Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I have to laugh when I look up St. Patrick on the internet. Even though it's the only feast day we have a holiday for that actually includes the "Saint" in the name of the day, (unlike dear St. Valentine)  poor St. Patrick is rarely ever portrayed as he was. A Man. The clip art usually associated with him is of a cartoon or leprechaun.

So in honor of such a wonderful guy, here is an actual man. It may not be a photo (since they didn't have those in his day) but at least he's not a leprechaun!

Even though most of my own family is VERY German, we love St. Patrick's Day. My husband can find some Scots blood in his line but that's about as close as we get. Still my son's name is very Irish : Ryan Michael.  My husband and I loved everything Irish. and Ryan was even baptized on March 17th.  So St. Patrick is near and dear to our hearts.

I love the story of St. Patrick and his love for a people he could have loathed and hated since they had kidnapped him from his native land.  It reminds me that we get spoiled in America thinking everything should go as WE plan it; not as God plans it.  It's hard to remember sometimes that WE are not in charge of our lives, God is; and though we have Free Will, and the choice to do things in our lives, we still cannot control circumstances or enforce our will on others.  So while we may not get kidnapped and become a missionary in another country, we can still work on trying to do good things and listening to God who has great ideas for us.

God Bless you and Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you!