Our homes are filled with various screens; the television screen, our mobile phones, our iPad and the likes. The more time we spend on these screens the more time we spend apart from each other. Sit down and calculate how many minutes, hours you spend daily on your phone or television screen?

As an example, I spend time writing, recording, answering and responding to all sorts of issues. And there are some of you out there whose vocation/profession involves the screen, and if you are not careful you will find yourself engaged with the same at home.  And you know that too much time on screen affects your eyesight, too much time sitting down at the front of the screen has an effect on your back, too much time sitting down by the screen steals your time!

And I am sure there will be many more side-effects of too much screen time. How then can you introduce a screen time free to your home? It is possible to introduce screen-free time into your home.

You may have a rule of no T.V before a certain time in your home.

You may have a rule of a certain amount of time on all technology that has screens in your home.

You may have a particular time of the day, where everybody submits their phones, iPad to a certain place, and the T.V off for up to two hours while people go and take a siesta, or spend time listening to God, read their Bible, books or do something fun together as a family. Particularly when you have little ones, having story time helps a time when you pick two or three books to read to everybody and encourage the older ones to read out for the younger ones to listen and thereafter take questions and responses.

In order to make this a fun time, you may provide a little snack and make it interactive so that the children long for a screen-free time in the home.

May the Lord who gave you the gift of your home, also help you to know how to make sure screen time is not causing a huge disruption in your family relationship.

There are several practical steps laid out in this article and my suggestion is that you would take a notebook, write down the ideas you have gleaned from them and get praying. Ask the Lord to help you prioritise, adapt and live out the instructions He has given. May the Lord be your guide as you press in to become the godly wife and mother that brings glory and honour to His name in Jesus’ name.