Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

I came home with more vegetables than I could hold. We shared our bounty between the two families. That was provision one.

The very next day we came to a big paper sign on the side of the house saying: “Look around the corner.” To our complete surprise, there were three huge boxes of groceries. Some cans and bottles had labels we had never seen before. Though we tried to find our benefactors to thank them, we were unsuccessful. God is truly amazing.

SALLY BURGESS
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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PICTURES: Sally and Brian and their grandchildren: From left are Lincoln (10), Jagger (6), Ryker (nearly 3), Niko (8), and Jaedon (12).

On August 2nd I posted ARE YOU SETTLED? I shared about how God wants us to be settled in our homes. But forgive me, I forgot to send you Part 2, ARE YOU RESTED? So here it is for you today.

Did you know that God wants our homes to be places of rest? “Help! How do I manage that?” you reply! “How can I rest with screaming toddlers all around me and so much going on? I’m in a state of tension, not rest!”

I know life can be overwhelmingly busy for you when you have little ones, and even middling and big ones! But God has provided a place of rest for us even in the midst of our busy lives. Hebrews 4:9, 10 says: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

Do you notice that this Scripture speaks about God’s rest, not our rest? We can’t live in rest trying to find our own rest. Our rest is in Christ, as we abide in Him and He abides in us. Jesus Christ lives in rest. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He doesn’t ever get into a turmoil. Everything is under His control. And he lives in you and me! What more do we need?

Back in Bible days, God rested in the Holy of holies so that He could be near His people. Now He wants to rest in your heart and in your home, for God is a "dwelling God."

Psalm 132:13-14 says: "For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it." God desires a resting place. He wants to rest in your home, but He can't do this if you don't believe your home is your resting place.

Proverbs 24:15: "Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous, spoil not his resting place." Don’t let anything or anyone spoil your resting place. Don’t allow worries and anxieties to spoil your resting place. What are you worrying about when the God of rest who has everyone under His command dwells in you?

Isaiah 32:18: "My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places."

I believe it is important for us to find "rest" in our home and in our mothering. When you are settled and rested in it, you will be at peace. Of course, I don't mean you will live a life of ease with nothing to do but lie on the sofa and read books! Motherhood can be a hectic and demanding life. How could it be anything else when you are determining the future destiny of a nation? But in the midst of accomplishing all you must do, you can have a spirit of rest and peace, knowing that you are in the perfect will of God.

Many times, we don’t live in rest because we are unnecessarily busy. We are doing too much outside the home instead of being content to do what God has given us in the home. If we rush about here and there and are forever in the car taking our children to this and that, we can get weary and exhausted.

God holds the secret for us. He says in Hosea 11:11 (Knox): “IN THEIR OWN HOME, the Lord says, I will give them rest.” You will find rest in your home, not gadding about everywhere.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

We had been renting a home in a cul-de-sac, but I had always longed for a little more space for our children to play. That spring, some friends in the church approached us about buying their home on five acres. When we talked to them, we still owned a home in Idaho and didn’t want a second mortgage, so we turned them down. They came to us a second time and offered to rent us their home until we sold ours in Idaho. The rent would be the amount as we were paying for our cul-de-sac home. That seemed like an obvious open door and so we accepted and moved in the week before the twins were born!

Not only did they rent it to us, but they also sold it to us for the same price they bought it for two years prior, which was about $60k under market value!

About a month before the girls were born, the Lord answered our prayers in a major way. We had been praying about how to afford a larger vehicle since our eight-passenger van wouldn’t hold our entire family. We couldn’t afford a larger van because we owed money on our current van. One Sunday morning, an envelope was handed to me from an anonymous giver—an envelope full of cash--$7000! That was exactly what we had owed on our vehicle. We were able to pay our vehicle off and eventually get another that was able to seat our entire family.

After the girls were born, there were numerous things (car seats, high chairs, a larger vehicle, and many other miscellaneous things) that we needed for our growing family. As a family, we presented our list to the Lord every evening and watched Him fill EVERY need. It was truly miraculous! So much so, that a few months down the road another need came up and my oldest son said, “Just pray about it, Mom, the Lord always gives us what we need!” Ah, out of the mouths of babes! I figure if my children learn that God is our Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, they will have an amazing start to their own journeys as they leave the nest!

