Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

"Okay, children, come for your surprise!" Although it is only simple, a little surprise and a little food in their stomachs will make a huge difference.

2. CHILDREN LOVE STORIES

"Come children, let's read a story." Gather the children all around you, cuddle them up tight, and read some nursery rhymes or stories to them. I found story time never failed to calm my children. Can you guess that we had story time quite frequently throughout the day? Have you purchased “Nanny’s Nursery Rhymes”? You’ll love to read these to your children: http://tinyurl.com/NannysNurseryRhymes

3. CHILDREN LOVE TO GET OUTSIDE

"Children, let's go outside for a little walk." Take them out to look at the birds, the butterflies, or any insects, lizards, or salamanders you can find. Ten to fifteen minutes or more outside enables them to let off steam, changes their behavior, and they'll come inside with refreshed spirits.

4. CHILDREN NEED SLEEP

Sometimes when a child, or all the children, are bouncing off the walls, we forget that they may be tired and no longer know how to control themselves. Perhaps they just need a nap!

With most of these little alternatives, you have to stop what you are doing! That's the secret. Children become more difficult to handle when you are engrossed in what you are doing. Stop and spend a little time with them. It makes all the difference.

Have a great day.

Nancy Campbell

It's not enough to diligently teach and train our children. We must live our God-fearing, God-loving, daily God-experiencing lives before them. More than anything else, they will emulate our lifestyle.

Why did God choose Timothy to be a vessel to impact many lives? Of course, we know that Paul chose him, but God was behind that choice. We find the reason in 2 Timothy 1:5, 6 (ESV) when Paul writes to Timothy: "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that DWELT first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well."

Timothy grew up seeing faith first hand. Yes, his mother and grandmother taught him the Holy Scriptures from the time he was a babe (2 Timothy 3:14, 15), but he also saw it revealed in their lives. It wasn't a faith that was only in their head. It DWELT in them and therefore affected every word and deed of their lives.

The New Living Translation says: "The faith that first FILLED your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice." He couldn't help but notice it filling their lives. Do your children see your faith FILLING you and overflowing into everything you say and do? This is what will impact their lives more than anything else. And think of how many lives were reached for Christ through Timothy.

Are you raising children ready for God to use? God cannot use everyone. Only those who are trained and ready! What a God-anointed task we have as mothers.

Blessings to you today as you fulfill your divine mission,

Nancy Campbell

Painting: Moeder en dochter, Léon Augustin Lhermitte.

Arthur W. Pink comments on God's creation of man: "Not both males or both females, but one male and one female; and to make the design of this unmistakably plain God says, "Be fruitful and multiply." For this reason marriage is called "matrimony," which signifies motherage because it results in virgins becoming mothers."

We cannot deviate from God's plan except to our detriment and destruction (Romans 1:20-32)..

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Painting: The Homecoming by Jennie Brownscombe, American 1850-1936.

"Did you sleep well last night?
Incorrect: "Yes."
Correct: "Yes, thank you, Mommy." (It is important to teach your children to address the person's name.)

At the table. "Would you like some more dessert?"
Incorrect: "Yes."
Correct: "Yes, thank you, Mommy." Or, "Yes, thank you, Mrs. Smith."
Correct: "No thank you, Mrs. Smith. I am well satisfied." Or: "No thank you, Mommy. But it was very delicious."

When introducing yourself to someone.
Incorrect: "Hi."
Correct: "Hello. My name is Caleb Rogers. It's very nice to meet you." And shake hands firmly.

To answer with one syllable and not address the person who is asking the question, is very rude. Nor does it show respect to the person asking the question. And yet I find that not only children, but many older young people answer this way. They have never been taught basic etiquette.

Do some practice runs with your children each day so that it becomes the habit of their lives.

Bless you today.

Nancy Campbell

Picture from Mrs. McVeigh’s Manners

"How do I get time to read the Bible when I have a new baby and little ones all around me?" you ask. In this season of your life you may not have time to set aside personal times, but it's amazing what you can fit in as you make it your aim.

Keep a Bible in the bathroom to read a verse or two throughout the day. Keep a Bible in the spot where you nurse your baby. Keep a Bible at your windowsill where you prepare the meals and do dishes. Open it at Psalms or Proverbs. You can look up every now and then and read words that will strengthen and calm your soul.

