I have in my library the wonderful classic, "The Keeper of the Bees" by Gene Stratton Porter. One of my Above Rubies girls began to read it this week and read us a quote at breakfast time. I'll share it with you, too.

"He had not the smallest obligation to the woman before him, other than the obligation that any man owes all women to love them honestly, to care for them gently, to respect their bodies as the vessels through which the world must be populated. That was a thing that had been hammered into him from the hour that he was old enough even remotely to understand its meaning. He must always take care of the women. He must always be polite to the women. He must always be kind to them. They must be taken care of because they were to make homes; they were to mother little children. They must be respected. They were the vessels that contained the seeds of life. From their loins must come the presidents and the senators, the governors and the business men, the captains and the sailors and the soldiers and the tillers of the soil and the ministers who filled the pulpits and the teachers who moulded the minds of youth in our schools."

Did you love this? Nancy

No wonder we need to fill our hearts with God's Word. It's filled with principles for our success (Joshua 1:8). Here's one secret for you and your children today. "Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of unknown men" (Proverbs 22:29 HCSB). The word "skilful" in the Hebrew also means "quickly, ready." It comes from "mahar" meaning, "to be hasty, hurry, speedily, swiftly."

Whatever gift God has given to us, or to our children, we must not only learn to be diligent and skilful in that gift, but to be eager and ready to use it whenever the opportunity arises. It is easy to dream about doing something, but that doesn't get it done. We have to hasten to do it. I am sad when people hold back in sharing the gift God has given them. I love it when people respond immediately.

We must train our children from the beginning to be "ready" to share their gifts and abilities. They should not only do it when they are in the mood to do it, but as the Bible says to "be instant in season, out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). We must train our children to obey us immediately, not lazily and in their own time.

Tell your children you are watching out for those who will obey the most speedily or who will respond immediately to help you or someone else. Reward those children.

A child who gets into the habit of running to obey or help someone is preparing for success. They are training for a future life of standing in the presence of "kings." God's Word does not come back to Him void. I am now in my seventies and yet am amazed when many times a young person will quite happily sit in their chair and watch me go downstairs to retrieve something. (Of course I don't mind because it's another opportunity for me for exercise while they stagnate!) Now and then one will say, "I'll get it for you" and go immediately. That's the attitude that will make way for great things for that person.

Success doesn't suddenly happen. We train our children for success with training their attitudes NOW--a most important habit is teaching them to RUN SWIFTLY to obey, to accomplish a task, to help someone, or to bless someone with their gift.

Love from Nancy Campbell

“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:).

Dear sweet mother, why do you cry?
Don’t you know that your God is nigh?
He is closer to you than your very breath,
He will never forsake you, not even in death.

He created you for His joy and pleasure
And has chosen you as a special treasure.
He has graven your name on His very own palm,
He’ll come to your aid with His mighty right arm.

He is your Source, He will fill your cup,
When you are down, He will lift you up.
You don’t have to stay sad, for He is your Joy,
He’ll help you conquer those things that annoy.

God has given you children, which are your glory
To enrich your life and help write your story.
You’re in God’s perfect will, this is your calling,
He’ll help you each day and keep you from falling.

You can’t do it alone, your strength is weak,
Trust in the Lord and things won’t seem so bleak.
Look to the Lord, not the problems you face,
You’ll be amazed the way He gives you His grace.

A joyful mother is what He wants you to be,
Filling your home with gladness and glee,
Counting your blessings and praising the Lord
For His daily mercies and love out-poured.

~ Nancy Campbell

Dear Ladies, You may have missed some of the testimonies on the thread of the post, DARE WE ARGUE WITH GOD. Therefore, I will post some of them here for you to encourage you. You will love Donna's testimony of conceiving AFTER WAITING FOR 18 YEARS! Nancy

Donna Marsingale: I got pregnant shortly after I got married. Listened to everyone around me and went on the pill shortly after he was born. A couple of years later, God convicted us to leave it in His hands. I came off the pill and expected to get pregnant right away. A year went by, two, five, ten, fifteen. Every month, the heartache of watching others get pregnant so easily and then listen to them complain about their one or two children. I wanted a houseful! I took test after test, crying out to God. I spoke to family and friends that stopped having children after 1 or 2 because they were a burden, trying to get them to seek God in this matter. After trying almost 18 years, I finally just told God that I was giving it to Him. If He wanted me to only have one, then I would accept His decision. I am due any day now with my second child. God is so good. My family thinks I'm crazy, having a child at 40. But, I've told them that we will still let God decide. If He wants to send more, my heart will rejoice and gladly welcome them. If this is it, then I thank Him for allowing me this honor.