AMY WOODWARD
Lebanon, Oregon, USA
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Doug and Amy with their delightful family: Back row: Caleb (11), Doug, Amy, Isaiah (5 months), Matt (14), Aaron (9). Front row: Andrew (7), Abigail (2), Sarah (2), Anna (3), and Levi (5).

Every person who believes they are a Bible believing Christian should watch this DVD. Invite others to your home to watch it with you.

Available to you at the DISCOUNTED price of only $7.50! You can purchase two for the price of one to inform someone else as well.

Go to: http://tinyurl.com/TheBabyWar

As my husband and I started our marriage almost 20 years ago, I did not try to prevent any pregnancies. My husband was in the US Navy then and due to his job hazards and time apart, we hoped and prayed for a baby for five years before we had our first child.

Soon after our first child was born, my husband left the military and I started taking the pill. We barely made enough money to feed our one child, so with no prayer and no faith I took the pill until we were more financially stable and 4.5 years later, we had our second child.

My husband loved having babies and wanted one soon after the last one arrived. This time I “gave into” his desires sooner and we had our third child 2.5 years later. I honestly thought three would be all we could handle financially and emotionally. I grieved when I weaned our third child, our only daughter, knowing it would probably be my last baby to wean.

Up to this point, mind you, God had NEVER FAILED to provide what we needed and beyond, but still, I was a doubter. I had always known I didn’t want to have my tubes tied to prevent pregnancies, but I decided to get an IUD soon after our third child was born (with no care as to what my husband wanted or prayerful consideration).

Fast forward almost four years and we were still a family of three children. Then a copy of THE BABY WAR DVD ended up in my hand, thanks to a dear friend. I knew what the DVD discussed and for about a month, I fought the Holy Spirit about watching it. I finally gave in.

I bawled like a baby watching this DVD. Every word of it stirred my heart and I finally let the Holy Spirit lead. I repented and asked the Lord for His forgiveness for not putting our family truly in His hands.

I talked to my husband about my newly-found convictions and told him I wanted to get rid of the IUD as soon as possible, hoping he’d agree. He was thrilled! Not only that, we made a commitment together that we would never use hormonal birth control again. Especially knowing what I knew about the pill and IUD from watching THE BABY WAR, I couldn’t knowingly sin like that again.

Since then, we have been blessed with two more beautiful children and we are expecting another in October. This last Mother’s Day I cried thinking about how we could have stopped at just three! With every baby, especially these last three, God has provided ABOVE AND BEYOND!

We will soon have six children and God has taken care of so many big financial needs that come with raising a larger family. He has provided us with money to pay for each of the babies’ births, even with rising insurance costs. He provided a much larger vehicle for us where we all fit comfortably. He also provided my husband with a raise at his job whenever we've needed it most.

We are so thankful to God for showing us that His will is best and especially showing me that ALL children are a blessing from the Lord.

ANI WILSON
Jacksboro, Texas, USA
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Picture: Luke and Ani with their children: Ronin (10), Sullivan (1), Dane (15), Alice Starr (8), and Teddy (3) and new baby coming October 2018.

At 21 years of age Sophie was caught and executed. Our young people were all challenged by her passion and strength to stand against evil, even knowing she could be killed.

Oh, how we need to pray for a great revival amongst our young people. Most of our young people in colleges today are being propagandized and brainwashed by progressive and extreme socialist professors. They imbibe an ideology from the pit of hell. A conservative speaker is not even allowed to speak in most colleges today.

Let’s pray together for God to raise up Elijahs who will not fear the enemy and who will expose the evil and proclaim the truth. Let’s pray for a great turning back to God’s way.

Let’s pray for our own precious young people that they will be saved from a life of ease and apathy and will get a passion to seek after the truth, to contend for the truth, and to blaze the truth wherever God opens the doors.

The above picture is one of Sophie’s quotes. Here’s some more for you to read and share with your children:

“The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive.’ The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves Those who don’t take measure of their own strength for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature.

“What does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”

“One must have a tough mind, and a soft heart.”

“Laws change, conscience doesn’t.”

“I will cling to the rope God has thrown me in Jesus Christ even when my numb hands can no longer feel it.”

Let’s do two things: take your young people to this movie and pray for a mighty revival among the youth of America.

