Thinking things thru...

We are still in the process of deciding what we as a family will do for/around Halloween. I have a problem, as a believer, celebrating a holiday that is centered on evil. Although the way most people celebrate it is harmless enough, the idea of supporting a holiday that glorifies ghosts, goblins, witches and the occult bothers me.

But the dilemma lies in wanting to be neighborly and reach out to those around me as well as not have my kids feel jipped that they are somehow missing out on something. Growing up, my parents always had candy for the short time that we were home and trick-or-treaters came to the door. We always happily handed them a piece of candy and a track. Then we were off to the festival that our church held. Actually, we ended up taking half of the neighborhood kids with us because they found it far more entertaining to play games AND get candy than to merely go door-to-door asking for it. (One of my clearest memories was the year I dressed up as Teddy Roosevelt and my paster grabbed me and tried to perform a wedding ceremony with a girl dressed as a bride. I remember ripping off my bowler cap and screaming that I was a girl too so he couldn't do that!)

So many questions still swirl around in my mind. Thankfully, no decision we make is final and there is always room to think, ponder and make changes as we go. I did find several thought provoking articles such as this, this and this.

For this year, we didn’t do much. The church where we do Cubbies does a festival. Since we really don’t know anyone there and Xander hasn’t developed any friendships yet, so we opted out. Instead, Alexander had the opportunity to help pass out some candy at my parents’ home.

And then Opa took him into the backyard for a special candy hunt! He loved the hunt, but I think he loved indulging in some of his finds afterwards even more…