St. Patricks Day

Okay... here is your brief history lesson on who St. Patrick really was and how he became known as the patron saint of Ireland. Obviously this is history and some parts are disputed but overall most of my research has led to this basic conclusion.

Around 390 A.D. a young boy named Maewyn Succat (later to become Patricus also known as Patrick) was born to Calpernius, a Roman-British army officer. It is believed he was born in either Scotland or Roman England. One day while growing up in Britain he was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. He is believed to have been a slave for around 6 years and the stories around his escape/freedom are varied. That is not the point. The point is that at some point God intervened in this young mans life, he studied to become a bishop and felt God calling him back to Ireland to convert people to Christianity and a relationship with Jesus. He also set up schools and churches all over the area. Ireland was a very pagan nation and the Celtic's really didn't appreciate his teaching or good doing. He was arrested several times and escaped each of them. St. Patrick spent about 20 years traveling Ireland preaching the word of God. March 17th is the day he died and the day chosen to celebrate him.



So, this St. Patrick's day I encourage you to talk less about green things, leprechauns, and gold and spend more time talking about:

- Loving the lost and having a desire to see them saved. Learn the great commission as a family.
- Who the Irish people are - learn about their culture not just the rumores about them.
- What it means to be pagan and how confusing it can be for seekers to find truth with so many pagan beliefs out there.
- How even when things seem horrible we need to stay true to God and have faith that He has a plan and will use all things to bring glory and honor to Himself. We are the tools but he is the master planner.
- Unlike Leprechauns who keep their treasure hidden we are called to be lights leading the way to the ultimate treasure.

No promises but I will try to get on here soon and post some fun holiday ideas. And don't forget that I said spend LESS time not NO time talking about all the silly stuff. My sister-in-law lets her kids have Lucky Charms (a forbidden sugar cereal in our home) and I might just do that as well this year.

Don't turn Jesus into a party pooper - He delights in our family fun - just don't forget to HONOR HIM ALWAYS and include Him in the party!

Valentine's Day - Valentines

Well, I hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day! Here are a few fun "Valentine" ideas.

Instead of candy why not give something their moms might actually let them keep this year. Kenyon gave out pencils with a note that said... Kenyons "write" you are AWESOME! The ones pictured show a different saying but I realized it sounded funny and changed them.

Adia being 10 and very emberassed to give boys anything lovey decided to make stress balls (balloons full of corn starch) and attach a not saying... Don't STRESS - I'll be your friend!

For the girls she made bracelets (strips of ribbon hot glued to felt - then she added velcro circles to make them attach) in a bag with a candy ring and the note said "I'm all wrapped up in this friendship" and some said "This friendship has me all wrapped up".

Avery went with the candy and made candy filled rocks with an attached note saying "Friend - you rock!". These were a bit more time consuming and messy but lots of fun. You take small candies, wrap them in tissue, wrap that in foil and then dip it in prepared plaster of paris - when that dries you paint them to look like rocks. We made our red and pink rocks to stick with the theme. Also to make sure people knew to break them open we put them in a bag that said "Break Me".