Free Not-Halloween Items from Currclick

If you've been around my blog, you know we don't do the Halloween thing. It was a blessing to open Currclick's weekly newsletter with some freebies for a non-Halloween fall-type things! I really appreciate the outreach packs. IF we pass out candy, we only do so with tracts. When else does the world come knocking on your door? ;-)

Here's a few of them.

Do you Trick or Treat?

Now is the time of year to ask yourself that important question.

Do you trick or do you treat?

Do you TRICK with your family by participating in Halloween?

OR

Do you TREAT your family by remembering a hero of our Christian faith?

Every year we remember Martin Luther and the start of the Protestant Reformation.  We chose this time of year because OCTOBER 31, 1517, Luther hung his 95 Thesis on the door of the church at Wittenburg.  That little act had HUGE consequences that we live with to this day.

This year, Catherine Jaime made it even easier.  I've reviewed other books and products she has done, so it wasn't a surprise that she would have a great product for Martin Luther, as well.

She offers "Martin Luther Lapbook Masters".  Keep in mind, it's exactly what it says.  It's master copies of things related to Luther that you can copy to make your own lapbook.  It doesn't tell you how to put it together nor does it teach you about Luther. 

So, if you don't know about Luther, you might want to read a book about him first.  You could use a classic like Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Hendrickson Classic Biographies)  for older ages or Martin Luther (Men of Faith) which I have used as a read aloud for mija.

Today we reviewed the time line included in the unit.  We had a little fun by cutting out the pictures and acting out the time line.  Then she made her lapbook.  Again, this doesn't tell you how to put it together, so I allowed mija to determine what to include and where to put it.

Here's the final product:

Here's her cover.

She wanted to do a page with the whole Luther family.  On the map, she traced the travels Luther made.

Here's the total inside.  She used the pictures of other key individuals and marked them on the timeline and used some of the other elements included in the unit to finish her book.

This was such a great review, and she always enjoys the creativity involved with compiling a lapbook!

And you still have plenty of time to do one for yourselves!  This unit is available on Currclick.com for immediate download, and right now, it's only $0.75!!!  That's right.  No TRICK involved.

So, TREAT your family to this lapbook to remember and rejoice in our Christian heritage!

Growing in her own faith

Hawaiian night at AWANA

 It's hard to believe that my little baby is going to be seven next month!

What has really been cool the past few weeks is seeing evidence of her growing in her understanding of spiritual things, "trying things on" as hers, and asking questions to verify her beliefs.

Mija has learned that if my Bible is open in front of me and/or I have my glasses off and my hand covering my face,  I'm "spending time with God."  Not as original as Susannah Wesley putting an apron over her head, but she gets the point.

Recently, I started a new Bible study that includes online accountability.  So now, she sometimes finds me with my computer open.  The other morning she tip-toed around and eventually asked if I was just on my computer or "still with God."  How precious that was to me.  Not only was she being sensitive to my needs, but more importantly, she knew that my quiet time was serious and involved God. 

Of course, with October the big Halloween issue comes to a head.  We don't do Halloween preferring instead to focus on Martin Luther and the Reformation.  He posted the 95 Thesis which started the Reformation on Oct. 31, 1517.  Depending on where we live, we do hand out candy with Gospel tracts because when else does the world come to your door?

Anyway, we've explained to mija both from Biblical and historical views why we don't recognize Halloween.  This has caused some concern on her part why other Christians do participate.  A couple of weeks ago while playing with some friends from church Halloween came up as a topic apparently because when they left, mija informed my husband that she had talked to about it.  "I told them we don't do Halloween because that's when Satan's priests have party."  Well, not tactful, but she gets points for honesty!

She must have had a similar conversation when her cousin came over because the day after she asked me a question.  She was playing with her blocks on the floor, looked up at me, and asked, "God does hate things doesn't He?  Primo says He doesn't."  I assured her that, yes, there are things like sin and evil that He does hate.  To make it easy, I just took her to Proverbs 6 to show her a small list. 

I really appreciated the fact that first, she obviously was mulling over spiritual things on her own and second, she knew to come to us instead of just taking someone else's word for it.

I know that growth is a process.  I'm thankful when God let's me see some outward evidence.  Still praying that outward behaviors are an evidence of what the Spirit is or will be working on the inside beliefs!

Halloween

I will confess it.  We are one "those" Christians.  You know, the ones that so "fanatical" that we don't participate in Halloween. 

Both my husband and I participated in Halloween when we were children and even after we became Christians in our teens.  Eventually, however, we found out the details of Halloween's origins.  After that, we could no longer participate.  We did eventually feel that we could take advantage of the world knocking on our door by passing out tracts with candy.

David L. Brown wrote many different articles concerning the origins and practices of Halloween.

One of his articles I found online is quite extensive, so I'll give a "teaser" here and then provide the link to the whole article.

INTRODUCTION TO -- THE DARK SIDE OF HALLOWEEN What's going on? The sidewalks are swarming with excited children masquerading as every imaginable creature and character. There is Batman and the Joker, Wonder Woman, witches, devils, ghosts, skeletons and even razor fingered mass murderer Freddy Krueger. These children are going door to door shouting "Trick or Treat," hoping to collect a "ton" of candy before the night is over.



Take a look at the houses the children are going up to. They are strange, too! Eerie grinning Jack-O-Lanterns watch as the children approach. Skeletons, witches, black cats and more decorate the doors and windows.


Oh yes, don't miss the "haunted house" downtown. You'll be able to find it by the long line and the strange sounds coming out of the old mansion. Likely you will find a group of kids talking about what they've just seen inside... the bloody body in the bathroom, the axe wielding maniac that chased them, the body hanging by the neck in the closet, and the bubbling pot in the kitchen filled with body parts.



Then, across town there's a party going on at a friend's house or perhaps at school. The activities are different than the usual party though. Someone is telling fortunes. Perhaps a group is playing with the OUIJA board and there is going to be a seance right after they watch the newly released horror video.


By now you have guessed what is going on. It's HALLOWEEN. To most people it seems like harmless fun. BUT, beneath Halloween's candy coating is a history of diabolical evil, evil that is directly connected to the occult and Satanism, evil that you need to be warned of!


Click here for the entire article.