Halloween

My neighbor asked me a couple of weeks ago if we "celebrate" Halloween.  She asked because she wanted us to go trick-or-treating together.  I told her that we loved going trick-or-treating and would join them and I invited them to the fall festival at our church.  I remember Justin and I discussing and trying to figure out how we were going to "deal" with Halloween as a family.  You know, that whole "Christians shouldn't celebrate pagan, evil, holidays" thing?  Obviously, you have to choose for your own family.  And, obviously, we learned a while back that you cannot judge your fellow brother or sister for choosing something different....if it isn't written in Scripture, it is really a matter of personal conviction.  If you are interested in what we have seen over the years, let me share...

Halloween is the perfect time to engage neighbors in a natural, non threatening and fun way.  Everyone is out!  This Halloween we met tons of neighbors for the first time (and to think we've lived here for over 6 months!) and built some great foundations for friendships to come.  When you are out walking door to door with your children, it is totally acceptable after your kids get their "loot" from the door, to introduce yourself!  Justin introduced our family to many people at their own doors, and it wasn't awkward at all!  We are supposed to know, love and reach out to our neighbors, Halloween is a great time to start.

I'm excited about having met new folks.  It was also fun for people to come to our door when got done and pass out candy to them!  We want to be a house with our light ON, and we want to pray that God would use even Halloween for His glory!

“As Christians, why are we here in this world? Are we here to live in a safe and protected environment, guarded against the evils in the world, or are we called to reach out into a world filled with dangers and be the light of Christ? Halloween brings people of the world to our door step. Halloween brings our neighbors out into the streets. I can think of various creative ways to seize this opportunity for developing new relationships and sharing my faith.

Is it possible that our negativity toward Halloween only alienates the people we seek to reach? Can we be in the world, but not of the world?”

--Mary Fairchild

http://christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/i/biblehalloween.htm

 Ok, nuff said about that...

 We did have some really funny (and disastrous) moments.  Our two youngest have upper respiratory infections and were treated by a doctor earlier in the day.  Elizabeth is doped up on some cold medicine (can't you tell by her eyes?!) and Catharine was soooo tired.  At one point, Elizabeth fell out of the stroller and when she tried to stand up, fell on her head.  On. Her. Head.  Poor baby.

 Our "swarm" was very thrilled to have such a great collection of treats :)

This girl...cracks me up.  This story has nothing to do with Halloween, but I have to share.  I don't know if you know who Penelope is, but SNL has this character who I love to watch on YouTube...you should look it up, anyway...once you watch a couple of her skits, what Madelyn said will make sense...

Catharine- "Madelyn, aren't you glad I didn't get a shot today at the doctor?"
Madelyn- "Well.......not really.  Now you're going to be sick forever......soooooooooo..........."

Please go watch a Penelope skit and then read that in her voice.  Hi-lar-ious.

Hope you met a lot of neighbors, had a great time, and are ready to embrace the month of November with huge gratitude to the Lord for great things He has done!

Blessings!