PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 204: THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD, PT 15
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 204: THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD, Part 15
Motherhood is a life-giving land, life-giving from the cradle to the grave. We are life-givers, life-embracers, life-nurturers, life-feeders, life-speakers, life-restorers, and life-refreshers. We are created to bring life to the world!
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! How are you today? I wonder what you are doing as you’re listening to this podcast. I know so many of you are listening from all around the world. In fact, when I mentioned those who have listened to every single podcast, right up to number 200, the messages that I got were not from people in the USA, but from people overseas, in European countries, such as Slovakia and places like that. It was so exciting to think that these wonderful ladies are listening so faithfully in all these countries of the world.
A TASTE OF HEAVEN
Well, what’s been happening in our end of the world? We recently returned from our annual Above Rubies Family Retreat down in Florida, where we have it at Laguna Beach in Panama Beach, a lovely place. Of course, everybody wants to come to the beach. But, oh, we do have the most wonderful retreat. This was no exception.
I think it was perhaps the most glorious we have ever enjoyed. About 800 folks came together, more than 100 families joining together. Loads and loads of young people and children. And, of course, the meetings were wonderful. But the fellowship was so rich, so wonderful, like a little taste of heaven. Everyone was so blessed that I think just about everybody booked in for next year, before they even left.
So, if you want to get in on this wonderful retreat for next year, you have to start thinking about booking in right now, because we were actually completely overloaded this year to fit into the auditorium. But we are thinking of next year hiring a huge tent so we can fit up to 1,000 or more in that tent.
If you want to be part of this wonderful, glorious assembling of families together, encouraging one another, being blessed and inspired and encouraged, look into it. You’ll love it! We had families drive all the way from Canada, all the way from Montana, and all these different states. Not only from around Florida, but all over the nation. If you’re interested, you can contact Allison Hartman, 850-221-1222. I know you won’t want to miss out.
THE “HANG OUT” REUNION
We’re also having an August reunion. That’s the 10th to the 17th of August. We have started that now. The families who are getting to know one another can’t wait a whole year. The August retreat is not so packed as the April one with things that are happening, it seems as though it’s go, go, go, go, go, the whole time, although the weekend is the main time for the meetings, and the volleyball contest, the basketball contest. This year we had tug of wars down on the beach. That was something so amazing! We’ll be making that a yearly thing, too.
But the August one is more, people just come to vacation and to get together and fellowship. We usually arrange one thing for each day. Like last year, about three times us ladies got together just to share for a morning tea. One night all the young people cooked a beautiful meal for all the couples. That was so cool. So, we do different things like that. Just be in, and don’t miss out on the blessings.
ANOTHER FAMILY WEDDING
This last weekend has been a great weekend. Friday night we had another family wedding. How we love our weddings! This was Pearl and Charlie’s son, Rocklyn Barrett. I have a son called Rocklyn. I also have a grandson called Rocklyn.
Rocky and Mary Beth were married on Friday night, down in Alabama where she lives. Mary Beth was also an Above Rubies girl. She came about three years ago to be an Above Rubies helper. I think it was love at first sight! But it’s taken a few years for it to all come together. And now they are married. It was such a lovely wedding.
BABY DEDICATIONS
And then Sunday being Mother’s Day, we had a most beautiful service. We dedicated seven babies. Oh, that was so wonderful! Then my husband gave such an amazing message to mothers. It was so encouraging and inspiring. I so wished we had recorded it so you could have heard it.
WILD TURKEY IN THE FREEZER
And then, this morning, I knew I had to prepare for this podcast today, but I got a call from my grandson Arden. He said, “Nana, I’ve shot a turkey for you!” He’d been out early this morning, and he came over with this great big, huge, huge turkey! It had a great big, long beard which he cut off for a souvenir. But then he said, “Sorry, Nana. I’d like to fix it up for you, but I’ve got to rush into the city. I have an appointment. I think you’d be better skinning this one, rather than plucking it.”
