Skip to main content

Embracing my Irish

It's almost St. Patrick's Day. And I am, eh-hem, decidedly Irish. Ask my husband. Ask my kids. They will tell you I am, indeed, undoubtedly, very Irish.

I fight against it. It's my bane in so many ways. Being a "typical" Irish woman (if there is such a thing) and being a submissive, godly Christian woman seem to war against each other. They don't jibe well, if you know what I mean. That whole idea of taming the tongue? Well if it weren't for the Holy Spirit, I think my tongue would run non-stop and demolish everyone and everything in it's path. I'm not making light of the situation here - I am very serious. Thank God for His Spirit, and the rescue He has provided time and time again from the snares of my Irish bent!

My husband will tell you I am Irish - but he also tells me I need to embrace the aspects of my personality that are there for God's purposes and His glory.  Don't-throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water sort of advice. That's hard! Which parts of my Irish self do I embrace and which ones do I cast aside?

I cannot answer that question. But the Lord can, and the more I yield my life fully to Him, the more I see Him "pick and choose" which parts of my temperament to use on any give day. Does it vary from one situation to the next? Yea, surprisingly, it often does. But I'm learning that He is trustworthy and faithful to show me when I'm doing His will His way and when I'm doing His will my way. He's good like that. If He will teach me how to live in His grace and follow His leading moment by moment, He will most certainly teach you, too. Ask Him, see for yourself.

So this St. Patrick's Day I am, in many ways less Irish than I've ever been, and also more myself than ever before. One of God's amazing dichotomies. One more way He is truly awesome and hands-on involved in my life. One more way for me to be newly amazed by Him.

Be blessed as you embrace the you He wants you to be!

Day 307 done :)

Jan L. Burt
author of The Homeschooling Mothers Bible Study

Comments

  1. HeatherMarch 18, 2014 at 9:38 AM

    Hi Jan! My name is Heather and I was hoping you could answer a question I have about your blog! My email is Lifesabanquet1(at)gmail(dot)com :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

A Homeschool Mom's Devotional by award-winning podcaster Jan L. Burt

Colossians 4:17 tells the reader to "be sure to carry out the work the Lord gave you". How can this be applied to the enormously busy lifestyle of a homeschool mom? First of all, we must always remember that the Word of God has the answer for our every need and we can trust fully in God to use His Word to lead us, guide us, correct us, and bless us. Keeping that in mind, let's consider what this verse is saying. We are told to carry out, or complete, the work the Lord has given us. We are wives, mothers, homeschoolers. Those three BIG job descriptions come immediately to mind when I think of homeschooling mothers. Applying God's Word to our life means carrying out our work as wives, as mothers, and as homeschoolers. When I am exhausted from another long day (or long week, long month, long year, etc.) I still must honor the Lord by blessing my husband. Maybe that means having a hot meal on the table when he arrives home from work. Perhaps your husband
6 comments
Read more

I Gotta Let You Know Two Very Important Things (Seriously, They Are Truly Important For You To Know...)

 First, a big --- fat --- hefty dose of encouragement for you, my wonderful homeschooling friend.  As you get ready to roll into the fall of 2020...stop for just one moment and hear what God's Word has to say to you right here, right now, on the brink of the last stretch of what has possibly been the most turn-your-whole-world-upside-down year ever.  Psalm 125:2 - As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.   You are surrounded.  Completely & totally, that's exactly how surrounded you are.  Going into the great unknown as, say, a working mom whose children are going to be doing school online at home (or a working mom homeschooling and working from home for just the next several months, but not planning on continuing to home educate after things "normalize" again).  This is God's promise just for you as you embark upon this season of life. I really, truly believe He wants you to know that He has you surrounded
1 comment
Read more

My Preferred Bible Reading Plan

We all know that reading our Bibles is a key part of living a healthy life as a follower of Jesus. But busy homeschool moms may, at times, struggle to know what part of the Bible to read on any given day. Some people read the Bible through, Genesis to Revelation, and when they finish simply start over. Others have reading plans that follow along with the sermons their pastor is currently preaching. And yet others find themselves "stuck in the Psalms", since they're not quite sure what to read. I'm not going to tell you how many chapters a day you should read, or that you need to do exactly what I do. I'm just going to share what has worked for me, and hopefully encourage you to get into the Word using some type of plan ~ because every homeschool mom knows what happens to our plans when we fail to create a plan, right?! I use a prayer and Bible reading guide called "Prayer Point" , published by Samaritan's Purse. About every 8 weeks, I receive a
3 comments
Read more

Schoolhouse Review Crew ~ A Thomas Jefferson Education (This Week in History)

Rachel DeMille, of Thomas Jefferson Education , promotes a fascinating educational philosophy (based on The Seven Keys of Great Teaching ). Her website, www.TJEd.org , provides a thorough explanation of this philosophy. It's also an excellent history resource that I hope my blog readers will consider using in their homeschools. I really love what Rachel is doing! I am not reviewing everything available at the website - trust me, there is quite a bit to be found there! What I am reviewing is " This Week in History ", a resource that covers a wide variety of subjects and topics on a daily basis in an engaging and interesting manner. I have used this as a part of our history curriculum, but it really is so much more than history.  Each week I receive an email with the current week's " This Week in History ". I am also able to access this information at the website, along an archive that covers the current year. And I also receive daily emails, called &q
1 comment
Read more

Do You Homeschool? Then You Need to Read This Article!

Whether you have been homeschooling for a month, a year, or a decade, you've inevitably faced the "questions". Questions about socialization, college, athletics, driver's ed, high-school biology, etc. etc. etc. and so on..... It seems as if homeschoolers are ripe for questions from day one; but the flip side seems to be that there really is no flip side. We are expected to patiently answer any and all questions, smiling politely and pretending we've never heard this line of questioning before. But when we try to ask a few questions about, say, public schools as a whole or the issue of private schools being used as a last-ditch landing spot for students expelled from public school, well...ahem...we're pretty much told to keep quiet. No one wants to hear our questions, and often times no one really wants to hear our answers to their questions. They just kind of want us to....go....away. I'm not planning on going away any time soon. And neither are my fiv
4 comments
Read more