ABOVE RUBIES NEWSLETTER #3, Aug 2018
MINI ABOVE RUBIES, No 3 for 2018
Dear Above Rubies reader,
Many blessings to you and your family today.
If you live in the USA, you will have received your new Above Rubies, #95 by now. If you live in another country, it is still on its way to you—but it will come! In this newsletter, I am going to give you some updates on this magazine. If you have received it, you will be interested to catch up. If you haven’t received it, you’ll be able to get a preview and check on important information NOW. There is so much information that you can get by clicking on the links provided here, so don’t miss out any!
You’ll want to keep this newsletter for reference as you won’t be able to watch and listen to all the links at one time!
Featured Articles
FRONT COVER - IN HIS HANDS
You will love the front cover of this magazine, a painting by a well-known New Zealand painter, Graham Braddock, of a beautiful baby in the womb, held by the hands of God. Since the magazine has gone out, Graham has already received enquiries seeking prints of this painting, “IN HIS HANDS.”
Graham has informed me that this painting is available in a wide variety of printed products, from postcard to full-sized poster.
To check out, go to: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/in-his-hands-graham-braddock.html
Or contact Graham at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
EDITORIAL - NEW GREAT GRANDBABY
In my editorial you will see the pictures of four new babies God has added to our family so far this year. Since printing Above Rubies, Crusoe and Stephanie’s baby girl has now arrived into this world. They called her HOSANNA LA’EL. Hosanna is Evangeline’s granddaughter. La’el is also the second name of Rashida, Evangeline’s oldest daughter. She was born July 7th, 2018 weighing 6 lbs. 10 oz.
And back in Above Rubies # 94 I wrote that Bowen and Kahoru where expecting a little baby. Sadly, she miscarried that baby, but she is now expecting again, praise the Lord. They are looking forward to this little baby coming 18 February 2019.
FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS PODCAST w/Nancy Campbell
At last, I am doing a weekly podcast to inspire and encourage wives and mothers. It is advertised in this issue of Above Rubies. If your magazine hasn’t arrived yet, the following information will enable you to get listening right away. I do hope you can find a quiet time to listen to it each week. I know you will be blessed and uplifted.
The following are the links of the pods we have sent out so far: All you need to do to is to click on the link;
Episode 9: POUND YOUR STAKES DEEP. Joining with Allison Hartman, mother of 10 children.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/763801-episode-9-pound-your-stakes-deep
Episode 8: ANY JOYFUL MOTHERS LEFT? Has your mothering turned into dreariness and drudgery? Learn the secret of how to become a joyful mother. This is a message that every mother in the world needs to hear. Please make sure you listen to this one and tell others about it.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/752296-episode-8-any-joyful-mothers-left
Episode 7: ARE YOU A READING MOTHER? Chalice Allison (Serene’s 18-year-old daughter joins me).
https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/752170-episode-7-are-you-a-reading-mother
Episode 6: PROCLAIMING MOTHERS with my extrovert daughter, Evangeline Johnson. Psalm 68:11 talks about “female proclaimers.” Does this mean women are to leave their homes to become preachers and pastors? What about the other Scriptures that reveal God’s plan for women to embrace home and mothering? What’s the right way?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/744400-episode-6-proclaiming-mothers
Episode 5: DON’T VACATE YOUR SENTRY DUTY
https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/episodes/739086-episode-5-don-t-vacate-your-sentry-duty
Episode 4: YOU ARE PART OF A MIGHTY ARMY
https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/episodes/735196-episode-4-you-are-part-of-a-mighty-army
Episode 3: WELCOME TO OUR LADIES’ LUNCHEON. Stories you won’t want to miss.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/727994-episode-3-welcome-to-our-ladies-luncheon.mp3?download=true
Episode 2: YOUR HOME IS LIKE A SHEPHERD’S FOLD
https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/724688-episode-2-your-home-is-like-a-shepherd-s-fold
Episode 1: GOD IS A DWELLING GOD. He wants to dwell in your life and in your home!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/722836-episode-1-god-wants-to-dwell-in-your-home
FIND YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO LINK IN
The following are a few different ways you can access the podcast for ongoing podcasts.
Above Rubies website: www.aboverubies.org. Go to this homepage and you’ll be able to click right on.
