Nancy Campbell.

Not sure if you are familiar with this name.

This dear woman of God has been my mentor and I her protege for years. But from a distance. She doesn’t even know it I’m sure. 🙂

Mrs. Campbell is the founder and owner of Above Rubies Ministries. www.aboverubies.com

I’ve devoured many of her books. Viewed  many of her various video recordings with my daughters. Absorbed lots of audio recordings by her.

She’s an amazing, god-fear, full of God’s Word – woman!

Her ministry is to women. Encouraging them in the areas of marriage, being fruitful in childbearing, rearing and raising children, hospitality and more.

This past year I have purposely *slowly* been working through two of her workbooks.

The Power of Motherhood. And The Family Meal Table and Hospitality.

This week I would like to encourage you hard working homeschooling moms with an excerpt from Nancy Campbell’s book The Power of Motherhood.

Be encouraged and know that the job that we do day in and day out is of great importance. And though it’s a hard job on some days or even years we must continue forward doing all that we do with out growing faint of heart. Serving all the while as we so. 🙂

Blessings to you each along the journey.

Enjoy!

Angela P.

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Mothers are Servers

1. Embrace motherhood with all your heart. Unless you embrace it fully, you will never enjoy it. While you have conflicting values, you will be miserable.

2. Realize that motherhood is a serving role. Give up your own rights. When you hold on to your rights, you will be totally miserable. When you believe that you must have a full night’s sleep every night, you will be miserable all day because you did not have one. When you expect people to do this and that for you, you will be disappointed. Change your self-serving, self-seeking, self-fulfilling, self-centered, self-pitying, self-pleasing, self-gratifying and self-reliant attitude to one of serving, and you will be amazed how joyful you will be. As a child I was taught that JOY meant……

J     Jesus first

    O    Others second

Y   Yourself last!

It works. Try it!

3.  Confess that you are a joyful mother. Philemon v.6 says, “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” What is this Scripture saying? Every good thing that is in Jesus Christ is in you. If you have received Christ Jesus into your life, His joy, love, longsuffering, patience, peace and gentleness are in you too. This is what the Scripture says. It cannot lie. Most of the time we do not feel that we have these things within us, do we? Many times we do not feel joyful. We do not feel loving. And we certainly do not feel patient! But truth is not dependent upon feelings! It is dependent upon facts!

This Scripture says that if you acknowledge that these graces are in you and confess that they are in you, they will become effective in your life! When you get up in the morning, even if you have had a broken night’s sleep with your little baby, confess, “Thank you, Lord, for your joy which fills my heart. I am full of joy because you live within me. I am a joyful mother and today our home will be filled with joy.” Walk out to the kitchen to start the day and continue to confess that you are a joyful mother. Sing songs of joy to the Lord.

You can apply this Scripture to every need that you have. When you feel irritable and angry with the children, confess His peace and His patience. Confess, “Thank you, Lord, for your patience. Because you dwell within me, I am full of patience. I am the most patient mother in my city.” You are not telling lies, because the patience of Jesus dwells in you. It will become effective as you acknowledge it and confess it. Paul confessed in 1 Timothy 1:16, “that in me Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering.”

As you confess the joy of the Lord, it will well up in your heart and will be your strength.

“The joy of the Lord is my strength.”

Nehemiah 8:10

Self-pity drains all your energy!

The joy of the Lord fills you with strength!

4. Determine to start each morning by creating a good atmosphere for your family. You, as the mother, set the atmosphere in your home. As the day continues, and the children get irritable and begin to fight with one another, instead of yelling at them, stop what you are doing. Gather them together and tell them a story, sing some songs together or read to them. It will calm the atmosphere and bring rest again to your home. I have always loved these words from The Reading Mother by Strickland Gillian.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be-

I had a mother who read to me.

5.Make happy memories for your family. Do something special as a family at least once a week. Continually think of happy exciting ideas that you can do together as a family. They do not have to cost money. The simplest things are often the most enjoyable. It is the ‘togetherness’ the children will remember.

6.  Create lots of laughter and fun in your home. Let your walls ring with laughter. Laughter is a tonic. Proverbs 7:22 says, “A merry heart does good like a medicine.”

7. Stop hurrying. Slow down.  I found that when I rushed around, trying to get everything perfect or trying to fulfill my own agendas, that the children became irritable and difficult to handle – and I became uptight. Relax and everyone will be much happier. Proverbs 19:2b says, “He that hasteth with his feet sinneth.”

8.  Trust God.  When you try to do everything in your own strength, you will lose your joy. Trust in God’s strength. You do not have to get everything done every day. Just do what is most important and realize there will be other days. Your windows will still be dirty again next year, so why worry if you did not get them cleaned today? When your children are little, you may not accomplish much more than just looking after them, but you are doing the most important talk you could ever do. There will be years added to all the projects that are on your list.

As a younger mother, I related to these thoughts of a fellow mother.

“These are the never years. Never enough money, never enough time, never enough sleep – but always enough love. The sweetest kiss of a baby; the tooth-paste-flavored kiss of child on his way to school, (sadly, homeschooling had not started in New Zealand over forty years ago- I now wished that I had pioneered it!) the sleepy kiss of a husband who’s just as tired as you.

These are the busy years, the wonderful, hectic, impossible years. Soon the children will be grown and I’ll have plenty of time to organize my house, to sew and to cultivate outside interests. I wonder if it will be as wonderful as I sometimes dream it will? Or am in the middle of the wonderful years…. right now?”

My favorite Scripture is found in Isaiah 26:3,4. “Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusts in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

Keep your heart fixed on the Lord rather than your circumstances and you will keep your joy.

HAVE A GOOD LAUGH!

By Doris Faulhaber

Giggle! That is right, giggle!

When times aren’t going right –

Does not hurt to see the silly side,

In fact it makes life bright!

Chuckle! Go on- chuckle!

You’re surely going to find

That many hard-luck stories

Can inspire the ‘funny’ kind…

Laugh out loud! yes, shake with laughter –

You will see that when you do

A lot of pleasant people

Will be there to laugh with you!

For anyone can’sin the blues’

Each person has his own,

But those who laugh their way through life

Will never be alone!

Nancy Campbell, The Power of Motherhood excerpt