Belle's teacher asked me if I would spearhead the class Halloween Party and I agreed and in researching for ideas and planning the party out today, I thought it would be nice to share a few ideas for upcoming Fall Festivities with my Walking in Victory Readers! But before I post some fun craft and game activities you can do at home, do as part of your Mommy and Me get togethers, or for your class parties, I thought I'd share my thoughts on this controversial matter, because, well this is MY blog :) (and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry-ee-ii if I want to - oops, sorry for the diversion, got carried away - you're laughing, you KNOW you are, and now you have that song stuck in your head too! He he he!!!)! Anyhoo, back to ME, I mean MY blog, JK :) allow me to share with you MY family's way of handling this topic. That and because as I pursue my certification to become YOUR personal Certified Life Coach (which is just a fancy way of saying, I'm pursuing something on paper to do what I'm doing now, only as a profession, walking alongside, mentoring, and training up others to Walk In Victory in this journey called life, I just know I'll get this question from a reader, client, parent, etc., in the future. So if like us, you've been torn about this "holiday" and how to handle it, this is what we have done....
For us, we don't necessarily celebrate the meaning behind Halloween, celebrating the dark, underworld of witchcraft and sorcery. But we never want to be the parents that make our kids go sit in the office during the class Halloween party. Anyone who knows our family closely knows that we aren't really much into "religion," and formalities or lack thereof. Our perspective is that God doesn't care about all that! It's about a relationship with Him through a personal, saving relationship with His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, that was given up for us as a ransom so that we could be free from sin and the eternal penalty of our sin. He cares about our hearts. It's the attitude and posture of our hearts that He is jealous for, not what "religious" activities we participate in. Of course with that, if our hearts are truly in line with His, then we naturally will have convictions about activities we participate in or don't and will desire to do what is pleasing to the Lord, knowing that that is where our very own protection and blessing lie.
We will never win souls for Christ so long as we are causing others to view Christians as judgemental and snicketty people (is snicketty even a word?! I don't know, it's just what came to me!)!! :) You know what I'm trying to say...you KNOW you do! Anyway, for US, we live in a very diverse area and we'll never win souls to Christ without taking genuine interest in the same people their very Creator is very interested in! We have to be open to genuine relationship with them. Not just shoving Christianity down their throats. It's when the kids and I have developed GENUINE relationships with our Hindu neighbors for example, allowing them to invite us into their culture, cooking and eating foods together with them from their culture, that we get to know them and they get to know us as well. And they eventually ask questions and become curious about the joy we seem to have and the fruit in our lives, because it becomes desireable. Trust me, not that we have it all together (refer to my Walking In Victory Over Keeping Your Pants Pulled Up post if you would like further illustration of that fact)! :) We don't. But to a hurting world, what very little fruit they see in our lives, is HUGE to them.
Anyway, that's my sermon for the day. We are not to conform to the world by any means. We are a true testament to that stance. We just gave up our very livlihood (and may I add, swallowing our pride and being humbled DAILY - some day when this season is over, I'll share more when I'm sure it will be funny by then) because we would NOT conform to standards that put our core values, convictions, marriage, and family in jeopardy. I'm just saying, let your kids celebrate the new season Fall, a season of Harvest, (heck, use that concept and tie it into the gospel)! :) I'm just saying, don't be snicketty (there's that word again, well, ok, so I don't know if it was, but NOW snicketty is officially a word, so walk in victory using it - and if someone looks at you strange when you tell them they are being snicketty and therefore NOT walking in victory, just tell them, "MY soon to be Certified Life Coach said it's a word and I'm saying it and you can cry if you want to, cry if you want to, cry-ee-ii if you want to - make sure you put a whole lot of attitude into the cry-EE-II part!")
Get involved. Spearhead the class party and have a say in what types of activities the class chooses. Surprisingly, you'll find that the teacher and other parents will be on board and even agree! :) And never teach your kids to be snicketty! :) Or worse yet, allow them to think that YOU are! Be released of all that stuff! Walk In Victory and go decorate a pumpkin with your kids!! :) It's totally ok. In fact, plan a trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend! A ride in the back of a hay wagon in the middle of nowhere with a cup of hot cider is down right chicken soup for the soul!!
For us, we don't necessarily celebrate the meaning behind Halloween, celebrating the dark, underworld of witchcraft and sorcery. But we never want to be the parents that make our kids go sit in the office during the class Halloween party. Anyone who knows our family closely knows that we aren't really much into "religion," and formalities or lack thereof. Our perspective is that God doesn't care about all that! It's about a relationship with Him through a personal, saving relationship with His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, that was given up for us as a ransom so that we could be free from sin and the eternal penalty of our sin. He cares about our hearts. It's the attitude and posture of our hearts that He is jealous for, not what "religious" activities we participate in. Of course with that, if our hearts are truly in line with His, then we naturally will have convictions about activities we participate in or don't and will desire to do what is pleasing to the Lord, knowing that that is where our very own protection and blessing lie.
We will never win souls for Christ so long as we are causing others to view Christians as judgemental and snicketty people (is snicketty even a word?! I don't know, it's just what came to me!)!! :) You know what I'm trying to say...you KNOW you do! Anyway, for US, we live in a very diverse area and we'll never win souls to Christ without taking genuine interest in the same people their very Creator is very interested in! We have to be open to genuine relationship with them. Not just shoving Christianity down their throats. It's when the kids and I have developed GENUINE relationships with our Hindu neighbors for example, allowing them to invite us into their culture, cooking and eating foods together with them from their culture, that we get to know them and they get to know us as well. And they eventually ask questions and become curious about the joy we seem to have and the fruit in our lives, because it becomes desireable. Trust me, not that we have it all together (refer to my Walking In Victory Over Keeping Your Pants Pulled Up post if you would like further illustration of that fact)! :) We don't. But to a hurting world, what very little fruit they see in our lives, is HUGE to them.
Anyway, that's my sermon for the day. We are not to conform to the world by any means. We are a true testament to that stance. We just gave up our very livlihood (and may I add, swallowing our pride and being humbled DAILY - some day when this season is over, I'll share more when I'm sure it will be funny by then) because we would NOT conform to standards that put our core values, convictions, marriage, and family in jeopardy. I'm just saying, let your kids celebrate the new season Fall, a season of Harvest, (heck, use that concept and tie it into the gospel)! :) I'm just saying, don't be snicketty (there's that word again, well, ok, so I don't know if it was, but NOW snicketty is officially a word, so walk in victory using it - and if someone looks at you strange when you tell them they are being snicketty and therefore NOT walking in victory, just tell them, "MY soon to be Certified Life Coach said it's a word and I'm saying it and you can cry if you want to, cry if you want to, cry-ee-ii if you want to - make sure you put a whole lot of attitude into the cry-EE-II part!")
Get involved. Spearhead the class party and have a say in what types of activities the class chooses. Surprisingly, you'll find that the teacher and other parents will be on board and even agree! :) And never teach your kids to be snicketty! :) Or worse yet, allow them to think that YOU are! Be released of all that stuff! Walk In Victory and go decorate a pumpkin with your kids!! :) It's totally ok. In fact, plan a trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend! A ride in the back of a hay wagon in the middle of nowhere with a cup of hot cider is down right chicken soup for the soul!!
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