I call it "Classy Spooky"

I've been trying to incorporate this phrase into many a conversation lately, and Kevin's been cracking up at me. Isn't the word "classy" a funny word? It reminds me of the 80's, for some reason. For those of you who were born in the 80's, well you won't get it.

The deal is that my husband is not a fan of Halloween. I decorated a bit the other day, and I saw him do a couple deep breaths. I get that. Halloween is an opportunity for a lot of dark, scary things to be honored in our culture, neighborhoods, and homes. (Have you been in any craft or home store lately? Look at what they're marketing to us mommies!) So what is my compromising solution? Classy Spooky.



It's decorating festively with no hint towards the creepy, dark elements that can be a part of Halloween. It's protecting my children from the aforementioned store displays for the next month. It's limiting their choice of costumes to those which are actually childlike and fun. It's activities like making my special pumpkin chocolate chip cookies together and coloring vintage-style pictures. It's displaying their precious school crafts from past years.

I choose to celebrate the traditions that I remember as a kid. Trick-or-treating, dressing up in something silly or heroic, and carving pumpkins.



I actually really love those traditions, and even though the holiday has its roots in pagan practices, so do Easter egg hunts and Christmas trees. I'm not about to throw all those things out when they don't mean those things to us. The darkness and religious practices outside of the worship of the one true God do not come near our home.

We celebrate family, memory making, and Jesus over all and in all. My kids know nothing other than a Christ-centered home, and as long as we continue to worship Him, I think it's okay to carry on certain traditions related to certain holidays. If you feel convicted along different lines, I totally and completely respect that. I know God can convict different people of different things, and He requires we live by faith and obedience to His living Spirit at work in our hearts. For me, at this point, this is where I stand. (And I'm not guaranteeing that won't someday change).

I encourage you this season to be intentional about what you allow regarding Halloween. I think it's all too easy to look at what's popular in our culture and forget that evil is real. Satan is real, alive and well here. I get a sick feeling in my stomach ever year when I see small, innocent children dressed up as him trick-or-treating. As if he is a fictional character like Darth Vader.

I'm keeping my spiritual eyes open, and being reminded, myself, of this verse:

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
Romans 14:22

I love this verse. It feels freeing. It tells me that I don't have to follow culture or a person's opinion or a church's platform. I follow God. He directs me in the way I should go, and He will correct me if I get off track.



And I'm pretty sure He invented candy corn. Just kidding. Sort of.

How do you handle the issues surrounding Halloween in your home?