Buzzsprout: http://ARPoddy.buzzsprout.com
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/from-our-home-to-yours-with-nancy-campbell/id1397648388
Googleplay: https://play.google.com/music/listen?pli=1#/ps/I3mfayegac6wi6l377tlhtdayqy
Advanced users looking for your RSS feed . . . your quest is over:
https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/183665.rss
You can also email Nancy at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to ask questions you would like her to answer on the podcasts.
PODCAST LOVERS
The following are a few snippets from folk who are already loving the podcasts:
“I was thrilled to hear that you started a podcast and have been listening and LOVING it weekly! I appreciate the practical wisdom you share and greatly enjoy listening to your soothing voice.”
“Love! Love! LOVE the podcasts! Thank you, Nancy! What a treasure!”
“A lot of ‘Amens’ were said in the car today!”
“I love, love, LOVE your podcast! I first heard you on the THM Poddy, and thought, this woman needs her own podcast. I love your calm delivery and you have so much wisdom to share with the younger generation. Keep on podcasting, I so enjoy them!”
“Your podcasts get better and better every week. So enjoy your seasoned words of wisdom. Where else can the younger generation of Christian women receive such experience in today's world? I pray for non-believers to tune into your podcast as well. I love listening to you at night as I fall asleep. Then the next day I listen to what I missed the night before. And then through the week. You have been given a very comforting and relaxing voice. And, of course, as so many Americans do, we love your accent!”
“I love the audio accessibility of your podcasts for busy women (easy to click on the iTunes Podcast and listen right from my phone). Your voice is so soothing it helps the baby in my arms go right to sleep.”
(Hope I don’t send you all to sleep!!!)
“I felt like I was invited to your home and listening at your kitchen table. Thank you so much for your magazine and your solid teaching of the Word of God.”
“I have been listening to your fantastic podcast from Australia. Thank you so much - I've been learning so much and am so encouraged.”
“A HUGE THANK YOU for your podcast. Your message just gets sweeter and sweeter to me.
You have taught me that a mother is who I am. Forever! No. 8 podcast about joyful mothers was the best one yet! I am taking the message you share from your podcast and using it as a springboard to share with other younger moms.”
“Love listening to your podcast! Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to minister to us younger moms!”
“I look forward to your weekly podcast. I haven't missed one yet!”
YOUNG PEOPLE SPEAK OUT
A daughter in Scotland shares about bringing their grandmother home to care for until she dies—
Pages 6-8, MY GRANDMOTHER. It is a beautiful testimony and wonderful to hear the strong convictions of a young person.
In response, a dear friend, JOANIE BRYANT, who has been an Above Rubies reader for years wrote about caring for their grandmother.
“Thank you so much for all the encouragement from Above Rubies to stay home, be sweet, bring my family continually to the table, to the altar, and to keep on keeping on!
I am thankful that we live life at home. We are now taking care of Grandma Sonia (my husband's mother). We continue to and serve each other as we honor Grandma in our home—and especially, Eric, my husband gets to honor his mother.
We always offered her to stay with us when she visited, but of course, she was torn between the other family in Portland who absolutely love her too. But they do not live life at home, so they had to put her in assisted care with strangers who were also sick.
When she wanted to move out of assisted care in Oregon to come to our house in Maui, we didn't think twice! Absolutely! Come! We are home! Praise God!
Many warned us that it would be too much. We should think of ourselves and the boys. Nolan (22) and Jacob (20) shouldn't have to take care of Grandma. And certainly, it's too much for the younger children!
Well, honestly, I am so very thankful that we can honor Grandma with joyful hearts. It is not an easy task to continually potty and clean up. And having sickness in the home can be very depressing. But each of our hearts long to help Grandma through her pain.
Jannah daily makes Grandma her favorite drinks and foods. She so enjoys Jacob and Sam playing piano and Nolan the viola. The young boys sit to play cards with her and read stories. We pray with her and sing with her throughout the day. We often sing around the piano together songs like “There’s Victory in Jesus,” She doesn't trust in Jesus . . . so we are praying for her to lay down her pride and give her heart to Jesus.
