Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Thinking About The Holidays

Hello Everyone!

Summer is almost over and it's time to start thinking about the holidays! Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming soon and I was just thinking about all the ways in which we celebrate these holidays. I had an idea and was wondering if you'd like to participate. I haven't seen this on any other blog, but it may be "out there".

Here's the idea: For each holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) post about how you and your family will celebrate it. For example: I celebrate the traditional Halloween in a way to give glory to our Wonderful Savior Jesus Christ instead of the evil that is celebrated during this time. Our church does a "Trunk or Treat" in the parking lot to accommodate the "trick or treaters" that are out in the neighborhood and surrounding community. Each family will design and decorate their vehicle (trunk or truck bed) in a theme that will be attractive to kids and will also promote the message of the Gospel. Treats are passed out along with a tract or one-on-one witnessing. The kids love visiting the themed sites (Jonah and the Whale, David and Goliath, etc.) and the parents are often the most reachable while their kids are having fun!

Last year was the first year that our church has taken part in this ministry to the community, and it was well received! We had numerous kids along with their parents who,
amazingly, lingered to talk after the kids got their treats.

So that's just an example! Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's celebrations bring lots of ideas and I'm looking forward to hearing if you'd be interested in participating.

Please post and let me know your thoughts!

Be Encouraged!
Plant Lady

13 comments:

debrah said...

Wow! Plant lady that is such a cool idea for Halloween...I confess that I loved this day...I didn't really care for the candy...but I loved dressing up...somewhere in the 90's I felt pressed by the question the Lord placed in my heart...Why are you celebrating the dead- I am the God of the Living...
Your idea is a great way for children and adults to be fed the Word of God and have the fun of this day...
The church I currently attend is a small church and not many families with children are in attendance...but I am wondering if we could sponsor something like this for the community? I know you wanted people to share their great ideas...if I ever get one I will share but for now...I want to see how I can implement your idea in our community. Many blessings to you.
In His Love,
Debrah

Paula V said...

Oh honey, I just can't think of those three holidays coming up. For now, I'm clinging to summer as long as I can. Once the weather starts to cool, it will transition me into fall. It is beautiful. Unfortunately, I look to the holidays with a little anxiety right now. The Lord willing that will get easier.

Paula V said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sharon said...

Hey,
What a great post, you filled my head with ideas.
But thinking of the holidays alreadyyyyy..... hahaha I guess it's better to get alittle jump start.
Have a Blessed day!
Huggs
Sharon

Mar said...

Holidays, huh. Hmmmmm. Well, my favorite season is Autumn and I always celebrate it with thoughts of harvest and leading into Thanksgiving. I have to admit that I usually like to fast forward through Halloween. My girls have tolerated my lack of enthusiasm and tolerated my party pooperness UNTIL the grandchildren started coming along. Now I do enjoy seeing them all dressed up in NOT SCAREY costumes and we have done the Trunk or Treat ministry at our Church.

But Thanksgiving is wonderful. My husband is the Christmas nut, but I get all happy about Thanksgiving. I decorate with every pilgrim and turkey and pumpkin and corn stalk I can find. I leave bowls of candy corn everywhere. I sing songs like "There's A Great Big Turkey Down On Grandfather's Farm" as well as "Come Ye Thankful People Come" and the atmosphere of gratitude and thankfulness and prayer just seems to permeate my home. I just absolutely LOVE the smells of Thanksgiving! Think about it: apple pies decked with cinnamon and nutmeg, baked turkey, dressing. I love the preparation.

OK, you have me thinking about cooler weather and holidays. Really nice to have those anticipations after a very hot day. I will later post an idea or two about particular ways to celebrate. Thanks, Plant Lady.

SKY4KAT said...

Hey stranger!
I sure have missed keeping in touch with everyone.
Your 2nd give away looked awesome and I bet it smells and feels just as wonderful. Congrats to the lucky winner.
I must admit that it is way to early for me to start thinking about the holidays but I am so glad there are good planners out there!
There certainly is a hint of fall in the air but I am still feeding my hummingbirds and am not ready to send them away. My flowers are still blooming but I must say the deer, elk and chipmunks have been harvesting and eating well the last few weeks.
I do think that you are on to something about sharing how we celebrate the holidays.
Blessings
Katrina

Lynn - JnL4God said...

Hey that sounds really great the way you did Halloween. Yeah I can post how we celebrate each Holiday. Line it out for me and I'll participate. Have a great weekend.
Love,
Lynn

Becky said...

That sounds like a great way to celebrate Halloween! So fun :-)

Around these parts we call it Reformation Day. It is after all the day Martin Luther hung the 95 thesis on the church door. We get together with some friends of ours and cook up some German food, and watch Luther, sometimes the new one...sometimes the old one... sometimes both. Its more of a day of fellowship in someones home rather than going out.

I would love to read how everyone celebrates the upcoming holidays and about some special traditions. LOL... I have already bought some new ornaments. :-p

Shirley Mary said...

Sounds like a good idea!
I think it would be interesting to see how different ones celebrate the Holidays and some may have traditions that have been passed down or started with their family.

I'm glad that many of our church's
offer a better way to Celebrate Halloween and actually remove the name. Our church calls it "Joy Festival" and the children love it!

When I was a teenager there wasn't a "Trick or Treat", there were just tricks! I remember one of the things that we did was put a piece of paper on a thin wire that went from one side of the street to the other. Everything was done at night so the paper looked like it was suspended in space. We thought we were so clever! The things that most kids did was not destructive.

christi said...

what a cute idea. i would love to hear how other people celebrate and what traditions they have!

blessings ~

Joyfulsister said...

Hi My Sistah!! What a great idea, We also have something for the kids at our church, and they can dress as any bible character from the bible. We have a carnival with homemade games, prizes, contests. Thanks for sharing your ideas with us..
Hugz Lorie

Shirley Mary said...

Plant Lady, you may not even have noticed this but on my side bar I had what I called my Blog Garden (I think of my blogging friends like different kinds of flowers)
Well, tonight, I noticed that your blog was not there!!! I thought, How can that be! YOU were the first blogger that made a comment on my blog. ( had a couple of personal comments but they weren't bloggers)
Well, I was going to add it and somehow I erased them all! Oh, boy, so now I'll have to start all over. . Well, anyway, I wanted to make that explanation. I didn't use the side bar to connect to your blog. I just put a P in the address and it would come up. I guess that's why I hadn't noticed it!

Well, have a nice evening, or morning, which ever one it might be!

mary

Dorothy Bowen Klass said...

I am making a valient effort to wrap my mind around the holidays, but so far I am not successful!!!!!

I love your idea, though, and as the time gets closer I would LOVE to share ideas of past and present traditions!!!!!

I DO enjoy the holidays so very much!!!!!!!

Hope to see you and Mr. PL very soon!!!!