Family traditions are the best. They provide safety, predictability, memories and best of all anticipation.  One of my favorite family traditions is the trek down to my sisters for Halloween each year.  My family did not celebrate holidays growing up, so being able to relive my childhood through my twin nieces, ‘the bubbies’, eyes has been a perk of my coveted auntie role.

The bubbies decided our family was going to be Alice in Wonderland this year.  The youngest bubby was The Mad Hatter, the oldest, Alice. Added to the entourage were: the Queen of Hearts, the late rabbit, and the Cheshire cat.

All dressed up and ready to go, we set our coordinates for the most popular street in the neighborhood.  Each year, this one house transforms their driveway and front walkway into the most impressive amateur haunted house I have ever seen.  (I realize this is not a glowing compliment, since I just admitted I didn’t celebrate Halloween growing up.)

Your amateur scare journey begins at the driveway where they have a smoke tent set up with special costumed friends inside. Once you survive the eerie smoke filled tent, you continue up four steps onto the front brick walkway. Here there are multiple friends in Halloween costumes crowding each side of the path. You don’t know which are real or fake until they MOVE toward you.

Every year the bubby negotiations start as we wait in line for haunted house. Who is holding whose hand? Who goes in first? Who will be last? Some years we don’t even make it into the tent! Will a bubby switch hands mid scare? Will there be screams? Tears? Paralysis? All these scenarios have happened. 

Added to this spooky vibe haunted house, is the infamous chainsaw man. A very tall man who is a commanding presence all on his own. He has frazzled long hair, wears all beige clothing including a fake stained apron, and roams the street in front of the haunted house with his idling chainsaw. This year it was this very chainsaw man that had the younger bubby the most fear struck. She had to know where he was at all times, and she was excellent at keeping tabs on him.  At 4’8 she could spot him in a sea of costumes more than a hundred yards away. Her eagle eyes focused solely on him. 

The bubbies confidence was high this year, so we decided to end our family trick or treating with a second walk through the haunted house. We could hear the idling of the chainsaw man nearby, but I joked with my younger bubby that he was going to miss us because we were heading into the haunted house. FAMOUS. LAST. WORDS.

The family breezed past the smoky tent and headed up the walkway and the forest of scary creatures.  It was much later at night so the scare factor was notched up!  Figures that previously did not move were now full on.  The bubbies and my sister reached full panic mode on the walkway.  (I attributed the screaming to the bubbies, but found out later it was my sister!)  At one point, the older bubby resorted to paralysis.  She was frozen and had a hold of my sister and me.  We weren’t going anywhere… It was at this moment the adults looked forward, past the menacing creatures to our sides and we saw HIM; the chainsaw man! He had come INTO the haunted house and was on the pathway looking at us!! I had never seen him do this before. He was now standing on the pathway with his idling chainsaw AND we were going to have to walk past him.  This scene could not have been more perfectly choreographed by even the most famous Hollywood director.

The adults took a collective GULP, knowing what this would mean for our eagle eye younger bubby.

My recall of what happened next is hazy because my body went into full protection mode. The next clear memory I have is stepping onto the safety of street. RELIEF! We made it past chainsaw man with all our hearts still beating (some faster than others).  Next, I remember the immense pride I felt knowing that my bubby had just faced her worst fear, LITERALLY. She was so brave!

Mamas, just like our chainsaw man, our fears don’t adhere to rules or a playbook. We thought we were safe INSIDE the haunted house (what a strange sentence to write!) But fear doesn’t stay confined to one area of our life. We can master techniques to squelch our fear, only to have it rev up and show up some other unwelcome area. Sometimes we can muster all our courage and purposefully face our fear head on. Sometimes we face our fear head on, but not by choice, like my eagle eye bubby. But does this make our fears disappear? Fear can also emerge in places it has never appeared before; just like our chainsaw man.  

How do we battle our fears?

 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

Mamas, our fears may seem limitless., but we have our own superhero on our side!