. . . Grandma Sonia has passed on now. We were all tiring, but again so incredibly thankful that God gave us strength to love and care for her to the end. Nolan is sure she called out to Jesus as he often prayed and sang hymns with her. In the moments of her passing, we all stood around Grandma Sonia holding her hands and feet, singing to her, and praying. I picture God swooping Sonia up in His arms and saying, “It's ok Sonia, I have you!”
JOANIE BRYANT
Maui, Hawaii
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
HAPPY HOMESCHOOL
On pages 8-9 Morgan Phillips writes about their homeschool experience. After reading this testimony in the new magazine, Caro Austin writes about this family:
“As I read through the recent edition of Above Rubies # 95, I read the article by Morgan Phillips. When I saw that the Phillips family is from Guyton, GA, and looked at their family photo, I suddenly realized I encountered this family last May.
My mother had been admitted to a hospice facility in Statesboro, GA. She was in the late stages of breast cancer and was very ill. One afternoon we heard a family singing hymns down the hall and went to inquire if they would be willing to come and sing outside my mother's room, for she loved music. (She used to teach children's choirs.)
The Phillips family kindly granted our request. After singing several songs, Anne brought her children into my mother's room, two at a time, to meet my mother. I will never forget how gentle and respectful the children were as they each took my mother's hand and introduced themselves.
A few days later, my parents received a manila envelope from the Phillips family with a lovely card, scripture verses, and colored pictures by the children.
What a joy is has been for me to read Morgan's testimony about her "Happy Homeschool,” and to be able to say that my own family was touched by the love and kindness of this special family during a very difficult time. May God bless them and may their ministry outreaches bear much fruit!
CAROL AUSTIN
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A HEALING HOME
I know you will be blessed if you have already read this article, A HEALING HOME on pages 16-18. I write about a Greek word in the New Testament that is used to describe a household in Luke 12:42. The amazing thing is that this word, therapeia, means “serving, attending to medical needs, curing, healing.” This word is only used two other times and both about healing! This means that our homes are to be homes of healing.
Erin Harrison also writes her testimonies of HEALING RELATIONSHIPS on pages 19-20. But it doesn’t stop there. Erin and I have continued to talk about the Healing Home on her Weekly Talk Show, KEEPER OF THE HOMESTEAD BLOG. We share so much more than we could ever fit in the magazine. Although these are live talk shows you can still link in to each one (whenever you have that little spot of time) and I know you will be mightily blessed. The following are the links for you to watch and listen:
THE HEALING HOME, Part 1. Sadly, the filming of this first session is very blurred, and yet you need to hear it as the foundation for everything we say in future episodes. If it drives you crazy looking at it, you may prefer to just listen to the sound.
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/968682509961222/
THE HEALING HOME, Part 2
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/972213059608167/
THE HEALING HOME, Part 3
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/976005822562224/
THE HEALING HOME, Part 4
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/980206722142134/
THE HEALING HOME, Part 5
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/986122464883893/
THE HEALING HOME, Part 6
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/1008012999361506/
We thought we were finished, but then we got more inspiration and moved on to talk about HEALING WATERS. There is so much about healing waters in the Bible which relates to mothers and wives.
HEALING WATERS, No. 1
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/1008012999361506/
HEALING WATERS, No. 2. Toward the end of this session we talk about sexual intimacy. Proverbs 5 tells how the wife is to be "thirst-quenching water" to her husband. You will love this revelation. But use your discretion who you have watching with you.
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/1022610917901714/
Comment: “I just listened to your video about how we are water to our own husbands. I want to let you know how much it encouraged me to hear about intimacy from a Biblical perspective. Just to hear you read the Scriptures was so refreshing and healing to me.”
HEALING WATERS, No. 3.
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/1030311223798350/
Well, you have loads to watch and listen to when you can find special moments, haven’t you? Although we have now finished this series, Erin and I have so much more we would love to talk with you about regarding mothering and homemaking and so will continue to do Talk Shows for you. Keep checking in to Erin’s KEEPER OF THE HOMESTEAD BLOG.
Oh yes, here is another one we did together:
CHANGING THE WORLD FROM YOUR TABLE
https://www.facebook.com/keeperofthehomestead/videos/954336478062492/
CAN GOD PROVIDE?