Well, I’m used to plucking chickens and plucking turkeys, but I hadn’t skinned one before. So, I thought, “What would I do?” OK, call another grandson! “Hey, Arrow! Got a few moments? Can you come and skin this turkey for me?” He came over, and we skinned this turkey. Now I’ve got it all cut up and in the deep freeze. That’s good.
I just love getting some real good wild stuff in the deep freeze. I was brought up on wild meat. In fact, I don’t think we rarely ever bought from a butcher shop. Well, today you go to supermarkets! Back in our day, you went to the butcher shop.
But my father would always kill our own meat. He’d kill a sheep, or kill a cow, and cut it all down. We’d throw it in the freezer. Also, he was a great hunter, deer stalker, duck shooter. We used to have all this wild game in our freezer, too. So, I was used to all the wild game.
In fact, before we ever had deep freezes, in the days when we didn’t have such things, I can remember duck shooting season was only for three weeks. My father would go out every morning for those three weeks. He’d leave early in the morning to go out, and he would always get the number of ducks that you were allowed to get. He’d always get a full bag and come home.
We had so many ducks! We’d have to pluck all these ducks. We couldn’t keep them all because we had no deep freeze! When you get a limit bag every single day for three weeks, what do you do with them? Well, of course, my father would give them away.
But also, we would eat duck every single night for the three weeks of the duck shooting season. The first night, there was only three of us children, but my mother would cook three ducks! One for my father. He’d eat the whole duck, and the rest of us would eat the other two. But I don’t think it was ever quite the same when we got a deep freeze, and we could have them throughout the year and space it out. There was something about just duck for three weeks. It was quite a great memory.
2000 MULES
Oh, yes, another thing. Last week, Colin and I went to see in the theaters the documentary movie that is now, well, it was only out for a couple of nights. Dinesh D’Souza’s movie, 2000 Mules. I wonder if you have heard about it. It’s no longer in the theaters. It was only there for a couple of nights. But now it is available digitally. You can go online. I would encourage you, go online, look up 2000 Mules, M-U-L-E-S. This movie exposes our stolen election.
Now, I know we’ve all known that it was stolen. We knew the cheating that went on with the Dominion machines, and so many other things that happened that were totally unbelievable. Yet, although this has all been proved, still nothing has happened.
But this movie doesn’t go into any of that. It has exposed another whole realm of cheating that people didn’t know about. It is unbelievably amazing. You have to see this movie to see it, and how you actually see what they called these mules, these people who get these ballots, which are illegal. They take them to these drop boxes in the dead of night. They were all being sent. They were not legal. You see it all happening. It's actually quite unbelievable.
I believe that every single person in the nation needs to see it. I have been very saddened to be on some threads on social media and see that even in the conservative community, people say, “Well, why should I have to pay for it? I can’t afford $20 to rent it, or $30 to buy it.” I beg your pardon? Our country is at stake! We, at the present, do not have a constitutional republic. We do not have it. We have a stolen election.
We do not have WE THE PEOPLE, because WE THE PEOPLE voted, we voted, even as this movie proves, well beyond the stolen vote of Biden. But we don’t have the legal president in the White House. This is not what America is! It is not even, at this moment, a constitutional republic.
In fact, at this moment, unless things are changed, unless people see this movie, and unless people are awakened, and unless people do something and begin to write to their senators and congressmen, and make a voice in their state, and federally, it’s not going to change. It’s only WE THE PEOPLE who can change this. If we don’t, we’ll have another stolen election.
Because, at the moment, there has been nothing changed to change what happened. All these things will happen again! Therefore, we are not a free people. We are just going down the drain, into communism and dictatorship. They are dictating who wins.
I trust that you will get it. You can gather in friends and family to watch it with you. We did that on Saturday night. We played it downstairs where we actually have our church, and where we have all our big family gatherings. We played it on the big screen. We’re going to do it next week as well, and get in as many, many people as we can. I don’t think we got enough in the other night, so we’re going to go for it again, and get more people.
