~MOTHERHOOD...~

Besides being a Good wife to her husband (remember we became a HELP MEET BEFORE we became a Mommy ;-)...MOTHERHOOD IS the MOST IMPORTANT Job a lady can have!!!

~Myself with our Elijah and Mary.~

Do you ever feel like you wash the SAME ol' dishes, and the SAME clothes, and the SAME sticky floors...and that your life is just a Merry-Go-Round of events, with "Not Much to show" for all you do?
Does it sound fun to "Dress up" and have a "Real Job?"
Just remember that the devil would want us to feel like being a Mommy is at the "bottom of the totem pole, when really it's the WORLD that has made things backwards!

Skip the Secretary job or the High rise, those things WILL PASS AWAY...and let's invest in little lives.  

OUR JOB IS at the TOP of God's list!  

What a privilege to help form a person for LIFE and FOR GOD!!

But, hey, who said you couldn't "dress up" at home?
Skip the sweatshirt and that faded jean skirt that has a bleach stain, and dress up.
You will feel better about yourself and your family will enjoy you making HOME LIFE special by your dress too.  It doesn't have to be your "Sunday Best," just something fun!
You may not want to walk around in heels all day, but you could throw them on right before your husband gets home, or right before supper.  :-)

In 2011 Phillip and I lost several things due to a mold problem in our apartment in Colombia.
We decided then and there that "saving special things to use later" wasn't such a great idea.
So...
~BURN THAT CANDLE you have been saving to use "Some day,"
~Enjoy those shoes you never wear for fear they will get scratched, And
~Use that China that you don't want to use lest one piece gets broken.

Life is too short to not enjoy ALL the things that God has given us.  :-)

Because the Following WILL ENCOURAGE YOU SO MUCH AS A MOTHER...

I    want   YOU   to  read...

or at least Skim over the email I got in my inbox the other day from Nancy Campbell director of "Above Rubies" Ministries.
 It was very encouraging to me about Motherhood. :-)
I left my name and our kids' names in there, but please do me a favor and PUT YOUR NAME and YOUR KIDS' NAMES in there.

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Dear Heather, Homemaker,

May the blessings of the Lord fill your heart and your home.

May God fill you with His strength, patience and anointing as you nurture your six precious children, Kimberly, Sarah, Noah, Elijah, Mary, and your newest little one, the children that God has so graciously given to you. Each one is a special gift from God, aren’t they?

Heather, you are doing a mighty work. There is nothing greater that you could be doing in the whole of the world. Your work is for eternity. Your children are eternal souls who will live forever. Not only are you training them for the purposes God has for them in this world, but you are also preparing them for the eternal world! Wow! What a mission!

How blessed you are to have your children around you. I know that you often feel overwhelmed, but I want to remind you that in the midst of all the frustrations and tiredness, that this is a very precious time of your life. It was the most precious time of my life. I look back and remember the times I felt “so tired” and yet I can’t think of anything in my life that has been more meaningful and more joyful than those wonderful days.

Don't endure each day, but seek to make it special. You will never have these days with your children again. They are for such a short time. Enjoy them. Revel in them. You may feel that you are not accomplishing a lot each day, but there are years ahead to do all the projects you want to do. But at the moment, your lovely children are your priority. I remember thinking as I watched my children, “I will never forget them at this moment,” but the years have gone and I can't recall many of those moments. They are now all married and raising their own children and currently we have 34 grandchildren.

Back in those days I remember reading the thoughts of another mother and they were a comfort to me. She said,

"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 a child on his way to school (sadly, homeschooling wasn't in process in those days 40 years ago); the sleepy kiss of a husband who is 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 I in the middle of the wonderful years... right now?"

Yes, you are in the wonderful years now. I look back on the years when all my little brood were under my wings (or I should say, under my legs and in my arms and one or other of them needing me at every moment) and they were definitely the most blessed years of my life. At one stage I had three in 17 months! That's because I had twins although they are now 48 years old! Then I had four children in less than four years. So I can certainly relate to how you feel at the moment.

We eventually had six, although we have since adopted some teenagers from Liberia.  But six children never seemed very many. Nearly every day my husband and I say to each other, "Where are the rest of our children? I wish we'd had twelve!" It just seems like one blink of an eye and they have all grown up and married.

