As an American culture, we’ve gotten mixed-up about why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Most of us think that it’s just a day to wear green, talk like we’re Irish and eat Corned Beef and Cabbage. We have lost sight of the patron of our holiday. This is a great time to learn (or remember) why we should celebrate St. Patrick.
The story of St. Patrick is about a young boy named Maewyn Succat who was taken as a slave from his home to Ireland. He escaped and went home. He then felt God’s call to become a priest and to go back to Ireland to tell them the truth about God’s love through Jesus. St. Patrick is known for using the shamrock to talk about the trinity and using other things from nature to explain God and His love.
We use the specific colored beads to teach children how to tell the truth about Jesus to those who can’t read it themselves. Today, I am going to give you a fun way you can teach your children the truth about God’s love using Lucky Charms. As you eat breakfast, have your children hunt for the marshmallows and tell them what they represent.
Stars – God used His amazing creativity to create this world and the heavens. He created us to be with Him and enjoy His creation. Genesis 1-2
Clover (hat) – But the first people, Adam and Eve, chose to reject Him and sin. They tried to hide their shame by wearing leaves like clothes. Genesis 3
Blue Moon – That evening when God came to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden, He knew they had sinned. Genesis 3
Cereal – Because of their sin, they could no longer live in the lush garden and had to work the ground – like working to collect wheat to make this cereal. God loved them, but their sin earned their separation from Him. Genesis 3
Horseshoes – God loved His people, but people chose to sin and to believe that other things could protect them better than God (like the superstition of hanging a horseshoe over the door to protect you from evil). Genesis 3; Romans 3:23
Rainbow – God showed people over and over that He would keep His promise and wanted to be with them (like in the story of Noah’s Ark). Genesis 6
Magical Unicorn – But people kept wanting things their own way. They even worshipped things that don’t exist (like unicorns) over worshiping God who does exist and never stopped loving them. Exodus and the Old Testament
Hearts – Out of His great love for people, He sent His Son to rescue all of us from our sin. John 3:16
Red Balloon – Jesus paid for our sins with His life and if we believe, He will take us to be with God forever the way God intended it to be.
What are ways you use the culture to introduce your children to God’s love?