I want to begin by saying I realize that this can tend to be a bit of a touchy subject to some and this is not a post putting you down if you do choose to celebrate. I am not judging or condemning anyone, this is what is good for our family and the decision we have made for us.
When I was a child Halloween was one of the two days a year that we got a large amount of candy in our house (Easter being the other). We would usually at last minute dress up in some cheap or homemade costume (believe me none of them were fancy or store bought) and my dad would load my brothers and me and sometimes a few cousins in the back of his truck and he would drive up the road only stopping at the houses of people we knew (we lived out in the country and knew most of our neighbors so there were a lot of stops) and we would get our bags filled with candy. We would always take time to stop at an older couples house that my family was friends with where they would not only give us candy but would serve us hot chocolate as well to help warm us up from the cold. Yes, I went trick or treating as a child and yes, I turned out alright. However, our world around us has changed drastically since I was a child where we knew most all of our neighbors and our family knew their family before them for generations back. It was a time of fun in the community. Growing up in a primarily non-Christian home we thought nothing more of Halloween than a day to dress up and get candy.
When my children were 3 and 5 years old I decided that I would take them for their first ever "Trick or Treating" experience. This was the year my oldest had started kindergarten and of course there was a lot of hype in the classroom around this time of year as to what everyone was going to dress up as. Before "real" school we had never been faced with this and honestly my boys didn't really even know what people did on Halloween. Anyway, I dressed them up as cowboys because we had all the stuff in our toy box and closet to make this happen and off we went. We made only a few stops at some family members homes that live close to us and they ended up with a huge amount of loot.
The next year when Fall arrived and Halloween was drawing near I had a strong conviction in my heart that we were not supposed to be a part of what the world was doing on that day.
Continue reading here tomorrow...
I'm very interested to hear your family's reasons for not doing Halloween, and how you explain your decision to other Christians. We do not do Halloween, nor do we celebrate Christmas or Easter. Instead, we celebrate all of God's biblical feasts. What I find most interesting is that our non-Christian friends have an "oh, that's neat" type attitude, but trying to explain to other Christians why we don't celebrate even "christian" holidays is very difficult, especially explaining without seeming to be judgmental about their celebrations.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for tomorrow's post...
Miranda, thanks for stopping by. We do celebrate Easter and Christmas but we keep with the biblical side of it not Santa or Easter bunny. I like your idea of celebrating Biblical feasts.
DeleteLooking forward to part 2... We also do not celebrate Halloween and my family has a hard time with "why in the world" would we not let those kids "just be kids and enjoy dressing up"! Well, we do celebrate Easter (Resurrection Day) and Christmas and Thanksgiving and I nod my head at Valentine's Day. I've always felt convicted about celebrating a very openly pagan/satanic holiday, no matter how much we try to clean it up. I just can't find ANY redeeming quality about this day and don't see why we as Christians should celebrate it at all. We don't do Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny... and for those that say those days aren't really the days Christ was born or died, I get it. But if it were July 8th it would be a good day to celebrate the birth of my sweet Lord and Savior. If it were January 15th it would be a good day to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of my most precious of friends, the Lord of my life and the Savior of my Soul. If it were August 12th it would be a good day to have a national day of Thanksgiving to God Almighty for all he has done for us individually and as a nation. What I'm getting at is that each of these days has value, no matter if it's the historically "right" day or not. But Halloween.... ???? Ummm... NOooo.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, that's just me and MY family. I chose that for us many moons ago (ha!) and my husband (who really could care less one way or another) thinks it's just fine and that's what we do. As appeasement for my kiddos, though, and to let them know I'm not at all trying to steal their fun, spoil their childhood, etc., I always buy them a bag of candy to enjoy at this time of the year. And an elderly neighbor knows we don't celebrate Halloween and she always gets the kids a bag of candy "just because I love 'em." It's a sweet expression for my kids and they know she does it 'cause it gives her an excuse to give them something. (Oh, and we have celebrated some of the Biblical Feasts and we enjoy those too.)
Lori, I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree, nothing redeeming about Halloween (in my post tomorrow - ha) and I also agree about Chrstmas and Easter and Thanksgiving. It honestly wouldn't matter what day or date those were celebrated on they have great meaning to us as Christians and I would celebrate them on any day of year. I love your comment, I am not sure my posts will do your comment justice. WOW! I am so thankful for you and Miranda and your comments. Thanks for reading.
