Recently I had felt the Lord speak to me concerning the use of my time, especially during the day, as I am on maternity leave.  I had been reading a book on how to reach your full potential for God and recently I heard my minister talk about how as each minute passes, we should think about what we have done for God in that minute.  When I thought about it, I was almost ashamed to admit that I revolved alot of my day based on what time certain TV programmes were on.

The more I thought about it, the Lord brought to my attention some uncomfortable truths about my TV viewing.  First of all, I spent more time watching TV than I did reading and studying God’s word.  Secondly, most of what I was watching was of no profit to my mind, heart or soul.  Thirdly,  I realised that most of the programmes I watched on TV were filled with content I wouldn’t want my daughter to see or hear.  So it made me question whether I should be watching them either.

So, I thought that abstaining from TV for one week would be good for me in a multitude of ways.  As it turned out, I really enjoyed using the extra time everyday for activities which I would normally have avoided.  It forced me to get into a good exercise routine, which I had let fall to the wayside recently.  I planned a route for an energetic walk and done it every other day, to try and get my body used to exercising again.  To make the walking more enjoyable, my husband recommended a set of sermons that I could listen to, based on the Song of Solomon, the teaching was based on building Christian marriages and families in accordance with scripture.  Although being a little more liberal than the preaching style I am used to, I found them very encouraging and a very good distraction from the long walk!

I found that although I had quite alot of time to fill, when I would previously have been watching TV, I was never bored, but felt more organised.  Dinners were cooked on time, I baked on a few of the days, the house has never been tidier, and I enjoyed having visitors on couple of the days.  I also done alot more reading and felt very blessed by what I read.  I still enjoy watching certain TV programmes but I have been reminded that it shouldn’t be an important part of my life.  I now have some  structured thoughts and questions to keep in mind, in order to make sure I don’t fall back into bad habits again.  These include

• No TV on a Sunday, no exceptions.
• No eating meals in front of the TV.
• If a programme is unsuitable for children, is it really profitable for me to watch?
• Do I spend more time watching TV than Studying God’s word?
• Would I feel I was missing out on something if I couldn’t watch TV?  The answer should be NO.

Colossians ch 2 v 6&7 say “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving”.  It is difficult for us to be built up in faith if our minds are continually being filled with content from the TV screen.  I hope in sharing my experience it will encourage other Christians to think about aspects of their lives which perhaps are becoming more important than their walk with God.

So often we easily fall into the trap of doing things to please others.  This is not always a bad thing.  We may want to please our parents, because this is obedient to God’s commandment.  We may seek the approval of our spouse or friends, because we love them and want to make them happy.  However, there are times when we can become carried away with pleasing others and making them happy, we forget about our need to please the Lord.  I was reading today in John ch12v43 “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God”.  I am taking this verse out of context slightly, but the meaning remains the same.  It is wrong for us to put our desire to please others, before our desire to please God.  If there was ever a good time for us to be reminded of this, it’s Christmas!  Just thought I’d Share it with you! Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

The education of our children, is a very important aspect of their lives.  It is one of the key factors in determining their future job prospects and quality of living.  Everyone always has an opinion on the way children should be educated and before I begin my discussion I would like to make the point that I believe this is a personal issue, specific to each individual parents biblical and moral choices. I don’t believe I have the right to suggest to others how their children should be educated, in the same way I don’t welcome judgement on my decision as to how to educate my daughter.  Although I am a few years away from making this decision, it will be a personal choice between myself, my husband and most importantly, The Lord.

I have heard many people express opinions on Christian Education or Home Schooling, which suggest that they are inferior to that of a Secular School Education.  Firstly, I don’t think we can ever make a large sweeping statement about one type of education and brand it as the truth.  For example, we cannot say “Teachers in Christian schools are unqualified” or “Teachers in secular schools are unsaved”.  Both these statements are ridiculous, as there are thousands of schools in Northern Ireland and they all differ from each other.  Secondly, rather than focusing on a type of education as a whole, we would benefit from analysing the specific school that we are interested in sending our children to.  When looking at schools, we should be considering the motto of the school, is it based on God’s Word?; the type of teachers, do you know if they are saved? if so, do they follow the same doctrine that you teach your child at home? Are they qualified to a standard that you are happy with?  The answers to these questions will be different in each individual school, and should determine your decision on whether it is suitable for your children.

There is an assumption that academic education and biblical teaching are two separate things, which are dealt with in different places i.e the school classroom and the church.  However, as the Word Of God is the very foundation of our faith as Christians, we must remember that it should also be treated as a basis for our understanding in many other areas of study.  For example, what we teach in science about creation is taken from the book of Genesis.  We teach moral principles based on the 10 Commandments.  An education which has a Christian ethos will inadvertently give our children a better biblical knowledge.

