St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I absolutely LOVED this post by the Happy Home Fairy:

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

Happy Home Fairy, I don’t understand why you endorse this drinking holiday!

Let me just tell you something, St. Patrick was a pretty AMAZING man!!

I love getting to tell the Happy Buddy about him every year when things are turning green.

Today’s post will hopefully give you some facts about his life that you can impart to your Happy Buddies this week as you celebrate this wonderful season of St. Patrick magic.

St. Patrick is one of the most celebrated religious figures around the world!

At the age of 16, St. Patrick was kidnapped by a band of pirates from his hometown in the Roman British Isles (What?! St. Patrick is not even Irish?! It’s true!) and sold into slavery in Ireland.

As a slave in Ireland, St. Patrick worked as a shepherd and drew close to the Lord while spending time in the fields with his sheep.

But St. Patrick eventually escaped! He returned to Britain where he studied to become a priest.

One night St. Patrick had a dream that the voices of the Irish people were calling him to come back to Ireland and tell them about Jesus. So when St. Patrick woke up, he packed his bags and moved to Ireland once again, this time on his own free will.

God used St. Patrick in so many ways as he ministered to the Irish.

He laid the groundwork for the establishment of HUNDREDS of churches in Ireland.

St. Patrick used clovers, a popular Irish plant with 3 leaves, to illustrate the Trinity – the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

A super great illustration to teach your Happy Buddies!

God also used St. Patrick to bring about a MASSIVE religious shift to Christianity by sharing the Gospel with people in the Irish government system. As more and more people of power came to know Christ, they set the example for the whole land, and Christianity spread like wild fire!

There is even a legend that St. Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland. To this day, Ireland actually does not have snakes! **I kind of want to move there!**

St. Patrick’s mission in Ireland lasted 30 years. He went to be with the Lord on March 17th.

Isn’t that AWESOME?!

St. Patrick was so BRAVE and so BOLD in sharing his faith.

I especially love that St. Patrick wasn’t afraid to go back to Ireland – the place that had once held him as a prisoner. He saw a greater need for people to know Jesus more than he was willing to acknowledge his own doubts, fears, or even comfort.

Oh, how I long to have courage like that – reaching out to those in my world and telling them the Good News of Jesus Christ! And I desire for the Happy Buddy to grow up and walk in that kind of faith too!

That kind of faith is way better than a pot of gold!

Happy History of St. Patrick-ing!

“And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:15