I'm a Christian and I Celebrate Halloween

Go ahead.  Pray for me and I will return the favor.  Celebrating Halloween is not likely near the top of "the list".  There are many, many things for which I should atone myself.  Nevertheless, I am a Christian and I celebrate Halloween.  The two aren't mutually exclusive, you know.

As a Catholic, not only do I celebrate Halloween, but I observe All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on November 1st and 2nd.  So Halloween is simply the Eve before Hallows.  Hallows' Eve.   That's not to say that we completely ignore the traditional fun and revelry.  We decorate our home and trick-or-treat in costume on October 31st.  We love to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and we do carve our own pumpkins.  If you're interested, there's a great teaching moment relating God's love for mankind to pumpkin carving here.

My front porch got a makeover today.  And all I had was my iPhone to photograph it at dusk.  Oops.

I will admit that I set some limitations where I see fit.  This year my younger kids will masquerade as a mermaid and a puppy dog.  I'm not sure about Rob's costume, but it will not be anything full of blood, weaponry, or occult influences.   I do not, under any circumstances allow my kids to watch the titular film featuring Michael Meyers or any counterparts.   My decorations include the traditional colors of orange and black with spiders, webs, and witches.  Wait...witches?

Visitors to my home are welcomed by these "legs"...

Halloween, as a celebratory holiday, offers many variations of Pagan idolatry and faith in the occult.  You can't truly have Halloween without touching on some of these traditions.  But just because I decorate with an occasional witch doesn't mean I explain or expose my children to witchcraft.  The only witches they really recognize are those from The Wizard of Oz.  Oops...wizardry.   You see, Satan and his influences circulate my children every day.  From the time they board a school bus and head to their agnostic public school, to the moment they come home and watch less-than-safe Disney channel and Nickelodeon, unholy temptation surrounds their minds.  I cannot and will not raise them in a bubble only to have them self-destruct when they finally leave my home.  On the contrary, I think that when I teach them Christian values and then expose them to the opposite, these are learning experiences.

I'm really pleased with how my front door turned out.  You can't tell now, but the spider is glittery.  Closer to Halloween, I'll put a black-light bulb in my porch light for a cool effect.

Does this make me a hypocrite?  Is Jesus disappointed in me, his fallen creation?  I don't think so.  In this home we recognize that nothing is perfect except God Himself.  We understand that perspective is the key to staying true to His word.  Can we say "Trick-Or-Treat" to our neighbors and still be good disciples of Christ?  I believe so.  Feel free to pray for my wary soul if you think I'm wrong.  And I welcome all your kind, insightful comments.

...Not Yet

Two Sundays ago I sat in church as I usually do -- one-third listening / one-third thinking about the upcoming week's to-do list / one-third hoping God's Will would come down and boink me on the head to toss me violently onto His chosen path.  Luckily, the latter happened, and boy am I glad it did!

The Gospel was from the eighth chapter of John...the story of the adulterous woman and the origin of the phrase many Christians use when begging for forgiveness --"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7)  Just in case you need a quick refresher, no one stoned the adulterous woman to death that day.  Jesus followed up by saying God forgives you.  Go and sin no more (I paraphrased that just a little bit). 

But then the Homily (sermon) was what really caught my attention.  Our priest did a wonderful job talking about forgiveness, reinforcing the idea of confession (something about which people outside of the Catholic church have devisive ideas), and frequently using the word "Yet".  You see, according to my beloved priest, God is in all of our "not yets".  Boink.  That's the sound of God's will hitting me on the head that day.  That afternoon I got to thinking about what I heard, and I really haven't stopped thinking about it two weeks later.  Lucky for you I'm going to share it.

I am at such a crossroads in my life right now.  I am a 34-year-old married mother of three beautiful, healthy kids.  My marriage is approaching 10 years strong.  I have lived in my humble house for almost 8 years; I have a job that I actually like, even though my boss is also my mother; and my paid-for vehicle threatens to break down every day but I keep going in it.  I love to daydream via Pinterest, social media, guilty pleasure TV, etc. about new cars, new homes, same husband and kids, new wardrobes for a smaller and altered figure, and more.  But then I'm guilty of worshiping false idols, coveting my neighbors' lives, and more.  Sometimes I take my kids into public and it drives me berserk that they are the loud ones, the ones with the crumbs everywhere, the ones who want to sit in my lap instead of entertaining themselves.  But then I'm guilty of astronomical expectations.  I have to use my hindsight to remind me that my kids' boisterous personalities and affectionate needs were given to them by Bobby and me.  They cannot help their origins.  I truly would never want to squelch their animations.  My life is what it is.  It is a work in progress, a sign of enterprise.  And it's not complete yet.  God isn't finished with us yet. 

