God With Us

December 19, 2024

Rubi's Legacy

Dear Nieces & Nephews,


Whether you’re of the 81 who call me aunt from my family line, or you have a parent who is (or will be) my brother or sister in Christ, you are mine. You are big in my heart. Always, but especially this week.


We love our friend Rubi. She stayed up all night during camp making our infomercials videos into full-blown "Camp Fire Productions." She was in God’s presence WITH us during our revival services, playing the keyboard and singing a beautiful harmony. Now she’s fully in God’s presence WITHOUT us. Too soon. How could this have happened?


We are walking in the valley of the shadow of death this week. We can't seem to think about anything else. All I can think about is what Jenn and Adrian are going through.


Emmanuel, please meet them in their unfathomable pain. Show them you are with them. Your name means God With Us. Be Emmanuel to them today. And to Mrs. West's family. And to Eliana's as they reach out to you for her brother's healing. And all the others too.


How do we celebrate Christmas in this dark valley? Festivities are suddenly so empty. Everything is empty.


Except Emmanuel. That moment in history when the horrible things separating us from God were obliterated. No matter how much sin and tragedy and pain and fear we are tangled up in, EMMANUEL. If THAT'S Christmas, maybe we can celebrate it after all.


If you went to Camp Fire in August, you know what it feels like when Emmanuel breaks through into our consciousness. You felt his love. You experienced his healing. You saw angels and demons. You know that even though demons are all around us, they are outnumbered created beings that have no power over us in Christ unless they can trick us into believing their lies. You know we don’t need to be afraid if we don't listen to their voices.


Not be afraid when someone we love, who listened to this teaching with us three months ago, just got killed?


This is where the rubber meets the road. Do we REALLY believe what God says? Because this is what He says:


“Even through I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” (Psalm 23:4).


EMMANUEL, break through into our hearts. Where our own faith is weak, pour yours into us as a gift.



This summer my heart was heavy because some of my loved ones were making choices that were hurting people. I didn’t know how to respond anymore. I didn’t know how to pray anymore. I didn’t know what to think anymore. Then early one morning as my mind climbed from sleep into consciousness, these words fell deep into my heart:


“They’re listening to the wrong voices.”


I knew it was God speaking. NOW I knew how to pray. NOW I knew how to think. NOW I knew how to respond.


Let the voice of Truth ring louder and clearer than the voice of the enemy.


The voice of Truth brings life. This was worth all my effort, and I decided I'd spend my life on it.


Remember talking at camp about life and death being in the power of our tongues? We have the opportunity to speak life so clearly that it fills the atmosphere and drowns the voice of death. We can encourage the people around us. We can pray and prophesy life by asking the Holy Spirit to speak through us ... scripture, and also really specific things from his heart straight into specific people and situations.


BUT WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHAT WE FILL OUR MINDS WITH. Because out of the overflow of our hearts, our mouths will speak (Luke 6:45). And our hearts will overflow what we've filled our minds with (Romans 12:2).


Remember the dinner plate “TNR PLAEP”? This is what Philippians 4:8 reminds us to fill our minds with. Whatever is:

  • True
  • Noble
  • Right
  • Pure
  • Lovely
  • Excellent
  • Praiseworthy


Let’s fix our gaze on the beautiful things Rubi brought into our lives, her beautiful music and her artwork. Her love of animals. Her willingness to stay out of the limelight and bless us. Let's think about heaven, and what it must be like. Let's think about the ways God may want to use us to bring Truth and Life. Let's watch for the open doors.


The temptation will be, as we muddle our way through the fog of our pain and grief, to fixate on the ugly details. The manifesto. The mistakes parents may have made. Whose fault it was. Who should have been where or done what and how differently things could have turned out. Whether schools should have metal detectors. And so on. Meanwhile, the devil is prancing about, acting like he’s an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) while he flings accusations in all directions, getting people mad at each other and even themselves. This is his military strategy. And if we fall into his trap with our tongues, we're killers too.


Can we unite and turn his own strategy against him? Are we strong enough to reject lies, fear, finger-pointing and blame, and pit those lying demons against each other so THEY self-destruct instead of US?


YES!


Yes, we can and yes, we are.


The more of my loved ones that have died, the thinner the veil between heaven and earth seems in my mind. Sometimes I can almost see to the other side. Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Thaddeus’ biological mom’s death too. The middle name she chose for him is Emmanuel. This prophetic act has a powerful rippling effect that I believe will impact generations.


I think Rubi is playing keyboard and singing harmony in heaven. I think she's drawing family caricatures and making our life movies more fun to watch. Only now she's doing it more fully in God's presence, and it makes me almost feel like I'm there myself. I kind of am, actually, because ...


EMMANUEL.


This is Rubi's legacy, or at least one of them. May it ripple through the generations.


