Halloween and Today’s Families

Several years ago on Halloween I was in a fourth grade public school classroom where the children were dressed up. Matthew was dressed as Moses; he had on a white wig and beard, wore his father’s Brown robe, a rope belt, and sandals. His parents had helped him carefully cut out cardboard tablets of stone and written the ten commandments on them. I always enjoyed creating Halloween costumes for my children when they were growing up and remember thinking what a great costume, I wish I had thought of it. Not only was it homemade but it gave Matthew an opportunity to share God’s love with his classmates in a public school setting. At the other extreme was Eric, dressed as Jason from the movie Friday the 13th. His costume was white, his arms were wrapped in white bandages, and he had fake blood smeared across his entire body. Matthew’s costume was very appropriate and in good taste. Eric’s was very inappropriate. I personally see nothing wrong with allowing children to dress up or go trick-or-treating with parental supervision. There’s nothing spiritually wrong with wearing costumes and receiving treats that are willingly given. A costume should be appropriate and Christ pleasing. Halloween can also offer us opportunities to share Christ with children and their parents when they come to our home. Join us today as I interview Krista young, a director of Christian education at Hope Lutheran Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina. She’s also the mother of two daughters. We’ll talk about Halloween and today’s families.