So at night, when I lay in bed thinking of all my faults -- I coveted my neighbor's new Infinity, but then I realized I have over-populated the Earth and my big brood wouldn't fit into it; I drove through a new construction neighborhood and cursed aloud that I don't have enough liquid assets to just buy that new, multi-whatever-$$$ house three times the size of mine right now; I yelled at my kids when I should have just taken a deep breath and found more patience -- I ask God to forgive me of my tresspasses and help me sin no more.  Boink! Two Sundays ago I was reminded that 1.) I am not the only sinner in the world and 2.) I'm a work in progress.  God forgives me and knows that I honestly want to be a better person.  But I'm not there...yet.

I needed to record this so I can go back and remind myself over and over that I must keep trying.  But also, I wonder how many of you have something bothering yourselves.  Do you wish you had more self confidence when you are thrown into a pack of lions?  Do you wish you could stop gossiping so much?  Do you wish you had more courage to follow what you think is God's path for you even though it's the path less travelled?  God isn't finished with you...yet.  You must keep moving forward.  And when some days you fail, seek His forgiveness first.  Then reassess how you can go and sin no more. 


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Build 'Em Up -- Bringing Faith To Life

I'm linking up with some truly awe-inspiring bloggers today on their series "Build 'Em Up." The first topic is "Bringing Faith To Life" -- ironically something I have a very hard time doing. So why do I think I can write about something that I admittedly frequently fail? Well, in the words of Jennifer, Kelly, Erin, and Courtney, this series is about "[dropping] the judgment and [building] each other up...To break the misconception that good equals perfect, and to seek out the meaningful even in the midst of the mundane."

Every Wednesday night for the past 7 weeks and even before then intermittently, my family and I have gone to church to eat supper with many parish members.  After supper the kids are shipped off to their age-appropriate nurseries while Bobby and I (sometimes me alone) take a class with our parish's Young Families group.  Last Wednesday night -- as is the case most nights -- our priest was walking around greeting and mingling.  I drug Rob by his earlobe strongly suggested that Rob, age 6, go speak to Father and ask him for his prayers.  You see, this was 2 nights before Rob was to have surgery to place his third set of ear tubes and remove his adenoids.  Rob told me he would be so embarrassed.  He didn't want the attention.  He didn't want Father to single him out.  But after quietly being prayed over and given a quick pat on the shoulder, Rob realized and mentioned "that wasn't so bad."  Fast forward to the morning of the surgery.  An extremely groggy Rob was waking up and looking around the room.  I was loving on him and telling him how well he had done.  He looked at me with all honesty and said, "those prayers must have helped." 

You see, I believe that anyone can pray in his or her heart.  Even the most remote love of Christ is reciprocated.  But I also believe that Christ built his church for us to have a home.  In a world so full of hate and evil sometimes God's love gets pushed to the background of our lives.  Therefore, finding a church that welcomes you, and then becoming an active member of that church brings your relationship with God into a more tangible experience. 

My kids have memorized the blessing we say over our meals.  So perfectly have they memorized this blessing that they often rush through the words and rush to take in their food.  Every once in a while I make them stop and say it very slowly.  I will over enunciate some of the words to force them to remember we are actually saying a very formal "thanks" to God for providing us with nourishment.  It is too easy to rush through all communication with God, especially prayer.  Sometimes we need to slow down and make sure our message is genuine. 

Easter is coming up.  I love Easter.  I love all the pastel colors, the new pretty clothes for the kids.  The fun backdrops for the portraits.  Hmm...what haven't I mentioned?  Oh yes, the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus...the reason for Easter.   Now this is a hard one for me.  It's easy to teach the kids that Santa is named for Saint Nicholas and he wishes to remind us with presents that we are celebrating a birthday.  But how to you teach that a bunny is to remind us Jesus was wrongly convicted and severely executed so that we may have eternal life?  I'm seriously asking here, because I really struggle with this.  However, this Easter, I plan to try to incorporate as many Christian traditions as I can muster up, thanks in part to a little old site called Pinterest.  I found and repinned this gem full of ideas:


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I am a very faithful person at heart. I love the Lord and I believe He loves me. Now, do I live that faith everyday? Not exactly...but again, I am not here to confess my failures. I am here to remind myself that what I do right still matters and still impacts my children.  So I look forward to reading other entries in this series and gain some perspective.  I also will accept all of your prayers that I may raise my children to know God and hopefully continue to choose to have a great relationship with Him.

