OK, so I wanted to share my thoughts on October 31 AKA Halloween. Personally just hearing the name of this holiday makes me cringe just a little bit. When I hear "Halloween", I tend to think dark, evil, witches, scary, etc. That's just what comes to mind for me. It wasn't always this way. I grew up dressing up and going trick or treating and ALWAYS LOVED IT!! I think that most years I dressed as a witch or a clown, because those were pretty easy. Now I prefer not to acknowledge this day as a holiday.
I know that this is a very controversial topic. Some Christians see no harm, and others think you are going to die and burn in hell if you dress your kid up and go door to door. There's no denying that much about Halloween IS evil. And the Bible definitely warns us to flee from even the appearance of evil, but the greatest tragedy and where Satan really wins is in pitting Christians against each other. Condemning each other is also evil. And prideful. And I've done plenty of both. This is not me on my high horse, because I struggle with pride and self-righteousness which is so horrible, because really I'm pretty despicable. I think that dressing your kids in cute innocent costumes and going trick or treating is not evil. I prefer not to do it, but I don't think it's evil. I'm totally guessing here, but I'm inclined to think that the vast majority of parents and children who were trick or treating tonight, did not see any harm in it. They have no conviction against it. Here's Wesley favorite line to me, he says this all the time....IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOUR HEART!
I'd be remiss if I did not mention the real significance of October 31st for me. On October 31, 2006 I gave birth to a very, very tiny baby boy. His name was Samuel Thomas. Luke helped name his first brother. I LOVE that! When planning for another baby, he begged us to name him Thomas after Thomas the Train. Samuel was my pick, because I had asked the Lord for another son like Hannah did in the Bible. Losing Samuel was/is one of the most life changing events in my life. I don't know if this will make sense or not, but it's like my faith and my reality had a head on collision. I was forced to decide whether or not I really believed what I had said that I believed. It grew me in ways I could not imagine and changed me in ways that I did not expect. It was shocking and heartbreaking and down right debilitating at times, and I know what I am about to say won't make since, but it was also a beautiful time. Unfortunately, I've since suffered many other miscarriages. The Lord has taught me different things through each loss, but this first loss was so significant in that it was my first. It's when the naive girl who did not think that would ever happen to me who thought she was great at growing babies, realized that I am nothing and God is everything.
Sometimes this day makes me sad, but mostly it makes me grateful. Heart so full that it feels like it's going to explode grateful. God has been good to me. He has been faithful.
I don't really care how you feel about Halloween. I don't care if you trick or treat or not. I just hope that you know Jesus. That you really, really know Him. And you know, I'm not sure that Jesus cares if you trick
or treat either. I think He just cares about your heart just like My Wesley always says. He's so wise!
Want another look at my cuties to make your heart swell too? Here they are again!
By the way if you are one of the sweet people who gave us candy today just now that we LOVED every bite! Thank you!
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