The holiday doesn't have to be scary.
**Danielle is one of our guest bloggers from our listening area, you can read more from her blog at A Mom's Best Guess.**
Can a Christian family celebrate a national holiday centered around candy, dressing up, and community? Yeah! Oh wait, no… because it’s called Halloween!
I’m not going to google the origins of Halloween. I could find out some dark things about Disney if I wanted to, but here’s the thing. The Guess Tribe celebrates happiness, togetherness, community, imagination, and joy on October 31. With Mr. Guess being a visionary, and our kids having individual big ideas for celebrations, our family has blended; paved our own way with family and neighbors alongside.
Halloween was the first holiday after my first husband passed away. Oh, how I needed a time to celebrate! That fuzzy, young half smiling Danielle was barely six weeks removed from tragedy, but clinging close to the one constant I cared for, my boy the Train Conductor.
Growing up, I don’t really remember having a store bought or custom made costume. I remember pointing out a Pocahontas dress once, utterly amazed that my mom bought it, then taking it home to paint on “tribal patterns’. (Cultural appropriation slayed with puff paint.) My trick or treating days ended in eighth grade when Mrs. Meanie exclaimed “You kids are too big to get candy! Go somewhere else!” We were even dressed up- Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop- quite the icons!
As Mom of the Guess Tribe, I still say ‘Nope!’ while Mr. Guess says “Yep!'“ to a few Halloween things. The boys visited a haunted house this past weekend. I would rather sit in a movie theater alone without any popcorn (SCARY!) Even scarier, the kids eat some food dye laden candies. My kids on sugar looks like that scene from Scream where the insides spill out from heightened blood sugar. That’s the plot line, right?
It’s been in the past three years, we (me) have enjoyed the start of a season of thanks much more freely. As you can see by the next few pictures! Is that a witch….??? According to Mr. Guess, no. It’s KiKi from the movie Kiki’s Delivery Service. I think he’s easing me into things. You’ll see my Dallas missing from a lot of these dress-up pics. He’s been off and on with the costumes, but his year he’s bringing it back as an Old Man!
Back to Jesus, I really can’t say it better than Jami Nato, “I am so happy to be willing to change and grow, it has served me and my kids and the community around us. So when you see our jac-o-lanterns and wonder if I’m worshiping satan , the Answer is no. I’m enjoying the things that are right in front of me and I’m enjoying a national holiday celebrating neighborness and community and generosity and keeping dentists in business. It’s ok to change. I just can’t see Jesus turning off the lights.”
xoxo
Danielle