As parents we feel happier knowing that Christian teachers are setting good examples before our children, whereas we would know very little about the lifestyle and moral standards of a teacher in a secular school.  Of course I know that there are many Born Again Christian teachers in secular schools, but unfortunately they are outnumbered.  The age of extreme political correctness in which we live would deter us from knowing any personal information about teachers in secular schools concerning their faith, sexuality and moral standards.  Given that teachers have such an important influence on our children, should we not want the influence at school to continue the promotion of the Godly principals that we are teaching at home?

This post marks the beginning of a new section in my blog, entitled ‘Women of Faith’.  It is my intention to share with my female readers, some of the thoughts and feelings I have on different aspects of faith, church life and indeed Christianity as whole.  Any comments you have concerning the topics I write about are more than welcome.

In keeping with the seasonal time that we are currently enjoying, there are many issues around Christmas celebrations which cause many Christians to think carefully about the extent to which our festive traditions glorify the reason for the season -The Lord Jesus Christ.  Although we can all make metaphorical comparisons between the biblical Christmas Story and the modern way in which we celebrate (such as the giving of presents), it is evident that for a vast majority of people we can lose sight of the true meaning.  Very often I find myself guilty of this also.

However, this is my first Christmas as a parent.  This of course will add a new and wonderful aspect to the festive season, but it also raises a whole new range of questions and reflections on how we will portray the celebration of  The Saviour coming into the world, to our daughter.  Being just 3 months old, she won’t have any concept of the festivities this year, but God willing there will be many more years to come.  In the years ahead, we hope to show that there is just as much joy in giving, as receiving and that there is much deeper meaning to be taken from the exchanging of gifts.

My question today, raises the issue of Santa Is it biblically correct for us to lie to our children in telling them that there is a jolly man in a red suit, who is watching them all year round and knows when they are naughty or nice?  Should we allow our children to believe Santa is watching them and they can get more presents by behaving well?  I want to point out at this stage that I am not setting out a right or wrong answer to this question, as each parent has the right to teach their child according to their own biblical principles, I am merely setting out my own thoughts.

My problems with the ‘Santa’ ideal, are based on the foundations of what we ultimately should be teaching our children – The Gospel Message that Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19V10).  The Lord Jesus Christ is at the center of the Gospel, we portray him to our children as a part of the Trinity or Godhead.  God IS actually the omnipresent person that we need to teach our children about.  Very often even young children in Sunday School are taught that God is perfect, he can do no sin, unlike mankind who are born and shapen in iniquity (sin). So when we teach our children that there is also another omnipresent ‘person’ called Santa who sees everything they do and judges them according to their behaviour, are we not making a mockery one of the main attributes of God?   Only God can be omnipresent.

So often in today’s society we read and hear of atheists who compare a belief in God to a belief in Santa or the Tooth Fairy.  But if we think about it from a child’s perspective, your child has a trust in you from a very early age.  They trust that what you tell them is the truth and they accept it. So just as we send them to Sunday School and encourage them to read their bibles and pray, we also tell them about Santa and his ability to visit all the children in the world in one night etc etc.  As the child gets older, they become more curious and naturally start to question everything they are taught.  This is a normal part of growing up and by asking questions they gain knowledge and understanding.  Biblically this is fantastic and we should enjoy sharing more of Gods word with our children.  But when it comes to the question of Santa, which is a lie to begin with, we have to tell more lies.  For example, “mummy, how does Santa get into the house if we don’t have chimney?”, to which we have to lie “we leave a key outside for Santa, honey.”  Or “daddy, how can reindeer fly?” to which we respond “Santa uses magic reindeer dust.”

There are many other strange questions that children come up with, but I’m sure you get the idea.  So one lie which is considered acceptable because of the social importance the world places on an imaginary person, turns into a web of lies.  When did breaking the ninth commandment (Exodus 20v16) to keep in with worldly ideal of Christmas become OK?  Surely this must be sending the message to our children that its acceptable to lie in some circumstances, so long as everyone else is doing it.  If you genuinely disagree with me based on biblical convictions, I would love for you to leave a comment to discuss this further.

I know there are many readers who have decided that I sound mean and nasty but I assure you this is not the case   As you can see from the photo Tamar has had her first visit to see Santa and we wouldn’t stop her from enjoying this experience, but we won’t tell her the lies which revolve around Santa.  Our daughter will receive Christmas presents and will look forward to this time of year the same as every other child, but I do not believe that we have to deceive her into feeling this way.  My concern would be that if we taught our child that Santa really exists and then one day break the news that he isn’t and it was all lie, it may cast doubt on her believing us when we teach her about another man who she also has never met, The Saviour Of The World.