Celebrating St. Pattys

I love St. Patrick's Day. I think it is such a great time to pass on to my girls some love of their Irish heritage (now we just need a Scottish and Norwegian holiday) It makes me sad that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in America as a drunken fest, giving most Americans the association of the Irish people and drunkenness.

There are so many beautiful aspects of the Irish culture, these are the ways we try to honor them this week.

Faith - St. Patrick is celebrated for bringing the Christian faith to Ireland. He used the clover leaf to teach about the trinity. The three leaves represented the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We started making clover leaf cookies last year, to use to talk about the trinity as St. Patrick did.

Music and dance - this year we are going again to the Denver Brass, Bagpipes and Co. It is a wonderful showcase of Celtic dance and music. Emily is going for the first time this year. I can't wait to see her reaction to the show.

Food - We make Irish soda bread each year. The same as my mom does.

Literature and Legends- when we were in Ireland a few years ago, we bought some wonderful children's books of Irish legends. The girls especially love the legends of Aoife and Finn McCool.

The last thing we do, but not this week, is travel. We want the girls to know the countries their family came from. The above picture is Sarah in Ireland at about 20 mos old. How does your family pass on Irish or other national heritages to your children?

Irish Soda Bread

This weekend the girls and I will bake a few loafs of Irish Soda bread. My grandmother's family came from Ireland, and my mom always made a few loafs of this bread in the days leading up to St. Patrick's Day. It is a great bread to have with a cup of tea. I like it toasted with butter for breakfast. Yum!

Here is my mom's recipe. It makes two loafs.

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 cups raisins or currents
1 egg
1 3/4 cups buttermilk (I buy dry buttermilk powder that you can keep in the fridge)

Combine first 5 ingredients, add butter, add raisins, beat egg and add to mixture.

Divide dough into two halves. On a floured surface, form dough into a rounded loaf. Cut a cross into the top of the loaf. Bake loaves on a cookie sheet at 375 for 35-40 mins.

Family Lent Devotion - Week 3

Week 3: Jesus’ ministry begins

Introduction: Can you imagine getting up right now, leaving everything, and walking out your front door to follow Jesus? Sounds crazy right? But that is just what many people did when Jesus was alive. They heard Jesus speak or saw Him perform a miracle, and they instantly left their lives behind to follow him. Last week we learned about Jesus’ baptism. Soon after his baptism, Jesus began his ministry. As his ministry began to grow, he was not alone. He was calling men to be his followers. Jesus had followers from all walks of life. In today’s reading, we will read about Levi the tax collector, better known as the apostle Matthew.
Reading: Luke 5: 27-32 The calling of Levi

Discussion Questions:
1. Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were not popular people. In fact, most people hated them! But, Levi sets a great example. He got up, left everything and followed Jesus. Levi even holds a banquet so that his friends can come and meet Jesus. God wants us to help our friends to meet Jesus too. If you could host a banquet celebrating Jesus, who would you invite to it and what would you share with them about Jesus?
2. It’s easy to think that there are people more qualified than us to teach people about Jesus. What about pastors, elders, teachers, they all know more right? What can we learn from the example of Jesus picking a tax collector to be one of his followers and later an apostle?
3. Reread verses 31 -32. What type of person did Jesus want to follow him? Do we need to be perfect to follow him?

Prayer: Close your devotional time in a prayer. For example:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this time together to learn about your son Jesus. Thank you for the example Matthew gives us. Help us to remember to share Jesus with our friends, co-workers and classmates, just like Matthew shared Jesus with his fellow tax collectors. Thank you Jesus, for coming to save everyone, not just people who are perfect or righteous. Thank you for coming for us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.