the sweetest season

Fall came upon us so quickly; the leaves are bright yellow and shades of reds and oranges. I cannot believe it is October.

I love fall for many reasons; the decorations, the cozy sweaters I can finally wear, laying in bed with a crisp breeze blowing in through the window (yes we leave them open), toffee nut mocha's and fires in the fireplace. Life seems to slow down. Knowing I have to put a coat on to run an errand usually deters me, I just want to stay warm.

As I drove home from Boulder yesterday I realized that this season, Fall, is a great season to prepare for the Winter season. Prepare with my heart. Many holidays are coming and I am wondering how I can be more heart and mind ready to enter into those days of celebration. I usually get so overwhelmed with the to-do's, I have to actively choose to rest and enjoy.

A great book I have is called Celebrating the Christian Year. This book has given me such great insight into holidays, the history behind them and ways to celebrate what may be known as a "cultural holiday", in a way that brings deeper awareness of Jesus, his kingdom and turning our focus away from the commercialized day.

We have decided to celebrate Halloween! Elaina will be Madeline (the sweet Parisian girl) for Halloween this year. After praying and thinking about this holiday we feel that its our job to help our children bring light into a holiday that many believe to be dark: souls of the dead revisiting their family. Although the pagan roots of Halloween are to celebrate the dead (and more) we feel that as a family we can celebrate those who have passed, whether that's family members or men and women of the faith who were martyred. We are going to get a book about Jim Elliot this week and read the book over the coming weeks. We want to enjoy the fun of dressing up & decorating our home with gourds, pumpkins and everything Fall. Making pumpkin bread is also a must. We feel a great opportunity is available in sharing with our children about the light, Jesus has given us and giving them a chance to hear about those who have given their life for Him.

Our thoughts are this: how do we bring light into the dark world, whether on Halloween or any other ordinary day.  We could choose not to celebrate Halloween but we may be missing a great opportunity to connect with our neighbors, greater community and having a chance to give our kids a perspective that builds their spiritual foundation.

These coming months will become more special as we create memories and instill the true meaning of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day & Easter  in our children's hearts.

We hope to focus on Jesus, family, giving to those in needs.

Halloween Activities:

Read story about Jim Elliot

Decorate our home

Visit a pumpkin patch

Make pumpkin bread

Deliver one meal to a family in need

Ill write posts for each holiday and what we as a family are doing to create traditions and heart connections in our family.

Right now I am working to simplify, wind down and in this moment,

find some warmer socks, its freezing!!!

 

Here are a few pictures from our family trip to  Cottonwood Pumpkin Patch