Melissa Horton: I stand in a position of having had the tubal, and living in regret ever since. If only we had the funds to reverse it, we would! I'd rather have had FOUR more babies in the past four years than to deal with the complications in my body from the procedure taking away the opportunity for blessings from the Lord. I have prayed MANY times for the Lord to work a miracle and "undo" the tubal. If the Lord had said, "One thousand dollar bills are a blessing from the Lord", would we so easily say, "nah, I'll pass on another." or "I have one already, and that is ENOUGH." Or would we cry over being blessed with our 7th one-thousand dollar bill? No. But children have been turned into a burden by society, and even obstetricians who make a living from us having reproductive health and more babies encourage cesareans, which, in the long-run, mean fewer children due to complications (such as scar tissue build up) that arise from having them. Oh, how I wish I could reverse my tubal while I'm still young.

Rachel Kate Parish: We had a vasectomy after 2 babies & thought it was 100% the right choice! I'm now looking at our little miracle vasectomy reversal baby sleeping next to me. Hard to explain, but a few years after the vasectomy I became somewhat depressed & didn't really know what my purpose was anymore. Long story short I feel like this baby has healed me in a way! I try to tell people out story but they don't really get it. I didn't either at one time. Not until I realized what a terrible mistake we made (my husband too!) We were just lucky enough that the reversal worked... life without this new little guy seems unimaginable!

Tania Marie: I've had a tubal reversal this summer. I regretted my ligation within 1 year. The guilt I felt taking something into my own hands was unbearable. This helped me realize all forms of birth control is not God's will. I realized that I have no right taking control of something that is not mine. My body is not my own. I was bought at a price and I needed to ask God's permission prior to altering my body, which is really His body. This is something I thought I had God's ok on, but how could He ever be ok with something that limits His power? Birth control should be leaving it up to God's control. When I came to Jesus, I surrendered to Him* (the * is there because I surrendered every part of my life except one--my womb). True obedience requires no asterisks. Now I surrender all to Him. Please keep us in prayer that we would be able to conceive a healthy baby.

Chris Beth Biggerstaff: I am the oldest child of 11. I love having my wonderful siblings and I can't hardly remember life without any one of them. A couple of years ago my mom had a miscarriage around 12 weeks. When the placenta didn't detach she almost bled out. After rushing to the ER, an emergency DNC was done. She came home the next day! But it really scared my parents. They began to re-evaluate where they stood and through it all we have all come away more convinced that preventing life is wrong! God is trustworthy in all areas of life! Even though it was a hard time in our lives I'm thankful for the deep conviction it brought to my life. I said that's what I believed but now I know it is. I look forward to seeing what God does in my life and the lives of my family!

Dear mother, you are in the most power-packed and influential career in the nation.

When you get up each morning, get dressed accordingly. Don't wander out in your bathrobe--you can't work in your bathrobe. Get dressed and ready for your great job for the day.

Not only put on your clothes, but put on the right attitude. Start the day confessing, "I love being a mother. I am in the greatest career in the nation. The children and I are going to have a great day today."

Now you are dressed and have the right attitude and confession, you're ready to go!

Love from Nancy Campbell

Does God's Word challenge you as it does me? Romans 9:20 (NLT) says, "Who are you, a mere human being to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, 'Why have you made me like this?'"

God's creation of our bodies is perfect, yet it seems that man often thinks he knows better than God. Our great Creator blessed us with a womb to conceive and bring forth children. And yet many women hardly want to acknowledge they have a womb. If they do, they take action to make sure that it cannot function as God intended. Men also stop the function of their fertility to their own detriment.

Many think that by having a tubal ligation or vasectomy they are saving their lives. The opposite is the case. When we try to save our lives we lose them. When we lose our lives for Christ's sake, we find them (Mark 8:35). Our own way leads to destruction; God's way always leads to life and blessing. When will we learn that God's way is perfect and for our blessing and good?

Read these Scriptures that also address this subject: Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; 64:8; Jeremiah 18:6; and Acts 5:39.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

One step thou seest--then go forward boldly,
One step is far enough for faith to see;
Take that, and thy next duty shall be told thee,
For step by step thy Lord is leading thee."

~ F. J. Exley

Proverbs 18:21 (NLT) says, "Those who love to talk will experience the consequences, for the tongue can kill or nourish life." I am always challenged by Proverbs 10:19: "In the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise." Or as the New Living Translation says, "Don't talk too much, for it fosters sin. Be sensible and turn off the flow!"

May God temper our lips by the power of His Holy Spirit. When we open our mouth, may we only speak words of life.

