Faith and Relationships

I am kind of nervous writing this post.  I am not too sure how it will be received.

I asked on Twitter one day, if it was wrong that I want to have a relationship with a man who has the same faith I do? I mean we don’t have to be exactly on the same page about absolutely everything, but I would want someone who has the same fundamental beliefs I do.  I hope that doesn’t seem judgmental or anything but God is a huge part of my life and I want to be able to share it with my someday husband.   I want to be able to pray with him, read the Bible together, have discussions, and worship together. I personally believe that people with different beliefs in a relationship can strain the relationship.   I think a solid relationship is based on a foundation and you have to have similar belief systems.  When I think about this subject two things come to mind.  The first one is a bible verse.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken, if you are both wrapped around God your relationship is stronger.  Three is stronger than two strings that are just wrapped around each other.  This could be whatever you believe but for me it is God.

 The other thing I think of is an episode of Trading Spouses.  I think it is the only one I have ever watched and I have seen it twice.  The families are a Christian family and the other family is Orthodox Jewish, which means they are completely Kosher, they are very strict about dress and very old school with their beliefs.  When the Jewish mom is having dinner with the other family, she says it is important that her children marry someone who is also Orthodox Jewish. One of the family members said something along the lines of that’s judgmental.  The mother of the family agreed with the new mom and said it is important to have the same beliefs.   I have noticed people struggling with their relationships because they want to talk about their faith and the other person is not interested or even disrespectful about it.  It is ok that they don’t believe the same thing but I think that it is important to have that support system.

I have dated guys that don’t believe in God. I had some be rude about it and insult my faith. I never sat them down and tried to get them to believe in him. I respected their beliefs. I think it is easier when you have someone holding your hand and encouraging you to believe in your faith of choice and nurture it.  You definitely notice it more when you’re struggling in your faith without that support system.  It is in my opinion easier to get off the path you are on and be led astray.  I guess it is an accountability thing,  someone to keep you on track.

 Someone on Twitter responded it is important especially if you want kids down the road.  I totally agree. I am teaching Noah about God and Jesus.  His first DVD was God made Christmas. I love the God Made series. They are really cute DVDS.  I am not cramming it down his throat, he can make the choice when he is old enough to do so, but I want him to know about God.  We talk about God  together, pray together, he calls them God Blesses. It is important to me that he does. I want all my children to know about God.  I don’t want my future husband to derail my family’s beliefs.  I don’t want my children to hear that God isn’t real because he is.  I think that it becomes confusing for a child when they have parents that believe totally different things.  It becomes a struggle for the family and the child.  Things come together better when you are all together in faith and are able to grow in God (or whatever you believe in) as a family.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, there’s magic in the air! Today, we brought in our Christmas tree and got out some of our Christmas decorations. We bought our tree yesterday and had it out side in a bucket of water. Yesterday we hung the lighted garland and the wreath. Noah oohed and ahhed over the lights and kept commenting on how beautiful the lights were. Today, he got really excited about having a tree in the house. We have this toy where Santa comes down the chimney. We got it when I was younger. I can’t remember how old I was but I remember playing with it. It was really cool to think about me playing with it as he spent an hour making Santa come down the chimney. He laughed and smiled the whole time as he played.

I showed him a snow globe that plays music and he thought it was really cool. He had me pick him up so he could get a better look at the mantle and the decorations on the entertainment center. He is really excited about Christmas. It is so much fun. He is adorable when he gets excited. He knows that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday too. He will tell you all about it. Well as much as he can. For his first Christmas he got the dvd God made Christmas. We started watching it before Christmas and it was his first dvd. I remember him being a few months old sitting in his bouncer being mesmerized at the sights. We love all of the Baby Faith DVD’s. It tells the story of Baby Jesus. I was going to let him watch it today, but I can’t find it. I want him to know the real meaning of Christmas. I hope I find it soon. I know he will enjoy it still.

We also made a craft. Noah is learning about patience and waiting for Christmas. I thought we should make a chain that counts the days till Christmas. Every day we tear off one of the links and count how many more days. Noah did a great job with the glue stick and had a lot of fun. I bought the stuff to make candy cane reindeer. I must say candy canes have gotten expensive. They were two dollars a box. I thought things were supposed to get cheaper. I guess not. The pipe cleaners I got were striped. They didn’t have any solid brown ones so I figured it would be the closest thing. I have come up with a few other fun Christmas crafts and decorations we can do together.

What are some fun holiday crafts do you do with your children? Maybe I will get some more ideas. Please feel free to share them with me.

Let's talk TV Kids edition!

I wrote about what shows are my favorites so I thought I would do the same for Noah. Noah loves Sprout. He enjoys watching pretty much anything on Sprout. He loves the Good Night Show. I actually have on video with my cell phone of Noah saying I love the Good Night Show. I don’t have a video camera. He also enjoys watching Caillou. Caillou is a really cute show. We also watch Barney as most almost 3 year olds do. He likes to watch Thomas and Friends. Noah has a love for trains and loves Thomas stuff. He likes the sprout originals as well such as Fireman Sam (Fire Sam), Dive Olly Dive (Dive Dive), and The Mighty Jungle.

Noah also enjoys some of the shows on Noggin like Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Dora and Diego and Yo Gabba Gabba. Thanks to the wonders of On Demand he can watch certain shows when he wants to see them. I wish they would put more shows on demand but I am happy with the ones we have.

He enjoys watching DVD’s as well. We love Baby Faith DVD’s. Baby Faith is a series of DVD’s like Baby Einstein except they are based on the Bible. They are hosted by Jodie Benson who was the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. They are so cute. My favorite is God made Music which is the story of David and Goliath. There is a rap in there that is so adorable. You should check them out. We also have some of the Baby Einstein DVD’s. Noah still enjoys watching them too.

A lot of the time Noah isn’t plopped down on the couch with a bag of candy doing nothing but watching TV. He runs around and plays and does other things. He will stop what he is doing to watch something if it catches his eye. For the most part he is a multi-tasking little boy.