I love this holiday. I really do. Not because of the candy – it’s really my nemesis, but because of the atmosphere it creates. I mean, what other day of the year do families – entire families – from your neighborhood walk up to your house, ring your doorbell and ask you if they can have something? It seems to go against everything else our culture is promoting. Families are together. Neighbors are talking. People are being blessed. Children say “Thank You”. It’s amazing really.

Sure, there are bloody masks and zombies and things with chainsaws, but lets keep some perspective here. We are on this earth to have relationships, right. First with God, then with others. How could anyone intentionally turn off their front light or leave their house because they know neighbors are going to stop by to say hello and ask for some treats? Isn’t this holiday really a perfect time to reach out to neighbors? Especially since every other day of the year we can’t even get them to wave at us while they are mowing their lawn. But this day they come to us. Are we to turn them away because they are participating in the promotion of evil? Aren’t we all participating in the promotion of evil in some way? And don’t our neighbors need a little love and blessing? Shouldn’t we be the light of the world that makes the darkness run – not because we take a stand on a holiday, but because we light up people’s lives with the love of Christ?

Yesterday we chose to use this very convenient holiday to get to know our neighbors and to take care of them a little. We opened our garage and decorated it with pumpkins and white Christmas lights. We put a space heater in the corner where people could warm up (it was very cold here) and we set up a table with hot cider, coffee, hot cocoa, brownies and pumpkin bread. We had our kids hand out candy as other kids walked up, and we invited the grown ups to come in to warm up by the heater and partake in some wintertime refreshments. It was awesome. We met so many people who were very thankful and had some great conversations. I actually remember so many names and we were able to talk to some moms whose husbands are deployed and offer help if they ever need it. I even got one mom’s phone number so we could arrange a playdate for our kids. So many people were shocked that we would go this far on halloween, but others were just plain grateful. There were some, of course, who skipped our house all together – not wanting to talk or maybe afraid we were weird. That’s ok. We just wanted to bless people and get to know them. We want people to know we are here to help if they ever need it. And, most of all, we just want to build community.

So, I’m not trying to be on my high horse about how to do halloween. I have not always been open to the idea of my kids participating in this holiday. But after this year, when we finally figured out how to bring Christ into halloween, it is starting to grow on me. It was really an amazing night. I never thought it would be so easy to reach out to my neighbors. They are some great people, and I am glad to know them.

Here are some pictures for you. We carved pumpkins this week. Payton and Ellie were our models. Those of you who know them and their love of making faces should be able to see them in the carved squash. The angry pumpkin was the one Payton carved with his Grandma Bonnie. The other picture is, of course, our two little trick-or-treaters. Payton was a train conductor and Ellie was a princess (was anyone in doubt on this one? – she pretends to be a princess every day). They has a great time and really enjoyed getting to know the kids in the neighborhood. When Payton was going to bed I asked him what his favorite part of the night was, and he said, “Mommy, I really liked giving candy to people. You never let me do that before, and I got to do it all night!” Maybe, in some way, halloween has grown in my son the understanding of how good it is to bless others.