What about your children? Are they increasing in the knowledge of God each day? This won't happen either without your imparting it into their lives. Like you, my life is filled from morning 'til night. That's why I am so grateful for our morning and evening Devotions where we all sit together as a family to listen to my husband read God's Word. If we didn't make time for these times, we would miss out on so much of what God wants to speak to us. It's how we grow and increase in the Lord--little by little, and day by day.

Proverbs 4:18: "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth MORE AND MORE unto the perfect day."

Don’t miss out. Make these little moments happen for you personally, and for your children.

Love from Nancy Campbell

It's not enough to have a casual understanding of the Bible and what God says to us. We must dig in. We must study. We must learn to rightly divide the Word. This takes being a Berean. The Bereans didn't gullibly receive everything they heard. They "searched the Scriptures daily" to check out if the things Paul was saying to them were true (Acts 17:11).

You may have other degrees, or you may not have any--it doesn't really matter. What matters is that mothers have a degree in correctly teaching God's truth to their children. We can't give a cloudy message. We can't be duped by a humanistic worldview. We can't tell them what we think God says. We must know what God says so that we pass onto our children a biblical worldview. We must give a "certain sound" (1 Corinthians 14:8).

The word "searched" is "anakrino" and means "to scrutinize, investigate, interrogate, question, discern, examine, and judge." That's more than a casual knowledge, isn't it?

This degree is worth working on. And start your children working on it now. It will be the best degree they will ever get. In fact, you can work on it together.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Can you imagine how many meals we must cook and prepare in a lifetime as a mother? We couldn’t count. Whether you love it or not, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of loving it. What a terrible way to live—to be miserable every time you prepare another meal! We may as well get on the band wagon and do it with all our might. Enjoy it. See it as a creative project. And make every meal a love affair.

I love to prepare meals for my family, even though it takes a big chunk out of every day. I love it because not only do I get to eat the lovely meal I prepare, but I know I am going to bless everyone who sits around my table. I like to make food they will enjoy. I like to sit down to a table that is set beautifully, with a tablecloth and attractively prepared food. I love the fact that we will relax, talk together, and then enjoy a good feed from God’s Word for our souls and spirit before we leave the table.

Shall I tell you what I cooked the last two nights?

MENU FOR MONDAY NIGHT
That sounds very organized, doesn’t it? But I don’t write a menu. Nor do I prepare a menu for the week. I have been preparing meals for so many years that I can get up to the kitchen and decide what I am going to do.

I usually try to get into the kitchen by about 5.00 pm and we usually don’t sit down until 6.30 am. So, meal preparation takes time. I’ve also got to go out to the garden to gather my harvest.

1. LONG BEANS from my GARDEN. This year I planted a packet of beans (and didn’t really know what they were). I was pleasantly surprised to see these wonderful long beans growing. I let one grow and it measured 2’ 8”! How’s that for a bean? And they have no strings and are so delicious. I steamed them and added butter at the end.

2. SWEET POTATO LEAVES from my GARDEN. Did you know you can eat the sweet potato leaves? I didn’t know until our Liberian children came to live with us. We always grow sweet potatoes to eat the harvest, but now we also use the leaves during the year. I cook onions, garlic, jalapeño, and tomatoes (out of my GARDEN) together. Then add the sweet potato leaves which I whiz up in the food processor. I cook them all in LOADS of red palm oil, adding Nutritional Yeast at the end. They are so delicious. One of my favorite dishes.

3. PORTABELLA MUSHROOMS. I pre-cooked the mushrooms and then filled them with hot salsa and grated cheese and grilled them in the oven. Delicious.

4. SWEET RED PEPPERS sliced, from my GARDEN, which we ate with HUMMUS and PESTO. I picked loads of fresh basil from my GARDEN. What joy. I make my pesto by throwing some nuts in the food processor (either almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts). Then a few cloves of garlic, followed by Parmesan cheese. I then add loads of basil with olive oil to get the right consistency.

5. GREEN SALAD.

MENU FOR TUESDAY NIGHT
1. EGG PLANT LASAGNA. I always make my lasagna with egg plant as I don’t like the starchy lasagna noodles. I prepared a sauce of ground venison (we eat more venison than any other meat as that is what we have in the freezer) and a tomato sauce of my own making. I place the meat sauce in the casserole dish, add the sliced egg plant (one of my favorite vegetables), a layer of cream sauce with eggs and cottage cheese and flavorings, then cheese, and then do each layer again with cheese on top.

