|
|
|
ABOVE RUBIES NEWSLETTER, #5 2007 |
|
|
|
Written by Nancy Campbell
|
Dear Above Rubies reader,
Many blessings to you and to your home.
The new issue of Above Rubies, #71 has now been sent out across USA. You may already have received it or will be receiving it in the new couple of weeks.
You will see pictures of our four new children in the new magazine. We are enjoying our new life with them very much. It certainly keeps us young!
I am sure you enjoyed a wonderful 4th July. Our traditional 4th July is a very full day. At lunch time we join with folks from all around our community for a big Fish Fry. It has been held at this property for about 70 years. We start with singing the National Anthem and saying the Pledge of Allegiance and then it’s time to eat and fellowship while the children enjoy swimming and catching crawfish in the creek.
We then have a big barbecue at our home in the evening. I couldn’t count how many people we had this year. As our usual custom, had running races, sack races and an egg throwing competition and huge fire works at night.
Colin and I fly this morning (leaving in a moment to catch the plane) to northern Wisconsin to take a Family Seminar. We have two more retreats this month. Here they are as follows:
13 – 15 JULY, VIRGINIALADIES RETREAT at Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center, Toano, VA
Contact: Angela Sunderamurthy, Ph: 804-633-5358
Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.varubies.org
27 – 29 JULY, CALGARYSECOND FAMILY CAMP at Living Faith, Caroline, Central Alberta
Contact: Bob and Ruth Klepel, Ph: 403-722-2059
Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
THE RIGHT EMAIL
If you are emailing me, please use my current email which is
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
THE RIGHT PHONE NUMBER
I have just noticed that our phone number is printed incorrectly in the current magazine. I am not sure how this happened as it wasn’t changed from last magazine where it is printed correctly.
It should be 1 877 729 9861.
HAPILY EVER AFTER
In the new magazine, page 11, you will read an article by Melissa Coffey. Melissa was in labor as we were finishing up the layout for the magazine and of course couldn’t talk on the phone. Here’s her latest news:
“I was experiencing labor contractions and wasn't comfortable talking on the phone. We ended up having labor fizzle out, on and off for the next two weeks. Our daughter finally arrived on 2 June at home, into her Daddy's hands.
I wanted to also tell you that we had a son on 12 April 2006. He had a condition called Thanatophoric Dysplasia which is a fatal form of dwarfism that causes chest cavity, not to develop enough to grow lungs. He was born at 32 weeks and lived for almost an hour. We were blessed by his birth. I never thought I could survive the loss of a child, but the power of God was intense through this time and I will never walk in doubt of Him again.
I could never understand the smiling faces of the mothers in Above Rubies whose stories included heartbreak like losing a child. I thought, "How can they be smiling after that?" It never made sense to me. That was the ONE thing I KNEW I could never endure. Or so I thought.
How can you explain how huge God is in the midst of the worst possible thing to happen to a mother? How can you explain that in the moment, when you are saying good bye to a precious baby just moments after saying hello, that you can rejoice in God's goodness? It's so very hard to put into words the comfort of a very REAL God who loves us so much.
I never wish this experience on anyone, but I can say I am blessed to have been chosen to give one of my children back to Him before I was ready to do so. I say that because of the very real, very powerful knowledge that God loves our children more than we ever could and that His way, His timing and His plan are so much bigger and better than ours. My sweet baby is in Heaven, waiting for me to arrive, praising His father.
And God blessed us mightily again with our new little one who looks so much her brother that it takes my breath away.
Melissa Coffey,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
A bad faux pas
I have to give my apologies to Kim Mills and Kristy Smith. Somehow Kristy’s family picture was placed on page 18 instead of Kim Mill’s family. I am so sorry about this. My graphic artist popped it in and I didn’t check it. With the four children arriving from Liberia and doing the new magazine at the same time, I wasn’t as focused as I usually am. I am very about this.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU
Oh please, please forgive me. Many months ago I mentioned that if you had beads you didn’t want or necklaces that were broken and you didn’t know what to do with, to send them to me as my Liberian girls would love to make necklaces out of them. It worked. They have loved doing this and have already used up the ones that were sent for them.
And by the way, please, please forgive me for not thanking each one individually who sent some of these. I have my little list which I have been meaning to write to and thank but somehow I just haven’t been able to find the time, and I have felt so guilty about it. I want you to know that I am so grateful and that it was such a blessing to the children. Thank you, thank you.
BEADS, BROKEN NECKLACES AND MATERIAL
As I mentioned, they have used them all up already. So, if any others have beads or necklaces that are broken and unused that they could use to make beads, feel free to send them on. They won’t be wasted. They will be well-used. The girls love to make necklaces and they are very creative. It is so wonderful for them to have the opportunity to do something creative. They have never had any resources to do these things before. They’ve never had books to read, or resources to make anything practical.
We have also procured sowing machines for them and they love to sow (although Sapphire broke hers the second day!) Now I can’t find enough material between the three of them. So once again, if you have any spare material you don’t know what to do with; you are welcome to send it on. They’ll use it up!
Our home address is:
8875 PRIMM SPRINGS RD
PRIMM SPRINGS TN 38476-1925
THE CALL
Here in Nashville, this Saturday, 7/7/07, thousands of young people will be converging on the Titans football Stadium to pray and seek God for repentance and revival in this nation.
Although this will be a huge event, I have also heard that there is a DAY OF PRAYER FOR CHILDBIRTH on the same day. You most probably won’t be coming to Nashville, Tennessee but you can be part of the Global Day of Prayer for Childbirth. Take some time to pray about issues that affect pregnancy, childbirth and the immediate post-partum.
