No Halloween

So, what do you do for Halloween when you know its evil origins and you don’t want anything to do with it? I won’t go over the facts of this being Satan’s holy day.  If you don’t know about that, and you’re interested, you can look in any encyclopedia or look it up on the internet.  So, I’ll just discuss what we do on October 31. 

We don’t want anything to do with Halloween as the evil of the holiday is so overwhelming.  So, we don’t carve pumpkins in any way.  We don’t dress up; although, the kids dress up many other days. We don’t go to harvest festivals or trunk-or-treats at local churches as we feel this is a compromise we don’t want to participate in.

We used to turn off all the lights in the house and hide in a back room and watch a movie on that evening.  The doorbell still rang many times and we started to feel like we were being imprisoned in the back room and joining the darkness.

Several years ago, we started a new tradition.  We turn on our porch light and the lights in our living area. This way, we fight the darkness physically. Then, we play praise music really loud and sing and dance praises to Yahweh.  This way, we fight the darkness spiritually.  And, we’re doing something we love to do.  We have a time of prayer for all the evil that goes on this day. We also put a banner on our door that says we don’t celebrate Halloween. For instance, last year’s banner said:

·         Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” – John 8:12

·         What fellowship has light with darkness? – 2 Cor 6:14

·         Halloween is playing with darkness.

We rarely have anyone knock on our door when we have the banner up.  So, we can enjoy a time of praise & worship and not have to think about Halloween. 

Back to Reality

So, Sukkot is over.  We're back home and back to the real world.  I'm slowly conquering Mt Washmore and getting everything unpacked and put away.  And we're still remembering the thrill of Sukkot.  Even through the trials, we had a blessed time.  We're praise dancing daily.  Enjoying Bible time and remembering great times with friends.

We even started school again today.  Just the basics - Bible study lesson, memory verses, Bible chapter, math, reading, language and writing.  Time to get back into Tapestry of Grace, do some science and make sure the big girls are accomplishing what they need to for high school.

Expectations and Echad

Life is full of expectations.  Sometimes expectations aren’t very high, such as when we expect our son to take out the trash.  But, other times, expectations are built up for something for weeks, even months.  Then, when those expectations aren’t met, we meet with disappointment.  And, we have to make a choice of how we will respond to that disappointment.

So, our major disappointment this year is connected with our Sukkot celebration.  We anticipate this for weeks and months.  A time to praise and worship Yah and spend time with Him and people we love.  A time for fellowship and dancing and singing and learning.  And, initially, all those expectations were fulfilled.  But, very soon after Sukkot started, sickness hit the camp and started working its way quickly through.  People were down and out with a stomach bug.  First 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and very quickly dozens. 

So, now many people are confined to their tents and feeling miserable.  One of the first thoughts is, “I’m going home.”  After all, who wants to be sick in a tent – oh spoiled people that we are.  I will admit, when I had 3 kids with this bug coming out both ends, we did pack up and go to a hotel for the night (poor hotel maid).  And, when I and my littlest one were sick, I was tempted to go back to said hotel.  But the thought of going home was never really a serious thought.  After all, who wants to end Sukkot this way?  Do I really want to pack up camp and drive home 4 hours with sick kids? Then we would be home and everyone else would still be here praising and worshipping and celebrating .

So, we have chosen to stay here and see what God has in store for us; to worship Him in spite of the trials and family members succumbing to illness one by one.  But I think the real test is in our attitude.  How do I choose to respond to this disappointment?  Apparently God has something else in store for us than we had originally planned.  Even though our plans were made in obedience and we thought they were so right and so good, He had other plans.  

As I sat here in our tent tonight, listening to the praise and worship and celebration going on in the main tent.  I was disappointed. I won’t pretend I wasn’t.  I so wanted to be there praising and worshipping with everyone.  So, I did sing the songs, but I knew I was missing out on some awesome dancing.  However. going into a tent full of people when I know I’m sick isn’t loving my brother. So, I get a chance to spend some quiet time thinking about the blessings of being here in spite of the hardship. 