Love from NANCY

"Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:8, 9).

Recently I asked my 14 year old granddaughter what she would do if she unexpectedly saw anything sinister on her iPad. She immediately responded, "Nana, I would VOMIT!" This should be the attitude of our children toward evil.

Mothers are born to teach. We inherently begin teaching our children from the moment they are born. We the best teachers for our children. We teach them everything about life. We teach them God's words and His ways.

Parents are the primary teachers of their children before anyone else, even pastors and Sunday School teachers (Deuteronomy 4:9; 11:18-21: 6:6-8; and Proverbs 6:20-24). However, in the Old Testament the priests were also commanded to teach the people and there was one thing that God specifically wanted them to teach. I believe God wants us to be very concerned about this truth also. Ezekiel 44:23 says, "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." Read also Ezekiel 22:26 and Jeremiah 15:19.

On the whole, we as the people of God have become impotent and anemic. Instead of invading the nation with God's righteousness and truth, we are being overpowered with humanism, feminism, the gay agenda, and more and more evil. One of the reasons for this is that the buzz word in the world, and now in the church, is tolerance.

We cannot influence the world for righteousness while we have a tolerant attitude. We are commanded to expose and reprove all evil. We are to hate evil and love righteousness. This must be our attitude which we pass on to our children. We must TEACH them the DIFFERENCE between evil and righteousness. Between the holy and the profane. There's no middle of the road. No tolerating of what God says is evil and an abomination. We either stand with God or we stand with the devil.

Let's raise God-loving, evil-hating children who love people, but who will not tolerate for a moment what God hates.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Proverbs 19:8 says, "He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul." I love my soul when I nourish it with wisdom from God's Word. I love the souls of my children when I nourish them with God's Word.

Let's pray, "Oh Father, I don't want my soul to be shallow. I want it to be satiated and filled with wisdom from your Word and the revelation of the Holy Spirit. I want to be a filler of my children's souls, too. Please save me from neglecting my own soul and the souls of my children. I can love their personalities and their chubby little bodies and yet abandon their souls and their spirits. Please prick me in my heart when I am prone to do this. I don't want them to only have healthy bodies, and yet starved spirits. I want them to grow strong and mighty in the Lord. Amen."

Luke 1:80 and 2:40 speaks about the childhood of Jesus: "And the child grew, and WAXED STRONG IN SPIRIT, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." May this be the testimony of our children, too.

Blessings from Nancy

Family (marriage between one man and one woman and the blessing of children) is God's divine plan for mankind. And God does not have an alternative! Any other alternative only ends in destruction. Family is the first institution God established--before church and before government.

Let's do everything in our power to strengthen our families. Eradicate everything in your schedule that weakens and fragments your family life. Build upon everything that strengthens your family. Don't give up the authority and power God has given to you as parents. This is what Satan, the destroyer of families, wants you to do. Don't give him an inch. If you give him one tiny inch, he'll take a mile. Close up all the holes and breeches in the wall as you hedge your family about with prayer. Stand guard against every inroad of the enemy to destroy your marriage and family life.

As we strengthen our families, we strengthen the nation, and we fulfill God's perfect plan for our lives and for the blessing of the nation.

Do something powerful and positive to strengthen your marriage and family today. (Please lovely ladies, don't only read this, but take time to think of something you can do--and do some purposeful thing each new day to build up your family life)!

Love from Nancy Campbell

God continually works in our hearts by His Holy Spirit. However, there are some things that He wants us to work on ourselves:

1) KEEP YOURSELF UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD (James 1:27 and 1 John 5:18).

2) BUILD UP YOURSELF IN YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH (Jude 1:20). We must daily build up ourselves and teach our children how to build up themselves. How do you do this? By fuelling ourselves with God's Word and "praying in the Holy Ghost." The Amplified Version translates it: "Build yourselves up (founded) on your most holy faith (make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher.)" Are you, and your family, growing more in the Lord each day?

3) KEEP YOURSELF IN THE LOVE OF GOD (Jude 1:21). God relentlessly wants to pour out His love upon us, but if we walk out from His covering (choosing our own way instead of His way) we move away from the Fountain where we can receive His blessing. The commentator, Alexander MacLaren talks about "conscious sunning ourselves in the love of God." Consciously do this as you mother in your home. Consciously keep in His love even when you go through sorrows and difficulties.

You will also keep in His love as you constantly look "for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:21) instead of looking at your circumstances and to your own resources.

4) WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING (Philippians 2:12). We cannot take the grace of God in vain. We must continuously walk in the fear of the Lord.

