Halloween Chili

In an attempt to encourage a little nutrition on Halloween, I always make a big pot of chili for dinner. I let it simmer in the slow cooker, and everyone can help themselves to a bowl in between Trick-or-Treating or scary movie viewing. It’s been our tradition for years. I adore making our Halloween chili.

In a perfect storm of reasons that included a 36 hour trip to OH and back, a monster of a cold, and simple forgetfulness, I neglected to buy ingredients for my chili. I lamented this matter from a horizontal position on my couch the day before Halloween, as I nursed a wicked virus. What would I serve for Halloween dinner? My kids would be disappointed. Forgetting to make the Halloween chili was almost as bad as not serving turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. I hated to break tradition, but I had no energy to shop for ingredients or cook. Oh, well, I thought, we’ll just have “whatever.” I’d try to muster up the energy to make one of my go-to meals, like grilled cheese sandwiches. Or I’d just open a can of soup. Whatever. But still, I felt like I’d be letting everyone down.

An out-of-the-blue phone call came later that evening from a friend I hadn’t spoken to in a while. “I saw on Facebook that you’re not feeling well,” she said. “I’m going to drop off some food. You can eat it tomorrow for dinner.” It was pot of chili!

Later, she told me that while she had been making the chili, God whispered to her to bring some to our family. So we had chili after all for Halloween dinner, lovingly made by a dear friend, along with her homemade chocolate chip cookies!

That chili meal from my friend was no coincidence. It was a sweet, tender gift from a loving Father who showed me once again that He sees my needs, cares about them, and is so intimately involved in my life that He made the chili dinner happen for me. He covered all the details! From His heart through an obedient godly friend’s hands, He fed us our traditional Halloween meal, because He’s good like that. And candidly, it tasted way better than mine.