Why I won't let my children trick or treat

If you saw your son or daughter conjuring up demons and dead spirits or casting spells would you be ok with that?

I hope that the answer is no, yet millions of parents will allow their children to take part in the 'harmless fun' of Halloween while the devil sits back and laughs. He doesn't need to incite a curios in the dark arts within children because their parents unwittingly due it for him by making light of acting like a witch or wizard. The adaptation of JK Rowlings books have seen children across the world brandishing a wand like a weapon and chanting their very own spells wwhilst touring the neighbourhood as a spooky being. 

Magic is not fun, nor is it harmless. It is a slippery slope to the dark arts, the power that it offers the participant lures them deeper and deeper into a demonic world where Satan can really get a hold of you.

I myself as a young girl was transfixed my shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed and so on and I gained an interest in the occult but thank God Jesus claimed me for His own and saved me.

The Bible pulls no punches on this topic, warning very clearly in Deuteronomy 18:9-14

"...Do not let your people practice fortune telling or use sorcery, or interpret omens,  or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead..."

Fortunately God has the ultimate power, and the one name that makes the devil tremble is Jesus Christ. The Bible says if we call upon His name we will be saved and once we give our hearts to Jesus He lives within us. When you have done that you can be confident that;

Greater is He (Jesus) that lives in me than he (the devil) that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

God ia the ultimate heavenly Father and He loves you and wants to protect you just the same as you want to protect your family. My prayer is that this Halloween would not be a spiritual battle between good and evil for your soul or your children's souls, but would be the day you surrender to God and trust in His unfailing love and everlasting protection.

R

Are we ever really ready for parenthood?

If someone had told me what motherhood was really like I wonder if I would have gone through with it. 

Now don't get me wrong,  I adore my sons and I would not part with them for all the world, however I don't think I was entirely prepared for parenting. I am not talking about the sleepless nights associated with newborns,  or even the challenging tantrums that lasted way beyond the terrible twos, I am in fact talking about the huge heart wrenching responsibility of raising a little life.

My heart swells with pride whenever I think about my boys,  they are both so individual and their smiles simply light up my day. Their personalities are so different yet so complimentary, and I love how they approach life so differently. The thought that my words and actions will mould them into the men they become is more than a little daunting, and I reminded daily of how much I need to teach and invest in myself in order to do the same for them.

More than this though, I realise that it is outside influences that can have the greatest impact on and be the greatest threat to my children. When I look at them together, playing so innocently with no realisation about the atrocities committed across our city never mind our world, the fear I have for their safety, their happiness and their future in a somewhat hostile world just overwhelms me. I know that we are privileged to live in a civilised, democratic and relatively safe world, however the news tells a very different story with rapes, murders and most recently the horrific beheading of innocent victims from IS extremists being reported on a daily basis.

As a mother all I want to do is protect my children. My job is to love them, care for them, teach them and ultimately make everything okay, and I can deal with bad mouthed bullies or bumps and bruises, but how do I counteract the cowardly acts of criminals who seek to hurt and destroy?

I yearn to offer my children the fun and freedom that I enjoyed as a child, so that they can learn and grow in the same way that I did, but I fear that this will never happen as the world we live in now has changed so much since the eighties and nineties. Where I was allowed to play out all day every day in the holidays, I know that no matter how street savvy my sons are, I would massively struggle with them playing out alone in our street much less away from home unaccompanied. Of course,  there will come a day when I have to let them go, and trust that the education that we as parents and that given by our church and the boy's school will stand them in good stead to keep safe while out and about.

I pray for the safety of both my sons daily,  not only that they would be physically safe and unharmed as they go about their day at school and at home, but also that they would be spiritually and emotionally protected, that they would guard their hearts and minds. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future, so as Dave and I keep sowing the seeds of God's word into our family life, I trust that this truth will prevail as my handsome boy's become grown men and find their own way through this life.

Knowing how fast they grow up, this mommy is going to enjoy every precious moment with the undivided attention of my young charges, so that I can invest into their lives, influence them and help them to make good life choices.

Meanwhile I am happy to stick to supervised park play dates and having friends round to stay

R

Bad Mommy Blog

So as I attempt to cook dinner for the third time in thirty minutes I am faced with a barrage of insults from my usually sweet and angelic son who is sat on time out, also for the third time in thirty minutes.  I am aware that he is very hungry after a full on day at preschool, and like his daddy I dare say he currently has tunnel vision as all he can think about is that his stomach in empty and his dinner is STILL. NOT. READY.

The time out was for wilfully spilling an entire cup of water over the dining room table and proceeding to splash in it, covering both the walls, the floor and my second son who was happily sitting in his high chair witnessing the whole debacle. Whatever possessed him to do this I do not know, as an incredibly intelligent and advanced four and a half year old, my son is perfectly aware of what is acceptable behaviour, and this is only further confirmed when he chooses to shut the door to the playroom in order to cause mischief without being seen.

I would love to say that I never lose my temper or say things out of turn, but this is simply not the case, and it is unfair to blame all my son's firey nature on words he has picked up at preschool. However I have never spoken to him, or anyone else for that matter, the way he does to me, so where does he get it from? I love his cheeky character, I love the way he can make me laugh out loud with his silly jokes and funny faces, but at times I despair as to why he seemingly goes out of his way to do things that could make me cry with frustration. Is it something I have done? Am I bad mommy? Does he really mean the things that get shouted over the stair gate from his time out spot on the mat?

The answer of course is no. My son doesn't understand half of the comments he flings out in his defiance to our discipline, much less mean what he says. The price of an advanced little boy who speaks so eloquently and knows far more than he should is often the improper use of words and phrases heard by older children or in TV programmes in a desperate attempt to be more grown up and assert his own thoughts and opinions.