Love from Nancy Campbell

What a wonderful service we had this morning We spent the majority of time in prayer, crying out to God for the needs of the nations of the world. There is so much persecution of Christians in so many countries of the world at this current time and we dare not forget about them.

How can we live life as usual? How can we have church as usual?

Surely we can change our program in our daily lives, and even in our church services, to pray for the thousands of suffering Christians. Families are running for their lives from terrorists and heads are being severed and given to children to carry them down the street?

North Korea, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, and Syria are only the top of the list. To find out the 50 most persecuting Christian countries in order to pray for them each day, go to: http://www.worldwatchlist.us/

If you look back to August 21, you can read the post, OUR PRAYER BOX. In our home we have a box with special needs for prayer for the world written on cards. It's a great way to make sure we pray about important matters and a great way for children to learn to pray.

Currently we have a gentleman living with us who is an intercessor and loves to pray. Today, being Friday, he suggested that each one of us should take two cards out of the box to pray about, which we all did. He is suggesting that we do this every Friday, which we plan to do. Friday is the sixth day of the week of course, where in the wilderness God gave the Children of Israel a double portion of manna on the sixth day. So we are having a double portion of prayer.

We can never have too much prayer, can we? Especially with everything that is going on in the world right now!

Love from Nancy

How can we live a holy life "without which no man will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14)) while we live in this sinful world? How do we keep our children pure in this world which "lies in the power of the evil one"?

The first statement of 1 John 5:19 gives us the answer: "And we know that we are of God."

It is our CONFESSION! The whole world may lie in the power of Satan, but I know who I am! This is my keeping power in the midst of a godless society.

"I belong to God."
"I am redeemed by His precious blood."
"I am God's possession, not Satan's."
"Because 'I am of God' I will not be lured by the temptations of this world."
"I belong to a kingdom that is not of this world."

This is not only a confession. It is not just a cliché! It is a KNOWING. I KNOW in the depths of my being, and nothing will move me from my confession (Hebrews 10:23). Pray your children into this knowing. Teach them how to live by their confession in this evil world.

Alexander MacLaren says, "Christian people, cultivate the sense of belonging to a higher order than that in which you dwell."

May God bless you and your family today.

Nancy Campbell

Here is another little idea to add to my post below called "Swift to Bless." When Serene was a baby I used to sing a little song to her. I just made up a little tune to sing my love and blessing into her life. I sang this little song to her when she was a baby and right throughout her life, sometimes even when she was in her teens.

I love Serene
Yes I do
I love Serene
Yes I do
Serene is a lovely girl
Serene is a sweet girl
Serene is an obedient girl
Yes she is!

And each time I sang it I would change the lines to speak into her all the character qualities that I wanted to see evident in her life, e.g. Serene is a happy girl . . . Serene is a truthful girl . . . and so on. I wished I had written an individual song for each of the children.

You may like to make a little song for each of your children, or for all the children together. This is another way to be "swift to bless." Sing it to them over and over again. They will never get tired of it. And you don't have to be a great singer. I can't even imagine how Pearl and Serene grew up to be singers when all their lives they had a mother singing to them out of tune!

Love from Nancy Campbell

P.S. The picture is of Serene as a toddler, 37 years ago!

The other morning at Family Devotions we sang the hymn by Henry F. Lyte, "Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven." I love the line which speaks of the character of God, "Slow to chide, and swift to bless." God is a God of judgment and justice, but He is also a merciful God. There is a day coming when He will roar from Zion, judge all evil, and bring all the nations into subjection. And yet He waits with patience and "is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

As we seek to walk in the likeness of God, we should have the same characteristics, even in disciplining our children. I believe with all my heart that we have a responsibility to train our children to obey. We must discipline immediately for disobedience, rebellion, and defiance. But we don't do this out of frustration and anger, but out of love, knowing that we are preparing our children to have listening ears and be obedient to God.

However, I gradually learned in the raising of our children that if we are "swift to bless" and this becomes the habit of our mothering that we will often have to chide less. Sometimes children act out rebelliously because they are seeking attention and they do it in a negative way. But if we constantly bless and encourage them throughout the day, their "tank" is filled up and they will not be screaming for attention.

Try being "swift to bless" today. Don't wait until your children are being naughty to give them attention. Look at them and smile at them. Tell them you are so glad that God gave them to you. Tell them you believe they are going to be a blessing to the world as they follow in the ways of the world. Speak positive and good things into their lives.
Squeeze their shoulder. Hug them whenever you are near them.

Yes, you will still have to deal with disobedience and so on at times, but it will be much less.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Did you smile at your husband this morning? Are you smiling at your children today? The more you smile at them, the more you'll have smiling children!

Love from NANCY