Of course, the illness, as minor as it is, isn’t too serious.  That’s one blessing.  Everyone seems to be getting over it rather quickly.  As I spend time on my own, I have more time to contemplate what He’s done for me – as long as I’m not wallowing in my own self pity. 

We are still fulfilling the theme of Sukkot – “Echad: that we may be one”.  We are helping each other through this.  Everyone shares what health remedies they have.  Some get food for others.  As one leaves for the market, they check who else needs anything. The kitchen makes special food for the sick. Cleaning crews 30 strong go through camp disinfecting all the surfaces they can.  And, while they’re cleaning, others are dancing in worship.  So we are battling it physically and spiritually.   

We’re all still here, together, worshipping Him as best we can under the circumstances. We won’t give in to the enemy.  He wants to ruin our Echad.  But, we won’t let him.  We have God on our side and we won’t miss our appointed time with Him.  

Summary of our Family Traditions

Someone on one of our email lists asked about family traditions.  This is what I shared:

Our favorite family traditions all revolve around God’s feasts listed in Leviticus 23.  We find so much joy and fulfillment in celebrating the days that God has set aside to meet with us.  Each one is truly a treasure.  And, as each day finishes, we look forward to the next with great anticipation.  Right now we are in the midst of the fall holy day season.  We recently celebrated the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.  Now, on this Sabbath, we are anticipating Sukkot!!

Our celebrations always include lots of praise & worship and circle dancing.  And, we enjoy learning from one another as we study God’s word.  Food is always present at our celebrations – except on the Day of Atonement, which is a day of fasting. 

We are thankful for the weekly Sabbath (Lev 23:3), which the kids usually start asking about on Sunday.  Only 6 more days!! The Sabbath begins on Friday night with a special meal, then dancing and singing and dh blesses each of the children.  The next morning we enjoy family time before we host a home fellowship, which includes more dancing, singing, teaching and food.  Just as we spend extra time with our heavenly Father on Shabbat, our little ones get to spend extra time with their earthly father because he doesn’t work on Shabbat.  So, he is home to spend time with them.

Each year we celebrate the annual Feasts listed in Leviticus 23. The first is Passover and our year begins with a great celebration! This observance begins with a more solemn tone as we remember that Yeshua (Christ) died for our sins.  And, it ends with a celebration of our salvation because Yeshua died for our sins.  And, we finish up the celebration with lots of food.  J  This begins the week of unleavened bread.  We have put all leaven out of our house and we eat unleavened bread every day.  This is a reminder of how difficult it is to remove all the sin from our lives.  God gives great object lessons.  We see that if we spend more time at home (come out of this world) then it is easier to avoid the sin (leaven) because we have removed it from our home.  But, if we spend much time away from home (in the world) it is easier to sin without thinking about it (remembering just after we eat that piece of bread).  And, since we are commanded to eat unleavened bread during this time, we can see that when we put sin (leavening) out of our lives, we need to replace it with righteousness (Yeshua - unleavened bread) so that spot doesn’t get filled back up with sin.

Then we continue through the Feast of the Pentecost – remembering the day when the early church first received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).  And, after a short break, we come to the Autumn Feasts.  The Feast of Trumpets (or Yom Teruah) is the first of these celebrations.  We aren’t sure yet what the fulfillment is of the Autumn Feasts.   But, we enjoy celebrating and doing just as the Bible says.  On Yom Teruah we make a loud noise.  On Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), we fast and realize how weak we really are and how much we need Him.  Then, the season finishes up with Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).  Eight days of living in tents.  Celebrating God and Yeshua and what they have done for us as we live with other believers for eight days.  We leave the outside world and enjoy a tiny taste of the Kingdom. 

After Sukkot, there are about 6 months until Passover.  During this long break, we are thankful for the weekly Sabbath to consistently return our focus to Him.

If you’re interested in more details of how we celebrate these days, see specific posts on my blog.