Tag Archives: halloween

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Monday Morning Mind Dump…

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mind dump

  • Yesterday was a lot of fun at Revolution.
  • I’m thankful for a church that is willing to dive into the hard topics and be stretched.
  • As part of our series in Romans, we unpacked how a follower of Jesus is should relate and respond to the election.
  • The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
  • If you want to listen or watch it, you can do so here.
  • Personally, we are in a crazy busy season with a ton of family visiting us.
  • Once November rolls around, people want to come to Tucson.
  • I get it because summer is horribly hot.
  • I started reading A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix over the weekend. 
  • I’ve been told recently by several leaders I respect that it is the best book on leadership.
  • Hands down, one leader told me.
  • So, I had to start it.
  • With all the reading we’ve done on adoption, attachment and family systems, I’m really interested to dive into it as there’s a lot of that in it and applied to leadership.
  • While I don’t like scary things, I’m really excited for Halloween tonight.
  • It’s the one night a year all my neighbors are out and I can meet them if I haven’t yet.
  • Here’s what our family does to capitalize on Halloween and be on mission.
  • Next week, Katie is going to a photography conference, so I get to single dad it for 4 days.
  • Praying our kids survive on cereal and pizza.
  • I’m excited for her and to see her keep growing in her talent.
  • I’m blown away at what she does and how creative she is.
  • We got to have lunch yesterday with a couple that is about to have their first child in 2 weeks.
  • That season feels like a lifetime ago.
  • But it was awesome to hear their questions and to see their desire to grow as a couple to last in their marriage and make it in parenting.
  • Bottom line, lasting and loving it as a parent and in marriage takes intentionality.
  • It will not just happen.
  • One highlight for me personally coming up is we are talking about starting my next tattoo soon.
  • Something to go along with Katie’s tattoo and the journey we’ve been on together as a couple.
  • I’m still blown away Katie got a tattoo and it is awesome looking.
  • Well, back to it.
  • While I’m not preaching on politics per se this Sunday, I’m talking about the kingdom of God and the values of it.
  • Should be a lot of fun.
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What our Family Does on Halloween

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I get asked each year at this time if I let my kids go trick or treating. Within the Christian community, there has always been a polarizing debate about halloween. Do we as Christians reject it, receive it or redeem it?

Because Halloween is next week, I thought I’d share what we do as a family.

halloween

Rejecting it would mean we turn our porch light off, pretend October 31st, does not exist and shun those who participate in a day dedicated to eating too much candy. Receiving it would mean we simply go along with what our culture does, participating mindlessly. I think both of these fall short of what God calls us to as his followers.

While there is some history about the origins of Halloween that Christians should be aware of and Justin Holcomb has a great look at that history here.

Practically, the question remains what you’ll do on that day. For our family, we’ve chosen to participate with our neighbor and seek to redeem Halloween. Here are some things we’re doing:

  • Stand out in our driveway. Be out front to say hi to everyone, talk to them. This is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors. Everyone is out walking around. Not sure how often that happens in your neighborhood, but it isn’t an everyday occurrence. Being present in your neighborhood is a great step forward in being on mission in your neighborhood.
  • Build a fire in your fire pit. It makes people hang out longer when there is a fire. Put some chairs around it and invite people to sit down with you.
  • Have the best candy. Your house as a follower of Jesus should be the house kids want to go to 5 times because your candy rocks.
  • Have something great for the adults. We often have hot apple cider or some other treat that adults can take with them. Maybe bottle of water. Something they can take with them.
  • Include your community group. Because the mission of our RC is our neighborhood, many from RC will come and trick or treat with us and spend time helping to hand out candy.