I love some of the beautiful names God calls our children. Isn't this a lovely one? The "beloved fruit of the womb." (Hosea 9:16) Not just the "fruit of the womb", but also the "beloved fruit of the womb." The context of this passage is God’s judgment, because of their wicked works, was to destroy the beloved fruit of their womb, but it reveals how God views children and also how the early Hebrews felt about their children.

~Myself (Heather) and our baby Abigail.~

 

Hebrews 11:7 is a great Scripture, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

For 100 years, Noah did the same old thing - hammered, nailed and kept on building his ark. He didn't have time to do all the things that everyone else was doing. He just kept on slogging and being faithful, doing the same thing every day for all those years - but in doing so he condemned the world. Yes, he changed the world because he stuck with the job he was given to do! He changed the world by doing the same thing day after day after day.  And at the same time he saved his family!

You may feel that you are just doing the same old thing every day, but as you are faithful to raise godly children, and build an ark for the saving of your house, you will condemn the world around you.  You are accomplishing far more than those who go out to seek a worldly career to the detriment to their highest calling. Your influence goes on into the generations and even into eternity.

Isn't it amazing that our daily faithfulness in the home will have its impact on earth -- and also for eternity? It can change the world! We have to remember that bearing and raising children is a long-term investment - in fact, an eternal one! In a culture where everyone wants everything to happen instantaneously, we must learn to think long term - for the future.

So rejoice and be glad in your high and noble calling.

YOU ARE CHANGING THE WORLD!

Remember, you have the most important career in the nation!

Love from

NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies

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Wasn't that good?  It was so encouraging to me!   

~I LOVE the "special times in life!" 

I love teas, coffees, pastries, pretty dishes, pretty tables, etc.
But, none of us can afford to go to Starbucks or a bakery very often.
So, I bring "Starbucks" and "Buskins' Bakery" right into my home.  ;-)
At least 2 to 3 times a week, I try to "delight and surprise" my family with a special treat.
Yesterday, Mary and I made "Pumpkin Pie Lattes" for our family. :-) ~

Forming Little Lives Today...forming men and women for Tomorrow!

The hand that ROCKS THE CRADLE RULES THE WORLD!

~So....Let's hold our head high, and go be a Mother to the World's Best children!  

THESE are the children that God decided that WE should help raise for Him!

 Let's take the time to hug and hold our children and enjoy every day!   ~

~Heather~

Below are some links to "Above Rubies" pages that I wanted to include for you!

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APART FROM RECEIVING THE ABOVE RUBIES MAGAZINE, YOU CAN BE ENCOURAGED MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF ABOVE RUBIES:

ABOVE RUBIES WEB PAGE

Explore the Above Rubies webpage which is filled with information and encouragement for you as a wife and mother:

Go to: http://aboverubies.org/Articles-Stories

ABOVE RUBIES FACEBOOK

You will be encouraged by the daily posts to inspire and strengthen you in your great calling of being a wife and mother. You don't have to waste time on this page. Get your encouragement for the day, sign off, and get on with your great career of nurturing and training your children. Go to: http://facebook.com/AboveRubiesUS

ABOVE RUBIES DAILY BLOG

If you don't get on to Facebook every day and miss some of the encouraging messages, you can get them on the Above Rubies blog.

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

ABOVE RUBIES WEEKLY DEVOTION

This devotion comes right into your email box. It is a more meaty devotion than the daily Facebook posts, but will give you something to really get your teeth into. It is supposed to come to you each week, although I have to confess that sometimes I don't get to write it every week. But it will come to you as I write it. To receive these in your email box, go to:

http://tinyurl.com/SubscribeWomensDevotional

ABOVE RUBIES MINI EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Every now and then I write a mini Above Rubies and send it out by email. You can receive this, plus updates on Above Rubies, or any SPECIALS that are going, by clicking on this link:

http://tinyurl.com/SubscribeARNewsletter

FACEBOOK OR BLOG FOR FATHERS AND HUSBANDS

My husband, Colin writes a post for men each day on Meat for Men Facebook. However, there are many men who don't get on to Facebook, but they can still receive Colin's powerful messages by going to: http://tinyurl.com/MensDailyDevotionalBlog

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