I'm not Irish, but since this is St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd look up some info about 4-leaf clovers. Have you ever found one? Well, traditionally, the leaves of the clover stand for faith, hope and love, and the fourth stands for luck. Another tradition is that the leaves represent God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The fourth represents Grace. I like this explanation better since I don't believe in luck.

The fourth leaf is often smaller than the others. One site I visited said that you can find more 4 leaf clovers in patches of clover that are overgrown, and also to look for them at the beginning of summer. It has been estimated that there are around 10,000 three leaf clovers for every 4-leaf clover. However, other testimonials I have read said that they found several in a clump. The clover plant that produces the 4-leaf clover is the White Clover plant, trifolium repens. Other plants that produce 4 leaf clovers are the Pepperwort or Water Clover (Marsilea Quadrifolia or Oxalis (Oxalis tetraphylia). These plants produce all four leaves regularly and are not actually considered to be the traditional Shamrock. 

Being Scottish in heritage, and Protestant Christians, we never celebrated St. Patrick's Day. When I was in grade school, I was always getting pinched because I forgot to wear green. Mother said to tell the kids that I wasn't Irish. But that didn't help--I got pinched anyway. So I always hated St. Patrick's Day.

I'm still not fond of it now that I'm an adult. I found out that many people see it as a day to get drunk. What a far cry from what the saint named Patrick would have it be. Apparently, he was a real missionary. Having been stolen from his home as a teen and sold as a slave, after he escaped, he came back as a missionary to tell the Irish people about the true God. The majority of Ireland accepted this new faith in contrast to the dark and savage Celtic beliefs that were their heritage.

So if you're "blessed" enough to find a four-leaf clover, remember the God and Savior who gave us His Son and bestows His grace on all who believe. Trust in Him--not your luck.