Each year I am amazed at what stores display and people place on their lawns for Halloween. My wife cringes when she takes our children shopping at the local grocery store and has to tell them to look away from the objects that are hanging or sitting on the shelves…. and in our neighbor’s yards.

Witches, ghosts, skeletons, vampires, and more. It’s a rather sad commentary on the mainstream culture today.

So do you have any specific plans with your family this Saturday?

Many choose to celebrate a “fall festival” at their local church or in the community.

Others recognize and commemorate the historic Reformation Day when Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis on October 31, 1517 in protest to the corruption of the religious leaders of his day.

Last year, rather than buying bags full of junk food candy, our family decided to get creative and make healthy alternatives for the costumed children who would inevitably knock on our front door looking for sugar-filled handouts.

On each individually-wrapped “treat” we attached a Bible verse or a simple message communicating God’s love. Our children had a blast giving them out, and we created a holiday memory they will probably remember — and hopefully emulate — when they have children of their own.

If your family does something fun, memorable, or meaningful for H-Day, please share it to give ideas to the rest of us. Post your message below in the Comment Box.

If not, let me encourage you to make the most of this weekend with your family. Even pray together as a family and ask God to show you how to make it meaningful, memorable, and creatively minister to others who may come from broken homes or don’t know He loves them.

Blessings to you and your family,
Joey Watkins
Founder, FamilyDads.com

A great Family Dad finished his earthly life last week… in the prime of fatherhood.

On October 12th, Chris Klicka, a 48-year-old faithful husband and father to 7 children, passed away after a 15-year battle with the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.

His life, his commitment to his family, and his vocational work were an inspiration to many and a blessing to those who knew Chris personally.

Chris worked as an attorney for Homeschool Legal Defense Assn. and helped many families who faced obstacles exercising their right to homeschool.

This past June — just 4 months before his death — Chris was interviewed about his physical struggle and how he dealt with his feelings and suffering with MS. His attitude was amazing. The words he shared leave us dads with a profound message on suffering, discouragement, pain, priorities, and the brevity of life.

About once or twice a month I try to spotlight a good resource for dads to read or a good one to read aloud to your family. (After all, family reading is one of the best ways you can spend time with your children.)

If I were to ask my children to list their favorite books we’ve read together as a family, one of the books that would be near the top of their list is Faith Hunt.

It is written by Gary Keesee, a family dad who has five children, owns several businesses, pastors, speaks at conferences, hosts a weekly tv show… and loves to deer hunt.

Years ago, God spoke to Gary about his deer hunting. No, He did not tell Gary to “give it up.” Instead, He taught Gary how to trust Him for his deer.

At first, Gary had no idea what God was telling him… “Trust God for my deer?”

But each deer season, God taught Gary a new spiritual truth to apply to his deer hunting. And each deer season, Gary got his deer quickly.

Amazingly, Gary has had 100% success in bagging deer for over 16 years now.

He even has a trophy deer that ranked among the top bucks in Ohio… and of course a “deer story” to go with it.

In his book, Faith Hunt, Gary has recorded many of his deer stories as well as the spiritual truths he has learned from his hunting experiences. God’s Word and it’s truths hold the keys that have given Gary 100% success in deer hunting for over 16 years.

As a guy, you will enjoy reading Faith Hunt.

And if you have children at home to read with, they will also be captivated by these real-world hunting stories while learning key spiritual truths they can apply to their lives all the way into adulthood!

Faith Hunt is a featured resource at DadResources.com–
http://www.DadResources.com/product.asp?itemid=55