|
|
© Focus on Jesus. Focus on Souls. ©
Thanksgiving season is here. Although everyday is time for giving thanks, we definitely make it a serious business in this season. Here I want to thank God for giving us several years to adjust our mindset and overcome the Halloween traditions.
The Old Way
Twenty-three years ago, I came to America for graduate study. Only Americans, bold and creative, are capable of solidify fantasies like the Disney and Halloween figures. So was my preconception.
Unlike Mickey Mouse and associates, Halloween characters were unattractive to me at first. Much later, after kids came into existence, I loved to have fun together with them. Halloween became a big opportunity. I carved pumpkins and thought it was artistically creative. Also, I took them trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Kids also went to community sponsored Halloween festivities. Buying costumes was time and money pressure though. It seemed a waste of money to buy costumes just for wearing once a year and then watch them becoming out of size next year. For give-away treats, I prepared little fun toys and balloons instead of candies.
In spite of the all the excitement for kids, the bloody and haunted images of the season upset them. After coming home from a local store full of horrific looking masks and merchandise, I needed to pray for them for not continuing to be scared. Edmond is even more sensitive than Sonya. So many times, I had to ask the Lord to wash off from kids’ innocent mind the gruesome images after an innocent peek of an unpleasant scene. It became customary for children to camp out on the floor in my bedroom for many days until they no longer felt upset.
The number one thing attracted kids was candy and the large quantity of it. So they love the candies for the New Year, Valentine, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and in reality, 365 days each year. The number two attraction was the opportunity to put on a costume to play the pretend game. It’s beyond comprehension how much profit businesses make by promoting festive ‘traditions.’ I believe most of the holidays were highly marketed for money sake, not for the ‘true cause’ of a remembrance. Unless it’s formally and accurately taught, most folks would just follow the custom, often under peer and child pressure, without knowing why. I did the same under the guise of fun for kids.
The New Way – a Progression under Mercy
The more I grew in the Lord the more I felt uneasy about the conventional Halloween activities. Through the years, we reduced our participation in it. We gave up carving pumpkins. We no longer put up decoration of spider, cobweb or friendly ghost. I encouraged kids to hear the Holy Spirit on whether they should go trick-or-treating. For two years, they heard the Lord ask them to stay home and give out treats when other kids came. The temptation was nevertheless tough for little ones to resist. They would stay home first. After most of the groups had come, they ran out to the neighbors for a block or two.
With prayer, gradually kids became uninterested in costumes. For few years, we attended harvest festivals designed to attract youngsters to Christ in Anaheim Vineyard.
In 2000, I misunderstood a TBN announcement and thought there was a special live Carman show on Halloween night. Edmond and I went to the Trinity Broadcasting International on Bear Street in Costa Mesa. There was no show but we met an Egyptian Christian family newly moved to California from east coast. They were looking for a spiritual home. That night, I called brother Wagih and his wife Maatsi. These two wonderful Egyptian families were connected. Praise God for His perfect will and timing.
In 2001, Edmond attended an off-site week-long science camp organized by the school district. Sonya was invited to a Korean church and had great fun (and, of course, candies) on the Halloween night.
Battling Confusion
On Sundey October 20 this year, our church, Eagle’s Nest Ministries, gave us a write-up “The Dark Side of Halloween” on the origin and history of it. I appreciated the opportunity to finally learn the truth about Halloween. Kids read and understood. It wasn’t just their mother’s words against the rest of the world – friends, teachers, stores and media. Later, kids also researched on the internet.
I praise God for letting kids attend a blue-ribbon school – Vista Verde Schools, including both kindergarten, elementary and middle schools. A lot of teachers are Christians. Albeit, amongst Christians, views and choices vary. When Sonya’s teacher, a Christian, talked about taking his son to the Harry Potter movie and watching other scary TV shows, I needed to pray and counsel her to stand firm on what we had received from the Lord. Again and again, I asked children to pray and hear Jesus directly. Then, have guts to stand against the odds. Edmond and Sonya have admitted they think their mommy is an oddball.
Struggle to e-mail
After scanning in “The Dark Side of Halloween” and correcting typos, I struggled on whether to send it out to friends. My view is conservative. I care about children – my own and others’. God has been so good and merciful to us, how could I not speak out and warn other families? With the love and reverence of God, how dare I be wimpy and stay silent? Finally, it went out late Monday night on Oct. 28.
Father’s Words – 1 Corinthians 10
Next morning in the community Jacuzzi, a.k.a. Yvonne’s personal prayer Jacuzzi, Holy Spirit led me to 1 Corinthians 10. (You can look up Scriptures at http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible. For other languages, click http://www.gospelcom.net/ibs/bibles/.)
To me,
Halloween is the devil’s glorious day of idol worship
–
witchcraft, witches, Dracula, horror, death, brutality and cruelty. Disguised
with outwardly fun activities and sweets, spirit of deceit, confusion and
perversion creeps into many hearts. Regarding idol feasts, Father says,
19'Do I
mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is
anything? 20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons,
not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21You
cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a
part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. 22Are we
trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?’
2002 Divine Halloween
During the day, I prayed for the safety and protection of all those involved in trick-or-treating. For the night, I had planned on taking the whole family to see a new Christian movie ‘Time Changer.’ After school, Sonya told me she had the regular amount of homework and could not go. I felt disappointed and stayed home.
We don’t usually watch TV at night but I turned it on early to watch TBN that night. ‘Halloween 316’ came at 7 p.m. Boy, this was the Carman’s show I had waited for since the Halloween night two years ago. It was designed as a youth outreach. Well, Yvonne is a youth all right.
The lyric of the first song was “God is exalted. Satan is defeated. Jesus Christ is Lord.” My spirit leaped. This was exactly what the Holy Spirit wanted me to stay home for. In the next two hours, I sang, danced, waved flags, jumped and worshiped the King of kings and Lord of lords. Sonya joined me during her homework break time.
Praise God! He has patiently waited and taken us a long way to victory. In our family, Halloween no longer is a devil’s day of deceit. Father has tuned it into a day of celebration of devil’s defeat.
Lord, you deserve all the glory. Yvonne
|