I am grateful

My sister's house celebrates a family tradition, designing costumes and dressing up for trick-or-treating, turning the garage into a haunted house then inviting 'unsuspecting' guests to explore, celebrating the abundance of autumn, sharing yummy fall snacks or a warm meal, campfires at night in the yard outside her kitchen door. Boxes of decorations and
props are pulled from the garage. Pumpkins grown in her husband's garden are carved and painted. Halloween becomes a celebration for all ages, a bringing together of friends and family. An warm and inviting open house. A season of generosity. Generations of family within a community of friends.

I change the cover on my dog treat jar from school bus to ghost, buy candy for the trick-or-treaters, turn on the porch light.

Sometimes it feels as though I do too little. Others might argue that we both do too much, negative people choosing to pick at us like ravens. Criticism lays bare my sister's abundant joy and my simple pleasures. Cruel words hold the potential to unleash the worst critic, the enemy masquerading, the cruelty that seems to come from within – within her, within me, within us all.

And, I am grateful?

Yes. I am grateful for comfort and protection in God's Word – available to the critics, to the joyous, to everyone.

"...You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors 

in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. 

We're going public with this ... Keep open house; 

be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, 

you'll prompt people to open up with God, 

this generous Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16

In Christ we find the power to banish the darkest enemy and take back the night.

Rw