Celebrate Halloween??

Celebrate Halloween?  Probably not. 
Participate in trick-or-treating & community?  Yes.

I grew up in a fairly conservative family & community.  (for which I am thankful.)  I mean, we didn't go to movies or dances.  We didn't play with playing cards.  But.. we did go trick-or-treating.  And, we often dressed in ghost & witch costumes, mostly b/c that's what we had.  Plus, it was easier to cover the 2 layers of long underwear one needed in order to trick-or-treat in Aroostook County at the end of October!  I'm quite certain that my grandparents, who handed out pencils, and my great Uncle Glenn & others did not see anything wrong with trick-or-treating.  Or no one would have done it!

However, while I was in college I became aware of the dark things that happen during Halloween.  I believe these things truly happen & obviously I want no part in them.  So at that time I decided that my children would not go trick-or-treating. 

For those who have also decided that, and kept with it, I totally understand why.  I don't understand why houses seem to now be decorated more for Halloween than for Christmas.  I'm not a fan of scary costumes & decor.  I've even had to draw a line with invitations we have received & have had to say 'no' to something that used Satanic symbols and seemed too dark. 

When Noelle was 2 years old and Micah was about 2 months old we bought a house & moved to Pearl Street.  We had neighbors who enjoyed watching our children swing & draw with chalk.  We lived fairly close to our neighbors and they all knew that every Sunday morning & every Sunday night we left our home, dressed up. 

When I started living in a community, it changed my view of trick-or-treating.
I saw that Halloween was a way that I could connect with my neighborhood.  Kids were coming to my door & I could give them unique treats, plus a tract about Christ.  I think there has only been one time I've been home for trick-or-treaters, b/c we've always been out, but that year I gave out crayons &
pencils & stickers & erasers & tracts.  

Halloween is National Evangelism Day b/c people are coming to YOU!  If you give out tracts at Halloween, you should give the best treats on your street!  My kids no longer trick-or-treat, but we always loved small bags of chips, gummies, pencils & stickers.

My next-door neighbor invited us in for a party!  This was the real eye-opener for me!  Our first invitation to come in & it was for a Halloween party!  Now, I'm really awkward at parties!  Probably everywhere there are people, but especially at parties!  But I went, with my children, because these neighbors who knew we were Christians, I wanted to show love & friendliness to them.  Our other next-door neighbors bought special presents for my kids!  So when I came to their door, both Noelle & Micah had a special bag just full of stuff!  Some friends at work did a similar thing,years later, plastic pumpkins filled with goodies for all 3 kids. 

And so... we trick-or-treated.  We met our neighbors.  We enjoyed the fun.  We did 'Sight Night', collecting used glasses for the needy.  We used the hard candy we received for our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.  We saved our mini m&m's for Christmas cookies.  We used candy for our gingerbread houses.  We threw candy away!  We learned self-regulation. 

We had a blast pretending.  We rarely purchased anything for costumes, mostly using what we had.  Noelle has been:  a ladybug, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, an Amish girl, a princess, a soccer player, a veterinarian, a fairy, Katniss, a knight, and a farm girl w/ a goat!  Micah has been a lion, an Amish boy, a construction worker, a policeman, a turkey hunter, an elephant, Gimli, and a pirate. 

There is a big reason why I almost like Halloween.  And that is that in 2006, when Micah was 3 years old, he accepted Christ as his Savior while we were carving pumpkins!!  These pictures are from that very day:

I remember this day very clearly.  I was a single mom & doing the best that I could.  We were doing the simplest of devotionals.  I still have it and we read it again yesterday while we carved our pumpkins.

It is put out by CTA and it says:

"God comes to us and picks us up from a lonely, cold field.  He washes off all the dirt of our sin.  He removes the seeds of doubt, fear, and hate that have grown inside us.  Then He places within us the light of His love.  This love warms our hearts.  What was once filled with darkness is now flooded with light.  That love puts a smile on our face!  Now the whole world can see God's love shining in us!  Got SHINE for the Lord as you Share His Incredible News Everywhere!  Matthew 5:14-16:   You are the light of the world... Let your light so shine."  

We talked about how God takes the yucky sin out of us & puts His light in us.  And that precious little boy lifted both little arms to the ceiling & said that he wanted Jesus.  

So you see, it's hard for me to hate Halloween when my son accepted Christ during a Halloween-ish object lesson!  These are precious memories and nearly every year since we have carved pumpkins and told a similar devotional.  A great one is this book:

So maybe you don't do anything for Halloween, and that's okay.  Or maybe you pass out neat treats & tracts.  Or maybe you go trick-or-treating.  Consider that perhaps your Christian friends who are doing Halloween-ish things are participating in their community & getting to know their neighbors and also having fun!