Why We're Celebrating Halloween

Halloween is my least favorite holiday. Growing up, we never made a big deal out of Halloween. We were allowed to wear costumes to school but that was the extent of it. We usually went to an alternative fun night at either our church or one of the other churches in town. John was also raised to not celebrate Halloween. I know many Christians avoid this holiday because even though it originated as a Christian holiday, it was become a holiday of darkness and evil. It's frustrating to see all the scary decorations on houses (our street is especially bad), the horror movies on TV and other things that are associated with darkness.

My mindset as an adult was to just ignore Halloween and wait for it to pass so I could get on with celebrating Christmas. Now that we have kids, however, my thinking is a bit different. As Cassidy is getting older John and I have had many discussions about how we are going to handle different things that will come up in her childhood. One of these things is Halloween.

Lately I've been earnestly praying for more opportunities to live out my faith and to spread the gospel. I've been praying for eyes to see people as Jesus sees them and to not just be open to opportunities to share my faith, but to actively seek out ways to show Jesus' love to people. We are called to go and make disciples (Matt. 28) and be a light to the world (Matt 5). John and I want our girls to have this mindset, to be ready to make the most of every opportunity and to always be looking for ways to show Jesus' love to their friends and to anyone they meet. This is why we're choosing to celebrate Halloween. What better time to be a light then on a day of darkness?

John ordered some special Halloween tracts from Christain Book.com. They have a few activities for kids to do and they clearly explain the gospel in kid-friendly terms. We spent one evening this week taping them to full size chocolate bars. When the kids start coming trick or treating, the girls are going to dress up in their tiger costumes and help hand out candy (well, Cassidy will!) After we hopefully get rid of our load, we're going to head over to Valley Christian Academy for Fun Night and spend the rest of the evening there. We are not participating in trick or treating (for one thing, the girls are too young anyway. We haven't discussed what this will look like in future years) or involving ourselves in anything to do with scary creatures or darkness. We are choosing to be a house of light. This morning we spent some time praying over the kids that will be coming to our door and receiving our treats. Our prayer is that God will use these tracts to plant seeds, spark discussions and hopefully lead some to salvation. 

Instead of trying to ignore Halloween and shut the lights off and hide out in the basement, we are taking advantage of this holiday to be a light. To show the world that Christians can have fun and to show our girls how to take advantage of any situation and use it as a chance to spread God's love. I realize that this is just a small thing, but I know from experience that it's often small things that God uses to bring great glory to His name. We are called to be a light, every day. This is why and how we're choosing to celebrate Halloween. 

Jesus said "I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark."

Thankful Thoughts

I think that, living in a first world country, we take alot of things for granted. Running water, food, a warm bed at night, cars to take us places, and the list goes on and on. I try to remember to be mindful and thankful for all we have here in Canada, but it often goes forgotten until something happens that changes things, like last year when we were under a water advisory in Warman and had to boil all our water for a week. That was an eye opener! It made me realize how lucky we were to have access to water at all. Boiling it seemed like a pain, but at least it was there! 

This week I've been thinking about something else we have in Canada that I often take for granted- healthcare. I and my family have always been blessed by good health. We've had the occasional time where we've needed to go to the walk-in to get antibiotics but nothing beyond that, until now. As most of you know, Aviannah has some health issues that seem very minor, but are still things that need to be followed up on. So far we've seen (or will be seeing) a pediatrician, neurologist, ophthalmologist, physical therapist and occupational therapist. That's quite the list of specialists! I've gotten a small taste of what these visits would be costing if we didn't have coverage and it is kind of ridiculous. We just got her health card 2 weeks ago so up until then we've had to pay for all our visits, but we will be getting everything reimbursed. Never before have I been so thankful for health care. When we met with our agency, they mentioned how lucky we were to not have to worry about the costs. They said a child who requires lots of specialists is often a deal breaker for adoptive parents because they can't afford it, but in Canada that's not even an issue. We spent the afternoon at the Kinsmen Children's Centre yesterday and I was thrilled with the people there and how closely they'll be following up on Aviannah. Right now they don't see any problems, but she is at risk for developmental delays so they want to keep seeing her to watch for any future problems. They also put in a referral for her to a program called Early Childhood Intervention which sounds fantastic. Again, they said she might not even need it, but they want to give us that option just in case. If it wasn't for our healthcare system, we might not have been able to utilize these resources. Of course, I hope that we won't need to down the road, but if we do, they are there and I am so thankful for that! 

Now if only we could find a way to keep it warm here all year round...then Canada would be just about perfect!

Being Thankful and my 7 Month Old

It's Thanksgiving, and so of course I, like everyone else, am taking time to think of things I am thankful for, and I don't have to think very hard. We had a sharing time in church this morning and I shared how thankful I was for Aviannah and for our church family and their vital role in getting her home. I just wanted to extend that sentiment out to the rest of you who read this blog and have prayed and paid our baby home. She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. So from the bottom of my very full heart, thank you. It's amazing to see how many people love her and take interest in her. She is one lucky little girl.

And today she hits another month milestone. Each month seems to come up faster then the one before. Happy 7 months Aviannah!

So far, this month has been the roughest yet. We had gotten into such a nice routine with Avi. She was sleeping through the night, on a good nap schedule and eating bigger amounts and going longer stretches between feeds. Then her teeth decided it was a good time to start causing havoc and all routine flew out the window. Her appetite went down, she started eating smaller amounts more often and waking up at night to eat, she had trouble napping due to fussiness and she's had diarrhea, a bad diaper rash and a cold. It's been so not fun, but it seems there is a lull in the teething. For the last three nights she's slept all night and her happy disposition is back. No teeth have made an appearance, however. I sure hopes she pops 1 or 5 soon!

Other then all of that, she's still doing great! She's rolling both ways and I never find her in the same spot I left her any more. She has decided that she LOVES to talk. Yesterday at my parents house she shrieked and squealed on the floor as we all stuffed ourselves full of Thanksgiving food and today in church she shrieked her way through Sunday school and the service. It's hilarious how vocal she is. Looks like she's going to take after her sister in that regard!

We started on solids this month, and so far she's not a fan. We've tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes and applesauce. Lately it's been going in and staying in but the faces she makes are priceless! We'll keep trying different things and hopefully find something that she likes eventually. I'm having fun with it! She is SO close to sitting on her own. On my lap she can sit for quite a while without help, but she has more trouble on the floor. I'm thinking sometime this next month she'll get the hang out if. She loves toys and grabs on to anything in her reach and immediately sticks it in her mouth. 

She sure keeps us on our toes. Just when we think we have something figured out, she throws us for a loop. It's a good thing she's so cute! I can't believe she's only 5 months away from a year. This week marks 5 months since we met her, and those months have FLOWN by so I'm sure before I know it we'll be throwing her a birthday party. 

Blessing to you all as you celebrate Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.