Forgiveness vs. Justice...Have Mercy!

"The quality of mercy is not strained,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway,

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's,

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That in the course of justice none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy."

The Merchant of Venice Act IV, Scene I

Seriously, what is wrong with the world today?  You don't have to look far to find someone whose life will never be the same because of some unexplainable horror.  The 8- and 10-year-old Iowa cousins who are missing; the families of the victims, the traumatized survivors and the family of the alleged shooter in the Denver Movie Massacre; the victims, their families and the family of the alleged shooter in the Tuscaloosa, AL bar shooting...Then there are the sewing needles found in airplane food; a bomb threat here in my local area; an ex-police officer wanted in my local area for shooting a woman; it goes on and on and on.  I can't watch TV right now unless it's Nick Jr. or Disney and not just because my kids have total control of viewing.  Also because if I insist on watching the news, I would have to explain some real hard information to my son who misses nothing!  I'm not ready for him to leave that bubble of innocence yet.

As I sit in a dark house watching my innocent son sleep off a nasty virus, I cannot help but quietly reflect on sinners, tragedy, revenge, forgiveness, mercy, grace, trauma, horror, healing, and restitution. Is there any action that cannot be forgiven? Is there any wrong that cannot be righted? Again, for everyone involved in the nightmares mentioned above life will never, ever be the same. But does different always equal worse? And if not, how vehemently must we demand justice? When making the guilty pay, how, exactly, does one define "just"?

My word is not the be-all, end-all since I am neither politician nor preacher. Crime and punishment is established and enforced by our legal justice system. Beyond that, however, is our own ability to forgive and show mercy to the guilty. Today a "death penalty" of sorts was issued to Penn State University's athletics program and that reopened the horrors we all felt at the revelation of what happened behind closed locker room doors.  What went on at Penn State is inexcusable and unimaginable.  I am glad Sandusky is serving his punishment and can only hope Paterno sought God's grace before his death.  I have a hard time understanding why some key personnel involved are still employed by the University.   Yet the years of pensions, loss of scholarships, the seemingly excessive fine of $60 million proves what, exactly?  That a pound of flesh can be extracted without ending the life of an educational institution?  I would never try to undermine the helpless terror of what the young victims experienced and most likely still live with.  But this seemingly revenge-filled punishment doesn't take that away, either.  It changes nothing of the past and affects the future of persons who truly had nothing to do with this.

When we first started hearing the name James Holmes, I thought, let's tie him up and let wild animals have their way with him.  When we first started hearing this could be a death penalty case, I remembered the scene in [spoiler alert] The Green Mile where the one guy was electrocuted without a wet sponge and literally fried in that chair.  But demanding similar "justice" from Holmes would change nothing of what happened early Friday morning.  It does not bring back the lives of those 12 and it does not erase the permanent horrific memories of the 100's of others who were there that night.  Should someone -- likely Holmes himself -- be held responsible?  Absolutely.  Please do not misunderstand what I am suggesting. 

I go back to what Portia said in The Merchant of Venice and I take poetic license to paraphrase it.  When you are able to show mercy on someone who has wronged you in anyway, not only are you blessing that guilty party, but you are blessing yourself with a Christlike mentality of forgiveness.  We all want justice for anything that makes us feel violated; even the trivial ant who bites us is more often squashed than flicked away.  I believe in crime and punishment.  But I also know I am called to offer forgiveness and show mercy, gentility, and humility to others.  It sounds like quite the paradox.  Yet today I challenge myself to show more mercy to all in hopes it is someday shown to me.

*Author's note: if you cannot tell by the title of this blog, I am a lover of Shakespearean literature.  If you have never read The Merchant of Venice, I encourage you to do so.  Timeless doesn't begin to vocalize its relevance to today's society of religious and racial hatred and stereotyping, terrorism, and capitalism.

Seventy Times Seven

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Today's post title was also today's Gospel in church. Through the parable of the Unmerciful

Servant (Matthew 18:21-35), we are taught to forgive our enemies "Seventy times seven" times. Today is and may forever be a painful reminder of whom the US considers an enemy. Can our country ever truly forgive the hatred responsible for so many thousands of deaths which occurred on or as a result of that fateful day?

