As a Christian and as a minister it has been difficult for me to land in a good place about where I stand on Halloween. I grew as that kid who gave out tracts instead of candy..ugh...but have come around to a bit more balanced place in my adult years...i think.
My wife grew up with Holloween being a very special time with her dad, and has swayed my heart a bit in my approach to things.
Yesterday we spent time as a family carving pumpkins on our back patio, and I was so excited about my wife's approach and perspective to this long-time tradition. She used it as an opportunity to tell the story of Jesus and the message of the gospel to our oldest daughter.
As we scooped out the slimy insides of the pumpkin, Tricia talked about how the bad things that we do, (like being mean and disobeying our parents) are like our slimy insides that need to be cleaned out. She shared with Hope about God's desire to clean out our hearts so that we can live with Him in heaven, and that Jesus died on the cross so that we can have clean hearts. Then they carved a happy face in the pumpkin and talked about how letting Jesus clean out our hearts gives us joy.
Then as we finished up Tricia talked about God putting his love inside of us was just like putting a light or a candle inside of the pumpkin. It shines out so everyone can see his love inside of us.
It was so great to see things that represent this holiday, which has so many dark elements, redeemed to communicate the love of Jesus to my little girl.