Halloween Debate...

Do good Christians celebrate halloween? Is this a holiday I should be promoting in my family, if I am trying to raise my son to love the Lord? These are questions that I have been pondering over the last few weeks. We obviously celebrated halloween this year - we spent time with friends and enjoyed a wonderful fair at our church. Our hearts and our intentions were positive. Although I am confident in our decision this year, I'm curious as to what other godly families and folks think about this debate. I'd love to know what you think about this holiday, and how it fits into a godly family life. (hint, hint, comment, comment.)

This is how the Johnson family celebrated the holiday this year. First, my dear friend Tiffany and I took our kiddos to the pumpkin patch where they both got to run around and look at about a million pumpkins. We planned their costumes for months and we had a blast taking pictures of them playing. Ben and Avery have been hanging out since they were about 8 weeks old, and it is so fun right now to see them interact, recognize each other, and play! God has blessed me with a great friend in Tiffany - when you move around as much as we do, it is not guaranteed you will find someone that you share similar thoughts, goals and humor with. Tiffany helps keep me a more sane mommy!

On Friday night the whole family dressed up and attended the Grace Bible Church Country Fair - which was a blast. In an effort to bring more people from the community into the church and to offer a safe and fun alternative to trick or treating, our church put on a great fair for the kids. We discovered that Ben's fireman costume is extremely reflective - because of the reflective tape Ben glowed in all the pictures we took with a flash. How funny! He probably was wearing the safest costume in town.

Finally we enjoyed a fun-filled day on Saturday with our friends Catherine, Blake, Danielle, Aaron, Rainlilly, Nathaniel and Jonathan - most of whom are in the history graduate program at A&M with Danny. Everyone brought a pumpkin to carve with Ben in the morning. I was so impressed by the designs. We had everything from a Maltese Cross to the Headless Horseman. Later on everyone pitched in and made a feast for lunch, and then we all enjoyed each others company after Ben went to sleep. This group of friends has been such a blessing to our family. They've embraced Ben as a "nephew" and celebrated so many fun times with us. And, they are all a lot of fun! Well, that was our holiday and a summary of October happenings. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving - visits from Uncle Joe, and the Johnsons. Grammy, Grampy, Uncle Zach and Aunty Grace!