GREYHAIRLADYSPEAKSOUT

When We Wear Our Costumes
Because sometimes the masks aren’t just for Halloween.

A Night of Make-Believe
Here it is, nearly Halloween night. The streets will soon be alive with laughter, flashlights, and the crunch of fallen leaves under small feet. Little ones will parade through neighborhoods in their favorite costumes, maybe a sparkly princess, or fearless firefighters, tiny superheroes, and pint-sized fairies sprinkling joy like glitter in the air. Their imaginations run wild, and for one magical night, they get to become whoever they dream of.

The Bravery of Pretending
Then come the teenagers, they are braver, bolder, and sometimes a little darker in their choices. You might spot a classic Harry Potter robe here, a spooky ghost there, or even a creepy Chucky mask that makes you do a double take. It’s harder to tell who’s good or bad, who’s trying to scare or simply play along. Sometimes, it’s not the costume itself that carries the meaning, but the heart of the one wearing it.

The Costumes We Keep
But let’s be honest, we adults aren’t so different. Our costumes may not come out of a plastic bag anymore, but we wear them all the same.

Think about it: a job interview, a first date, a new friendship, even Sunday morning at church. How often do we dress ourselves in what we hope others will see? The confident professional, the calm and collected friend, the easygoing partner. We put on emotional makeup, polish our words, and hide the parts that feel too vulnerable or too real.

Between Whom We Are and Who We’re Becoming
Maybe it’s not about deceit at all. Maybe it’s about protection or preparation. We’re all just trying to find the balance between who we are and who we’re becoming. Still, I can’t help but wonder: what would it feel like to show up without the costume, without the carefully chosen mask? Just me, unfiltered and true. No tricks. No disguise.

Maybe the real magic happens not when we pretend to be someone else, but when we finally allow ourselves to be fully seen.

Because while people may look at the outward appearance, “the Lord looks at the heart.”   1 Samuel 16:7

Echoes of Childhood Wonder
And yet, as the kids run from house to house, their little bags filling with candy and their voices echoing “Trick or treat!” through the neighborhood, you can feel their excitement bubbling over. Each door brings a new surprise a little more sugar, a little more sparkle in their eyes. They’ll ride that rush long after bedtime, lost in the wonder of it all.

When We Take the Masks Off
But what about us, the grown-ups who’ve traded pillowcases of candy for the masks we wear every day? We may not knock on doors anymore, but we still slip into costumes sometimes, the strong one, the funny one, the one who has it all together. Maybe Halloween reminds us that it’s okay to take the masks off now and then… to laugh, to be silly, to show our true faces again.

Author’s Note:
We all wear costumes from time to time not out of falsehood, but out of habit, hope, or self-protection. Yet God sees right past every layer and loves us exactly as we are. There’s freedom in knowing we don’t have to perform to be chosen. We only need to show up as the person He already calls beloved.
Take off the mask — the light beneath is beautiful.

With love and faith,
Marie