out threatenings and slaughter” sought to arrest and imprison all those who called upon the name of the Lord.

This should be the lifestyle of every believer and the testimony of every God-fearing family.

Is it your habit to gather your family each day to call upon the name of the Lord? Jeremiah 10:25 is a big challenge to families: “Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name.” This Scripture says that if we are not families who call upon the name of the Lord, we may as well be heathen families.

There is so much for which we need to call upon the Lord. For our own family. For this nation. The nations of the world. For Israel. For the persecuted church. How can we forget about our fellow brothers and sisters who are being persecuted around the world? We dare not forget them in prayer. Hebrews 13:3 9 (NLT) says: “Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.” Is this how you pray for them each day?

What is another priority in prayer? 1 Timothy 2:1-3 says: “I exhort therefore, that, FIRST, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men: for kings and for ALL THAT ARE IN AUTHORITY: that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” Therefore, we have a responsibility to pray for our president and those in authority. Do your hold them up in prayer each day as a family?

Recently my husband was speaking to a group of men—good, upstanding, faithful Christian men. And yet when he asked who prayed for President Trump in their home each day, only one man put up his hand.

It’s time to take up our responsibility. We are obligated to hold up Trump’s hands. Remember the story of Joshua fighting the Amalekites? When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but when his hand got tired and he let it down, the Amalekites prevailed. Therefore, his brothers, Aaron and Hur stood either side of him and held up his hands and they wasted the Amalekites!

We now have Trump’s slogan to make America great again. But this can’t happen without prayer. The prayers of God’s of families. Because if families are not praying together, churches will not be praying. Everything starts in the home.

Can you imagine what could happen in our nation if every God-fearing family prayed daily for our president and those in authority? We miss so much of God’s blessings because we do not pray.

I am challenged by the words of Norman V. Williams: “God didn’t make the course and destiny of nations and of individuals dependent on the decisions of Congresses and Parliaments, nor did He lay this power in the hands of rulers and kings; but rather God placed it in the praying family! Therefore, the devil cannot ruin nations of men until he has destroyed the homes of prayer! That’s why Satan hates the family altar.”

Praying families have the power to turn the tide in this nation. But will we, do it?

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Calling on the name of the Lord, OT: Genesis 4:26; 1 Kings 18:24; Psalm 116:17; Joel 2:32; and Zephaniah 3:9.

Calling on the name of the Lord, NT: Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Romans 10:13; and 2 Timothy 2:22.

A Facebook question popped up on my Facebook over the weekend: “What's your take on guys and girls being friends? Even best friends? Can a girl be friends with a guy who isn't friends with her spouse and just be friends? Vice versa too? Can it be a purely platonic relationship?”

I was grieved in my spirit by the answers to this question. Most answered saying they thought it was healthy and beneficial to have friends of the opposite sex who were not their husband.

I beg your pardon! What has happened to God’s ideal of marriage? What has happened to the sacredness of marriage? What has happened to keeping our solemn marriage vows?

The marriage officiant asks the groom: “Do you take [bride’s name] to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and FORSAKING ALL OTHERS, BE FAITHFUL ONLY UNTO HER, as long as you both shall live?” The bride is asked the same question.

We know that “forsaking all others,” means to keep sexually pure in marriage. But I believe it means more than that. It means forsaking personal friendships (without including your husband) with the opposite sex. I don’t care what all these young marrieds say, it is not in God’s plan for marriage. Now that doesn’t mean you can’t have friendship with men. My husband and I have many friendships with couples and families. Our lives have been given to hospitality through the years and we have enjoyed the rich blessing of many couples at our table as we fellowship together.

But I wouldn’t dream of going out to eat or going somewhere on my own with the husband of that couple. Why do I need to do that? Why do I need another guy apart from my husband? Isn’t he enough? My husband is my best friend. I have vowed to forsake all others and be faithful only unto him—sexually, emotionally, mentally, and because of my scared marriage vows. And this is not dependent upon feelings, but upon commitment.

And how does this affect our children, the next generation? As I write my thoughts, I stopped and talked to my Above Rubies helpers in the office, young girls in their twenties. I asked them how they would feel if their father or mother went out on their own with someone of the opposite sex. They were aghast. They felt it was wrong. They said it would make them feel very insecure. One girl mentioned that before she came to Above Rubies, she was coming home from work and saw her mother with another man in the car. Her heart fell. She arrived home to find that her mother was taking the builder home who was working on the house! But just seeing another man in the car upset her.

The Bible tells us that love is jealous. What kind of love does a husband have for his wife if he is happy with her being with other guys? Or vice versa.

One comment from the Facebook stated: “Psychology has proven that relationships thrive when both parties maintain friendships outside of the relationship (meaning with the opposite sex).” I’m tired of listening to man-made wisdom. I’d rather adhere to God’s Word!

