Trick or Treat

Halloween in the eyes of this child (well, I guess it has been a few years since my childhood) meant one thing and one thing only: lots of candy! Churches hosting alternatives on Halloween was not often heard of when I was a kid. My sister and I would dress up each year and head out to fill our bags or pillow cases full of sugar (much of which wound up under our bed only to have never been touched by the following Halloween). My parents never allowed Haley or myself to dress as anything scary (ghosts, witches, monsters, etc.). I remember being a ballerina, a princess and many other "cute" things. Unfortunately, times have changed immensely and it is not as safe as it used to be for kids to go door to door trick-or-treating. Thankfully, many churches are seeking to offer activities on Halloween night. Last year, I went with my family to take my three small cousins to our church for the Light the Night Festival. There were many different games,carnival rides, inflateables, food, candy, prizes, raffle give-away and so much more. Each child received a bag when they entered. At each game, they would receive candy and prizes. I recall Ian (my 9 year old cousin) looking at me at one point and saying, "Man, this is awesome Heather, look how much candy I have!!" I looked and there really wasn't more than three or four handfulls of candy in his bag. I laughed at I thought about how funny it was that he thought he had a ton of candy while really, he had nothing compared to our stuffed pillowcases as kids! The kids loved it last year. Sadly, my cousins are now living in KY so they were not here to go again lastnight. However, I signed up to help out at the church. I spent the night working the Baseball Ring Toss came and had much fun looking at all of the little kids in their darling costumes. I believe the most clever I saw was a homemade TinMan costume worn by a little guy. I really enjoyed myself and look forward to participating again next Halloween. I am so glad that our church offers such and is able to reach out to the community in a special way.