Blessings, Nancy Campbell

The only vehicle we had was a little four-door car. It carried us everywhere we needed to go, but there was no elbow room. Then God blessed us once again. We knew we were going to need another vehicle soon. As the time got closer to the arrival of our fourth child, we decided to be more proactive. We sat our little children down and explained to them that we needed another van so we were going to ask God to provide one for us. We all prayed and then waited to see what God would do.

Every summer we would go to a family camp a few hours from home. While we were there, Ben’s brother needed help with a construction project. Since that is what my husband does well he stayed and helped him out. His brother wanted to pay us something for his work and asked us if we would like a red eight-passenger van! It was perfect for us! It wasn’t new, but it was what we needed. And it was FREE!

Fast forward a few years and a few more babies. That red van was at maximum capacity after our sixth child was born. We loved that van. It served us well, but it would be too small for our family with number seven coming.
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We knew that God wasn’t about to stop taking care of us. He’s a good Father. We placed our trust in Him and knew that He would fill our need since He was the One who was giving us another baby!

It is an exciting life trusting God. We knew He was up to something, but we didn’t know what! While driving around the countryside we noticed a car repair lot with a big white van parked nearby. It obviously belonged to someone, but we turned in and had a look in the windows. It was a hotel shuttle van with a high roof, middle isle, and stair steps into the side door. *sigh* “Wouldn’t it be nice to find a van like that sometime? Wow. So nice!”

A month later my husband, Ben, saw it still sitting there so he went in to ask about it. Just that day the owner was frustrated with the van and told the mechanic to just get rid of it for him. Did he have an asking price? Ben inquired. Yes, he did. We bought our dream van at 20% of the value of the van!

Fast forward another few babies. I am now pregnant with our tenth child. When our new baby arrives in September we will have filled up our 12-passenger white van. It only took us 12 years to do it!

We are happily living our lives knowing that God will take care of all of us. Life is exciting!

JENNIFER TORKELSON
Corinth, Kentucky, USA
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Ben and Jennifer with their beautiful children: Stephen (12), Mary (11), David (9), Amy (8), John (7), Juliet (5), Bella (4), Daniel (3), Josiah (2) and new baby boy due in September.

I was also sad, because apart from the young people that we dragged along, there were no other young people in the audience! And yet this movie should be packed out with young people. Most of them do not even know the immediate history of our nation. They weren’t alive during the holocaust and have no thought about it. They have no idea which United States presidents brought in progressivism, socialism, and fascism. They live in a bubble of deception and have not yet suffered the consequences of extreme socialism.

But they need to be awakened. The nation belongs to the coming generation. To our young people. They will inherit the nation we give to them and which they as young people vote for themselves. Sadly, most of the young people in our high schools and colleges today are brainwashed and propagandized with progressivism and extreme socialism. They have no vestige of the real truth at all. They have no ideas of the kind of country they are voting for the future families.

Dear parents, I would urge you to go to this movie this week and PLEASE TAKE YOUR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH YOU. Don’t take No for an answer. Be the parent! While your children are still living under the protection and provision of your home, you dictate what happens, not them! Yes, it is a documentary, but it is packed with action and they will not be bored! (My husband said that it may have been more popular if they had called it, “Who are the Facists?” or “Is Donald Trump a Fascist?”)

Take your children and then discuss it with them later. Ask them something they remembered. What did they learn they didn’t know before? What affected them the most? Get them talking. Get them understanding the issues we face in this nation. Our young people must be knowledgeable. They must know the truth. They must know how to contend for the truth. And we are responsible to teach them to lead them to the truth.

If you are concerned about finance, got to a 4.00 or 5.00 pm session which is cheaper. And you may have to travel. This movie did not come to our local theater. We had to travel!

Once again, we need to take a stand. If this movie did not come to your theater, call the theater, ask for the manager, and tell them that you want it at your theater.

This movie can impact this nation in a huge way, or fizzle to nothing. It all depends on us. Do we really care about our nation, or not? We may say we care, but it’s mere words unless we do something--even sacrificing time, effort, and finance! But we must do it!

Love from Nancy Campbell

Therefore, I printed out 42 prayers that ask God to deal with his enemies. They are powerful prayers. You could pray one each day. Or preferably, because there are 42 prayers, you could pray six of them each day for a week, and start again the next week!

