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."