Halloween, or Not?

I have never been a big fan of halloween.  For some reason I never enjoyed dressing up and the make-up made me feel sick to my stomach.  Scents are huge for me, and something about the make up just smelt bad.  I hated the idea of being scared.  Add to that my not very social outgoing personality and knocking on doors requesting candy made me feel very anxious.  My parents loved it!  They would spend the whole day decorating the interior of the house to match the exterior.  The seamstress that my mother is, she would spend the whole month of October sewing my family a complete set of themed costumes.  We picked out a theme where we could all be something of the same group, Flintstones and the Adams Family to name a few!  We lived in the middle of nowhere so our trick or treaters were few but we always went all out!  Our trick or treating was bundling up in our snow gear under costumes that Mum would make a size to big, and driving from house to house since there were no side walks and the houses were to far apart to walk on a dark cold evening.  

As a family (Sam and I), we have always been on the fence with halloween.  To participate, or not?  We struggled with this question in early October.  You can find an article that someone has written to support whatever you want to believe.  You can throw the bible verse around about darkness and resisting evil.  We didn't want to endorse a wicked celebration but we also have a heart for home missions.  We want to be careful to not close ourselves off from our community.  We are constantly checking and making sure that we aren't justifying doing something that God wouldn't approve of by our sinful nature.

The kiddos love to dress up AND they love candy.  So we did it.  I have to admit, I really truly enjoyed it.  I enjoyed walking with the kids to houses and to see their smiles as they skipped back to us after collecting their loot.  I was excited to see them use their manners.  I was thrilled to watch the boys take their younger sister under their wings and to keep her safe walking up and down stairs and from the crazy crowds.  I was pleasantly surprised watching them be totally fearless walking up to costumed adults handing out candy, usually Hannah leading the way!  It was a great family night out with Darth Vader, Batman, and the Princess Butterfly!