Tuesday, March 17, 2015

St. Patrick—Hero of Ireland

Pinch! Are you wearing green? Like Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day is not just a day that many people think of as just for fun. While many people connect this day with rainbows, pots of gold, leprechauns, four-leaf-clovers, and luck, it is intended to be a remembrance of St. Patrick.

Patrick was born in 389 and lived his early years in Great Britain. Although Patrick was born into a Christian family, he had no interest in religion. He was nearly an atheist when he was a teenager. But then, at age 16, he was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Ireland. He looked upon his captivity as a punishment from God for his unbelief. However, through his time as a shepherd for his master, Patrick grew in his relationship with God and Patrick himself said, “I prayed a hundred times in the day and almost as many at night.” Then one night, about six years after being kidnapped, God sent him a vision telling him to flee his master and there was a ship waiting for him to take him home. Patrick fled nearly 200 miles to this ship but when he arrived, he was rejected passage. After a desperate prayer, Patrick was allowed passage and he returned safely home.
Now, this is not why we celebrate him; he is celebrated for his later years of life. It is said that when he returned home he began to study for ministry. But then he had a dream of an Irishman pleading with him saying, “Holy boy, please return to us. We need you.” Patrick did not want to go preach and help the same people who had enslaved him but after seeking God's heart through deep praying, he chose to go back to Ireland. Upon arrival he began to share the truth of the one true God with the people. Previous to his teachings, the Irish believed in many gods, especially those that related to nature. The truth set them free from these pagan beliefs and they began to follow the Christian God.

Perhaps some of the reason that Patrick became a saint is that he performed many miracles as well as starting more than 300 churches! It is recorded that he healed the blind, the lepers, and even raised nine people from the dead!

Although many legends have arisen around Patrick, such as that he drove out all the snakes from Ireland, one symbol commonly associated with St. Patrick's Day is the shamrock. It is true that Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to demonstrate the three parts of God (the trinity). God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He used the clover to show how each leaf (each one representing a part of God) is still all joined together as one.

Patrick is celebrated for his going to the people who enslaved him and teaching them about God. Patrick was actually given the title of St. after his death. So now that you know the true story of St. Patrick, tell others about him and his life. Explain to them about the clover. And may you have a blessed St. Patrick's Day!

P.S.
Several blog readers have said that it was difficult to read the black on brown so I changed it to white on brown. I hope that this is easier for you to read. God bless you!

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Torture of the Red Dot...

I thought that you might enjoy these pictures.

This is so frustrating! I can never get that red bug!
Grr! Must get the bug...Ready and pounce!

I'm pooped!
Satisfaction at long last!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Caption #9!

Drum role please...I was very pleased with the turnout of comments this time! Thank you to all you participated! I had an extremely difficult time deciding which one would win but in the end I came up with a tie—give a hand to RingNerd and Amy! I would also like to acknowledge Blessing Counter and my Grandpa (Randy.) All of your suggestions were really cute! Thank you to all! As of now, I will just continue to do these posts but if anyone wishes that I would stop, please let me know. Have a good evening, all! Oh, and for this post only, I am posting every single caption in a list after the picture. They were all so good that they deserved a post!

Here is the picture...


And here are the captions! (They are not necessarily in order of my favorites, however, my favorite four are at the top.) I am posting a comment of my own after their comment to the author of the caption.

First Place: RingNerd
"This is what i think of you posting pictures of me online!"
Super job, I think it fits perfectly, RingNerd!

Also in First Place: Amy
"Why did you give me cat food when I loved you and purred for you? I wanted the chicken you ate for dinner!" The cat sighs. "Humans never understand."
I chuckled at this one. It is so true of all cats!

In close second places are...

Blessing Counter:
"Hmph! Since when did cats go to school?"
It really does look like she is saying that, doesn't it!

Grandpa (Randy):
"Well..., I don't like you either!"
But I do like you...! (Love you actually!)

And all the others were super cute! Thank you all very much—I had a really fun time!

Grandma (Debbie):
"I don't always feel this way—I'm usually very lovable!"
 Sometimes lovable, sometimes not...;-)

Skylar:
"This air tastes good!"
Does it? I've never tried it...

Rishona Raub:
"Augh! I am not pleased with this food that you are feeding me."
Poor kitty!

Rose:
"You are so mean I don't want to play with you anymore."
Me! I'm not mean...I want to play!

And last but not least...
Calamity Rene:
"Nyeh, I don't feel like talking to you anymore..."
Well then. TTYL. And if you feel like talking before then...talk to the hand! lol!

Monday, March 2, 2015

Smile!


As I looked for pictures of smiley faces,
this one struck me as really true for
Christians. We should be the happy, joyful,
smiling ones in this world full of
sorrow, pain, and sadness.
"Smile! Because Jesus loves you and so do I!" This was my "motto" as of a little while back—that is, until it was used on me. To start at the beginning, several months ago I got this jingle stuck in my head so, whenever anyone in my family was upset, discouraged, or sad, that is what I told them. Well, once when I was upset, my little sister told me the same thing. It didn't help. It practically only made me madder for some reason. Anyways, I didn't use that saying with anyone again for a long time.However, the next time she told me that, I stopped. And I thought. I realized that, because I am a Christian, I have every reason to be happy, and I should let that joy show through. Wow, Jesus loves ME. The creator of the entire world cares enough to love a sinful girl like me. That meant a lot to me. It's not easy to be smiling and keep this in mind, but from now on, I'm going to try to let that joy show through me. I have every reason to smile, to be joyful—I am loved. And you know what? So are you! No matter who you are, what you've done, or what you are going through, Jesus loves you and is waiting for you to run into His open arms. So, smile! Jesus loves you and so do I!