Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Oh isn’t that wonderful? God loves you so much that He sings songs of joy over you. Because He delights in you, it spills over into singing.

God is the pattern parent. We should therefore have the same response to our children. Do you love to sings songs over your children? It’s easy to get in the habit of complaining about them. Why not get into the habit of singing over them instead?

He wants us to delight in them as He delights in us. When my youngest daughter was a baby, I created a special little song for her. It became her own song, which I sang to her all her life. I sang it to her when she was a baby, when she was a toddler, as she grew older, and even up until the time she was married. I would sing it to her when she went to bed, while she was playing, and when driving in the car.

It was a simple song with a simple little tune. Here are the words...

I love Serene

Yes I do

I love Serene

Yes I do

Serene is a special girl,

Serene is a loving girl,

Serene is an obedient girl,

Yes she is!

As I sang it over and over, I would change the words. I would sing all the wonderful attributes that I wanted to be part of her life. I would put in the song words such as – happy, good, peaceful, helpful, kind, faithful, precious and so on. As I sang this song to her over and over again, not only did it affirm my love to her, but also she was constantly blessed with positive words.

I now have a song for my little grandchildren. Once again it is a simple little tune I picked up from somewhere. You can either make up your own tune, use a nursery rhyme tune, or a familiar children’s Christian song. Here’s what I sing to Rashida…

Rashida is a lovely little girl,

Rashida is a sweet little girl,

Rashida is a precious little girl,

Yes, she is!

Once again, I change the words to deposit into her life whatever I feel she needs at the time. As you can see, they are so simple but a powerful blessing.

Would you like to write a simple joyful song for each of your children? Sing over them with joy. You don’t have to be a good singer. I can’t even keep a tune! What amazes me is that two of our daughters became professional singers. How did they manage that when they had a mother who sang to them out of tune?

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Lord, that you delight in me. Help me to have this same delight in my children. I ask that you will give me the right songs and the right tunes for each of my children, so I can constantly bless them. Amen.”

 QUOTE:

Psalm 127:3 RSV, “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children will be like olive shoots around your table.”

Where is your heart focused, dear mother? Is it in your home? Or do other interests captivate your heart? Even if you are a stay-at-home mother, your heart can still be focused in another place.

God wants us to be physically in our homes and He wants our heart to be there too. Here is the most accurate translation of Psalm 128:3, "Your wife shall be like a prolific vine in the RECESSES OF THY DWELLING…" The Hebrew word for “by the sides of thine house” or “within” is actually ‘yrekah’ and it means ‘rear or recess’.

God wants mothers to be in the very heart of their home and He wants home to be in their hearts. The heart is the most important organ in a person’s body. If it stops beating, the person will die. In the same way, the mother is the heartthrob of her home. If her heart beats faintingly, the home will falter. If her mother heart stops beating, the home will disintegrate. It is the mother who keeps the home and her family together.

Many mothers are on the periphery of their home, rather than in the recesses. I think we can all relate to the bumper sticker, “If a mother’s place is in the home, why am I always in the car?” It’s so easy to get caught up in the rat race of society, even with children’s activities. We end up running around the city, taking our children to this and that, and the home is vacated.

Many times mothers are still out on the road in the early evening, the time when they should be at home to prepare the evening meal and make their home a sanctuary for their husband to return. They drop by for some fast food on the way and the children miss out on a wholesome meal. They miss the precious atmosphere of sitting around the table together in the sanctuary of their own home. Children’s childhood memories will consist of sitting in a car and rushing here and there, rather than the warmth and joy of their home. 

Is this God’s pattern? No, when He paints the picture of a home that is blessed of the Lord, He shows us the wife and mother in the very heart of the home, with her children all sitting around the table.

“But it is necessary for my children to be involved in all these activities,” you say. Mother, did you know that you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing? You don’t have to conform to society. Of course, there will be certain things that are important for your child or children to be involved in. But take stock. Eliminate the unnecessary. Remember the old adage, “The good is the enemy of the best!”  I know that everything your children are involved in is good, but is it the very best?

Who do you think knows best? God – or what everyone else is doing. God says that His blessing is upon the mother and children who are in the heart of the home. When your heart is in the home, you can make your home an exciting place – a place to create, a place to learn, a place to dream, a place of potential and possibility, a place of love, joy, peace and contentment.

Recently a friend joined my husband and I for our early morning walk. We enjoyed rapport together but I especially loved one statement he shared with us – “Wherever you are, be there!” Mother, you are physically in your home – make sure your heart and mind is there too. Don’t waste your time dreaming of being somewhere else. Be there with all your heart.

It takes time to make a house a home. It takes thought. It takes your heartbeat. It takes prayer. It takes being there. It takes vision. Glory in your home. Glory in your motherhood. Make it a sanctuary for the living God.

Will you be forgotten and waste away if you spend most of your time in the recesses of your home? Oh no, dear mother.  You may be hidden according to the world’s standard. However, while others are out fulfilling their own aspirations or careers for rewards that will pass away, you are training God’s children for rewards that will last forever. You are the winner! Often your days may seem like drudgery and toil, tedium and frustration, but lift up your heart. You are working for God. You are working for an eternal reward. You are determining the course of this nation.

