what are you doing for halloween?

[winky]

Well, I'm trying something new tonight. As a fresh out of college newly-wed (well, a little over a year) my husband and I are still new at having to determine for ourselves what to do on Halloween (I mean, I trick-or-treated til I was 16!).

SO, here's my plan. I'm passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, but the candy will be two pieces tied together with ribbon and a little piece of paper will be attached with a Bible verse. Candy and God's Word, all in one package, does it get any better than that? :)

Anyway, I'm still debating on what verse(s) to use, so if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. Also, I'm debating on maybe putting our church's Web address or something about our church on the back of the verse. What do you think?

Wendy

[Richard]

Winky,

How about Ephesians 6:1-4?

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Just a thought :)

Richard

[spurly]

Hey, that's a great idea Wendy.  How about Zephaniah 3:17?

Kevin

[winky]

Thanks so much for the help, Eric, Richard, Kevin! Kevin, sorry if I hijacked your thread. I still want to hear what others are doing tonight! We have a costume carnival going on at our church (if we had kids, I'd probably be there), I'm guessing a lot of churches having something similiar, right?

Wendy

[spurly]

When I went to the store to get candy to give away, I noticed that the large candy bars (butterfinger, baby ruth, Nestle Crunch, Hershey Bar, Hershey's with Almonds, and Hershey's Cookies and Cream) were on sale 5 for $1.  I decided to buy a lot of those and pass them out.

It was great to see the joy on the faces of the children as they got to pick out which one they wanted.  They seemed to be very excited.

Kevin

[spurly]

Hey everyone, what are you doing for halloween tonight?  Or are you the person who will turn off your porch light and do nothing?

I am picking up a group of Junior Highers for a game night at the church.

Kevin

[Eric]

When asked by someone at a preparation for a wedding shower what we do at our church (after having been introduced as the "Preacher's wife" for the hundredth time that night), my wife responded, "Oh the usual, we cut the heads off live chickens."  The shocked expressions for a brief moment wonderful.  And then they realized that she was joking and that she was actually some normal huiman being just like the rest of them.

Given that kind of a context, our halloween will be pretty tame.   We will be taking our two children (ages 5 & 2) out tricker treating while one of the million or so people living with us takes care of the door (I do not know how it happens, but our household keeps growing, and they are not even our kids!).  My boys like some of the scarier characters like Bob the Builder and Buzz Lightyear so I guess we are stuck with that instead of the traditional witch or devil.

Wendy, consider carefully how you want to represent God in that brief glimpse that people will see.  I would suggest if you want people to learn one messsage it is that God still loves them, no matter where they are in life, and no matter what they've done.  God still loves them and wants them to return to him.

Eric

[winky]

Great thoughts and suggestions! Keep 'em coming! I might do more than one verse, and just pray that God directs the right verse to go to the right person/family.

Wendy

[Jeff]

Our children are now ages 10-16.  A couple years ago my wife and I were trying to determine how to extinguish all the hoopla that goes along with Halloween (the Lord knows we don't need any more candy around the house!)  We actually gave the kids a year or so pre-announcement.  To the oldest we said, "This is your last year trick-or-treating."  After age 13 or so, I question the motive of going house to house in a costume with a sack.  A year or so later, we announced (I think in September) that we weren't going to be participating in Halloween any more, but would make it a special family night.  

Amidst howls of protest, that night turned out great.  We went out to dinner (restaurants were vacant) and then let the kids roam the local department store (Target) and make up their Christmas lists.  There were even fewer people in the store than in the restaurants.  We all had a great time, and established new traditions.

My wife and I are both troubled by the self-indulgent aspects of Halloween, not to mention the celebration of the occult.  While I certainly don't have a problem with little ones trick or treating and that age gets such a thrill out of dressing up that I wouldn't want to deprive a pre- or early elementary school child of the experience, I am very glad we have made the decisions we have.

[david johnson]

fellow scholars:

i found a verse in the little known letter of third corinthians that indicated first century folks roasted weenies & marshmallows.  i intend to follow the pattern. :p

yummy boo
dj