I love this time of year… the beautiful autumn colors, the fresh cool breeze, and the smell of hot apple cider. Yet every autumn I wonder about the messages surrounding our kids. Even a quick drive down our street has me quivering from the scary and spooky sights displayed in yards. Somehow I manage to keep myself refrained from unstrapping and leaping over the seat in attempt to cover each of my children’s eyes {or at least create an exciting diversion} as evil seems to jump out at us… often with the attempt of bringing fear.
Their little hearts are so precious! I want to help guard their hearts and minds and to teach them to flee from evil and to fear the Lord alone. Yet at the same time, to remind them that although our world seems so full of darkness… Christ’s light can shine through our lives for all the world to see.
And so I battle with what to do come one dark evening on the last day of October.
My brother and me… I was such an angel! :)
Growing up, we went trick-or-treating. We thought it was great to dress up (One of my favorites was when I got to dress up like Rainbow Bright… my kids don’t know who that is… does that make me old???) and to get lots of yummy candy! We always had so much fun- unless we stepped foot into a haunted house- that was when the nightmares began for me. But, really, we thought nothing more of this holiday than who could get the biggest and best treats.
Eventually my parents learned of a lot of the evil surrounding this holiday. At that point, they too battled with what was best for us, and ended up taking us teenaged kids to the store and letting us pick out a bag of our favorite candy to keep all to ourselves. We loved it!! :) {They also shared with us the reasoning behind their decision… and I really appreciated that too!!}
When my husband and I first had to battle with the idea for ourselves, our twins were preemies- safe and snug in the hospital. We lived in a little house tucked behind our church. For years nobody came knocking on our door looking for candy… problem solved.
But on Halloween four years ago, we closed on the house that we now live in. As we scrubbed and painted our new home, in a new neighborhood, the doorbell did not stop ringing. We couldn’t hide, as we had no curtains yet. The problem was- that we didn’t have any candy either. I still remember the first group of boys that came to our door. As I tried to explain to these transformed super-heroes that we had just moved in and didn’t have a chance to get candy, they smiled and pleaded for ANYTHING I would give them… they wound up with a can of pop each- which pleased them greatly.
*The Pumpkin Patch Parable… LOVE this!!*
A few Halloweens have passed since then, and in that time I have found that it has been really easy for me to hide (sometimes quivering… sometimes in disapproval… sometimes just wanting to keep my family safe… sometimes as a way to flee evil) in retreat from what is going on in our neighborhood. We’ve had fun times at church harvest parties and have also been blessed to serve others on that night, and truly think those can be good alternatives, but something leaves me a bit sad at the thought that our light is off and our doorbell doesn’t get rung. For I have never had so many of our neighbors wanting to come up to our home… except on Halloween night.
Yet, for me, simply feeling a “bit sad” doesn’t seem strong enough of an argument for celebrating Halloween. To many in the world, it is “just a day that is fun for kids to get dressed up and enjoy yummy candy”… just like it was for me so many years ago & still is in many ways… yet for those that follow Wicca, Halloween is a very real and sacred day- one of two holy days where witchcraft abounds, release of dead spirits is evident, and practices of the evil spiritual world are embraced (to put it VERY “gently”). To them, the “harmless” act of trick-or-treating would be viewed as celebrating their “god.” I wonder what they think when churches hold Halloween parties… even when advertised as a Harvest party??
That just leaves a sour feeling in my stomach, for we are to hate evil! (Romans 12:9)
Yet, I am also very aware that the majority (if not all) of the children in OUR neighborhood, who come ringing OUR doorbell, dressed up as fairies and Iron-man and alligators and sometimes something a bit more spooky, fall into the “we just want to have fun and get dressed up and have lots and lots and lots of candy” category. I wonder what they feel when the lights of their Christian neighbors are not illuminating the darkness? Do they feel judged, as if we Christians are “too good” to open our doors and pass out candy? Do they feel like we don’t care about them?