2. MASHED FOTATOES (TRIM HEALTHY MAMA). They are made with cauliflower of course. I steam the cauliflower and then whiz it up in the food processor. Don’t you love it with lots of butter and salt and pepper? Nicer than mashed potatoes.

3. SLICED MUSHROOMS sautéed.

4. And same as last night, GREEN SALAD, HUMMUS, PESTO, and SLICED SWEET RED POTATOES.

What are you making for supper tonight?

Or would you like to come to my place for supper? I’ve yet to decide what I’ll do for tonight

Love from Nancy

P.S. I forgot to take a picture of either of these meals. This picture is of my sweet potato leaves growing in the garden.

A nation is made up of families and will only be righteous when we have righteous families. If fathers and mothers do not keep God's truths alive in their families, the nation gradually loses the truth and slowly succumbs to deception. And when God's truth departs from the nation, darkness, depravity, and destruction begin. Where do you think we are in our nation today?

Isaiah 59:14, 15 (NLT): "Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed. Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked."

But we never give up hope. God will revive and restore us as we turn back to him. It starts with me. With my family. With your family. And as each family begins to seek after God's truth in His Word, impart it daily to their families, and seek to live it out, we can restore righteousness in the nation.

All it takes is godly families who will uncompromisingly hold on to the truth.

Will you and your family begin the restoration?

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

It’s time for us to lift up our banners. For too long we have allowed our banners of truth to drag in the dust. We have been silent while the Deceiver has used his operatives to brandish his deception across our nation—

• In the media (we are bombarded with more fake news than ever in the history of the nation).

• In our education system (our college students are brainwashed with extreme socialism and alternative lifestyles).

• And even in the church (where now even Christian couples often limit their families to two children and God’s mighty home army have left their post in droves).

We’ve got to live the truth. Speak the truth. And wave the banner of truth. This is the picture God paints of the bride of Christ in Solomon 6:10: “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and TERRIBLE (AWESOME) AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS?”

Psalm 20:5: “In the name of our God we will set up our banners.,”

Psalm 60:4 says (NET): “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth.”

The NET translation says: “You have given your loyal followers a RALLYING FLAG, so that they might seek safety from the bow.”

Let’s rally to the truth, God’s word which is the banner of truth. Let’s not lower it to half mast, but wave it high. Speak it out at every opportunity. Write it to the world. You are on Facebook if you are reading this post. Don’t waste time on Facebook but use it to herald the banner of God’s truth.

No wonder Psalm 119:48 says: “My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.” We lift up our hands in awe of God’s Word, and we also lift it up for the world to know.

We are never ashamed of the banner of God’s truth.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Therefore, his brothers, Aaron and Hur, came and stood beside him and held up his hands. While they continued to hold up his hands they won the victory over the Amalekites.

We have “Amalekites,” haters of God and all that is pro-life, pro-constitutional, and righteous in our land. When Trump came to the presidency, I felt such a burden to raise my as we pray for him each day. I feel like Aaron and Hur who held up the hands of Moses. It’s only as we pray for our president that we can expect victory. We must hold up his hands. He cannot do it on his own. He is a mere man. It’s not my might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6).

Can you just imagine what could happen in our nation if every God-fearing family prayed for President Trump and our nation every day? We would see mighty victories. We would see the down fall of the “Amalekites.” These great miracles can only happen by prayer.

So, why don’t we pray? Don’t we want God to move? Don’t we want righteousness exalted in this nation? Don’t’ we want our college students to be saved from the deception of extreme socialism and turned back to the truth and the original intention for our nation? Don’t we want a great revival of people turning back to God?

Let’s encourage one another in this greatest of all ministries.

Be encouraged.

Nancy Campbell

P.S. In our home, we have nine different PRAYER BOXES We use our Family Prayer Box each time and choose one other box such as our Israel Prayer Box, Persecuted Christian Prayer Box, Nation Changing Prayer Box, Salvation and Restoration Prayer Box, etc. We find these a great help in prayer.

Also, I have prepared a list of prayers that David prayed against his enemies. These are biblical prayers that you can pray against the enemies of this nation and the enemies of Donald Trump as they seek to make traps for him. 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 send them to you.

God wants us to be a LIFTING UP and an UPLIFTING people, in our daily walk and in our homes. Yesterday we talked about lifting our eyes off our problems and lifting them up to Jesus.