DeleteI'm looking forward to part 2! We don't celebrate Halloween either. We celebrate "Fall Day". We don't dress up, but we have candy. (Candy I buy and/or homemade). We normally just color fall pictures and have family game time. All while we have our porch light off! :D we only get a few knocks, but we don't answer. I get frustrated while we are out and get questions about what they are dressing up as, or is santa coming to you!? The kids just smile. lol but in this world...it's hard to explain to people without getting odd looks. How do you answer their questions?
ReplyDeleteTonya, thanks for your comment. When my boys were younger and attended the Elementary School I would sign them out of school at the time they were doing their Halloween parties and we would go to a play land and eat so they got to do something special too. This is the first year that both are in older grades so school parties are not an issue but I am probably still gonna do something special with them. Candy, my kids still get plenty - Grandparents make sure of that. haha We do get odd looks and that is ok. My youngest son explains it this way "We don't celebrate the devil's birthday"! LOL Precious children and the things they say. Keep reading my posts - I hope they will be an encouragement to you. We are in this together! :)
DeleteWe too do not celebrate Halloween, though I never did as a child either. My kids and I have a fun mom n kid movie night ;) Thanks for sharing, it is important to share your thoughts and explain why you do or do not do things. Blessings! We're neighbors at Titus2 today! simplyhelpinghim.com
ReplyDeleteMisty, thanks for your comment. I am interested though in how it was for you growing up not celebrating Halloween?
DeleteI look forward to reading more..we do not celebrate either due to our convictions. Thank you for sharing your heart.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting! :)
DeleteHi Jen! It is good to read your story. I come from Norway and here the Halloween-celebrating has increased the last 5-6 years and is almost as big as in the states, sadly :) My children, age one and five, are actually scared by the devil and witch-costumes and only that should make us parents rethink if this is such a great idea... We do celebrate Christmas but without christmas-tree and Santa. Last year we even decided to drop presents. The reason for this was that christmas became focused on gifts and their value instead of celebrating the birt of Jesus. Alot of people dont agree with us on this one, but we feel it's important to give better values to our children. (They still get some presents from grandparents etc.- we dont deny them giving them gifts :)). Others like the idea. Celebrating easter is not a tradition in Norway, except a few days off from work. However, we try to celebrate every day the Lord has given us by praising Him and loving eachother.
ReplyDeleteMarie, it is so nice to hear from you all the way from Norway. :) Too much is put into the gifts at Christmas, etc.. and not into JESUS which is the reason for it all. I am going to do a post about Santa Clause - a little closer to Christmas so I hope you will join up as a follower and check back often.
DeleteJen,
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure you do, I realize that what's most important is that each family be true to what the Lord tells them to do and, in the process, not condemn another family for choosing another path. While our family did not trick or treat, and we taught our daughters why we felt the Lord was leading us in that way, we never did it in a way that condemned those who chose differently. We shared the why's when someone would ask, but did so winsomely and gently, trusting that the Holy Spirit was more than capable of correcting anyone who needed it :) Visiting for the first time from Be Not Weary, and glad I did.
Lori, I am so glad you visited and I would love to have you as a follower. As you can tell from reading my post(s) I absolutely think that each family needs to seek God as to what is the right thing for them to do. Most important is to keep God at the center of all we do. :)
DeleteWe don't celebrate Halloween or Santa at Christmas either. I'm finishing up a short ebook I'm writing called, How to Strengthen Your Child's Faith at Christmas. (It'll be free.) In it I list out a bunch of hands on activities you can do with the kiddos as well as why we don't celebrate Santa. Stop by my blog, http://www.joleneengle.org and when it's done I'll send you a copy if you'd like. Feel free to do some giveaways with it if you'd like! The book is about lifting up Christ for all to see and for our kids to see Him as well!
ReplyDeleteJolene, thanks for stopping by. I would love to check out your ebook when you finish, thanks! We also have never done the "Santa" thing at Christmas. Choosing to focus on Jesus rather than Santa. I am working on a post about Santa and Christmas currently and will post it after Thanksgiving.
DeleteCan't wait to read part 2! I grew up w/o celebrating Halloween. Our whole family (extended) would have a huge harvest party in my aunt's barn. We would dress up as cows, sheep, cow girls etc. play games and fellowship. We never missed Halloween.
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