Halloween at My Door

BOO! Tonight is Halloween night. And if you’re just realizing it, you know what fear feels like right about now! Trust me, I know. I’ve been there.

Every year my wife Lois and I scramble to figure out what we should do with Halloween. We want to reach out to the families who live around us but we don’t feel comfortable supporting this holiday the way it gets celebrated by some of our neighbors. I’m thinking right now about one home with a lawn ornamented by a 20 foot diameter spider web equipped with a life-size person stuck in the middle.

Last year we bought some candy and, although we didn’t have our kids go out to other homes, we let them greet the trick-or-treaters at our door. Big mistake. People thought we were torturing our kids, forcing them to give away all our candy and never getting any of their own.

We’ve also tried the duck and hide approach. You know, turn out all the lights, eat supper in the dark, pretend you’re not home and hope people ignore you. But it always feels like we are in the witness protection program. Then there is the cut and run method; find a good harvest party and get out of Dodge before it gets dark. But that approach doesn’t give us a way to reach out on Halloween.

This year we’ve decided to try a modified duck and hide. I will give out candy to the neighbors while the rest of the family spends time together downstairs. That way I can relate to the neighbors without them reporting me to the sugar deprivation authorities for cruelty to my children. We’ve learned not to place a lot of stock in Halloween as the perfect evangelism opportunity. Sometimes the adults don’t even come up the walk. But who knows what outreach opportunities are lurking just on the other side of our door – opportunities that can begin small on Halloween, but be followed up on in the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons ahead. I just I hope I don’t scare anybody with my ‘suburban dad’ costume.

Are You Afraid of Halloween?

“So, what ya’ doin’ for Halloween ?” That harmless question can generate more fear in a Christian parent’s heart than any witch and broom!! Should you run down to the Halloween store and get in on the annual goulfest, or should you hide the car, muzzle the dog and pretend you temporarily moved to Utah?

Responding to this question is ultimately an issue of conscience informed by sound biblical wisdom. If you’re trying to get a handle on how to understand Halloween from a solid, biblical perspective, check out this article from Grace To You (the ministry of John MacArthur). In it the author explores the history of the holiday and offers some balanced perspective on how Christians can relate to it.

• For parents, the take home point is to not just react or accommodate Halloween, but to think and act in faith in whatever we do. We don’t need to fear Halloween. We can respond to this question and walk – with or without a costume - on October 31 in a manner worthy of the Gospel.

• If you want to participate in the house-to-house revelry with your kids, how can you do it that so that you’re prepared to take advantage of interactions with folks you meet on the way. (Hint: Be easily recognizable and ‘safe’ in the dark)

• If you’re going to hand out candy, think about how you can engage parents, not just dump candy into open bags with kids behind them. (Hint: Many parents don’t even come to the door so make it a point to be a happy presence in the doorway – service with a smile.)

• If you’re going to vacate for the evening, look for other families or brothers and sisters to spend time with – make a memory. (Hint: This can be a great time to invite some singles over for an impromptu party – they have their own Halloween events they’re trying to evade).

Whatever you do, talk to your kids. Help them understand why you’re doing what you’re doing and connect them to the truths of God’s word that are being applied in what you do. Life – including Halloween - is about teaching moments!

Trick or Treat?

Hi! And welcome to the first post on the CFC Family Life Blog. This is actually a pre-launch, ‘Halloween Week’ edition of the blog because we wanted to serve parents heading into one of the strangest weeks on the calendar. Next week we’ll begin our regular blog line-up, which you can find out all about this Friday. But this week we thought it’d be helpful to give you some things to think about as Halloween night comes and goes.

Now I don’t know about you, but as a Christian parent I’ve never been able to solve the ‘Halloween Night’ dilemma. All my creative leadership seems to dissolve into a mush of indecision when my kids ask me, ‘so are what are we doing for Halloween?’. Maybe its temporary demon possession. Or maybe it’s the disorienting interchanges with neighbors who are ordinarily safe-sounding people:

Neighbor: So what do you think of the decorations? Pretty cool, huh?

Me: The black and orange lights are a nice touch – kind of a Flyers thing

Neighbor: My wife tells me I need more blood on the skeletons. I think that would be tacky. What do you think?

Me: Well….I….So how bout them Flyers?

I can feel the mushy indecision coming on right now. If you’re like me a little focus can help, so that’s what we’re trying to do this week. Tomorrow David Sharp is going to offer some tips on some Halloween alternatives for your family. Marty comes to the rescue for the thoroughly confused on Wednesday with what to do if you haven’t made any plans. Thursday, Brian Vander Weide helps you recover from whatever you did or didn’t do the night before. And Friday we’re looking ahead to Official Launch Monday.

Trick or Treat!