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Hello Reader,

Halloween will be upon us before we know it, with its hordes of trick-or-treaters going door-to-door (or trunk-to-trunk) looking for a handout. It's not my favorite holiday by any stretch of the imagination, but I've learned to appreciate the golden opportunity it affords to shine a light in the darkness.

When we first moved to our old neighborhood, we had as many as 1000+ costumed children ring our bell every October wanting candy. And as we dropped the free treats into their bags, we gave them the good news, as well, in the form of a new themed gospel tract I created each year expressly for that purpose.

Those free printable trick-or-treat tracts are linked below, in addition to some other timely ideas and resources you may find helpful as we finish out this month. Enjoy!

Free resources for you this week:

• ​How Should Christians Handle Halloween? - lots of opinions on this one... here's mine
• ​Trick-or-Treat Tracts - so you can pass out the gospel while you're passing out candy
• ​Remembering Reformation Day - quizzes, coloring pages, & more ideas to mark this holiday
• ​Up to His Old Tricks - this copy work (1 Peter 5:8) shows Satan's tactics seldom change
• ​My Light & Salvation Coloring Page - this sweet printable features the words of Psalm 27:1

What I'm reading this week:

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My husband and I listened to J.I. Packer's excellent treatise on Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God during a trip to Dallas over the weekend and enjoyed it immensely. It's a worthwhile read for any believer. The doctrines of grace are sometimes (wrongly) accused of nullifying the need for sharing the gospel --as if a strong belief in God's sovereignty renders the work of evangelism unnecessary. It doesn't. Packer argues that rather than diminishing our desire to "go and make disciples," a right understanding of the grace and sovereignty of God should serve to inspire, undergird, and energize our evangelistic efforts. He does an excellent job of striking balance between these two schools of thought. I highly recommend it. ​

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 64 ​8 CRUCIAL THINGS MY MOM GOT RIGHT​ ​ My mother turned 87 this week, so this episode is in her honor. In it, I share several important things she did right, so that you can benefit from the same great example I had growing up! ​ Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I was mostly successful on meeting my goals last week. I ✅ laid up five six more meals in my freezer, ✅ finished the first draft of my family Christmas letter, ✅ attended my 40-year high school reunion, ✅ caught up on my Bible reading, and ✅ booked flights to visit my daughter in Germany (though ❌ not my son in South Korea (yet), since we need to save up some more frequent flyer miles before we can afford those tickets)!

The only thing I made zero headway on was ❌ cleaning out my closet, but that's primarily because I haven't been home long enough to do it. Almost as soon as we got home from Dallas, I had to leave for Kilgore, where I've been babysitting grandkids all week while their parents are out of town.

Personal goals for this week:

• finish out a week of babysitting
• organize that closet!
• order remaining Christmas gifts
• work the polls on election day
• ​pray for our country!!