So delighted to have a guest blogger this week. Nancy Varga, our Family Ministry Director has some insightful things to say about Halloween. Thanks Nancy.

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Halloween is right around the corner. For some the celebration of all things dark is a day to be avoided and the hope that it will pass as quickly as it came. For other families, it is an evening marked with family traditions of carving jack-o-lanterns, spider cupcakes and imaginative costumes from Value Village or the last minute frenzy to Wal-Mart or Party City to find just the right costume.

However we choose to mark this neighbourhood event, how as parents do we respond to the questions – those hard to answer questions that our children ask? What is a ghost? Is there a hell? Will the dead rise like zombies when Jesus comes back? Are zombies real? Are witches real? Can we talk to the dead?

On the outset these questions seem trivial and silly. As children get older, the search for answers about the afterlife and spirit world are not so fanciful, but are marked in real life questions.

My go to answer is, “I don’t know.” My failure is that I don’t seek out the answer. If I don’t offer a response, I leave the questions wide open to be answered by the world around them. Are my own opinions of ghosts and the afterlife more closely shaped by popular tv, like Long Island Medium, than God himself?

What do we believe? As Jesus followers, our answers need to be filtered through Him. In the information age we have access to a myriad of resources to help us navigate what Jesus has to say. In this week of frightful fun, let’s slow down a minute and hear the questions, and thoughtfully answer them as a Jesus follower. That is raising children in faith.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Is. 9:2

nancy

P.S. It’s not too late to get started on Family Gratitude Devotions for the month of November. They are super simple and easy to do, as a follow up to Thanksgiving and a prelude to Advent. Family Gratitude Devotions

http://frugalfun4boys.com/2013/10/30/printable-family-gratitude-devotions-for-the-month-of-november/

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Join us this Sunday as we continue our series called BAGGAGE. We all have it! This week we are looking at Baggage Tags. You won't want to miss this week because you will be going home with something special, but... you have to be there to get it.

Be sure to come and like always, invite a friend!!!!!!