Song of Solomon 8:6: “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death: jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.” It’s not wrong for a husband or wife to be jealous of their spouse giving attention to another man.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2, 3).

God states emphatically in Exodus 20:3-5: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am jealous God.”

Marriage is a mystery. It is a picture of God and His people Israel. It is a picture of Christ and the church. God’s first commandment is to love Him with all our hearts and souls and minds and strength. And to cleave to Him. God is jealous when we love other things more than Him. He wants us to have the same commitment to Him that has to us. Hosea 2:19, 20 says: “I will betroth thee unto me forever: yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness.”

The marriage relationship is an exclusive relationship. We do not share it with another, apart from couples together.

Be blessed, Nancy Campbell

Nancy Campbell

Let’s looks at the attitude of Jesus. When He sweat drops of blood as he faced death and taking the sin of the world upon Him, He still submitted to His Father’s will crying out: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). And please read Philippians 2:5-8 where the Bible exhorts us to have the same attitude as Jesus. And read also John 5:30 and 6:38 where we read of Jesus’ attitude of submission.

What does this word submission mean? The Greek word is “hupotasso” and is a combination of two words:
“hupo” – under
“tasso” – to arrange in an orderly manner, to assign to a certain position.

Why does God want the wife to come under the husband? For her blessing. For her protection. For her covering. For her provision. Isn’t this a blessing?

Can I show you some other Scriptures where the Greek word hupo is used?
When Jesus looked out of Jerusalem, He cried: “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under (hupo) her wings, and ye would not” (Matthew 23:37). Is it a bad thing for a hen to gather her chickens under her wings? No, it is a beautiful thing. Isn’t a beautiful thing to be protected under our husbands?

Do you notice that the citizens of Jerusalem did not want to be gathered? They didn’t want to come under God’s protection, just like many wives do not want to come under their husband’s covering.

Jesus talked about the little mustard seed that grows up to be a big tree “so that the fowls of the air may lodge under (hupo) the shadow of it” (Mark 4:32). Another lovely picture of protection.

1 Corinthians 10:1, 2 tells us how God protected the Israelites in the wilderness “under (hupo) the cloud.” God gave them a cloud by day to protect them from the heat and a cloud (a pillar of fire) by night to keep them warm. The testimony of God’s protection and covering. The Bible speaks of the mystery of marriage which is to reveal the relationship between Christ and the church. Christ as the Head--covering, protecting, and leading His people as they submit to Him.

It’s not always easy to submit. It’s not for the immature, but the mature. It’s three-year-old behavior to demand our own way. It takes maturity to submit.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

However, I am talking about a different kind of visitation. The Bible calls the conception of a baby a visit from God. How amazing! God visited you to give you every baby you conceived. Even those you have lost to miscarriage are eternal souls whom you will meet one day.

Let’s read the Scriptures. Genesis 21:1, 2: “And the Lord VISITED Sarah as he had said and the LORD did unto Sarah AS HE HAD SPOKEN (in Genesis 18:10, 14). For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.”

We read also of God visiting Hannah and giving her children. After Hannah had taken Samuel to live at the temple because she had dedicated him to the Lord, 1 Samuel 2:21 says: “And the LORD VISITED Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters.” She was blessed with five more visitations of God.

What a privilege to be visited by God. And yet think of those who refuse a visitation of God. Do we realize the enormity of what we are doing? We thwart the sovereign plans of Almighty God. We say No to life instead of Yes. And when we stop one conception, it is not only one baby, but a dynasty to come!

I love the words of Martin Luther: “In the propagation of humans, God’s special benediction is conspicuous; and, therefore, the birth of every child is rightly deemed the effect of divine visitation.”

Be blessed today,

Nancy Campbell

For those interested, here are some links about Islamic people finding Jesus through dreams and visions:
https://www.opendoorsusa.org/…/after-dreams-of-jesus-imam-…/

http://www.wnd.com/…/rising-number-of-muslims-reporting-d…/…

http://www1.cbn.com/onl…/visions-of-jesus-stir-muslim-hearts

The dishes and laundry are piled up high,
When I look ‘round the house I simply sigh,
And for supper my husband’s expecting a pie!
Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

We can’t pay the mortgage; bills are overdue,
I’m tired and have headaches, not a few,
These children are driving me crazy too!
Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

My husband comes home late; he doesn’t care,
He doesn’t help with the children; it’s not fair!
I don’t want to smile; I just want to glare!
Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

Take your eyes off your problems, look up to Him,
God’s presence is with you, even in the din!
Confess your bad mood and He’ll cleanse your sin.
He is your God – LOOK UP!

He will show you how to order your place,
He will give you direction as you seek His face,
He wants to pour upon you His anointing of grace.
He is your God – LOOK UP!