Here’s an example:
24. May his enemies FALL INTO THE PIT THEY ARE DIGGING FOR HIM (Psalm 35:7; 9:15; 7:15, 16; 57:6; 55:23; and Jeremiah 18:19-23).

You can print them off and use them with your family too.

If you are interested, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I’ll be happy to forward them to you.

Blessings, Nancy

Dear mother, please be encouraged. You are right where God wants you to be. You have the highest career in the nation as you train the next generation; as you make a stable, loving, peaceful home for your children; as you daily fill them with God's Word; and as you prepare them for the destiny for which God has brought them into the world.

And there's more. Your career is an eternal one. You came naked into this world and naked you will go out, not taking anything with you, except your redeemed soul and the redeemed souls of your children, which are eternal. Others may pour their lives into careers outside the home which will all be left behind. You are pouring your life into lives that will live forever. You are doing an eternal work.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians telling them: "Therefore, my beloved brethren be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Motherhood is the "work of the Lord." It is God ordained. God has commissioned us for this task. Yes, I’ll admit, it is work. It's consistent work. It's hard work. It's never-giving-up work. But it will never be in vain. Read the promise again: "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

God also tells us that he wants us to be “steadfast” in our calling. This word means “to be settled." Other translations say: “strong in purpose,” “stand firm and steady,” and “stand your ground.”

The dictionary meaning for "settled" is to be "placed, established, fixed, composed, and adjusted." Not tossed to and fro and hankering after another lifestyle. You've come to terms with God and yourself, knowing that this is the life for which you were born. You know you are in the perfect will of God.

You understand there is more to motherhood than just loving your children. You actually LOVE motherhood. Every mother loves her children, but when you love the career of mothering, it makes all the difference in the world. Psalm 128:3 (TLB) is your testimony: "Your wife shall be contented in your home."

Be settled in your great calling today.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

The only way we can keep a soft attitude is by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Our fleshly nature gets offended, hurt, bitter, and then hard. We must guard against these evils.

Instead, we must yield to the Holy Spirit to flood our hearts with His forgiveness and love. But what do you do when your love flies out the window and there is none left? You still have God’s love—His agape love that loves in the face opposition and hatred.

Romans 5:5 says: “The love of God is shed abroad (poured into) our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Offense leads to bitterness, bitterness leads to hardness, and hardness leads to divorce.

Stop the downward path to destruction now. Dear lovely wife, if you are offended by your husband, seek to get right. Forgive—there is no other option. Unforgiveness not only hurts your husband, but YOU, and your family. Love him with God’s love.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Love to you today,

Nancy Campbell

Meanwhile, hanging over our heads was the possibility that my husband could lose his job and thus we would lose our visa status. We had been renting a very small three-bedroom house. Absolutely nothing in our circumstances even suggested we could, should, or would buy a home.

We had previously worked with a realtor, and seemingly out of the blue, he contacted us to show us our “perfect house.” Everything we had on our wish list. I opted not to go to see the house. What was the point? Plus, I was very ill at the time.

Very excitedly, my husband called me. He said I HAD to go see the house. I dragged myself out and went. Pulling into the driveway I exchanged a look with my eldest daughter (who was a mere 15 years old at the time). We immediately could see its great potential. Five bedrooms, ample bathrooms, and a wonderful, big backyard. This was indeed OUR Family Home! It truly was perfect.

Against every human reason in the world we bought that house. Now what? If we lost our visa status we would own a home we would have to leave. But God! Don’t you love it when the Bible says, “but God”?

Because He is so loving and caring He showed us we had nothing to worry or be anxious for. My husband ended up being “acquired as intellectual property” when the startup was purchased by non-other than Microsoft. Even in our wildest dreams we couldn’t have imagined that the LORD would show Himself so faithful.

Because of that acquisition, God provided abundantly for our family as it grew to include four more children.

DAWN KERR
Edmonds, Washington, USA
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Picture: Dawn and Clifton’s family: Candice married to Tim who have two daughters--Abigail (8) and Lilian (4), Vanessa (29), Natasha (26), Gabriel (21), Nathaniel (19), Tabitha (17), Josiah (16), Adam (14), Micah (12), and Lucas (11).