When I was a kid, Halloween meant candy, pint- sized ghosts and goblins roaming the streets and a tummy ache (I haven't eaten Boston Baked Beans candy since second grade).| Tweet |  Delicious |
Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.
Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.
14 Comments:
From the time that I committed my life to the Lord until just a few years ago, I didn't acknowledge the existence of Halloween. In my new Christian fervor, I did months of research on its origin, and I ejected it from my life (where Halloween had been a coveted annual celebration, by the way). But over the years, like so many other things in the world around us, the orange cones I'd placed around it had faded away. The world around me pushed its way in, and I found myself thinking of it as "just kids having fun" and "a harmless excuse to dress up and eat chocolate."
Want to know the truth? I don't (and won't) speak to anyone else's feelings about Halloween ... but here in my heart, I'm feeling a little ashamed of myself for becoming lukewarm. I'm closing my doors again this year. And there will be no angel halo worn to the office, no bowl of candy out on my desk. Fanatic fruitcake? Maybe. But I'll consider myself a fruitcake for Jesus. :-) I won't rain on anyone else's Halloween parade, but I won't pick up a broomstick and march in it either.
I'm not good with holidays of any kind, and I actually hated Halloween as a child because I was shy, and an only child, and my mother expected me to go to the homes of complete strangers and ask for candy, and she'd sit in the car and watch.
Besides the opportunity to wreak havoc as a teen by hiding behind tombstones in the cemetery and jumping out to scream and scare passersby, I never really got into Halloween much. When I did pass things out, it was apples to halt tooth decay. Nobody comes to our house and I never leave the light on. I don't even do the church alternative. I just ignore the whole thing and ignore it until it's over.
I grew up Catholic. Part of the way the Catholics teach about Jesus is to scare the daylights out of you. No kidding. I mean, there's the God side of spirituality and there's the dark side. This is why All Saints Day is the next day. In Mexico, they celebrate the Day of the Dead.
I don't get the whole horror side of things, but did you know that being scare elicits the same feeling as being happy? So I assume that's why people like horror films.
I remember being giddy watching "Rear Window" LOL We always "celebrated" with our neighbors, and the kids have parties this year. I think for us, it was more important to be a part of the community than stick out as the fun-suckers. We did our neighborhood over church too. I know it's different for everyone, but that was our choice based on the fact that we liked being out in the world, not hiding from it on that day. But I respect everyone's decision.
Oh Diann, that is hilarious about the car window!!!!
I read an interesting article yesterday in Christianity Today:
"If we give up All Hallows Eve, we lose the delight of God's gift of imagination and we condemn the rest of society to a darker Halloween because our laughter will not be there to make the devil run."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/october2/29.79.html
I appreciate these comments! Thanks for the article info, Kristin! I'll check it out!
I hate Halloween. Always have. Maybe if it wasn't such a dark holiday I'd feel better, but seriously, how can you find joy in something that is decorated with zombies, tombstones, blood, spiderwebs and the like? Some of the houses in my town are downright evil with their decor.
It's funny to me that you touched on this subject today! I just finished writing my blog post for tomorrow, which briefly focuses on the same. Although I don't ban Halloween from my children's lives, we do the alternative and attend the Harvest Party at our local church.
I should mention we didn't participate other than trick-or-treating when my kids were little, and they had to have Bible approved costumes because they celebrated All Saints Day the following day at their school. So they could be any animal on the Ark, a Roman Soldier...
The darker side of me wonder if Rahab would hold up, but that's me. They still have that mindset of no dark costumes though. My sons are helping out with two Harvest festivals, and my oldest went as the White Rabbit because he's the White Rabbit in his homecoming skit. I thought that was practical.
did it when i was a kid,
and dressed up once for work, along time ago!
but any more I don't do Halloween,
and live so far out in the country we don't have anyone come by!
I have never celebrated Halloween, my parents didn't allow it, and I still don't do it. Then it was not by choice, now it is. All you have to do is read any encyclopedia definition of Halloween to find the origins. As a Christian I don't feel I can celebrate a holiday that has its roots in demonic celebrations. I feel that if you choose to do so, that is between you and God. Instead, we get together with a group of Christian friends who have the same belief and share a potluck dinner, or rent a local gym for the evening to play basketball and volleyball. As a side note, I appreciate the honesty of Sandra Bricker, it is refreshing to "hear" someone who is willing to admit when they have done something they don't feel right about.
I soaped a window once, only I wasn't as smart as you, Di. I signed my name.
Melissa, thank you for saying that about me in your comment. Believe me, it can go either way when people hear how I feel.
I blogged about it myself earlier today! If you're interested: http://sandradbricker.blogspot.com
Fun post, Diann. This has been my year to stop being so politically correct about Halloween as a Christian.
A few weeks ago I realized that I was afraid to say we celebrated Halloween in front of certain friends. Not because I was ashamed of the festivities my family enjoys at Halloween, but because I didn't want to be judged. This year, I wanted to be honest.
We celebrated it with gusto this year and I said Halloween when it came up about my family. We don't do gory and evil, but we do pumpkins, ghosties, candy, trick-or-treat, the church fall festival, bobbing for apples, calling Grandma to wish her a bday because she's a Halloween baby, and watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Haunted Mansion, Harry Potter, etc.
We didn't celebrate the devil and my husband and I enjoyed teaching our children how to redeem Halloween because God is the one who made Oct 31, not the devil. This year we wanted the kids to know that Satan loves it when we say its his day. What better way to turn the tables than for Our family to celebrate Fall, including Halloween.
I definitely respect the beliefs of others, but this year I was authentic about what I do with my family on Halloween.
Back when I was quiet and hid what my family does this time of year from others, it was really just a big fat lie, and THAT is a sin. :-)
Interesting comments. Thank you all for sharing! I appreciate your honesty and respect your opinions.
God bless!
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