On pages 22 – 26, I printed eleven wonderful testimonies of God’s faithful provision. I sent out a message on Facebook asking for women to write about how God has shown His faithfulness in providing for their families, especially as they have come home from the corporate world to care for their children and to trust God for the children He wants to give them. You will be so blessed by reading them. One Above Rubies reader messaged me and said that I should do a whole Above Rubies on this subject. She was so encouraged.
I received so many more testimonies than I could fit in the magazine, and I hate not to share them. Therefore, I will share five of them (from mothers from different counties) here with you in this mini Above Rubies, No. 3 2018, and more in a later email newsletter.
Before I share these testimonies we couldn’t fit in the magazine, here are some updates on those who were printed.
FILLING OUR BIG HOME (page 24).
Since printing the magazine Crystal has published a book, ENCOMPASS, about her journey with God and how God brought her to forgive the people who murdered her father. It is a beautiful story of the Father’s faithfulness and love and I would encourage you to purchase it.
ENCOMPASS is the redemption story of a girl growing up in a small town under the shadow of her dad’s unsolved murder. On that fateful day she felt forever caged until the God of the universe stepped in and showed her how to live free. Based on true events.
About the author: Crystal Navarro lives near Asheville, North Carolina is married to her college sweetheart and mother to an ever-growing house full of boys. With a degree in photojournalism and a true love for the Word of God, her passion has always been sharing real life stories and how they apply to Scripture. Encompass is her story.
Now available on Amazon.com
Email: Crystal Navarro * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Now, here are a few more testimonies that we couldn’t fit in the magazine. You will be blessed.
GOD’S WISDOM IS BETTER THAN OURS
As newlyweds we decided to wait five years before having a child. We thought it was good wisdom as it would allow us to have time to financially prepare for children.
A few months into our marriage, we met the mother of a friend from Congo, Africa. She was an older woman who had birthed and raised 10 children. They were all grown, and she had grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her children lived in different continents and countries. They would fight over her visiting them. So, she would spend one month a year at each of her children’s homes and then two months in her home in Congo. She was a widow, but her life was so full of goodness.
As she shared her adventures and joys of having all these children, we were amazed. She then rebuked us for not having children. In our defense we told her our reasons which were mainly financial. She explained to us that God always provided with each child. After a long talk, we walked home in silence as the Holy Spirit convicted us. Our flesh screamed for fear. Nevertheless, we surrendered to God.
Shortly after, we conceived our first born. My husband ended up switching jobs while I was pregnant to allow a schedule that was best for a family. With that, he took a cut in pay. We were so short on finances that I didn't even have money to buy maternity clothes as my belly got bigger.
One day I cried to the Lord about it as it was now embarrassing. Shortly after, I met a lady who ran a pregnancy center in our area. She invited me to stop by and see their work. The morning I went to see her, they got a shipment from Motherhood (a maternity store) with brand new clothes and they decided to donate clothes which they hadn't done before. The lady took me in one of the rooms and invited me to help myself to any clothes that I wanted.
"Take all you need," she instructed. Wow! I unwrapped the brand-new clothes from their packages and got enough outfits to last me the whole pregnancy and nursing season! God wiped away my tears that day.
Friends planned two baby showers and all clothing and needs were gifted us! After our son was born, gifts from friends, family, and neighbors kept coming. We had diapers and clothes to last us months! My husband also got a 75% RAISE AT HIS WORK! Praise God!
One of our concerns in having a baby was that we didn't have family around. They were in Africa or other cities far away. How would we do this without help? I had an emergency c-section which added to the challenge. But from the day our son was born, friends stopped by. They brought meals, cleaned our home for us, or just held baby while I took a much-needed nap! God truly met ALL our needs and even granted our desires.
From that birth, God blessed us with tremendous and beautiful relationships enabling us to raise our child in a community the way we had grown up back in Africa. God is so good!
NADIA MUTANA
Collinwood, Tennessee, USA
Formally from Rwanda, now Canadian citizens, but currently living in USA.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.mutanafamily.com
Pitana and Nadia are now blessed with seven children: Jeremiah (13), Samuel (10), Wonder (8), Elizah (6), Jairus (4), Cyrus (2), and Grace (5 months).
Putana and Nadia also wrote in the previous Above Rubies, # 94, about naming their children, page 27.
