Your Worth Is Far Above Rubies

Natalie's belly pic...23 weeks pregnant with my niece!


"A capable, intelligent and virtuous woman, who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far ABOVE RUBIES or pearls."

Proverbs 31:10


Virtuous: adjective
1. conforming to moral and ethical principles; morally excellent; upright: Lead a virtuous life.

Morally excellent? Not always. Upright? Nope, not as much as I would like to claim. Leading a virtuous life? I have my moments.
However, I do strive to be the virtuous Proverbs woman we read about in chapter 31. She is the things I long to be as a wife, mother, friend, daughter of the king. And I am a sinner. However, this chapter gives me a clear cut goal to work towards, daily! And believe me, I thank God each day that his mercies are new every morning! I need them!

So, it was a blessing to be able to attend the Southern California Above Rubies Retreat this past weekend as a family. Dan and Natalie's family attended as well.




Our handsome and Ephesians 5 husbands: Tim (My Sweetheart), Collin Campbell, and Dan (Natalie's husband)
Nancy Campbell standing between Natalie and I. We just love and admire her so much for helping us in our roles towards becoming more like the Proverbs 31 woman.

Nancy has a gift of encouraging families; especially women. She and her husband are founders of Above Rubies a wonderful organization that publishes a free magazine that is geared towards helping mothers in their walk with the Lord. You can subscribe for the magazine here. Did I mention it is FREE?!!

I love being in Nancy's presence. She is so loving, so kind, but also very bold. I look at her and think to myself, she is the kind of woman that I imagine will be hearing, "Well done, my good and faithful servant," when she comes face to face with Jesus(Like Michelle Duggar...LOVE HER!). So, I loved being able to sit up front and listen to her teach. She was reminding us that we aren't just having children for the sake of having children...but that we are to have children so we can train them up to be warriors for Christ! So they will be equipped to fight the war of light against darkness! Can I get an amen? She used the term: Weapons of War. Our children. Weapons of War. Yes! So, if I have many children, it is not to fill up the spaces in my minivan, but to be obedient to God's calling in my life in raising men and women that will fight this battle and help lead others to Christ. What an amazing position we hold, Christian mothers!! Let us not take it lightly and really work at training our children up to be bold in the Word...not mediocre or lukewarm Christians.



Worship was such a blessing to me. To see this husband and wife, singing praises to God, and then watch their little girls come up and be held by their mama and no one think anything wrong with it. How Tim and I loved this moment. I read recently on a blog how hard it is to find a church that is a 'family friendly' church. One that doesn't scurry the children away from the sanctuary. One that encourages children to sit with their family, as it should be, during service. I wholeheartedly agree with this and so wish it could be like the verse in Matthew 9:14-15:
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
Although the disciples rebuked those that brought the children, Jesus not only brought them to him, he continued on with his teaching with them right there most likely on his knee, at his side, maybe even one with his arms wrapped around his neck. What a wonderful way to let our children know the importance of their presence in our family...worshipping together in the house of the Lord!



We had the honor of having lunch with the Campbell's and we gained so much from that time. Nancy even took it upon herself to find a friend for Karizma. She grabbed Karizma up, went to the next table, and introduced her to Emily, whom is also 14. They ended up becoming buddies.I also had a chance to spend some time at the pool with Emily's mom and Karizma and I plan to keep in touch with our new friends. Emily is the eldest of 7 children!


Dinner was so yummy and we are so grateful to Isabella for being such a good girl all weekend! She slept through all our meals which allowed me to eat without having to nurse her meanwhile. Zack was also pretty tired and passed out. Can you find Waldo..err, Zack in the picture below?




He fell asleep with a piece of roast beef in his mouth, the poor little guy. It was crowded in the dining hall, so we just spread a blankie on the floor under our table and he slept the entire way through dinner.


I was able to buy several books and cd's to keep me busy for awhile. One of them is the book by Randy Alcorn, 'Does The Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?'. I am fully aware of the fact that it definitely does, but wanted to become well versed about how it happens. I am only into chapter 2, but it is so informative. Is this information you were aware of? That the pill is indeed, an abortifacient? That not only does it act as a contraceptive but has a 3rd component which is abortive? It's 3rd component works to keep an already fertilized egg from implanting (A fertilized egg means that conception has already occurred, thus per the bible, this is already a life-a child.). Please be sure to know that once you know the truth, you are responsible to do the right thing in God's sight. I pray for each of you that reads this and is either unaware, or battling with this information, as I once was myself. That God would convict your heart and help you see that trusting Him in ALL things can only bring you peace.




Lastly, guess who we saw at the retreat this weekend? What I mean by 'saw' is that Natalie picked up the latest issue, #77, of Above Rubies and flipped it open and there she and her lovely article were, staring right at us. Our lovely bloggy friend, Stacie at A Firefighter's Wife. So, don't forget to susbcribe to the FREE magazine, support Above Rubies financially, and be blessed in abundance by this ministry! Remember ladies, to our Heavenly Father, we are more precious than jewels, our worth FAR ABOVE RUBIES! Love to you all.