St. Patrick was One Cool Dude...

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…" (Matthew 28:19) 

When my daughter was a little girl, she brought home a flyer announcing a meeting for girls who were interested in joining the Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout myself as a child and remember how much I enjoyed it and thought K would as well, so we went to the meeting... During the meeting a sign-up and permission sheet was passed out to join. I also checked the little box offering to help -- thinking I would bring cookies or be a chaperone occasionally. 

A few days later, the Head Girl Scout Lady showed up at my doorstep with a couple of large boxes to drop off and to thank me for volunteering to be the troop leader! What?? I did not volunteer anything of the sort! Apparently, I either checked the wrong box and I actually volunteered to be the Girl Scout Leader -- or none of the other moms checked anything and they grabbed onto the one person who did. (I never again saw that sheet of paper I allegedly agreed to be in charge of 24 little first graders, so I couldn't prove anything.)

I was the Troop leader for five years... 

When the girls were still Brownies and in 1st grade, I had an activity planned for St. Patrick's Day and to learn more about the person St. Patrick really was. So I started out the meeting by asking the troop, "What is St. Patrick's Day all about?" All hands flew into the air with answers. Although I can't remember all of the replies, these are some of my favorites:

"It's the day Dr. Seuss said we eat green eggs and ham"

"My parents get a babysitter for me on that day so they can go to a party"

"It is the day you have to wear green so you don't get pinched by boys"

...and my favorite...

"A little leprechaun who collected snakes took a bunch of them and colored them all different colors. Then he put them into a pot of gold and played his flute and they crawled out of the pot of gold to reach across the sky and find another pot of gold. And that's how rainbows were invented!"

Wow. I was impressed with this kid's imagination! And impressed that she even knew about -- or made the connection with -- St. Patrick and snakes. 

By the time the meeting ended that evening, the girls were very excited about the shamrock bookmarks they made -- and having gained a little bit of knowledge about St. Patrick of Ireland. 

I joined a Christian youth group in college and while discussing the doctrine of the Trinity one evening, our youth pastor brought each one of us a shamrock plant. He explained how St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. How God is One God but three persons. St. Patrick showed how the shamrock was one leaf on one stem and at the same time were three separate leaves that made one leaf.

I love shamrock plants and always pick one up when the garden center has them in March. Each time I look at the three leaves that together make one leaf, I think of the Holy Trinity.

Pretty awesome.

Thanks for reading!