“Halloween” at the Wilson house

My post today will talk about what our family did for the time of Halloween this year. We are in the process of figuring out how we want to celebrate things and what things to celebrate and educating ourselves on the history of things and why people celebrate as they do, and how we can be a light of Christ or "missionary" in our community and culture, etc etc... We have always just done stuff because that's what we have always done or what we were taught, but I want to have and live with purpose and know why I do it and are having my kids learn and do it.

Well this year, a couple days before Halloween weekend I was led to do a lot of research on Halloween and I learned a lot of stuff. I even learned that Reformation Day is the same day. I had never really heard of Reformation Day. I knew about Luther and his theses, but I didn't know when he did it and why he did it that day. I could not believe that in almost 20 yrs of being a Christian, i did not know much about Luther, his theses, and the Reformation.  It was very saddening to me.  It is a very important moment in the history of the church.  We need to remember it!  This was all very interesting and enlightening. I was convicted to change our plans for that weekend.

We had just carved our pumpkin the night before and we had made it a witch. It was right after this that I started feeling weird and had a desire to research the holiday for personal knowledge as well as lesson planning for school (I had been putting it off). So first, I changed our witch pumpkin because I did not want to glorify the occult. Witches are real. They are not some made up fantasy that is just for fun. There is active spiritual war daily that we need to be aware of. Halloween is a wiccan holy day and the thought of having a witch on my front porch was grieving my spirit. The occult does not believe in God and spreads a false message along with serving false gods and so therefore they raise themselves up against him. So I did not want to display that at my house.

Then, I contacted a friend who I remember saying she was doing something at her house as an outreach. We joined them Monday night instead of trick-or-treating. The kids dressed up and we went to their house. They had a big display in the yard of a lighthouse which said that Jesus is the light of the world. They had a fishing area that the kids could go "fishing", catch a “fish”, and then get a full sized candy bar as a reward. Then they went to a table and made a witness bracelet that they then took home with them along with info. They also had popcorn, hot cocoa, and games set up. It was really neat. Our kids enjoyed themselves and it was great to serve others instead of going around being greedy with candy. The kids didn't even miss trick or treating.  We want to plan our own something next year.

I also planned a lesson for Monday all about Reformation Day and some history of Halloween. It was really fun. The kids enjoyed it. I used things I found online, nothing was my idea. What we did was learn some history about the day and do some games and activities. The kids did a maze worksheet of Luther finding his hammer; they colored the symbol the reformers came up with; we made a Door of Wittenberg, put it up on the wall and wrote simple statements reflecting the theses and the kids “nailed” them to the door; we played pin the beard on the reformer; and we had a special snack of worms(dirt pudding) due to the trial held in Worms Germany. It was a great day and we all learned a lot.

We plan on doing a lot more stuff like this as we go about the year and learn new things. I am trying to figure out what we will do for thanksgiving and Christmas. I am looking forward to it.  Anyway, hope you enjoyed seeing what we did.  

Chrissy

Take A Hike!

About 2 weeks ago we had fall break here in IN.  Our plan was to take the kids camping and have our first family camping trip!  We were so excited until the bad weather came!  We were bummed.  I was looking forward to spending time in God's beautiful creation and talking to the kids about it.  

But, God still allowed us a short nature hike!  We were so blessed!  I encourage you to read Deuteronomy chapters 6 and 11.  In chapter 6 God says,

"These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

And then again in chapter 11, 

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,"

God wanted the Israelites to not forget what He had done for them, to keep His commandments, and pass this on to their children.  We are to remember God's faithfulness and blessings, to obey Him, and to teach our children about what He has done!

I used the nature hike as an opportunity to teach my children more about God.  As we walked the trails in the woods, I talked to my kids about His creation and how He reveals Himself through His creation.  Romans 1:19-20 tells us this,

"since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

And Romans goes on to teach us to say thank you to God for all He has done!  You can also read Acts 14:15-17 and 17:24-30 regarding God making Himself known to us through His creation.  

This is where I stopped.  Later, I realized I also could have talked to them about how He has been faithful to our family.  How He has cared for us, provided for us, walked with us through hard times.  I could have also taken this time to remember and point out the ways He has worked in our lives and to say thank you together to Him for all these things!  But, I did not miss an opportunity because I can be doing that all the time, "when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:7)

So for this month's idea, if you haven’t already, go take a hike, and talk to your children about God’s creation.  Then, talk to them throughout the week about His faithfulness in your family.  Talk to them about what Jesus did for us.  And most importantly remember to give Him thanks!


Jenny Wilson