Right Idea, Wrong Neighborhood

I went into Halloween thinking it was my chance, praying I'd get to meet and chat with my neighbors. I made baked goods, and set up a table. And waited.

And waited.

It seems the hood keeps their garage doors shut on Halloween too.

That's not to say we didn't have a good time because we did. And a handful of people came by, and I even got to talk with a few of them. But I figured out some things that night, which was great because now I know, and if I learned nothing else from Saturday morning cartoons as a child it was this: Knowing is half the battle.

1. It's difficult to dialogue with parents on Halloween because they stay back, way back, like in the street back, and send their kids up to get the goods.

2. It's difficult to bring "Jesus saves" into conversations consisting of "Nice goblin costume" and "Wow, you make one great witch." But I DID have a fish pumpkin.



3. I'm not great at bringing Jesus into conversations at all. I get nervous. Then I make dumb jokes. It's really awkward.

4. My neighborhood is made up of families with much older kids than I have, so we're at different stages in life. I need to just get that, and figure out a different way to connect.

5. It is much easier for me to "evangelize" when I don't think I'll ever see the people again. Like in another country. But I don't want to have to be in another country to feel more comfortable with sharing the gospel.

Maybe next year? Maybe not. We shall see...

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good for you for trying! Something that has helped me is to remember what St. Francis said "Preach the gospel always, if necessary use words." If our lives are striving to reflect Christ then our words should be only one of the many things that identify us as Christians.
5:04 PM
Kaci Mae said…
You should have worn a costume that included a mask, then you could have evangelized with no embarrassment because they wouldn't have known who you were. It would be pretty memorable to talk to Batgirl or Raggedy Ann about Jesus to say the least.
8:15 AM
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