Nadia also writes about the vision God has given them for Africa. This could concern your family!
OUR AFRICAN VISION * FAMILY LIFE IN ACTION
Pitana and I are both originally from Rwanda. However, our first mission trip was in Kenya for a year. We traveled and ministered in 11 cities. As we lived, interacted, and ministered in various locations, one particular need kept presenting itself—the need for teaching on family life. It had never been taught.
Our hearts were burdened, and we cried out to God. It was then that He gave us this vision. We felt God saying: “For many, many, years, missionaries and mission works have come to Africa to help the orphans and widows. And that is good. There has been much work done to help the poor. And that is good. But I don't want you to treat the symptoms anymore. I WANT YOU TO DEAL WITH THE ROOTS!"
What are the roots?
1) Unfaithfulness in marriage resulting in HIV which creates an endless flow of widows and orphans.
2) Polygamy (common in the cultures), also resulting in HIV. It is also common among Christians, especially in villages.
As for poverty? It is not hard to figure out that a man with two or three wives and children from them all will often struggle financially to care for his family thus, increasing poverty.
The Lord impressed on our hearts that we could see a change in this generation and generations to come if we will start teaching His Word as it relates to FAMILY LIFE.
We lived in Kenya that year of 2011 and taught what God revealed to us. In that one year alone, we saw a tremendous change in families!
Since returning from that initial trip, we have prayed, waiting for the right time to return, and set up an ongoing ministry to African families. We finally think it's time!
Our desire and vision is not to go alone, but take other families (who have a vision for family) with us also, for short or long-term missions. We saw firsthand the fruit born from our teaching the Word, but even more from their WATCHING our family life. They are turning to our western way and limiting children. They couldn’t believe we would have more than one or two children. They need to see godly family life worked out in marriages and families, and yes, big families. We are excited to see how many lives would be impacted when other families join our family on a mission trip! The more people who can come AS FAMILIES, WITH THEIR CHILDREN, the more impact.
If you would be interested or would like to get more information, please contact us. If you, your family, small group, church, or business would like to partner with us and help sponsor this work, contact us. We will be glad to serve the King of Kings with you.
NADIA PUTANA
www. mutanafamily.com
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I became pregnant for the first time in 2004, four years into our marriage. We made the announcement to friends and family at Christmas and sadly, I miscarried a few weeks later which was absolutely devastating.
The Lord blessed us with our first-born daughter in 2006 and a son in 2008. I became pregnant again a few years later. Sadly, that pregnancy also ended in miscarriage. Experiencing two miscarriages was so physically and emotionally stressful that I told myself I wasn’t going to have any more babies. We are so thankful that the Lord had other plans!
I became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy baby girl in 2017 at the age of 40! I wish I could tell every mother to have a baby at 40 if she is able. It has energized me like nothing else. It has renewed my joy in mothering. It has expanded my heart. Watching our older children with a brand-new sibling has brought a joy to our family that we could (and do!) just burst with overflowing gratitude. It has made me appreciate every stage of mothering that I am in right now.
I thought I loved my older children as much as I ever could, but this new addition has made me love them even more as I watch them love her! Every day is more exciting than the last as we all adore this baby together.
I often tell people that I wish we would have started having children sooner and had many more, but my plans and selfishness stood in the way early in our marriage. I know the Lord’s plan is the very best and I could not be more thankful that His ways are not our ways and that He is gracious and merciful. Even though I am heading toward my 42nd birthday, I am praying that the Lord might bless us with at least one more precious baby.
HEIDI BROWN
Windermere Florida
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Steve and Heidi with Maggie (12), Steven (9) and baby Samantha (13 months).
GOD GAVE ME A HEALTHY PREGNANCY AND BIRTH
My husband (Chris) and I decided that due to a dangerous condition I suffered during pregnancy (each pregnancy I had a form of Gestational Diabetes which was more serious each time) he would have “the operation.” We went to the doctor for a referral, but didn’t feel right about it. A year went past and the referral to the specialist stayed on my desk. We were overjoyed when we found we were blessed with another pregnancy and we trusted God for my health.