If we can all do this, and then do something about it, we can see change. Sometimes people think, “Well, can anything happen?” Well, it can, if we do it! We are the people. This is how this country is meant to be governed. We the people. But at the moment, we are being dictated to. I’d encourage you to check that out, OK?
ENJOYING THE JOURNEY
All right, ladies. We’re still going through this land of motherhood. Are you enjoying the journey? We haven’t got through yet! There’s still more to go as we discover the land.
Today we are up to . . .
NO. 8. IT IS A LIFE-GIVING LAND
Yes!
Last week we were talking about how IT IS A FRUITFUL LAND. Well, today it is a life-giving land. Before we even look into that Scripture, because every point I have is taken from the Scriptures, I want to remind you ladies that this land, this promised land, this land that flows with milk and honey, this land that God gave to His people Israel, He gave it to them for an everlasting possession. This land is a GIFT! Yes.
GOD’S GIFT TO YOU
I’ve just been reading through Deuteronomy again. I finished it this morning. Chapter 34 is the last chapter. It was just a joy to read through again. I noticed that 70, SEVENTY times in this one book, God reminds His people that it is a land that He gave to them. Let me give you just a few Scriptures here.
Deuteronomy 1:25. This particular Scripture is in the context of when they have gone out from the wilderness to explore the land, before they were going to possess it. They came back, the twelve spies came back, and they said: “It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us.” They acknowledged that God was giving it to them. God had promised it to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so many times.
These are not the only Scriptures. I’m just taking the book of Deuteronomy, where it speaks about it 70 times. But, of course, God promises them in other places as well.
That’s a good confession, isn’t it? They said, “It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give to us.”
What we’re doing, ladies, as you know, we’re taking the Scriptures about the literal land of Israel, and we’re likening them to our land of motherhood. We can also liken them to this land of the kingdom of God that He has brought us into.
This is the wonderful thing about the Scriptures. We read it, and as we read the top level, it’s just the literal, the literal thing that it is saying. But there’s always deeper and deeper levels. So, these Scriptures apply to us who now live in the kingdom of God. “It is a good land that He has given to us.” It applies to us as mothers. It is a good land that God has given to us as mothers.
But wow! This Scripture goes on to say: “Notwithstanding” Moses was talking to them all, and he said: “You would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and ye murmured in your tents.” Isn’t that amazing? The spies came back! Wow, “It’s a good land, everybody! It’s amazing!”
Just look, they came back, and there were two spies carrying one cluster of grapes. It took two men to carry it. That’s how prolific the land was. But they noticed there were giants there. They put fear into the people, and the people rebelled.
Moses reminded them, “You would not go up. You didn’t obey the Lord God, who told you to go up and possess it. And instead, you murmured in your tents. You murmured behind the closed doors of your houses.”
Oh, my, we’re not so much different to the people of Israel, are we? The land of motherhood is a good land! We talked about that, it’s a good land. It’s a land that God has given us! He’s given it to us. And yet, what do we do? We murmur, and we complain. “Poor me, I’m just home all day with these children. I don’t know. If only I could get out and get a job. We’d survive much better.” We groan about this, and we murmur about that.
And yet, motherhood is God’s gift! It’s His gift. It’s the land He’s given to us. It’s the land He planned for us. And it’s given! Yes, and He didn’t tell the people of Israel only once. He told them just here in Deuteronomy 70 times! To remind them. We need reminding. Ladies, I want to remind you today, the land of motherhood is God’s gift to you.
I won’t give you the 70 verses. I’ll just give you two or three.
Deuteronomy 12:17: “The good land which the Lord giveth you.”
Deuteronomy 7:13: “He will love thee and bless thee and multiply thee. He will also bless the fruit of thy womb in the land which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee.” Yes, He sware unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “I am giving you this land for an everlasting possession.”
Deuteronomy 9:23. Moses was reminding them again: “Likewise, when the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.”
