I (Renee) am asking you to pray for Joel and I as we make a decision on what to do with All Hallows Eve. Josh is in Preschool now and this "holiday" cannot be avoided anymore. If you have advice please share it, but please pray for us as we seek our Lord for wisdom and direction.
Hi Renee,
ReplyDeleteI am from London/Ontario,and I have been reading your blog for a while...
Here is my advice: something nice to offer for our kids in order to avoid those halloween parties is offering them a movie session with pop-corn and candies. You can also volunteer at your son's school to run a movie session for all the Christians kids that do not want to participate in the Halloween party.
We need to help our kids:)
Lots of Canadian muslins people volunteer at their kid's school over the Hamadan to keep their children away from food...and some schools are very receptive to that...As crazy as it sounds...
If they allow muslins to do that they should allows us to provide a choice for our kids too...
My church will hold a Pizza Party for our kids, called Halleluia Party, with bags of candies as well.
I hope this helps...
In Him,
Claudia Sasse
As I've pondered your question for the last couple of days (realizing I'm in the same boat) here's what I came up with. It's just some thoughts to help guide your thinking.
ReplyDelete1) Make a decision you are comfortable with, not one you have to keep rationalizing to yourself. Romans 14:23 says whatever does not come from faith is sin.
2) Are you glorifying God and pointing others to Him? 1 Cor 10:23-33
3) How will Joshua interpret your decisions? What is his worldview?
4) 2 Tim 1:7 says God has not given us a spirit of fear. We want to raise our children to be bold and courageous in the Lord.
5) Keep in mind child development, age appropriateness, what other kids will be like, and what Joshua is like. (It wouldn't be hard to scare Zoe to death by just roaring at her! On the other hand, she isn't afraid of the dark nor does she have nightmares.)
6) Like a wise friend once said in the context of difficult decision making, "Which consequences would you rather deal with?"
Hope this helps! I pray God would lead you to do what's best for your family.
I have been thinking a lot about commenting on this post for some reason and haven't felt that I should until yesterday. In our Bible study we have really went into depth on God's sovereignty this past week. And this issue came to mind. Last year we did Halloween and I have been thinking about what we should do about this year. But when all is said and done, God is sovereign over your decisions. We are going to make wrong decisions in our own lives and in our kidss lives. Just resting in the fact that God is sovereign over our decisions and our kids' lives gives me a peace. And when we do make wrong decisions, talking through why it was a wrong choice with Joshua, Oliver, etc. can only help them when they make a wrong decisions. After saying that, I ask myself, "well what decision should I make?" Let me ask myself and you another question, "Does how I celebrate Halloween(birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.) glorify God?" That is ultimately the question we should ask ourselves, and our kids.
ReplyDeleteJust some thoughts---Kelley