Rollin' Like Esther

There is a woman who inspires me daily.  She is beautiful, wise, and brave.  She has self-confidence without being conceited.  She is calm even when facing a raging storm.

She understands her influence and because she uses it with such self-control and character she has the ability to change a course of events.

If any of this is sounding familiar, it's because SHE inspired my blog.  Her name is Esther.  I am going to share my version of her story with you in case you don't know it... but I also want to talk about modern day Esthers.

I am SO not quoting the bible here, just story telling.

Esther was an orphan who was raised by her cousin, Mordecai.  Esther was beautiful.  And Jewish.

There was a Persian king named Xerxes (why don't people name their kids Xerxes anymore?) and

he divorced his wife because she disobeyed him.  Truth be told she shamed him and embarrassed him in front of the fellas.

So he ordered a search and called "all the single ladies"♫ to his harem.  He didn't want just anyone though, he wanted the most beautiful woman in the land.  I'm thinking this was kinda like America's Next Top Model except it was Persia's Next Big Queen.  Anyway...

Esther was the most stunning and so King Xerxes chose her to be his queen.

This wasn't exactly a good deal for Esther though.  She didn't get to spend much time with her husband. She had no authority and she couldn't speak unless spoken to, if ya know what I mean?

There were serious consequences to breaking these rules by the way.

One day Haman, the second highest ranking official in the king's court, got mad at Esther's cousin Mordecai.  Once again, it comes down to bravado when Haman thought Mordecai dissed him, because he wouldn't bow down to him when he was walking down the street.  So Haman twisted the story up a bit and convinced King Xerxes that all Jews were a threat, so he asked the king to declare a new law that would call for killing all Jews at their will and the Jews couldn't even defend themselves.  That may sound like a bit of an overreaction to you and me but this is how they threw down back then.

King Xerxes signed it.  Hmmm... maybe he didn't read the bill.  Moving on...

The King did not know that his wife was a Jew.  Not sure that would have made a difference though.

Mordecai called out Esther and told her that she must go to her husband, tell him she is a Jew, and beg for him to pass another law reversing the old one.  Still following me?

Esther was hesitant.

And then... Mordecai said the famous words that have called me to action more times than I can count....

"Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"  Esther 4:14

That is to say you were put here, at this time, in this place... maybe YOU can do something that will change everything.  Maybe it's your calling.  Your gift.  Your purpose on this earth.

Esther knew what she had to do, but she faced a fork in the road where neither path looked appealing.  Both dark and scary with possible death at the end.  If Esther was to break the law to go speak to the king without permission she could be killed.  If she didn't, her people would be.

The queen was prepared to take action, but she did it with wisdom.  Esther carefully planned, she used her beauty and feminine influence to plan a banquet with both her husband, the king and Haman.

She carefully revealed that she was a Jew and the wickedness of Haman's plot as well as what it had done to her people... and that it even endangered her own life.  King Xerxes was MAD!

He had Haman hanged.

The bottom line is that God placed Esther in a situation where she could use her influence, to change the course of events if she was brave enough to.  Which she was and as a result...

She saved the Jewish nation.

I read a great book called The Esther Effect by Dianna Booher in which she said this:

We all have these moments.  Maybe not the kind that save a nation. But that save none the less.  Maybe it's a friend or a family member.  Maybe it's a marriage or a child who's lost.

My dear friend, Marlece always reminds me that some people go on missions to far away places, and some of us are missionaries in our own homes.

I created this blog with a vision that I believe was God given and inspired by Esther.

I am going to close with my elevator pitch I wrote for this blog:

Short Elevator pitch:

"Encouraging women to recognize their influence and use it in a mighty and positive way."

Long Elevator pitch:

"Day to day we walk through life not recognizing our ability to bring about change.  We as women: wives, mothers, sisters and friends have influence that will be used whether it is in a negative or positive way.  We impact everyone we come into contact with throughout our day: and we never know if something we say just might be that person's miracle.

The heart of my blog is to encourage us to rise up to be a mighty and positive voice in day to day situations.

My reader is a contemporary woman with confidence, character and courage. She is setting the standard by handling her own hurt and adversity with grace... It's How She Rolls."

I challenge us all to be modern day Esthers:  To recognize that we have an opportunity to be high-impact women that dramatically affect others.

The world needs us, we just need to seize the opportunity and step up.