Turning a Negative Halloween into a Positive Halloween for God

Thought for today - God recycles... He made you from dust!

About 40 years ago, I was thinking about Halloween. The overtones of Halloween seem to be dark. They emphasize death, darkness, evil spirits and mythical monsters. As a newly born again Christian, I was struggling with how to celebrate Halloween or even whether to continue to participate in Halloween.

I had always trick-or-treated when I was younger, and I enjoyed it. Well, to be honest, I didn't really like ringing the doorbells. I just liked getting the candy, especially the chocolate candy. You do know candy corn and jelly beans are nasty! I handed out candy to trick-or-treaters at my first house.

I was wondering if there was some way to honor God at Halloween. I got the idea to write a Bible verse or write a little four line poem about loving Jesus or being saved and hand it out with the candy. To make it more memorable, I wrapped up my head with a large Ace bandage and wrapped up one of my hands with a smaller Ace bandage. I called myself The Friendly Mummy. I would talk really nicely to the kids, tell them that I had messages in the small bags of candy, and tell them God Bless You as they left.

I type the message into a Word document, replicate it several times per page then print that out to have as many messages as I expect kids to come. I put a message in a small Ziplock snack bag with the candy. Here are a couple of my messages that I print out...

CANDY IS DANDY,

SO IS ICE CREAM AND CAKE.

BUT WE ALL NEED JESUS,

FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

GOD BLESS YOU AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN,

THE MUMMY

THAT'S A NICE COSTUME,

IT COST YOU SOME CASH.

GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS,

HE WILL SAVE YOU IN A FLASH!

GOD BLESS YOU & HAPPY HALLOWEEN,

THE MUMMY

I've been The Friendly Mummy for about 40 years. I have parents that come with their kids and tell me they remember trick-or-treating when they were kids and enjoying seeing the mummy. A few even mention the little poems. That makes me feel good. The overall number of trick-or-treaters has gone down from a high of 151 several years ago to under 50 now. The neighborhood has gotten older with a lot less children. I might let my son take over at some point. He lives in a younger neighborhood. Maybe he can be Son of Mummy!

So, what can you do to honor God for Halloween? You're welcome to steal my idea. Anything that can be done to reach people for Christ is a good thing!

May God bless you, and Happy Halloween from The Friendly Mummy!

May God always be your number 1 draft pick!

Draftman Rick