More NURSING STORIES
You will enjoy the wonderful Nursing Testimonies and the different names that little ones call nursing in this issue of Above Rubies. I was so blessed by the response to this subject by our readers. I received far more than I could ever have room to print.
Here are a couple more wonderful stories for you to enjoy and I will send more next newsletter. Have to catch this plane…
HOT SAUCE
I have loved nursing all 13 of my babies and praise God for the experience! The oldest is now 23 and the youngest is 3. During the 24 years of our marriage, I have been either pregnant or nursing or both for most of that time. Occasionally, Charity (now 3), will say "Do you want love?" and she climbs on my lap for cuddles and kisses. Sometimes she will say to me, "I want to "ursy", which is short for "nursery", or I’ll say "Do you want to "ursy"? Then l tease her and ask, "Do you still remember how?" and smiling big she says "Yes!" She gets into position she pretends to nurse. Even weaning a toddler can be fun!
With each of my first three babies, breast engorgement caused discomfort at the onset of nursing, so I determined while pregnant with number four, that I would wait to wean my two year old, Audrey, until breastfeeding was going well with my newborn. One afternoon, while I was nursing Audrey, I asked her, “Is that good?” Still nursing, she said, “Mmm Hmmm”. Then I asked her, “What does it taste like?” With a smack, she pulled off the breast and said, “Hot sauce”! Then she went right back to nursing. I was amazed! I had not known that breast milk could be so tasty!
Jeanne Buckingham
Alderson, Oklahoma, USA
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Bob and Jeanne’s children are: Lisa, Daniel, Audrey, Matthew, Greg, Ryan, Emily, Suzanna, Kevin, Victoria, Natalie, Zachary, Charity.
EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER
I never thought that I would nurse my babies. I didn’t know anyone who breastfed their children and the idea was completely foreign to me. However, while reading a pregnancy magazine while pregnant with my first child I came across an article that revealed all the wonderful benefits of breastfeeding and I was sold on the idea. I never knew how dramatically that choice would change my life. God’s natural, free, and beautiful method of nourishing my baby was the best gift I received as a mother.
The first five days after my son, Justus, was born were extremely trying. I had read everything I could about breastfeeding and thought that I was well prepared, but as we all know, experience is the best teacher. My milk did not come in for the first five days and my son was hungry. Being young and nervous as a new mom, I did what my doctor told me. I let him nurse and then I finished feeding him with a bottle. But on day six, my milk came in abundance and I threw away the bottles and finally, joyfully my son received only breast milk.
As that first year flew by, I realized how amazing our womanly bodies are! Within my body alone I had everything I needed to keep my baby perfectly chubby and healthy. Breastfeeding helped fight off infections in his body as well as prevent diseases in mine. It consoled him when he was upset, it helped him go to sleep, and I got more sleep as well since there was no reason to get out of bed to make a bottle during all those nighttime feedings. (And there were a lot of them!) It also gave me the ‘excuse’ to sit down and rest every three hours, and God knows we mothers need to rest, especially at first when our bodies are healing. But of all the benefits of breastfeeding, the benefit of bonding with your child is absolutely the greatest. Being ‘forced’ to hold your child every three hours or so around the clock because you are the only one who can provide his needs serves as amazing bonding time.
With the birth of my second child, a beautiful little girl we named Evan, I came to fully recognize God’s masterful plan of nursing. As I held her in the minutes after her birth, I was excited and proud, but I thought, “Who is this little foreigner? I don’t know you.” I longed to hold her brother in my arms. It was the first time we had been separated and I missed him. But as I put her to my breast and began to nurse her, something beautiful and life-changing happened. She latched on right away. There was no five days of struggle and persevering. She nursed with ease and expertise and my heart melted immediately. I fell in love so totally at that moment through the sweetness of breastfeeding. It was the same way with my third child, another beautiful girl named Shiloh.
Looking back, I wonder how long it would have taken me to bond with my children, especially my second and third, if I had not nursed them. Would I have held them as much, or would I have sat them in a bouncer and propped up a bottle when I was busy? Would I love them as intensely? Would I spend as much time with them if I didn’t have all those precious days and nights of nursing that taught me so much about their value and revealed their personality? Whenever I pick Shiloh up to nurse her, she grins at me so big. She knows I am her Mommy and she is pleased with me. There is no greater joy than a toothless smile on a satisfied baby.
My other children are very interested in breastfeeding. They have so many questions that I try to answer for them. When I was pregnant with Shiloh, my son was three and he would ask me about my changing body, including my breasts. I told him they were my milk makers for the baby. He now calls them my ‘milks’. He asks me why I feed Shiloh with my milks, and I have a perfect opportunity to tell him about the God who created our bodies for His divine purpose.
It is sweet to see my children walk by and softly kiss their baby sister’s head while she rests in my lap nursing. I am so thankful for God’s perfect planning of our bodies and our family. I believe God often uses simple and natural methods to bring us into his will and redeem our families. He did it with our family and just think, if there had been bottles in Moses day, he would have never been nursed by his mother and learned of the True and Living God from his young age. Pharaoh’s daughter might have had compassion on him, but she would have sent a servant out to the store to buy some formula for baby Moses and he would have never become the mighty man of God that stood against Pharaoh and led the Israelites out of Egypt. God made our bodies function in this way for a purpose, His purpose. I look forward to spending my days and nights nursing many more children for the glory of God.
HEATHER BEST
Nic and Heather have three children, Justus (4), Evan (2) and Shiloh (3 months).
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Blessings until next time.
NANCY CAMPBELL
|
|
|