During this time, I had become more aware of the obstetricians involved in providing abortions under the guise of “DNC’s” and other excuses, so I researched to find an obstetrician who was pro-life in our city. This took many months! There were only two and one would not accept me due to a full schedule. Midway through the pregnancy I managed to get an appointment and eventually my fourth baby was delivered in full health, despite threats of medical intervention/caesarean. God is faithful.
Lauren is now three years and I long for more children. We have now begun homeschooling and have been blessed to connect with other godly families. Many have large families and their witness is a light in this dark world.
EMILY McKENNA
Perth, Australia
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Picture: Chris and Emily with MackKenzie, Rosie, Jessica, and Lauren.
My husband and I have always believed that God will provide all our needs, whether big or small. We moved in to Bible Translation ministry in the year 1999 and have continued to trust God.
In the year 2011, the eighth month of my pregnancy, we came to know that our third child was going to be born with a hypoplastic right ventricle with some septum defects of the heart. She should be delivered in a well-skilled, well-equipped hospital, otherwise she would not survive. After the birth she had to undergo three main surgeries of the heart to rectify her problem and the surgery charges would cause many, many lakhs.
We did not want to ask anyone for help or to be in debt. But the Lord who took care of everything wonderfully in history/past took care of us and the little child too. He gave us admission to India’s best and subsidized medical facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, and by seven years in her life she underwent three major surgeries.
The cost of the surgeries was all together 1.3 lakhs (Rs. 20,000, Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 85,000). God provided through many people of God from here and there. And God provided the best living facilities for us while we were in Delhi.
This event helped us to trust God more and to encourage others to have babies, even a specially needed child.
ANNIE VINOD
Sendhwa (city), Badwani (district), Madhya Pradesh (state), India.
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Vinod and Annie are blessed with Vishal (means broad and wide), Pratiksha (hope/expectation), and Nidhi (treasure).
My husband had a vasectomy while I was nine months pregnant with our youngest daughter, Abigail. We both felt our family was complete with four children and financially we were struggling.
When Abigail was six months old I was invited to a ladies Bible study where they were learning how to be helpmeets to their husbands! Even though my husband and I were both Christians, I had never fully asked God to help me in this area.
After seeing wonderful changes in my marriage and becoming friends with the ladies, two of them talked to me about embracing motherhood and letting the Lord lead our family, including fertility. I explained we couldn't possibly have more children and I was overwhelmed with what we already had.
They gave me “The Power of Motherhood,” and offered to go through it with me. What a life changing experience! I finally realized what joy I was missing and fully embraced the great calling of motherhood! I was sad for all I had missed when the other children were babies. The Lord convicted me to allow Him to shape our family size and I knew in my heart there would be another baby in my arms.
I went to the Above Rubies website to look for a doctor to perform a reversal. I found one only three hours away and requested financial information from them. However, my husband was not on board. It took one year before my husband accepted the calling of the Lord on our family.
We scrimped and saved to pay for the surgery, scheduled it, and waited six months, only to cancel when my husband could not get off work. During this time the Lord was strengthening our marriage in many ways. We also moved Texas from Arkansas where we had lived most of our lives.
A year and a month after moving us to Texas, we finally got our surgery (we had rescheduled it three times with a new doctor!).
My husband had a wonderful job making good money and everything was going so well. I got pregnant two months after the surgery and the whole family celebrated! Then the unthinkable happened! My husband was laid off, along with 7,000 others. We were right back to financial struggle and asking the Lord what to do.
Our first instinct was to move back to Arkansas, but we both felt the Lord telling us to stay where he had planted us. My husband stayed without a steady job for six months, causing us to trust in the Lord every day, not only for food and bills, but for comfort during this struggling time.
I felt him telling me not just to stay where He had planted us, but to Flourish! And we did! We became very involved in a wonderful loving church family, helping with community outreach and witnessing to families wherever we could. We never went hungry and the bills somehow always got paid.
Finally, Josh obtained a job as a Correctional Officer, though he really felt the Lord calling him to Law Enforcement. He graduated from their school one week after we welcomed Samuel Raymond Wingo into the world! Though we were making half the salary he had before, the Lord changed our perspective and taught us how to put our finances in his hands!
Samuel has brought so much joy to our family! We didn't realize how much we missed having a baby in the home.