Let’s look at more ways today:

GOD WANTS US TO LIFT UP OUR SOULS
Our souls are our inner being—our breath, souls, spirits, and minds—everything within us.

David said these words with enemies coming after him: “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul” (Psalm 25:1). He confesses these words again in Psalm 86:4 and 143:8, 9. Do you daily lift your soul to the Lord? And continually throughout the day?

What about family times? Do you encourage your children to lift their souls to God as you pray together as a family each morning and evening?

God wants us to lift up our heads too. He reminds us that He is “the LIFTER UP OF MY HEAD” (Psalm 3:3). He wants us to also “look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth night” (Luke 21:28).

GOD WANTS US TO LIFT UP OUR HANDS

WHEN PRAISING AND WORSHIPPING GOD
1 Kings 8:22: “And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: And he said, LORD God, of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath . . .” (2 Chronicles 6:12).

Psalm 63:4: “Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.”

Encourage your children, while they are young, to raise their hands as they worship God. Children are not inhibited as adults and it’s the best time to get them into the habit . It should be a habit of their lives and something they should never be embarrassed about.

WHEN PRAYING, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE HAVE GREAT NEED OF GOD
Psalm 88:9: “Mine eye mourned by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.”

Psalm 143:6: “I stretched forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.” Read also Psalm 28:1-3 and 86:1-4.

Lamentations 2:19: “Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street,”

Lamentations 3:41: “Let us lift up our heart WITH OUR HANDS unto God in the heavens.”

It’s not enough to pray with our heart. God wants us to lift up our hands too. I mostly lift up my hands in prayer. When I lift up my hands I show to God that my heart is stretched out toward Him. I find that I pray far more effectually with my heart and soul when I reach forth my hands to God. Bodily actions affect our inner being. Try it.

1 Timothy 2;8: “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”

WHEN BLESSING OTHERS
Leviticus 9:22: “And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people and blessed them.”
“
1 Kings 8:54: “And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD from kneeling of his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying . . .” Read also 2 Samuel 6:7-20.

Ezra 8:6: “And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And ALL THE PEOPLE answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands . . .”

Luke 24:50: “And Jesus led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.”

And don’t you love this Scripture in Mark 10:16: “And Jesus took them (the little children) up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” The TPT translation says “Then he embraced (caressed) each child, and laying his hands on them, he lovingly blessed each one.” Read also Luke 18:15, 16.

Of course, we encourage and bless our children. But it is also important to place our hands upon them and bless them. God wants our hands to be involved in blessing.

More tomorrow.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Dear ladies, where are your eyes today? Your physical eyes and the eyes of your heart? Are you looking at all you must accomplish today? Are you looking at your problems and dwelling on them?

Can I encourage you to change the direction of your eyes? When you look down, when you look at your problems, and you look at the mess around you, life seems overwhelming. But this is not the right place for your eyes. Lift your eyes, dear mother. Look up to Jesus. It’s amazing what happens when you look to Him. Your circumstances may not change, but your attitude changes. Instead of living under your problems you will live above them!

During scorning and contempt from people, the Psalmist confessed: “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes” (Psalm 123:1). He didn’t get into depression because everyone was against him. He found his victory in putting His eyes upon the Lord.

I think of the tragedy in David’s life when he and his army came back from battle to find their city of Ziklag burned to the ground. And worse—all their wives and children taken captive! The people wept until they had no more power to weep. They wanted to stone David they were so grieved. David was at his wit’s end, but then he “encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:6).

Before this, David didn’t know what to do. But when he lifted his eyes to the Lord instead of the devastation around him, God showed him what to do. He gave him a plan and with God’s help they were able to rescue every wife and every child.

When your eyes are fixed on your problem you can’t even think straight, let alone know what to do. But when you lift your eyes to the Lord, trust Him, and rest in Him, He can then reveal to you His plan. And He will give you His peace.

Don’t you love 2 Corinthians 4:16-18? “For which because we faint not; but though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a FAR MORE EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY: while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Do you notice God gives five adjectives to describe the glory that He works in us as we go through our difficulties?

Hebrews 12:2: “LOOKING UNTO JESUS the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the same, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Psalm 34:5: “They looked unto him, and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.”

Be encouraged today,

Nancy Campbell

Read these Scriptures to be encouraged today: Palm 121:1; Proverbs 3:5, 6; Isaiah 40:26, 29-31; Luke 21:28; Philippians 3:14; and Hebrews 12:1, 2.