One day, out from the recesses of your home, will come ‘arrows’ who have been sharpened and polished and who are ready to be shot from the bow – young warriors who will go forth to hold up the truth of God’s Word in the nation, who will bring back justice, and who will be a shining and bright light in the midst of this dark world. What could be more powerful?

The home is God’s chosen plan for the blessing, preservation, and continuance of the family. Put your heart, soul, and physical body into strengthening your home. 

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, You have chosen my home to be my sphere of influence. Give me a love for being in my home. Give me a love for mothering my children in my home. Give me a vision for my home. Help me to see the creative potential that I have in my home. Help me to make my home a place where my family loves to be, and where you love to dwell. Amen.”

QUOTE:

“A father and mother living together with their children, tender in their love, pure in their lives, strong in their convictions, simple and orderly in their habits, do infinitely more than presidents and governors, legislators, educators and clergymen can do in making a strong nation. And that is a “more” that can be replaced by nothing else. True strength can come to a nation only as the genius of the home pervades the whole inner life of the people. The home nations are the most enduring nations…”

 

From Quiet Talks on Home Ideals by S.D. Gordon and Mary Kilgore Gordon.

What is the greatest work you can do for the Lord as a mother? Of course, there is no greater ministry than mothering and caring for the needs of your children. God has given your precious children to you to nurture and train on His behalf! He is your Employer! Be encouraged and don’t grow weary in well doing.

1 Corinthians 15:58 says, "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."

God doesn’t want us to just ‘do’ our mothering ministry - but to "abound" in it. I checked the word "abounding" in the Greek Lexicon and was amazed to see the depth of meaning.

It means ‘to super-abound, to excel, to exceed, to increase, be in excess, be better, more abundant, enough and to spare.’ It comes from a root word that means ‘sense of beyond’ - ‘to go beyond what is necessary, superabundant in quantity and superior in quality.’ This is how we are to mother - not half-heartedly, but with all our might! To do more than is necessary! To go the second mile! To aim for excellence!

This is the challenge. But don’t forget the promise! God has promised that our mothering ministry will not be in vain! Mothering is a "labor of love" (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

This word ‘labor’ is used to denote, ‘not so much the actual exertion of work, but the weariness that we experience - it means ‘toil as in reducing strength, labor, weariness.’ Oh yes, I know that many times you feel weary. Sometimes you feel as though you have no strength left, but God’s promise comes to encourage you, "I will not forget your work and labor of love." (Hebrews 6:10). You will receive your reward!

May God abundantly bless you and strengthen you, "not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy...." Colossians 1:11 The Message Bible. Isn’t that wonderful?

Have a great week as you super-abound in motherhood.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

Do you feel as though you are in a dungeon of despair? Maybe your marriage is in a mess. Maybe your children are out of control. Perhaps you feel as though you can’t cope any longer.

Let me tell you a secret, dear mother. There is a way out of the dungeon of despair! There is a door through which you can walk out! It is called the door of HOPE!

Hosea 2:15 says, "And I will give her the valley of Achor for a DOOR OF HOPE: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth."

Hope is a door that lets you out of your dungeon. While you look around at the mess you are in, your despair will engulf you. But look up. Believe me, there is a way out. You just have to turn the key of hope and you can walk out.

1 Peter 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you."

We have been born again to experience a living hope – a life of hope! I read the story of a factory worker who shared that before he found Christ he wore his shoes out at the heals, but after he was born again, he wore them out at the toes! His life was tipped forward into expectancy.

What does this word ‘hope’ really mean?

Here is the full meaning of this Greek word – It is…

• An energizing principle

 

• A spontaneous overflowing spirit of optimism

 

• A looking ever on the bright side of things

 

• A looking forward to only that which is good

 

• Expecting continued blessing and joy

 

• Exuberant hopefulness, leaving us no room for worry

 

• Believing that God is going to do something good

 

• Confident expectation

How about that for a meaning?

Instead of groveling in your despair, start confessing out loud that God is a good God. Confess that He is going to do good things for you. Confess that He is going to do good things in your marriage, in your husband’s life, in your life, in your home and in each one of your children. Fill your home with confident, believing, joy-filled words.

Oh I know this is easier to say than do! But you must do it by faith, not because you feel like it. When you speak words of hope, they will open the door into a life of hope! And you will start to sing again!

Have a great week! Now come on… don’t stay there in your valley of despair. Open the door of hope. Speak out your trust in the Lord. Speak words of hope and things will change.

Your circumstances may not change, but you will change! And that’s the miracle.

My prayer for you is found in Romans 15:13, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Thank you, God, that you are the God of hope. Thank you that You have redeemed me from the kingdom of darkness into a life of hope. Renew a spirit of hope in me again today, Lord. Let it bubble up inside me and overflow from me. I thank you that You are a good God and You are working everything out in my life for Your highest purposes. I thank You that I can trust You. I believe You. I thank You for the good things you are doing in my life. I thank you for the good things You are doing in my husband’s life and in my children. I thank you that you are going to keep working in our lives until we see you face to face. Amen."

QUOTE:

"Though at times my spirit fails me,

And the bitter teardrops fall,

Though my lot is hard and lonely,

Yet I hope – I hope through all."