Being Fanaical

As I said last year, I hate Halloween.  To seems to me it's just a time for kids to beg for candy they don't need (and in our case, my kids can't eat due to food allergies) and teens to act crazy. And many adults as well.  I think every year I'm surprised by the adults that dress up.

This year with Halloween being on Wednesday, it was easier for us - We went to church. Like normal. That's what we do on Wednesdays. Last year our church did a carnival thing on Halloween, but this year they had the event Sunday night.  The children's minister told me there were half as many kids last year as they were  the year before when they held the event on a different night.  So, she decided that instead of "competing" with it all, she would just have the event early. She wanted to have as many kids as she could get.

And if that's the goal - fine. Outreach is a good thing. But churches started fall festivals not as an outreach, but to give church families an alternative. Things are different here, I'm learning.

Once again, I did nothing for the church's event Sunday night.  Just had no desire to be involved in it. Benjamin did, though. He went with his good friend from across the street and helped out. He had a great time.

Every since the summer Melissa has known what she wanted to be - Queen of Hearts. She got the idea from our trip to Texas this summer. She saw a skirt made out of playing cards. So. she made one.   (I need to get a picture -it turned out cute!) For her it was just a time to dress up, act silly, and hang out with friends. The boys were going to dress up as well - William as the King of Hearts and Ben as the Jack. Or at least that was the plan before they all realized Halloween fell on a Wednesday.

One of Melissa' friends actually came with her to church last night (as her church cancelled all of their events), then afterwards they went to find their other friends. Of course, the youth went late last night, so by the time they caught up with the others, they were pretty much done with begging for candy and were headed home.  Melissa only came home with a handful of candy she got from her friend's father. Fine with me!

What really surprised me last night was the number of people that normally come to church who were not at church last night. I was shocked! I think the children's minister told her teachers not to worry about a lesson, so I think most of them skipped. Ben said there were less than ten kids  - when there's normal well over fifty - that's huge!!

I get that Halloween is only once a year. I get that kids LOVE dressing up and LOVE getting free candy.  But still.  Can't help but wonder what message some of these kids got last night.

(And if you think I'm being too fanatical about all of this - I get that too - and I'm fine with that.)