Happy Halloween!

It was "Trick or Treat" night around here. Kai was a little uncertain about all that meant. He enjoyed the party and parade at school, but seemed a bit unsure of what was going to happen next with all this costuming stuff. I think he was pleasantly surprised with the rest of the day! He especially liked being "scared" by some of the people he met near his cousins' neighborhood where we went trick or treating. And of course he loved the candy gathering!

I've changed a lot about the candy thing. When the kids were little I used to dole it out. Maybe 2 or 3 pieces a day. After all, it's just NOT GOOD for a body. But over time I've come to realize the same body gets it all anyway and it is a lot easier to have it out of the house!

Of course, we all thought that Sarah-Grace should be here. I wonder what she would have wanted to be? A ninja like her brother Jonathan and cousin Abby? An elf like Kai? Maybe a clown? Well, perhaps next year. She really enjoyed the jack-o-lanterns we showed her in our webchat. Her whole face lit up just like theirs!

I've always liked the "fall, dress up, candy" side of Halloween. I've never participated much in the "spooky, scary" part.
I like the object lesson I heard one time about how the pumpkin/jack-o-lantern  can represent us. When we want to make a Jack-o-lantern we have to cut it open and get out all the gucky stuff and then we can put a candle inside and let the light shine. In the same way, we, as sinners, need to have all the "gucky stuff," or sin, taken away by the atoning blood of Jesus, then His Spirit can light up our lives and we can shine for others.

So, we were wondering tonight how the tradition of the "CANDY" started on this holiday. We've been told that November 31st is All Souls Day and people in Medieval times used to dress up to scare away the bad spirits so it would be nice for the good saints the next day; All Saints Day. Halloween being a rendering of "All Hallows Eve" (meaning the day/eve before All Saints Day--hallow being the archaic word for holy person or saint).   Now I have a slight problem with the need to scare away the bad spirits with dress-up, but then, I'm not a medieval person.  Anyway, this is all very interesting and makes a certain kind of sense, but WHAT ABOUT THE CANDY?  Well, I had coffee tonight on the trick or treat expedition and I'm still awake. . .Maybe I will go and research that candy thing and have an answer for our next post and hopefully some pictures too!