Here's our little pumpkin carvers. So, we started this tradition last year. There's nothing like hands on crafts that bring a family together. It's nice to see them stepping away from the TV and putting away their DS's to gather around the table, talk, and pull out some pumpkin guts.
I think the girls were anticipating making the pumpkins because of our experience from last year. Every time we went to the grocery store they would see the pumpkins and ask if we were going to carve pumpkins again. I guess I have to finish what I started. Well, the tradition has now been passed onto their little cousins. Saturday, they were planning on coming over so I asked to see if they would be interested in joining us in this new tradition. They were excited, really excited. Well, our Saturday afternoon plans started growing, from prayer meeting, attending a special service at a local church, and helping one of our church members move. OK, the kids project had to be put on hold. They were obviously disappointed but they knew that we would do it eventually. Don, (bro-in-law) said that his boys woke up asking when we would carve the pumpkins. Oh, boy! I created a frenzy. Of course it would have to wait because of our church service and lunch. So, long story short we got to carve our pumpkins this afternoon.
It was a fun project, as expected. It's always neat to see our kids creativity. It's also neat to see all of their different personalities expressed on these cute little pumpkin heads.
Ok, so the question that came up is, "is this a pagan ritual that we are encouraging our children to participate in?" I guess it could be. I'm sure this is how Christmas (trees, Santa, exchanging gifts) and Easter (chocolates, Easter Bunny, and bonnets) got started. But, as a pastor, I am comfortable that this was simply a craft and a fun family activity. I pray that our children will not grow up to pass this onto their children to "celebrate" on the level of their faith and practice. I pray that our children will love Jesus and the hope that we have in faith to practice Christmas and Easter to celebrate the true meaning of these events. I also pray that our children will be able to discern the traditions of Thanksgiving and Halloween as holidays that are part of our culture.