My job as a mother is to love him through this. The comments and tantrums are not personal, they are the overflow of a frustrated child who doesn't understand why the world does not revolve around him, and I need to help him to see that we can't always get our own way and sometimes have to do things that we really would rather not do. The ultimate parent is God in heaven, and I lean on Him heavily in times like this. On days when I could run screaming from the house, or indeed scream back at my tantrumming child the Holy Spirit reminds me that God never screams at me when I throw my toys out of the pram. He never leaves me, or talks down to me. God gently rebukes me when I do wrong, but He always ALWAYS loves me regardless of what I have said or done.

So when my four year old (and I) eventually calm down, we come back together, talk about what happened, say sorry and share a big hug. And this is exactly what God wants from us too, when we fail, lose out temper, lash out at our loved ones, say things that we shouldn't have said, or disobey God, all we need to do is take time out think about what we did and why we did it and talk to our Heavenly Father. By saying the simple yet powerful words 'I am sorry', we are forgiven, for ANYTHING. God wipes the slate clean, He loves us so much that He sent His only son Jesus to take the blame for everything we do wrong, so that we can come to God in confidence knowing that we are forgiven. I couldn't get through a day without Jesus, and I am so thankful for the price He paid for me so that I could have a relationship with God, and I gain so much wisdom and peace from knowing the my Father in heaven is looking out for me and will guide me through parenthood.

Isaiah 40:11 says:

"He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carried them close to his heart; he gently leads mothers with their young."


Thank you Lord for helping me to love, nurture and raise these children to be the men of God you created them to be. If you want to know more about Jesus check out an Alpha course at your local church or visit Renewal Christian Centre for more information.

R x

PND: Making It Through The Darkness

Anyone who has ever experienced post natal depression to any degree will know that recovery is not n overnight process. However I was not prepared to be struggling with it over three month post diagnosis. My personal experience of PND required Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) which I reluctantly took to get me back on track. Within weeks I felt like my old self again, of course there were many emotional low days, but on the whole I was so relieved to feel more in control. My husband has been a constant rock and provided me the best care and support I could have wished for. As my counsellor, lover, partner and best friend, his love and prayers carried me through even the darkest of days.

I struggled with the fact that I relied upon medication to overcome my depression as at the time I thought I should be relying upon God alone for my strength and healing. God quickly silenced my ridiculous ideas by reminding me that if I was sick I would go to hospital for medical intervention and this situation was no different. I thank God that He provides us with knowledge and medical science to alleviate and cure all manner of illnesses, including mental illness. 

I continued with my medication and slowly found my old self again, it felt like looking at your reflection through fogged tinted lenses and as the weeks went by the darkness lifted and the mist cleared.Finally I could see the fun loving, bubbly woman that I used to be. 

My husband regained his wife and my boys regained their mother and my confidence grew and grew so much that I started my own business, Rachel Edwards Writes. I have always regarded motherhood as my highest calling, something that I felt destined to do, however being a successful working business woman in my own right enables me to not only provide a better future for my children, but to to retain my independence and cultivate my creativity. I truly believe that I am a better mother for working and building a business in an industry I am passionate about; writing.

During the festive season and especially in the New Year, I began to do a bit of soul searching and felt that the time was coming to wean myself off the SSRI's. I felt great, and had even forgotten to take the tablets a few times with no detrimental effects, plus I knew that I didn't want to be on medication unless it was absolutely necessary. I prayed about it and felt that it was the right thing to do, but also gave myself the opportunity to go back on them if necessary. The first week off the meds was particularly tough, however I don't think that it has anything to do with the medication, but rather a spiritual battle.The enemy will use anything and everything he can to take you off guard, to make you feel like you can't do something, or that you will fail. He is the prince of lies and desperate to rob us of our joy at any given moment. For the first time in months I felt exposed, vulnerable, weak and scared. 

Looking back I realise this was the devil coming against me. My business was growing successfully and I was wholeheartedly serving God through the leadership team and worship team at Renewal Christian Centre, I was on fire for God and ready to take my relationship with Him to an even higher level. The devil knew this and did his damnedest to make sure I was not in a good place, he wanted to trample my dreams, make me doubt my recovery and my gifts and question my strength and my trust in God. What he didn't account for was the power of God within me. 

God reminded me how precious I am to him, how he only has plans for good, plans to make me prosper, plans to give me a hope and a future. Every time I have read my Bible in the past two weeks I have read about renewing your mind, and it only just occurred to me this morning that God is confirming to me that I am making the right decision in coming off my medication, that He will be my strength and my stay, and that I am changed by a new way of thinking, a transformed Christ-like mindset. Some of the many scriptures God has sown into my heart are below, and I cling to them knowing that He will continue to bring me through the completion of my recovery.

I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.Romans 9:17 NIV

Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life Proverbs 4:23 CEV

Think the same way that Jesus thought Philippians 2:5 CEV

Let God change the way you think Romans 12:2 CEV

Be changed by a new way of thinking Romans 12:2 NIV

You dear children, are from God and have overcome..because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world 1 John 4 NIV

I am not saying that any sufferer of depression should abandon their medication. This decision is personal to me after several months of treatment, counselling and prayer, and my time scale may be very different to someone else's. What I would say to you if you are affected by depression or mental illness is that God loves you, He sent His son Jesus to die for you so that you could be set free from sickness and disease, and He will help you through the darkness and out the other side if you will only open your heart to Him. Whether you remain on medication for six months or six years is irrelevant, the only thing that is important is your salvation and security in Jesus. Let Him in, let Him transform you from the inside out, mind body and soul, and this all starts with giving Him your heart.