A Light in the Darkness

My boys have always loved Halloween.  As soon as costumes come out, they want to try on all the masks, play with all the swords, and talk about which costume to wear for Halloween night.  For my youngest, Andrew, the scarier the better.  While he understands that costumes are just that, Costumes, there are things that scare him.  With all the ghoulish things saturating their world in the month of October, some kids feel a heightened sense of fear alongside the excitement of a day when they can dress up like their favorite character and get loads of candy.  With horror movie trailers flashing across the TV screen, scary costumes, and creepy decorations hanging outside neighboring homes, you're bound to need to address some of your child's fears.  Your children will look to you to help them sort through the uncertainty of it all while helping them to understand what to fear.  Address the monsters under the bed and guide your kids to trust Jesus to be near - especially when they are afraid.

Here's how:

1.  Ask your kids to express what they are afraid of, what makes them nervous.  Do they feel alone, threatened, defenseless?  Address their fears directly, and let them know that you remember having fears as a child.  Share a time when you felt scared of something.  Let them know that fears are normal, and that even some adults have fears.

2.  Tell your kids that no matter what they are scared of, that Jesus is with us and is more powerful than anything that scares us.  Read aloud what Jesus says in John 8:12.  "I am the light of the world, if you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."  Give your kids a flashlight that they can turn on to remind them that Jesus is the light that makes the darkness go away.

3.  Pay about their fears, and thank Jesus for always being there for us.

Maybe this sounds simplistic to you, that the answer to your child's fear is to just know that Jesus is with them, but this is the beginning to a greater understanding.  The ability of a toddler to form mental images, opens the world to magical thinking and the consequence of fearful fantasies. The ability to imagine monsters without the ability to reason them away can cause big fears.  Start early with your kids by teaching them that fear is not from God. Timothy 1:7 says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love..."  And Isiah 41:10 - "Fear not, for I am with you."  Model for your kids that God's word can help them navigate their fears, and comfort them.  Establishing this pattern now, will help them to lean on God when they are teenagers or adults.

Your kids will face hardships in life - by their own choices and those of others.  While you can't predict everything, you can ask God to be with you and your kids through it all and defeat fear with trust in the "source of all comfort."