I love holidays. It feels like we get to swing from one special occasion to the next, from New Year’s to Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day to Resurrection Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July – not to mention all the birthdays scattered between – until we get to fall with its festivals, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, up to my all-time favorite celebration:
CHRISTMAS!!

I think it was incredibly thoughtful of God to create feast days and fast days, celebrations with camping, special meals to commemorate the faithfulness he had shown. Most of these days were related to something God had done in the past, and those days became a beautiful time for the Israelites to reflect on God’s faithfulness and deliverance, his kindness and provision. Perhaps in some small way, we can repurpose these everyday moments into a remembrance of God’s work in the past as well.

St. Patrick was a real person.
Kidnapped at the age of 16.
Enslaved for six years in Ireland.
Escaped and then later felt called to return as a missionary. It’s downright amazing that he didn’t allow bitterness to taint his perspective, his willingness to go back and minister to the people he was once enslaved by.

This year we decided to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by inviting some friends over for an Irish potluck. We have a few fellows in our church that absolutely love Irish culture, so we invited them over for a simple afternoon meal of potato soup, with shortbread and Irish tea afterward. I read a short biography of Saint Patrick before we blessed the food and eat. We listened to Celtic music and enjoyed a beautiful Irish tea cake a friend had brought over. I sent everyone home with beautiful cards we had printed, each containing a traditional Irish blessing.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back. 
May the sun shine warm upon your face; 
the rains fall soft upon your fields 
    and until we meet again, 
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

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