Shining Pumpkins

This time of year is so beautiful… the fresh cool air, bright fall colors, & delicious apple-pie. Yet, as I drive down the road, I can’t help but notice the scary, spooky sights that are displayed in others’ yards. I always hope my children are looking the other way, & when we get to the store, we steer clear of the ghosts & goblins that fill the shelves. ;0

These little ones are too precious! I want to help guard their hearts & minds, & teach them to fear the Lord only! And to remind them that although the world around us is often full of darkness… Christ can shine through our lives for all the world to see!

Last week we talked about how we “are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) when Christ shines through us! And God wants all of us to “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds & praise your father in heaven!” (Matthew 5:16)

This isn’t easy!! The darkness (fear, bitterness, anger, deceit, etc.) that seeks to flood our hearts can overwhelm us! But, remember, it is God that shines His light in us for all the world to see! Yet, also remember that we have to do our part! God uses any & every situation for our good & His glory, but that doesn’t give us an out… we have to “let our light shine”! We can choose to hide it or even smother it out if we are not careful!

As a family we decided to add in a few “Shining Pumpkins” to remind us of these precious verses & the importance of letting our light shine in all that we do!

We had fun making tissue paper pumpkins… *cut out the outline of a pumpkin from orange & green construction paper… * place the outline on the sticky side of clear contact paper… *add tissue paper scraps (we used orange, red, yellow & green)… *cover with contact paper… *cut it out… *hang the pumpkin on the window so it “shines”! :)

We also made pumpkins with melted crayon shavings… *use a pencil sharpener to get lots of crayon shavings from all those old crayons (we used orange, yellow, red & green)… *lay lots of newspaper on an ironing board… *lay out a sheet of wax paper… *sprinkle on crayon shavings… *add another layer of wax paper & another thick layer of newspaper… *iron until melted… *cut into pumpkins… *hang the pumpkins in the window to make them “shine”! :)

{{Although it’s hard to see… we also wrote out the verses on notecards & hung them on the window as well!}}

I love how the pumpkins look like ordinary pumpkins when they are done being made… BUT when the light shines through, they are truly beautiful!!! It has been a great reminder every time we look at those windows, to let the light of Christ shine through us… & then others will see our good deeds & praise our Father in heaven!! :)

What are you doing to let your light shine!?

Here are some other fun pumpkin ideas we have done… :)

 
“The Pumpkin Patch Parable” & “Family Time Pumpkin Vine”