Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween yesterday. Because our kids are getting a bit older now, I think our days of going out trick or treating with them are numbered. And to be honest, I’m not all that sad about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with our kids. I enjoy meeting their friends and seeing the creativity put into their costumes. And who can say no to free candy?? It’s just that… well when kids get too excited (like on days like Halloween), all reason and logic can get thrown out the window. They’re having so much fun that they might forget about their upbringing. They can’t wait until they can go out that they could possibly go a little under-prepared.

Like last night, I went with our youngest and two of her friends. The number of times I had to stop them from running across the street without looking first was crazy. The amount of complaining about cold hands because they didn’t think to bring gloves was insane. The very fact that one of them came with this teeny tiny little bucket to hold candy was mindblowing (not to mention that the bucket’s handle was broken).

Thankfully, I had an extra reusable bag on me that this kid could borrow. Good thing I had a spare pair of gloves on me that they refused anyway. And I’m super glad that none of the kids I was watching got smoked by a car that they should have seen a mile away (there was one semi-close call, but that was about it).

But after all that, we actually called it early. Too cold, too tired, too everything but having fun. No sense staying out if the point is lost. Oh well, there’s always next year (or is there…?).

Here are the readings for next week:
Amos 5:18-24
Psalm 70
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
and a video with them being read:

This parable of the 10 young ladies or bridesmaids or whatever is a familiar one, but I’m not sure if we ever really understood. As a kid, I was taught that it is a lesson on being prepared. I would ask, prepared for what? And I’d be told, for Jesus.

How in the hey?

I don’t know how to be “prepared for Jesus”. I don’t know how to be more ready than I am. I don’t know how to have enough oil in my lamp (or what that even means, for that matter).

But I think we can be focused on the person of Jesus and learn from that truth. I think we can be open and humbled to be taught and changed from within. I think we can believe that we don’t have it all figured out so we can be receptive to Jesus giving us more understanding, discernment, and truth.

Because the point isn’t to have it all together, know everything there is to know, or have just the best costume on the block. But it’s to live well, be in community, and serve and love that all whom we encounter might be able to see their value and worth as well. The point is to be God’s people, however that is manifested and/or expressed. The point is, we are loved and we live as such.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!