By amy_import2 on October 31, 2007
Walking the the city neighborhoods has provoked some thought on the essence of Halloween; just what are people celebrating and what stance should believers take on the issue:
From a purely non-religious view, I can see that Halloween is like any of the other holidays; you decorate, do related crafts in school and ultimately receive candy on the actual day. (isn’t that where all holidays have gone?)
The decorations have intrigued me as to what the owners expected from the day:
There are some who put up a banner as they probably do for any other holiday, or hang cute little spiders or ghosts from a tree – just enough to show that they enjoy celebrating…anything.
Others go a little farther, trying to send the message that they want the kids to come and get the treats at their house – who wouldn’t want to see a cute little kid dressed up and on a sugar rush?
Still other seem to have a quite different taste – from a family graveyard…
To a fantastic and gruesome display with over 20 figures that must have cost a thousand dollars!
Do people ever think about what they are putting up? Do they think it’s funny and a little naughty to have beheadings, ghouls and Jack-the-Ripper in their yards? Or do they delight in the occult and revel in the chance to display nastiness and evil?
The other thought line was spurred by our church search and seeing how many of them offered some sort of Halloween alternative -candy, booths, costumes, everything. They call them “Fall Festivals” or something like that.
There are several reasons given for these:
– Safe alternative to roaming the streets
– A chance to witness to non-Christian friends
– A “Christian” way to celebrate so our kids won’t feel left out
– Family fun time
So I was thinking, should we as Christians join in what is recognized as a holiday honoring evil? Is this a great opportunity to witness through secular adaptation or is this really joining forces with the world? I was thinking that maybe this would be a good opportunity to teach our kids to stand alone and face “missing out” on what the world has to offer, rather than placate with a substitute that mars the line between good and evil. Let kids dress up, give them candy sometimes, and have a fall festival – but why not do it at other times than Halloween?
You know, way back in the garden of Eden we acquired the ability to discern between good and evil, later we are told to hate the evil and seek the good that we may live (Amos 5:14). Romans calls us to be wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil; by abstaining we may be doing our kids a favor, because those that are of age to “have ‘strong meat’ are those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Finally, consider this warning from Isaiah: Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter…..therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people (and who are his people?)… (5:20,25)
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By amy_import2 on October 30, 2007
This post is in honor of my nephew Connor – the cutest nephew in the world!
I got to see him this weekend and enjoy playing with him. This is the my favorite picture, but a few more will bring out a bit more of his personality:
He enjoys being front and center….
And he’s an expert with goofy faces….(don’t know where he learned those)
He’s a regular bundle of energy, though sometimes he does settle down.
And not to leave anyone out, here is one of his cute little sister, Abbie!
I must be the luckiest aunt in the world!
Posted in cahillfranchise
By amy_import2 on October 29, 2007
Posted in cahillfranchise
By amy_import2 on October 24, 2007
5:25 am Monday morning: I woke to screeching tires followed by a loud crash! Startled, I jumped out of bed and stumbled to the window to see what had happened. Right about that time, Brian emerged from the closet where he had been studying and said the electricity had gone out! Sirens soon wailed through the frigid air. I couldn’t see much of what was happening so I snuggled back under the covers and dozed, being awakened by each new development outside – more sirens, bull horns, helicopter noise over head and whistles blowing to direct traffic. Finally finding it useless to lay in bed any more, I got up and helped Brian get ready for work – by candlelight.
A Police car in the upper left corner blocks off the street while commuters rush to work. I felt sorry for the Policeman directing traffic that had to stand in cold, blowing rain.
Since there wasn’t any light, I read a little by candlelight then worked on typing up a script. Our power came back on around 10:20
As it got lighter outside the problem became apparent – something major had happened to a utility pole. Over the course of the day, a dozen power company trucks gathered to work on the problem. I finally got curious enough to run across the street and ask what happened – a car had crashed into and broken the pole, making it necessary to install a new one and move all the wires from one to the other.
This apparently was a complicated procedure.
The people in the block aross the street from us didn’t get power until 3:00 that afternoon!
Now, this may be a typical day in the big city, but it was quite the event to me! Coming from the country to a small town to Dallas has been full of interesting experiences. That, and the story doesn’t end just there – yesterday afternoon, about the time Brian should be coming home, I heard another noise outside as the lights went out in the house. Rushing to the window again, I was just in time to see several power lines (from the same place) slide off the back end of an 18-wheeler that had caught them on the top of his truck. Many of the apartments residents came out to watch the progress, shaking their heads in disbelief.
The whole event wasn’t too bad for me though, I couldn’t cook any dinner so Brian took me out on a date! I’ll have to write the power company a thank you note. 
Posted in cahillfranchise
By amy_import2 on October 20, 2007
Today was my first midwife appointment!
We talked a little then signed a bunch of papers and answered a bunch of medical questions about ourselves and our relatives (history of heart problems, cancer etc.) When asked if anyone had mental disease Brian laughed and patted my head. 
Brian and I ran 4.5 miles this morning so my bood pressure was really good at 96/60. I have also gained 1 1/2 pounds so far! Everything is going according to the book and we got to hear the heartbeat again. 
This afternoon was Bekah’s shower that I hosted with a friend of hers. We had it at a park and it was REALLY windy – but we got really clever with the table cloth and did fine.
We had a short treasure/trivia hunt – I had Bekah’s little sisters hide the clues and throughout the whole hunt they would run ahead and show where the next clue was – it was cute.
Now I’m home with Brian, who worked very hard while I was gone and has another paper written for his college course. Now I get to go edit! 
Posted in cahillfranchise
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