Good vs. Evil

If parents have any sort of opinion on any holiday it is always going to be Halloween and Christmas. I understand the depth of each holiday. I understand where the non-Santa Claus parents are coming from. They are just trying to teach their children the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. And I understand those parents who convince their children that a simple pumpkin is something that is horrible and that is you dress up and participate in anything on the 31st then you are participating in the devil's holiday. I get it. It is an evil thing to celebrate if you truly celebrate what Halloween is.

I'm proud of the kind of parent I am when it comes to such things. I came from a home where we would always dress up as some sort of Bible character, I was always either an Angel or Mary, and on the evening of the 31st we would meet up at the church with all the rest of the church families. We would walk from Sunday School room to Sunday School room playing games like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", "Balloon darts", "Go Fish!", and "Bobbing for Apples". We would always get a ton of candy, which for most kids is the entire "meaning" behind Halloween. We would then go home feeling exhausted but would have made some wonderful memories as a family and a church family. I still have fond memories of those days.

Now that I am the parent, I find myself deciding on what outlook I would like my girls to have when it comes to Halloween. I believe in educating children to set them up to, eventually, decide for their life what they will believe and what they won't believe. I was thinking about this this morning as I was cleaning the horse that Grace is going to wear this coming Saturday at our annual church Harvest Party. I thought of the scripture in Genesis 50:20

"Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good......"

I do not think that allowing my kids to dress up in a cute costume, gain loads of candy (in which they must "tithe" to mom and dad) and be apart of a safe and healthy environment either at church, a shopping center, or a safe neighborhood is condoning anything evil. We do not celebrate Halloween, we celebrate the gift and blessings of the harvest of the year. It has been an ancient tradition to celebrate the harvest and give thanks for that. The actual Harvest falls some time at the end of September. Which is why most churches use Halloween as this time of Harvest or Fall festivities.

I will dress up my children and head to Life Church on Halloween evening with a smile on my face in knowing that I am making a stand to the evil that lives among us, that I will not participate but to be apart of something bigger, something whole. I will choose to enjoy my children, play games, have great conversation with others, and show the love, mercy, and grace that Jesus shows to me every minute of every day. I choose to turn something that was meant for EVIL into something that is GOOD!

That's just how Kristin "c's" it. (holding up a C with my hand right now)