Another sour feeling in my stomach- maybe because I can remember what I thought of those that kept their lights off those long ago nights when I was little- but more so because we are to let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven! (Matthew 5:16)
And so I’m wondering if there is a different option… to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21)… to make this night, like any other could and should be, redeemed for Christ!?
What if our family left our light on, refusing to join the darkness!?
What if we handed out the best treats we could afford, as a tiny display of God’s great grace!?
What if we provided a safe place for both our family and our neighbors to come… without ghosts and goblins, witches and severed body parts… even if it IS just for the candy and to ooh and ah at their crazy, cute, creative costumes!?
What if we met the family down the block!?
What if the ballerinas and robots, rock stars and cowboys… and their moms and dads… noticed something just a little bit different about us!?
What if this night led us to tell them about Jesus!?
What if our home became a light in the darkness!?
On such a dark night, wouldn’t it shine even brighter!?
Even if that meant shining in our own homes with our own children- away from the evil mess around us…
Or if that meant going to shine His light to the needy…
Or inviting our neighbors to our church’s harvest party…
Or opening our doors to our neighbors who only ring our doorbell once a year!?
Oh, I hope you see that we are torn on this issue. We have been on and still waiver between both sides of the fence. And honestly, as God continually works in our hearts and transforms our minds, we may continue to feel Him guiding in different ways. My desire is to flee evil, yet also to allow Christ’s light to shine in the darkness, while always, always seeking to bring glory to God!
*Sharing the gospel with pumpkins!*
So, how can we decide what is BEST to do on Halloween night???
*First, we need to realize that our differing families, neighborhoods, convictions, consciences, and values WILL make the answer different for each one of us at varying times.
*Pray… Seek God’s will over our own!
*Seek His Word… His Word is there to guide us and to provide wisdom. (But, also recognize that this is a gray area and we can most likely find Scripture we feel supports both sides.)
*Seek godly council of others… including your spouse (ladies, let’s do our best to submit to our husbands… guys- please seek God and do your best to lead our families well).
*Show grace to others with differing viewpoints, instead of squabbling over what we feel is right.
*Trust that God is working in our hearts and minds and in the hearts and minds of other Christians as well (we don’t need to be their own personal Holy Spirit).
*Take note of the neighborhood… what kinds of costumes are worn, if this is our only opportunity to meet our neighbors, the age of those trick-or-treating, if this is truly seen as an evil event, what other options we have, if our neighbors are safe, how our children will be treated if they do/don’t participate, etc.
*Pay attention to the needs of our own families… the ages and personalities of our children, if they get frightened easily, if this would be a good time to practice kindness to others, etc.
*Evaluate our motives. For us and our family, the decision isn’t about the fun of dressing up and getting candy. Our kids dress up just about every day. And the candy… we could do without that too. Christmas treats are right around the corner and we still have at least half of our stash of Easter candy left in the cupboard. :) So, let’s take a look at what is really motivating us.
*Talk to our kids about our decision and the truth of Halloween. We certainly don’t need to go into gory details, but we can, in appropriate ways, share what’s on our hearts, as well as the importance of knowing that Christ is greater, and should shine brighter!!!
*Find ways to make Christ shine in our hearts and in our homes every day… including the thirty-first day of October… which, by the way, did you realize that it’s also Reformation Day (I found some great ideas to celebrate at When You Rise)!?
(Most of the pictures in this post are linked to activities we have done to set our hearts and minds on Christ… even with pumpkins!)
*Continue to research and reevaluate and process and pray, as we seek God’s wisdom in this area.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, as we are still prayerfully deciding what will take place at our home come the 31st day of October… I know, I know- it’s less than two days away.
{I know this is a controversial topic, so please remember to keep all comments encouraging and kind… otherwise they will be kindly deleted. Thank you! :)}
Linked to The Better Mom, Monday Mom Musings, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, and Women Living Well.