Celebrating Halloween with Fall

I know that this time of year can be a dilemma for many Christians; there seems to be a controversy about whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween. Some Christians choose not to, and some do.

Well, seeing that the kids have grown up most of their lives celebrating Halloween, I can't bear to take it away from them and suddenly declare it to be "bad". I grew up celebrating Halloween, it was one of my favorite times of the year. And though I do agree that Halloween has grown to be darker over the years (in a disturbing way), we choose to celebrate it by celebrating the season of Fall.

I love the changing colors of the trees, and now that we have moved into the country, I appreciate it even more.

For someone that loves Fall so much, you would think I had more pictures.

I love the smell of wood smoke in the air. I love seeing bonfire after bonfire of neighbors burning leaves and branches from the yard. I love that a lot of neighbors use their bonfires as an excuse to get together in the evening for a little sit-around-and-chit-chat.

Look at that sunset!

When we were engaged, I was thinking about getting married in October over May, because October is my favorite month. But that meant it would have been over a year of waiting.

I have one of these framed!

And besides the all the pretty colors, Fall is the one time of year when I wake up at the same time the sun is waking up. I actually get to see the sun rise! (Because I am not an early morning person!)

I love going apple picking! I love the tractor rides and the Scare Crow contests.

 

 

I love going to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins.

Decisions, decisions!

Luke always picks one that he can't carry.

 

 

I love being creative and decorating the truck for "trick or trunk"! Trunk or treat? Which one is it?

 

 

 

I love having an excuse to make candy apples!

 

 

*Always* in bare feet, no matter how cold it is!!!

 

 

 

I love trick-or-treating as an adult as much as I did as a kid! It's so much fun to dress your kids up in costumes, to meet the neighbors before we're all shut in for the winter. And of course, to get candy! It's the one time of year that grown-ups get candy too! (Because admit it, we all sneak, don't we?)

 

 







I love carving pumpkins, always have. I have never stopped from the time I was finally allowed to carve my own pumpkin at the age of twelve.

 

 

 

I love that Caribou sells their "Pumpkin Spice latte" at this time of year. Who doesn't love the smell of pumpkin spice???

 

 

 

I love Fall and therefore, I love Halloween as well. Halloween comes with Fall and I couldn't imagine not joining in the fun.

 

We try to focus on "the celebration of Fall" more than anything else; we do not focus on the darkness of Halloween with any of "the scary stuff." I used to let my kids dress up as skeletons and monsters but that was confusing to them: why is it not ok to be a witch but it is okay to dress up as one?? Why is it not okay to become a vampire, but it is ok to dress up like one??

 

So now we dress up anything fun and positive: Super Heroes, kitty cats, angels, food....Ok, I have yet to dress any of my kids up as food but I'm working on it.

 

 

 

Photo credit: Halloweencostumes.com

Interestingly enough Halloween started off as a Christian holiday originally called "Hallow's Eve". Somehow over the years it went from people banging their pots to scare off the evil spirits to dressing up as evil spirits...

 

Actually, I would love to go around banging pots and pans just to see the look of irritation on people's faces and then back it up with a good excuse.

 

 

I always loved this scene!

So have fun today, it is still God's day--enjoy it! We can do a lot of good with Halloween! What better way than to laugh and visit with neighbors--finally introduce yourself as the "new neighbors" down the street and enjoy each other's costumes?

 

Have a happy and safe Halloween!