My husband knew the Lord was calling him to be a Law Enforcement Officer, but we could not pay for the Academy. Five months after Samuel was born my husband applied with the Sweetwater Police Department and got the job. Not only did the Police Department pay for him to go to the Academy, they paid for his time, travel, and provided a vehicle! It has been such a joy to see my husband doing what the Lord has called him to!
Samuel brings us laughter and joy every day and we are so thankful for him. The Lord blessed us once again with a pregnancy last year, but Shalom went to be with Lord in the womb. It has been a year since her passing and we excitedly wait to see how and when the Lord will bless us again. We are content in knowing we have put this matter, along with all matters, in the hands of our Loving Creator, who has blessed us beyond our comprehension!
MIDON WINGO
Sweetwater, Texas.
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Midon has been married to her wonderful husband, Joshua for 15 years and the Lord has given them five wonderful blessings here on earth: Ruth (12), Elisabeth (11), Luke (9), Abigail (7), Samuel (2.5) and Shalom who went to be with the Lord at 11 weeks in-utero.
P.S. EXCITING NEWS! God is blessing Midon and Joshua with a new little baby this coming winter.
THE POWER OF MOTHERHOOD
What the Bible Says About You as a Mother
Every mother needs this book. At her side in the day and at her bedside at night.
Young mothers desperately need the encouragement! Middling mothers need it! And even older mothers need it. Older mothers need a refresher course in God’s plan for mothering, so they can take their place as the older mothers who teach the next generation.
You will be amazed at what God has to say to you as a mother! You will receive wonderful understanding through the 245 pages of this manual.
You will love using it personally. Mothers can use it as a study guide for their older daughters. Many women use this manual as a guide for their Motherhood Bible Study groups.
For more info or to order go to: http://aboverubiesbookstore.mybigcommerce.com/power-of-motherhood-new-updated-edition/
TRIP TO BOLIVIA
In my editorial I share about my trip to Bolivia with Child Fund. You can watch a video of my trip at this link: https://www.childfund.org/mission.html
or https://youtu.be/RAUaPC8KQBU
Going to La Paz was a powerful experience in my life. It is a wonderful thing to sponsor a child. However, while there, I got an even greater burden. As I visited the mothers and children in the poor areas of La Paz, I noticed the destitution of the mothers, not only in material things, but more so in spiritual areas. The faces of the mothers looked empty. Like all mothers, they love their children, but I could see they had no vision for motherhood. They had no vision for raising godly children to be moral and upright citizens. They were surviving from day to day.
Most families I visited had littles ones from the teens in the family. One family had six little toddlers and they were from the three teenage girls in the family. There is such an epidemic of teenage pregnancies.
And why? There seems to be little godly influence? No older mothers to come along side to encourage and give them a vision. While I was there I felt a burden to personally speak an encouraging word about motherhood to each mother I met.
ANGELIC VISITATION?
I don’t speak Spanish and looked around for someone to interpret for me. There was quite a team of people with us as we visited the homes. Who would be the right one to interpret? I noticed one man. He had a gentle spirit and a lovely look upon his face. I asked if he would come and interpret for me, which he did. It was a great joy for me to speak into the lives of some of these precious women. I felt it was the most powerful thing I did while I was there. I wished I could be doing it full time!
It was rather interesting that the next day the leader of our team said to me: “Nancy, I think we may have had an angelic visitation yesterday.” He continued, “The man you chose to interpret for you was not from the Child Fund team. I don’t know who he was or where he came from or how he happened to turn up.” But there he was. He was the only one I know who could have carried the anointing to those women.
Was it an angel? If not, God obviously sent this man sovereignly to do this task. Amazing. God is obviously concerned about these mothers and families.
WILL YOU TAKE ON THIS VISION?
I’d love to ask if you could help me with this great vision. When you sponsor a child (go to www.ChildFundorg/AboveRubies) you have the opportunity to write to the child and also to the mother and whoever else you would like in the family.
I believe it is possible to bring change to this nation by bringing truth and revelation and the vision of motherhood to these precious mothers. You can be part of doing this. Motherhood is more than surviving from day to day. It is having a vision to raise godly children. If you have this vision and would love to encourage some of these mothers, go for it.
Once you have sponsored a child, you are welcome to email me if you need any points on what to write to these mothers.
