She Who Has A "Hamans's Ear", Let Her Hear

Wednesday was my final class in my Beth Moore study, Esther - It's Tough Being A Woman. 

This is a picture of the room where we spent the past 10 weeks digging into God's Word and applying what we learned from Esther's life, to our own lives. 

This is a picture of my sweet leader and me. I have known Libby for years, but it had been a long time since we had seen each other prior to this class.  She had not changed a bit -- she is truly one of the sweetest, godliest ladies that I have ever met. (And did I say cute as a button!) I so appreciate all of her hard work that she put into praying and studying for this class and her willingness to facilitate, week in and week out. She did an awesome job!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we ended our class on Purim (how cool is that!) and so Libby decided that we would have our own little "Feast of Purim" -- complete with Hamantashen, otherwise known as, "Haman's Ears", and noisemakers. The "Haman's Ears" are a triangular-shaped, fruit-filled cookie that are called by this name because they resemble the shape of an an ear. Some Jewish people call them "Haman's Hats" because Haman was said to have worn a three-cornered hat shaped much like these cookies. 

Libby attempted to make the cookies at home, but she said that they did not turn out well. So......Plan B was to quickly call a local Jewish bakery  and amazingly (on the last day of Purim) they managed  to save 50 cookies for our class. God is so good!

The one I tasted was filled with an apricot filling and it was actually pretty tasty. Probably not something that you would want to sit down in front of the TV with a big ole' glass of milk and chow down on, though. (If you want that, you would be better served with these !)  

The true flavor is concealed within the cookie. The fruit center being hidden represents the intrigue associated with Queen Esther and Mordecai's uncovering of Haman's evil plot. The miracle was not revealed at first.

One of the many things that I took away from this awesome study is that I am the Esther in MY own sphere of influence and, guess what ---- you are the Esther in YOUR sphere of influence.  Even though you and I may never enter a place of great public power, we have each been positioned here on this earth "for such a time as this". 

Each of us are called to pass down what we have learned to our descendants. I am to pass down the seeds of the Word that have been sown in me --to entrust them to the next generation and they will entrust them to the next generation....and on and on and on.  We are called to keep passing them down.

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV

My sweet friends, just like the hidden fruit filling inside the "Haman's Ears", we carry the sweet treasure of Jesus inside of us. I wonder......

How are we doing at passing it down to our sons and daughters? 

Are we keeping it hidden or are we letting others have a "taste" of this sweet treasure on a daily basis?  

God has placed each of us here "for such a time as this".

The Whole Megillah

I can hardly believe that tonight is my last Esther class. We have finished “The Whole Megillah”! It has been a big commitment for me and I am thankful to the Lord for helping me to stay faithful for 10 weeks of classes, a 36 mile round trip to class each time and some 45 nights of homework. Thank you to my friends and family for praying for me during this time that I would remain faithful and that I would “hear” what the Lord had to say to me. Your prayers were definitely heard!

It has been an unbelievable journey and one that I would highly recommend EVERY lady take, if you have the opportunity. One of the things that we talked about throughout the book of Esther was all the ironies in the book. How about THIS for irony ---- our final class is meeting tonight ON Purim. How neat is that!

The name “Purim” comes from the Hebrew word “lots” and is the festival that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people of the Persian Empire from Haman’s plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the book of Esther. Haman cast lots to determine which day that the Jews would be exterminated.

Our final class tonight is bittersweet for me. I am sorry to say “goodbye” to some wonderful sisters in Christ that I have met and grown to love over these past weeks and to say “goodbye” (for now) to Esther, who I have grown to love dearly! I will never look at the book of Esther the same again. As Beth Moore reminded us in the beginning of the study, even though the book of Esther lacks any mention of God, His Spirit is ALL over it!

We are having a celebration tonight in honor of Purim (and our last time to meet together) and our leader is making “Haman’s Ears”. This is a special fruit-filled triangular cookie that is served during Purim. (They are called "Haman’s Ears” because they resemble the shape of an ear.) I am so excited to try them! Who knows...maybe you'll be seeing them on Mimi's Making Meals soon!

To all of my "Esther-gen" sisters that are still in the midst of your study, I will be praying for you as you continue on this incredible journey! I know that the Lord has placed each and every one of you in this study "For Such A Time As This."

After all....."It's Tough Being A Woman"!!

The Queen of "What If"

Let me just begin this post by saying that if you have an Esther study beginning anywhere near you, you need to RUN to sign up for it, because this study is the most awesome study for women that I have ever been a part of. Every week's lesson has spoken directly to me and this past week was no exception. I'm not sure if it was even necessary for all the other ladies in my class to even be there this week, because I am convinced this lesson was meant solely for me!

God so clearly showed me this week that I have been living my life in the "tight fist of fear" for TOO LONG! Whatever that thing is that is my greatest fear, the enemy knows exactly what that is, and he continues to threaten me over and over and over again with it.

Let me just confess to you that I am the "Queen of What If". 

"What if" someone that I love very dearly is taken from me unexpectedly?

 "What if" we suffer a complete financial reversal in this economy and lose our home and everything we own?

"What if" my husband falls in love with a younger woman and leaves me to grow old alone?  

"What if" I receive a diagnosis of terminal cancer and I have to leave my family?

God has shown me through this week's lesson that:  "What If" = "I fear". Don't think for a minute that the enemy is not aware of the very things that I am most fearful of. He knows EXACTLY what they are and takes great delight in tormenting me with them. The lesson this week pointed out that we can be in such a stronghold of fear (and in particular the fear of death) that we never really live!

God wants to do a work in my life! I know that He is calling me to a life of courage. He is calling me to be brave! I can never know the abundant life as long as I stay in the grip of fear of death. Listen to this verse that Beth Moore shared with us this week:

"By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil's hold on death and freed all who cower through life, 

scared to death of death."  

Hebrews 2:14-15  The Message

Christ destroyed the Devil's hold on death and He freed us so that we no longer have to cower down --scared to death of death!  We can be freed to live because we already WERE dead!  

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ." 

Colossians 2:13

Death is NOT our final destination. As Beth reminded us this week, the only thing that we have to do in death is just trade this body in for a new one! (And I don't know about you, but I am pretty excited about that!)

So God is telling us to TAKE COURAGE! Whatever this life throws at us, no matter how fearful it may be, God will ALWAYS offer us His courage!  We only have to reach out and "take it" from Him!

What about you, my sweet friend?  

What is it that you are most fearful of? 

What is your "What If"? 

Lay it at the feet of Jesus today and let's be mighty women of valor! Courageous women! Brave women!  Because whatever happens to us, we have to rest in the fact that "my God will take care of me"!

Fear not!