So many mothers today come into the land. God has given it. But they think, “I can’t survive in this land! Help! I’ve got to go out, and I’ve got to work. I’ve got to join my husband, providing for this home because we can’t survive unless I do.” And you forget the Lord God has given you this land. He’s given it to you, to be in it, and to dwell in it, to mother your children in it, and to make this beautiful home. That’s what God wants you to do.
But they didn’t believe that God could do it! And so, we’re much the same. We don’t believe that God can provide and He can do it. Just wanted to remind you that this is your gift. This land is God’s gift to you.
Now we’re looking at, IT IS A LIFE-GIVING LAND.
WE MUST BE LIFE-CHOOSERS
We go to Deuteronomy 30:15-20. Let me read you verses 19-20: “I call upon heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, CHOOSE LIFE, that both thou and thy seed may live. . . that thou mayest dwell in the land.”
Now, when Moses spoke the words in Deuteronomy to the people of Israel, 34 chapters, it was all God’s words through Moses to His people as they are poised to go in and possess the land. They didn’t do it the first time. Now, for 40 years, they’ve been wandering in the wilderness.
Now God says, “It’s time to go!” OK, but He has so much to say to them. It’s about a month before they’re going in and they’re all assembled to hear the words of God through Moses. He says to them, “As you go into the land, you are to be life-choosers. Always choose life.” Look up that passage again later on, when you have time, and read it over. Powerful words.
And, dear ladies, in this land of motherhood, we are to be LIFE-CHOOSERS. This is who we are as women.
WE ARE LIFE-GIVERS
It starts right back, as we go back to the beginning, Genesis 3:20: “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” Eve. The word “Eve” in the Hebrew is chavvah. It literally means “LIFE-GIVER.”
Dear precious ladies, this is who we are. When God created the woman, He created her to be a life-giver! We are blessed beyond measure. We have the privilege to conceive life! And to grow life in our wombs. Of course, it is God Who is doing it, but we are this sanctuary, this house, this beautiful place where He grows this baby, this life! It's life! It’s life from conception, dear ladies.
And we are to be life-givers, not only from birth. We are life-givers from the moment of conception. No, it goes even before that. We are life-givers, even before conception, because we are open to life. To receive life, we have to be open to life. We are open to life, even before conception.
From the moment that baby conceives, a life is growing in the womb. And we are privileged to house that life, a life that is not only for this world, but a life that is eternal, and will live forever. There is nothing more powerful that you can do. You are doing something eternal. It’s not something that you do and it’s just going be destroyed or left behind. No, it’s an eternal soul who will live forever. This is so powerful.
The word chavvah comes from the root word chavah, which means “to make alive, to revive, to repair, to restore, to recover, to nourish, to preserve, and to be whole.” That encompasses the whole mothering anointing. We are always giving life. We give life through our wombs.
And then we continue to give life, as we then begin to nourish this little babe at the breast. We give life to this babe as we suckle this babe at the breast. Oh, it’s so incredible, who we are! No wonder God called us “life-givers.”
The amazing thing is, it’s unbelievable. Yet so many women today, even in the church, instead of life-givers, they are life-stoppers. We’re not meant to be life-stoppers, ladies. We are to be life-givers to the world.
“THE TIME OF LIFE”
I’m thinking as I talk about this in Genesis 18. This is when God came to visit Abraham and Sarah. Three men came. Was it the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit? Well, maybe, because it was God. First, let’s look at it.
Genesis 18:1: “And the LORD appeared.” You see, the Lord appeared unto Abraham: “And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground.”
But what did the first verse say? “And the LORD appeared.” This was God appearing, coming as three men. And Abraham said: “My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away.” And then he talked about, “Look, I’ll get some water for you to wash your feet, and I’ll get a morsel of bread, and I’ll prepare some meat for you. I’ll get this meal ready for you. Just sit there in the shade while I prepare it all.”
We go down to verse seven: “And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them,” and so on.
And then, verse nine: “And they said unto him,” THEY, the three men. They, plural, plural, but it was the Lord, and He is plural, three in one. “Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.” She’s there, in the home, in the heart of the home.
