Halloween at the Unger’s
We
don’t celebrate Halloween. Like, at all.
Not
a witch, a ghost, or a pumpkin face will be found here at the Unger house.
It’s
a choice we’ve made for our family and I’m not mad at y’all if you choose
something different for your family.
I
know all holidays are becoming more and more commercialized and a case can be
made for or against most of the traditions we use to celebrate.
And
I know what you would say to me if we were having this discussion in person, “Oh,
we only participate in the fun parts of Halloween like the costumes and the
trick or treating.”
Hmmm…the
fact that you feel the need to qualify the “good parts” from the “bad parts”
should get you thinking.
But,
thanks for clearing that up. If you hadn’t
said anything I would have thought you and your pumpkin dressed baby were
headed off to sacrifice a puppy after you finish up at the the Trunk or Treat
in the Chick-fil-a parking lot.
In
all seriousness, I think the reason I am so anti-Halloween is because I believe
it’s real. Halloween
is a real celebration of darkness and fear and death. I don’t think it’s just a
silly holiday for children. I don’t
think it’s just scary fun.
I believe in Satan.
I believe he wants nothing more than to see children dressed as demons
and trembling in fear. I believe he is powerful but please don’t think for a
minute that I am scared of him. The devil
is not the Most Powerful!
Cool post! Struggling with this every year. Praying for you as your kids get older and they "think" they know what Halloween means and all their Christians friends are "celebrating." I used to do nothing, but now we give out amazing candy with tracks and try to shine a light to our neighbors that we never see other than that. lol My kids are frustrated they can't dress up in fun costumes and go get candy but they don't quite get that they we are taking a stand against "celebrating" an "evil day".
ReplyDeleteThanks for the prayers....We didn't celebrate Halloween when I was growing up either. (Which meant going to the library with the Jehovah Witnesses during the Halloween party!) Being a light to the world and a shelter for our children is a constant struggle.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely detest Halloween and often get called a party pooper or something like that. Of course the kids want to dress up and trick or treat and every year I say we won't but...we do! advice welcome on how to stop the madness! Just say no? :) This time of year really puts me in a bad mood.
ReplyDeleteI was 8 yrs old when my parents sat me and my (then 2) siblings down, to tell us we were going to stop celebrating Halloween, and they explained their reasons. We were cool with it, since we were bribed with a bag of candy and the allure of being in our uncle's wedding the next evening. After that first year, we would close all the shades, turned off all the lights and have a candlelight dinner. If my dad wasn't too tired, he's read us a story by candlelight. As we got older and more siblings came along, we all but forgot why we even liked it. In all honesty, I've never even missed Halloween.
ReplyDeleteHey Connie, Thank you for reading my post and considering it. I know it's easy to say the answer is "just say no" but actually doing that is much harder:( Check out the comment on this post from Heather. She stopped celebrating at age 8. I've been a parent for two years now and the thing I've learned is being a mama is hard. The decisions are hard, the responsibility is hard. It's hard work , but it's good work. If you feel like the Holy Spirit is prompting you to abstain from Halloween, please be obedient. You may feel like you are alone, but you are not! I'd love to talk to you more about this if you want:) Bless you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story...I didn't celebrate as a child either and I don't feel like I missed out:)
ReplyDeleteI can understand your choice if it is well informed. But if you care to do some research, Halloween is historically a celebration of All Saint's Day in which we celebrate the passing of loved ones and remember them. That is why you often find church Kirkings and All Saints services the weekend after Halloween. Perhaps if you took the time to really seek out the true meaning of Halloween you might find that it's purpose is to celebrate resurrection of souls and everlasting life. Also, since you are very concerned with the validity of a holiday, I hope you will not be celebrating the "good parts" of Christmas this year, ie presents, stockings, decorations, as the birth of Christ is the TRUE meaning of Christmas and is gift enough for your children.... Please consider sharing your opinions in a well-rounded light. Like you said, what is fine for your family may not be fine for others. I have no qualms with you missing out on a fun experience for a misguided judgement. That's your call. However, I do have a problem with the implication of judgement this post portrays that those of us who do wish to celebrate this day are any less Christian than your family or in any way associated with Satan. It's the Most Powerful's right and privilege to judge, not you. If Jesus shared a meal with prostitutes, tax collectors, and Pharisees, I think he would be just fine sharing a meal with a kid in a zombie costume.
ReplyDeleteSigned,
An open-minded, God-fearing, chocolate loving, well-read and educated Christian woman