Keep your eyes fixed on Him; He is your Stay,
He is your Wisdom for problems each day,
He’ll bring His presence right into your fray.
He is your God – LOOK UP!

Each morning He comes as the refreshing Dew
To revive your body, and your spirit too,
He is your Deliverer and He’ll make you new,
He is your God – LOOK UP!

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

The following is a testimony from a friend of mine, Erin Harrison. I know you will be encouraged and blessed:

THEY STILL NEED ME!
Time is fleeting. When you have a string of teenagers, you see time like an hourglass. It seems to slip through your fingers faster and faster. I remember my five precious children always gathered around whatever I was doing, whether it was cleaning, cooking, canning, out to the barnyard, on a walk, or sitting in my room, there they were. If I ran to the restroom, there was a crew of little ones looking for and calling out, “Mama!”

There are days you want to fly away like a bird because you never get that moment to just be you, to be still, and not to be forever needed. But the days turn into years, and soon the toothless smiles and mismatched clothes turn into perfectly groomed teenagers who’ve learned to care for themselves. You start to feel less needed, but it is a deception. Don’t believe it for a minute! These budding adults need us MORE THAN EVER.

If we are not available to meet the teenager’s needs, they meet their needs with independent force. They make their own meals, do their own laundry, learn independently with schooling, find their own answers to all their many questions, and life seems for them an open book to write. No longer are we writing our stories together; they are writing their own.

I remember when things started to change and my little children were now growing up. It was very hard for me. They no longer fought to help mix the batter or to use my mop to be first to help clean. I remember when the children learned how to crack an egg and all the many eggshells we pulled out of the bowl, the mess, the chairs pulled up to the counter tops that had to be pushed back into place. Now they are taller than me and when I bake, I often bake alone.

It is not necessarily a bad thing, but about eight months ago when Molly was rushed off in an ambulance, I was off chasing MY DREAMS. I was in Hawaii on a trip we earned from a great company with products that changed my health in a miraculous way. But as with all things in life, we can become overzealous, we can set aside the things that are right in front of us to pursue the American Dream. I did.

After a year of pursuing the dream to be free, I must be honest, I became lost in a rat race. I felt like that rat in a maze, searching for the prize but never finding it. The very rat race I strived so hard to escape years ago when we bought our first homestead--the mindset of never caring as much about fancy things and fancy cars, or hordes of material wealth. I never cared much for money, but the dream of having freedom was over me like a trance.

I got so passionate about helping others that I often felt stressed and set my precious family aside. They never seemed to mind. They kept themselves busy with other things. Good things, but they were essentially not needing me like they used to.

But, when The Lord convicts me, I listen. I hear His still small voice and when it comes as a phone call in the middle of the night when all you hear is silence and a faint breath of your precious daughter with her life in the balance, you HEAR. You LISTEN. You KNOW. I knew that I needed to get off track from my dreams and fight to build the relationships back again.

The great news is that it was not too late. I set aside my long working hours from home on the phone or computer and exchanged it for long periods of being a mother. Just sitting around the living room chatting about anything and everything. Instead of spending hours listening to other’s health issues and knowing how to help others, I started listening to my children tell me their issues. I told each one of them that they matter the most, that they are my purpose, and that I want to set aside everything for them. I told them we won’t have fancy cars, fancy trips, or money for all the things we want, but we have what we need from the hand of God.

It worked! Praise the Lord! I have my normal homestead, humble, do-it-yourself, children gathered around—life BACK! And I could not be more filled with joy! Teens need you MORE THAN BEFORE and now I help them follow their dreams and give them all the time they need, pouring into their hearts. Now, when I use the restroom for a moment, I hear the faint words, “Where is mom?” They need me! They need me! Thank you, God, they need me again!

I have learned to live with less and how less is MORE! More is empty. LESS gives your mind inventive ideas and much more creativity. You learn to live with less, you learn to make do, and be content. I don’t want to lay aside these virtues for all the money in the world.

I wanted to change the world, make it better, help the sick, and those in need. In the process, I looked for the approval of man, the respect, and vanity of success. Even with the best of intentions, the heart that wants to help and heal, it can distract us from our purpose, our divine calling.

At the end of the day, I have what most people in this earth want right in front of me. I have peace, joy, love, and fellowship with my family which is sweeter than anything. My oldest son is on the precipice of adulthood. How did it happen this fast? Time slipped by fast and it seems like yesterday he was a tiny, blond, curly-headed toddler telling me about the turkeys in the barnyard on our very first homestead.

I am excited for the adventure that is yet before me with finishing my calling of raising these five children for the Lord!

~ ERIN HARRISON * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.keeperofthehomestead.com

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Picture: Erin with one of her teen daughters.