You can either get your letters translated into Spanish here in this country if you know someone who speaks Spanish. Otherwise, Child Fund will have them translated for you in the city of your sponsored child.
THIS MIGHT SEND THE DIVORCE RATE SPRAWLING!
Marriage ceremonies—places for sentiments and promises or life-time vows?
Every married couple who attends many weddings these days can't help but gulp a little when they hear the modern made-up sentiments and promises gush across the lips of young couples, many who have already shacked up together for a year or two beforehand, just in case. One might ask, "in case of what?" And how is their largely Hollywood-born sentimental love that they express so dramatically going to be different after the wedding?
Sentiments and promises can be added to the long standing well-worded traditional vows of: "to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee pledge myself to you."
However, to REPLACE that time-honored well-honed vow could have some real problems. Because even when we DO say these time-honored matchless, traditional vows these days, what we actually HEAR (or mean subconsciously) is: "forsaking not ALL others, I'm with ya in health, and in wealth, and until it doesn't feel so good anymore."
So, let's think more deeply about what it is that we are actually doing at the marriage altar. Might these thoughts below be a better foundation to the time-honored vows, at least to embrace them in our hearts?
Godly VOW underpinnings:
"I hereby commit before God and these witnesses to plunge into a commitment of the vast unknown. I commit to circumstances and deep relational dynamics in all sorts of directions, whatever they become, of which I can't now know or possibly imagine. And I commit to this heretofore unknown life for the rest of my life, with a person I barely know and who is largely unknowable even over a lifetime, to himself/herself, let alone to me. And therein commit myself to a specific small destiny/a specific "lot" in life that I will not jettison, preferring another.
I will wholeheartedly accept this "lot" as God's perfect design for my sanctification in both this life and the next. I'm committing to one person, forsaking all others out of several billion possible choices, trusting God that this person was divinely brought specifically across my path at this juncture in 6,000 years of history in this particular spot of geography, by God's own hand, else I would have been born in some other age and intersected with a different life-time mate.
For to love God's "lot" for me is to love His will for me, His version of my best self and to submissively TRUST His destiny perfected in my behalf for all time, IN the marriage, THROUGH the marriage, and BY the marriage. Only because I know YOU, God, do I have the courage to abandon myself so utterly to this commitment, for in it I commit myself afresh to you."
This just MIGHT send the divorce rate sprawling!
TODD AND RENEE ELLISON
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SIGN URGENT PETITIONS
I am one of those who love to sign every petition that takes a stand for life and righteousness. I want to be a voice wherever I can.
Here are a few petitions for you to have the opportunity to sign. Click on the link to find more information and sign.
SIGN PETITION AGAINST STOPPING BIBLE STUDIES IN HOMES
https://citizengo.org/en/node/164838?m=5&tcid=49752636aders,
HELP GET PASTOR BRUSON OUT OF TURKEY
Help get Pastor Andrew Bruson out of Turkey. Through President Trump, he is not out of gail and under house arrest, but still in danger. Needs to be free to come bac k to USA.
http://citizengo.org/en/160198-free-pastor-andrew-brunson-turkish-prison
STOP NETFLIX PROGRAMMING ABORTION MOVIES
https://citizengo.org/en-us/md/164959-stop-netflixs-attacks-family-and-life-sign-now
MOTHERHOOD IS UNDER SIEGE! SIGN TO PROTECT MOTHERS
https://citizengo.org/en-us/fm/163679-help-stop-era-protect-women-and-families-america
EVICT MAXINE WATERS
SIGN FOR JUDGE KAVANAGH
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape the trajectory of the Supreme Court in a conservative direction. With another conservative justice, the Court will be more likely protect religious liberty, defend free speech, and even rollback the Court's pro-abortion jurisprudence to protect human life in the womb.
But pro-abortion Republican Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has pledged to vote against any nominee who might overturn Roe v. Wade. Without her vote, Judge Kavanaugh won't be confirmed and we won't be able to fill the empty Supreme Court seat before the November midterm elections.
Sign the petition to Senator Collins, urging her to vote YES to confirm Judge Kavanaugh:
https://citizengo.org/en-us/pc/164235-tell-susan-collins-confirm-kavanaugh
Many blessings to you today.
In His service to you, NANCY CAMPBELL