I was busy making ghost costumes for my 3 young boys when Betty Rich called and asked what I was doing.  I was embarrassed to tell her.  She was such a Godly lady, I thought she would surely be disappointed in me for allowing my children to participate in the holiday.  However, I still marvel at her wisdom in the comment she made that day, “Sheilah, don’t make your children so different from the world that the world doesn’t want what you have.”  I have heeded that advice through the years and applied it in numerous situations. With that in mind, we enjoy the innocent fun at Halloween.

But some things that go on at this time go beyond fun and can cause fear in children.  Thus, this is a great opportunity to use the fear to teach scriptures about the power of Jesus. You could start by saying that there are bad spirits in the world, but we don’t have to be afraid of them if we believe in Jesus because of 1 John 4:4 “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.“

Emphasize this is why it is important to stay close to God because He is greater than the bad spirits.  In fact, they are afraid of Him and the Bible says that at the name of Jesus they have to run away (Philip. 2:10 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”) He said we can use His name to tell the bad spirits to go away (Mark 3:15 “and he gave them authority to cast out demons.”) Talk to them about the power of using the name ‘Lord Jesus Christ’.

God has given us good spirits called angels to watch over us  (Psalm 91:11-12 “For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.”) All of Psalm 91 is about God’s protection – good psalm to memorize.

Choose at least one scripture to memorize with them that they can quote when they feel fearful.  Two that I always use with children are:
Joshua 1:9 “I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 56:3  “What time I am afraid, I will trust in God.”

Tell them the story of when Jesus used scripture to battle the devil (Luke 4) Emphasize that there is power in the Word (Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”)

Tell them that God doesn’t want us to be afraid (2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”)

A good book to teach children to use this holiday to celebrate God’s victory over evil spirits is Halloween: Is It for Real? by Harold Myra

Please check out http://www.ministry-to-children.com for great insights and ideas to help use Halloween to emphasize trusting Jesus.

1 Samuel 1:21-23

Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever.” And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord establish His word.” So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

Hannah knew the answer to the question.  In those days children were not weaned for 3 to 5 years. Wean means to ‘fully deal with’.  Hannah wouldn’t leave Samuel during those years, even to go to the temple, as she was aware of the time it would take to ‘fully deal’ with Samuel if she wanted him to ‘appear before the Lord and remain there forever’.

The preschool years are foundational:

• 2/3 of everything a child will ever learn, he learns before 1^st grade
• 85% of his personality and attitude toward life is formed in the first 5 years
• He begins even from the womb to be sensitive to spirit, mood, & attitudes
• Self-will must be broken by 2; it is very difficult to break later
• Needs to learn to trust by 18 months or it will be hard for him to trust as adult
• 12 attitudes he needs to develop during this stage of his life:
  Attentiveness
  obedience
  contentment
  neatness
  reverence
  forgiveness
  gratefulness
  faith
  truthfulness
  security
  meekness
  cautiousness

Wow – that is a lot to deal with!  But Elkanah gave the way to cover it all. He said to let the Lord establish His Word. Hannah was to spend the preschool years seeing that God’s Word was established in Samuel. Such is our example to follow.

Always remember that there is nothing you encounter as a parent that can not be positively affected by prayer and God’s Word – and especially praying God’s Word.

Examples:

In the breaking of the self-will pray and help your children begin to memorize these verses (‘I will’ scriptures will help their will to become His will):
Psalm 119:15  I will study your commandments,
Psalm 101:2  I will behave wisely in a perfect way.
Psalm 101:2  I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
Psalm 119:16  I will delight in your principles and not forget your word.
Psalm 101:3  I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
Psalm 56:3  What time I am afraid, I will trust in God.

When teaching your children to trust remember:
Romans 10:17  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God 
Help him find his security in God through His Word.

When your child is struggling with sharing, let him see you share and as you do, say that God says in the Bible:
1 Tim 6:18 Be ready to share

Don’t wait to start training your little one in the way he should go.  I encourage you to stay in the Word and look for ways to teach the Word as you go no matter what the age of your child:
Deuteronomy 6:6-9  And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.  Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.
Mark 16:15

History:

‘In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue!’  Why did he set sail?

“Christopher Columbus had a belief that God intended him to sail the Atlantic Ocean in order to spread Christianity. He said his prayers several times daily. Columbus wrote what he called a Book of Prophecies, which is a compilation of passages Columbus selected from the Bible which he believed were pertinent to his mission of discovery.  Columbus’s own writings prove that he believed that God revealed His plan for the world in the Bible, the infallible Word of God. Columbus believed that he was obeying the mission God staked out for his life when he set sail west across the Atlantic Ocean.“  Phyllis Schlafly Radio Script, October 14, 2002

Washington Irving writes of Christopher Columbus: “ Whenever he made any great discovery, he celebrated it by solemn thanks to God. The voice of prayer and melody of praise rose from his ships when they first beheld the New World, and his first action on landing was to prostrate himself upon the earth and return thanksgivings.”

The results of Columbus sailng the ocean blue was the discovery that the Earth was indeed round and the settlement of new lands.  This resulted in the further spreading of the Good News which led eventually to our hearing the Gospel of Jesus.

Activities:

Teach your children that today we celebrate the life of a brave explorer who loved Jesus and obeyed the Bible’s command to spread the gospel.

Play with a ball, preferably an inflated globe ball, and talk about the fact that Columbus discovered that the world was round.

Trace his journey on a globe from Spain to San Salvador Island.

Tape off a boat on the floor or make one out of a box and pretend to be Columbus discovering America.  Then get out and lay on the ground and thank God and sing as Columbus did.

Check out this site for more great ideas to celebrate Columbus Day with your children.

Daniel 2:21
And He changes the times and the seasons;

Celebrate each season, emphasizing God’s hand in it all.  Autumn is such a fun tme to enjoy God’s beautiful world with your children. Go outside and play in the leaves – build a leaf fort, bury each other in leaves, walk on the dry leaves and hear them crunch, see who can find the most perfect, colorful leaf.  Be sure to thank God for the leaves as you play. And don’t forget to sing!!!

Matthew 25:40
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

At the age of nineteen, Katie Davis felt God leading her to move to Uganda to teach children.  That step of faith led her to start a nonprofit organization, and then to adopt 14 children who now call this 21 year old ‘Mama’.  She is bringing the love of Jesus to a whole village where she lives and is a shining example to us all of  how to love Jesus by sacrificial love and care for the ‘least of these’.  Read her story – Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption