On Halloween

So.
A couple of weeks ago we were knee-deep in Halloween season.

I am not a fan.

Although I grew up trick-or-treating and going to haunted houses and such, as an adult I've felt a personal conviction that it's not something that's beneficial for my family.  This is difficult, challenging.  Halloween has become a BIG holiday, if you haven't noticed.  And it's easier for adults to ignore than kids.

(Repeat - this is my personal conviction and I have no opinion or judgment of others who choose to celebrate it.)

Over the years we began to do some things on Halloween.  Often we would let the kids dress up in non-scary costumes and attend harvest festivals and alternative-type events at local churches.  I have some great memories of those - Joshua won best costume once for a homemade Thomas the Train costume.  Another time I dressed Joshua up as a frog and Christianne was a princess.  And, a few years back, when I was trying to get my unspecified business endeavor off the ground, I had Christianne dress up in my apron and hand out mini catalogs and business cards to anyone who would take them.

Two years ago while I was studying BSF in Isaiah, I was again convicted that this isn't what God wants for my family, that I am not to compromise myself with the world for the sake of not letting my kids miss out on fun.

Well.  This conviction of mine is easier on me than it is on my kids.  The older kids understand and don't seem to be bothered by it too much, but this year it was really a challenge for Grace to not participate in a lot of the activities, including the Halloween Party and haunted house put on by her taekwondo studio.  She understands the why behind it, but of course wants to participate in the fun.  Shortly before the upcoming party that she would be missing, it came down to this: I have to obey what Jesus asks of me, even if it means that I miss out on certain things.  Disobeying Jesus would not make Him happy.  And sometimes, believers simply must not do everything the world does.

So, most of the time now on Halloween, we take the kids out so they're not here while people are knocking on our door asking for candy.  Sometimes we go out to eat; last year and this year we headed to the movie theater.

Since we had time to kill and since I am also pretty poor, we decided to hit WalMart to purchase candy for the movie.  Mind you, I usually respect the theater's rule to not bring outside food into the theater, but as I had just updated the checkbook, I knew the money was tight and a trip to WalMart to satisfy my brood's hunger only made sense.

We arrived and headed down the candy aisle.  As the older kids chose their candy and I had a box of Red Vines in my hand, I noticed Grace was standing back with a frown on her face.

"I don't think we should bring candy into the movies, Mommy."

"I know, Grace.  Usually we don't, but today we're going to just sneak it in because I don't have enough money to buy a ton of candy at the theater."

"I don't think we should," she said, and wandered down to the end of the aisle to where Memaw was standing.  I glanced around to find the kids and headed over to Grace as she said, "I don't think this would make Jesus happy."

She was right.  Breaking the rules for my own convenience is disrespectful and selfish.  And to stand up to your mother, two older siblings, and grandmother to express your conviction is simply... wow.

She gets it.  At six years old she gets it.  She gets what it means to stand up for what Jesus wants even when it's unpopular.  She gets that it's more important to please Jesus than yourself.  Oh, my amazing child!

That would be enough if it were the end of the story, but there's a little bit more.  When we got to the theater the kids took off and I paid for our tickets.  I have a rewards card... and I had to grin when I found that I had earned $10 off our concession purchase.  Just a little bit of icing on top of the proverbial cake.