“And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to THE TIME OF LIFE; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself.” She didn’t laugh out loud, just within herself.
“Saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did,” (remember? “And the LORD said unto Abraham,” it was God who was visiting them), “Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for the LORD?”
And then He said it again. “At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to THE TIME OF LIFE and Sarah shall have a son.” Two times here He mentions a phrase, “the time of life.” “According to the time of life.”
What is the time of life, ladies? The time of life is that time during the month when we are ovulating, when we are open to conception. You’re not open to conception all throughout the month. Your most fertile time is during that time of ovulation. That is your time of life that comes each month. Isn’t that a beautiful thing? God calls it “the time of life.” He also mentions it again in another story in the Word of God.
During this time of our monthly cycle we should be open to life. Imagine if Sarah had not been open to life. Because I believe the miracle that happened, was that Sarah, her cycle was restored to her. And because her cycle was restored, even her youthfulness came back to her. She began to cycle again. During that cycle is the time of life. God was able to come and bring conception.
Well, God could have done this at any time. God is miraculous. He can do anything He wants. But God, I believe, keeps to that which He has created. He created the woman with this monthly cycle, which includes the time of life. “The time of life.”
And later on, we read how God uses the word: “And God VISITED Sarah, and she conceived” (Genesis 21:1). God came and visited her, and she conceived. I believe that happens with every conception. God visits, because even in the time of life, we may not always conceive. It is God’s doing. It is God who gives conception. During that time of life, God can visit us.
And yet today, so many women will not allow that time of life in their month. They do everything in their power to stop it. It’s got to be stopped! It’s closed off. It’s shut. When God comes to visit, well, even when the husband and wife come together, there is no opportunity for life. That is opposite to God’s plan because we are life-givers. Amen?
Life-givers before conception, life-givers open to conception, life-givers as we’re growing this baby in the womb, and life-givers as we nourish this little baby. And then, of course, as the baby eventually weans, we continue to give life-giving foods. Because we’re life-givers, ladies, we are always giving life-giving foods to our families, to our husbands, to our children.
LIFE NOURISHERS, LIFE FEEDERS AND LIFE SPEAKERS
We’re not giving them junk food, devitalized food. No! We think of life! What is life? What is wholesome? What is going to be nutritious for them? We’re always thinking life, because we’re life-givers, we’re going to be seeking life-giving words! Yes, because it’s who we are.
Well, let me close, shall we, with an acrostic about our being a life-giver. I’ll just take the first letter of each word, each letter of life-giver. OK, LIFE:
L – Life-giving to the world through the power of your womb.
I – Inspiring your husband and children daily with life-giving words.
F – Feeding your husband and children life-giving foods, never dead or devitalized.
E – Embracing your life-giving role of birthing and nursing babies.
Next word: GIVER
G – Giving freely as you pour out your life for your family and others.
I – Interceding for your children and the strengthening of families in the world.
V – Valuing life in the same way God values life.
E – Engraving God’s life-giving Word into the hearts of your children.
R – Reviving, repairing, restoring, reconciling, recovering, refreshing, renewing, and rescuing lives and relationships.
Be a life-giver.
“Lord, we thank You that this is Who You named us. The first woman was named Eve, who was the prototype of all women to come. Lord, You named her “Life-Giver.” You have put this name upon each one of us. We are all life-givers to the world.
“Oh, dear Father, please help us to understand and see who we are, and who You created us to be. And Lord, that we will never be in the camp of the life-stoppers. But we will always be those who are life-givers from the cradle to the grave. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you have a moment, it would be lovely if you could email a little thank you letter to Darlene. She sacrifices much of her time to transcribe these podcasts for you and I know it would encourage her to know that you are blessed by her hard work. Thanks so much.
2023 ANNUAL ABOVE RUBIES FAMILY RETREAT
LAGUNA BEACH, GULF COAST, FLORIDA
Location: https://christiancamp.com/
April 19 - 26
To check out details and register, go to:
https://aboverubiesgulfcoast.com/