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Today my priest compared 9/11/2001 to Good Friday in the following ways: all who perished on 9/11 were crucified. The American Dream, Freedom, Christianity, Liberty; all of these tenets the victims enjoyed so openly became their "crime" in the eyes of radical terrorists and the appointed sentence was death.  Though they did not die on a cross, I think it is no coincidence that a cross was found at the site. 

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No, we do not expect the 9/11 victims to return to Earth alive as Jesus did. However, we cannot let the victims die in vain.  It is okay to disagree with another's lifestyle but we must approach all situations with a forgiving heart.  In the Parable, the King forgave his servant only to learn that the same servant denied forgiveness to another.  So the King handed down a terrible sentence to the unforgiving servant.  

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The Apostle Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive someone seven times? (As in, "Shouldn't I learn a lesson and just stop forgiving, since I'm only going to be wronged again?") But Jesus gave a likely unexpected answer and said "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times." If we cannot accomplish this, then we should expect to be punished as severely as the unforgiving servant. Jesus said "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-22, 35)

A view of today's 10th Anniversary opening of the WTC Memorial (source)

On a smaller scale, I'm challenging myself--and also all readers--to think about my enemies.  Who are they? The poor economy? The downed real estate market? Unexpected divorce? Infertility? A friend/relative/coworker who doesn't share our own ideals?  A political figure we didn't vote for? Am I capable of forgiving that person?

I think children are our best examples.  They are so naturally forgiving, and it's a good thing since Rob and Caroline have me for a mommy.  I have my flaws.  I gossip.  I put off until tomorrow what should be done today.  I occasionally plan grocery lists in church...I know God forgives me, but He expects me to forgive others, too.

Forgiveness is the best way to keep 9/11/2001 from being a total tragedy.  Because our quest for Freedom, Liberty, Prosperity, etc., could not be forgiven by others, more than 2,000 lives were lost.  I owe it to these two kids above to show them how a Christian truly lives...They will never know life before 9/11.

My Birthday Dinner and A Couple of Baptisms

In case you don't know, my birthday is August 15th.  Yay, me!  My first cousin and I were born only eight days apart a few years ago and throughout the years, we have celebrated many a birthday together.  This year is no different.  We chose this weekend to basically throw our own party! 

Aren't we a couple of great looking 33-yr-olds?  Stephanie (Aug 7th) and me (Aug 15th)

By the way and while I'm thinking about it, Stephanie does not read my blog!  She doesn't get into the computer very much and when she is computing, it's mostly for work, not leisure.  I told her last night I could say whatever I wanted about her and she'd never know!  So I'll just rub it in that she's the older one.  Ha!

We invited some of our closest friends out to a yummy, upscale Tex-Mex restaurant.  That can only mean one thing: Pomegranate Margarita?  Yes, please!



Dinner was great.  There were about 15 people at the table.  So of "my" guests (we invited people from both our joint and separate circles) included the following:

sweet sister-from-another-mother Kylee, me, and SIL Kristy

My hot date!  This is actually a good picture despite his hating to be photographed!

The Morris kids spent the night with their Mimi and Rocky, so this morning Bobby and I took advantage of being childless by going back-to-school shopping for Rob.  That boy racked up, too!  It was our state's tax-free holiday weekend and to further lure in customers, many stores had additional sales.

This afternoon we attended the baptism of two very special siblings, Madison and Maddox.  Bobby was named their Godfather, so he had to participate in the ceremony. 

You wouldn't know it from Bobby's face, but this is a very happy occasion.

We are Roman Catholic, as is the children's father, Matt.  In the Catholic tradition, babies are usually baptized very young.  Just as all Christians believe, that one baptism is enough to completely forgive a person of original sin.  However, since you are being baptized due to your parents' decision, you also get to participate in a Rite of Holy Confirmation later in life.  That is when you as an "adult" in the church -- though in some parishes this age is around 13 -- confirm and renew your baptismal promises to lead a Christian life.

Madison wasn't baptized as an infant.  Her mom, Sheila, isn't Catholic and she wasn't sure she wanted to do this for Madison.  Over the past four years, and nowt hat there is baby Maddox, Sheila and Matt agreed to baptize their younger children.  Older half-brother Miles was baptized as a baby and I am his proud Godmother.  Here are some images from today's double ceremony:

Maddox Gage

Madison Ann

This was the best I could get the kids to do for a family shot.  After this we went to an early dinner, and now we're at home enjoying a quiet Saturday night.  I hope your weekend is going as well as you have planned.