I love you all so very much,


Aunt Michelle


God With Us

I Don't Get To Do What I Want ...

By Michelle Hauge • November 17, 2025
Dear Nieces & Nephews, Did you know that rules stimulate the desire to break them? It says so right in Romans 7:5. “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.” Bingo. The source of all my parenting woes! The law. Rules. What’s a parent to do? Get rid of rules? “By no means!” to use Paul’s phrase. Jesus didn’t come to get rid of the law, but to fulfill it. So if I’m to follow His parenting example, I don’t get RID of our rules, I fulfill them. What?! What in Heaven does THAT mean in the heat of battle? I wish I could give a clear, concise answer, but all I have is hints that I’m collecting in a bucket. Do you care to join me? If not, skip the next twelve paragraphs and jump back in where I tell you Lexie’s inspiring story. This is what I've got in the bucket so far: Rules, like “The Law” of the Old Testament, reveal the existence of naughtiness. Without them, we wouldn’t even know what's naughty. We need them. The problem is, they also stimulate a desire to break them. Which leads to pain. (Keep reading Romans 7-8. It paints quite a picture.) If God provided a way out of this pain with sacrifice born out of deep love (dying on the cross), maybe we can do the same for our kids so they can experience it first in the natural realm. “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you,” with natural consequences we neither rescue them from, nor remove ourselves from. We’re still there, with them as they suffer. Yes, we suffer too. Ugh! But with the kind of suffering that brings joy. Maybe God-inspired deep-love-sacrifice releases our kids from the tyranny of forbidden-fruit-infatuation and sets them free to live in a new way, deeply rooted in connection instead of rules. Because our connection to them pulls them into our connection with Christ , facilitating their connection to Christ , which sets them free from sin and changes their whole mindset. Eventually. In a slow progression of their minds learning to choose Spirit ways over sinful nature ways. One small painful step at a time. While we parents have absolutely no control over which way they choose. One of my dear ones stashed every forbidden candy box and wrapper ever collected in their dresser during my ongoing war against sugar in our home.

A Birthday Note

By Michelle Hauge • November 16, 2025
Dear Nephew, What do you want for your birthday? Like really, really want , so deep down you’re afraid even to say it? I feel like God’s waiting for you to say it. He knows what you want, He just wants to make sure you know what you want. So say it. Then hold onto it with all that tenacity you’re famous for, until you see Him bring it about. He put your deep desires in you for a reason. It’s been a painful process of sorting it out from the surface wants that are so fleeting and even damaging. When I used to take you all shopping and you got to choose something you wanted, the other kids would quickly grab something off the shelf. But for you, it would become such a process. You were so worried you were going to choose the wrong thing and be disappointed. These past few years, you have had many disappointments. From rejections of your love, to devastating breakdowns, to friendships not working out, and then all these health problems. Disappointment times infinity. I believe it’s been a process of sifting in your heart that has been so painful you don’t know what to do with it. I hate to watch it. I hate to see your pain. I think breakthrough is right ahead of you. It’s probably not going to look like you expect it to, but I think it will look many times better. Above all you could ask, think or imagine. Because God’s goodness is infinite. Where it looks like He has forsaken you and let you down, He’s just not coming through in the small things because He needs you to let them go so you can grab hold of the big things He’s offering you. There is so much champion in you. So much skill. Such refreshing wit. Such a winning smile. Such a blend of tenacity and tenderness. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. How relieved that we are still close. I want to team with you for whatever is ahead. I love you from the bottom of my heart, Aunt Michelle

What Do You WANT?

By Aunt Michelle • November 4, 2025
Dear Nieces & Nephews, You’re always on my mind. I’m hoping that with the approaching holidays and Camp Fire gatherings (more on this later), I will see you in person soon. In the meantime, here’s to writing again! I was part of a mom-care panel a couple weeks ago, sharing with homeschool moms some of my triumphs and failures in caring for myself while caring for children. The next day, while that was still on my mind, Aunt Marian called to offer me a week’s stay in a cottage at Christmas Mountain in The Dells because of a last-minute cancellation. I accepted, and God took such good care of me there! I decided what mom-care ultimately means is letting Him care for me, and cooperating as He directs me to assist. We moms would call that “obedience.” A good friend told me recently, “Michelle, if I was God, I’d give you an A+ for effort and a D- for results. But that’s not how God grades us. He grades us on our obedience. Some plant, some water, but it’s God who provides the increase. Just keep doing what He tells you to do.” OK. I can do that. I’m actually really good at obeying. I mean, I can put my nose to the grindstone, grit my teeth and plow as only a mule can. I’d make a really good mule. I’m not so sure mules are happy though. Our Midnight is, but … well … she’s never worked a day in her life and knows nothing about obedience.
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