Purim

Purim is my favorite jewish holiday. It celebrates the story of Esther, a jewish girl who, because of her great beauty, became queen of Persia. Because of her courage and some other miraculous events, she saved her people from annihilation. It is a wonderful story. If you haven't read it, check out the book of Esther in the Bible.

People arrive in costumes, preferably dressed as someone from the story, or they are provided a mask. The story of Esther is read from the scroll and each time Haman's name is heard, everyone boos and shakes their noisemakers (Haman is the bad guy in the story).

And, of course, there is food. The traditional food being hamentashen, a three cornered, fruit-filled cookie. Some accounts claim it represents Haman's hat, others his ear (yuk!).

Two things struck me this year...

Do you know that Gods name is not mentioned even once in the book of Esther? And yet His hand is evident. I wouldn't have even noticed the absence of God's name if someone hadn't told me. This is how I want my life to be. I want God to be so evident in my life that even if my mouth speaks nothing about God, his work is clearly seen. I pray that people watching the story of my life unfold would see God's miraculous hand at work and give him glory and honor.

As we celebrated the story of Esther, we also talked about other women heroes in history, like Deborah, Golda Meir, etc. While we were discussing heroes, my friend Gayle looked over at me holding Eva and thought that mothers are the true heroes of the world. She said she got choked up just watching us. I was so touched by that. What sweet encouragement!!

King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther:

Jack reading from the scroll:

Kedrick and Victor with their noisemakers:

Jack's homemade hamentashen: