I’ve been puzzling over this Tuesday Topic post all week. I have so many favorite quotes, but one kept coming back to my mind. I am careful for both business and personal reasons to not throw my religion in front of my members and friends too much. But this time, it was like it just wouldn’t go away. When it popped into my head this morning while I was jogging, I knew that I had to go ahead and post.

My favorite quote is actually Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all ways and He shall direct your path.”

I’ve probably lost about a third of you from reading now, but for those who I haven’t, hear me out. This passage is at the same time completely religious but also generally applicable. If you believe in God, it tells you that no matter what happens, He’s going to take care of you. But even if you believe in something (or someone) else, it’s a reminder that it’s not always our job to UNDERSTAND or make sense of what is happening to us. Sometimes we just have to let it happen and see how it is going to turn out. Life doesn’t always behave the way that we expect it to, and that’s okay. Because something is around the corner that will put it all into perspective.

So there it is. My contribution to the Tuesday Topic group (on Fhursday!). I’m feeling a little more peaceful just finally putting it out there.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day today, which is a fun day in my family. With our minor Irish background (my grandmother on my mother’s side was born Emma Lou O’Malley), we always take St. Patrick’s Day seriously. This year it is green shirts for everyone (with cute sayings), Shepherd’s Pie, and green fluff for dessert. And yet, it feels like something is missing.

What is missing for me is that my kids do not really even know what St. Patrick’s Day is about. They don’t know all of the Irish songs that I learned from my grandmother when I was a kid. They don’t know anything about their true heritage. In all honesty, they are really only 1/8 Irish. But I don’ t even know for sure what the other 7/8 of them is. So with their blue eyes and fair skin, we just go with “Irish.”

It’s sad to me that my kids do not truly have a “heritage.” They (as well as my husband and I) are truly “mutts” when it comes to ancestry. No one in either of our families celebrates anything related to the countries from which our ancestors came. In part that’s our own fault. In part, it’s just the way each generation passes and melts into another.

On the plus side, we love to celebrate every holiday that comes along. So even if I weren’t 1/4 Irish, I would still be wearing my “Kiss My Irish” shirt today and trying to find fun Irish foods. I don’t think anyone in my family even speaks Spanish and yet we will have margaritas and tacos on Cinco de Mayo. And don’t get me started on Oktoberfest…