Blessings come when we open our eyes to the Lord:
The Spirit of God came upon Balaam when he lifted his eyes (Numbers 24:2).
God revealed visions to Daniel when he lifted his eyes (Daniel 8:3 and 10:5).
When Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant, he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire protecting them (2 Kings 6:17).

It’s easier to give up your contest with God. It takes too much energy. It is much easier to yield to His will and trust Him in whatever you are going through. Surrender. Lie on His breast and let Him quiet your spirit just as a babe is quieted at his mother's breast.

Although you cannot see it, God is working everything out for good. And no matter what you have suffered, God is able to heal your broken heart. He is the great Healer and Restorer.

You may even be struggling at accepting motherhood. You keep feeling pulled to other things outside your home. Trust God, dear mother. You are in the perfect will of God as you mother and nurture the precious children God has given to you. Don’t resist it. Embrace it with all your heart.

I love the words of Hannah Hurnard:
In acceptance lieth peace,
O my heart be still;
Let thy restless worries cease
And accept His will.
Though this test be not thy choice,
It is His—therefore rejoice.
He waits for you to come and rest in His love.

Love from Nancy Campbell

You too are in a great building program—the biggest building project of the nation, the building and strengthening of your family! Building takes work. It doesn't just happen. You constantly face new challenges and difficulties. But dear mother, please be encouraged. God is with you! In fact, the Lord of hosts is with you, the God of the armies of heaven who fights on your behalf.

He encourages you today. "Rise up, be strong, and work!"

"Ouch! Do I have to work?" Yes, God doesn't give you His strength to sit on the couch and look at the mess around you. He doesn't give you His strength to sit and watch TV. He gives you His divine strength to enable you to work and to accomplish this great task of mothering and managing your home that He has given you.

When your strength runs out, He gives you His strength.

You can do it this task with His strength, because He is with you.

Have a wonderful day,

Nancy Campbell

The wicks speak of our humanity. As we gather each morning and evening for Family Devotions, to come into God's presence as a family, He reveals to us the things that grieve His Holy Spirit and that we need to trim off our lives--the dead, burnt works of the flesh that smoke everyone out in the home! But trimmed wicks are not enough. We have to be filled again with the Holy Spirit, which is represented by the holy anointing oil.

The lampstand was made of pure beaten gold, speaking of the divinity of Christ. We have no light of ourselves. We have no righteousness of our own. It is only His holiness and His light shining through us that gives hope to the lost, light to the darkened and deceived, and comfort of to the troubled and broken-hearted.

Can we be golden lampstand families in this dark world? Let’s commit ourselves to attending to our lampstands every morning and evening.

Love from Nancy Campbell

And did you know? It is the same word the Bible uses about childbearing. 1 Timothy 2:15 says that women "will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, and with self-control."

Many women do not want to heed to this truth and consequently miss out on the blessings. As we embrace childbearing, for which God created us, we are saved physically, emotionally, and spiritually--and we are saved from deception.

To embrace childbearing is not a negative to you as a woman. It is your glory. And God promises you will be saved, delivered, protected, healed, and preserved. I love the word "preserved," don't you? And you will be made whole.

Why do we think our way is better than God’s way?

Love from Nancy Campbell

This is why God is so emphatic about training our children to obey. It is not only for their benefit; they will live a happier life and ultimately a longer life. It is not only for our benefit; we will also live happier and more restful lives. But it is for God. He wants children who will obey Him. We train our children to obey us so obedience becomes a habit of their lives and they will be ready to obey God when they hear His voice speaking to them.

I have always been challenged by the words from Surveying the Evidence, where the authors state: “If atheism is not normal, why do certain people become unbelievers? First of all, it is well known that the seeds of atheism can be planted early in life. One of the most dangerous contributions a parent can make toward the spiritual delinquency of his child is a failure to instill within him a wholesome respect for authority. If the parent neglects to set the proper example as an authority figure, or refuses to exercise discipline with love, he might well be rejected as an authority-figure by his child, and thus, by transference, the child ultimately may come to disdain all authority, including the Supreme Authority, God.”

The greatest aim of parenting is preparing our children to have the right attitude to God—to love Him with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength; but also to fear Him, honor Him, and obey Him. If they do not have the right attitude to their parents, they won't know how to relate to God.

May God help us to raise our children for Him!

Blessings from Nancy Campbell