Today’s guest post is written by a dear friend who puts books of the Bible to rhyme for children. Her books are beautifully illustrated and loved by all children. Enjoy her post on Esther and her own personal testimony.
How a Beauty Pageant Launched a Destiny
by Catherine Zoller
People either love beauty pageants or hate them. But one of the oldest beauty pageants in history turned a participant into a queen.
Like many of you, I’m sure, I’ve come to love the small ten chapter book of Esther. Not only because it’s a beautiful story of a young woman who dared to risk her life by trusting the living God, but also because it speaks so powerfully of identity and destiny.
Esther, or Hadassah, as she was known before being taken into King Ahasuerus’ harem, was a young Jewish orphan girl. Think about those four words for a moment. Don’t let your eyes and thoughts glide over them without being struck by what they reveal. Young. Jewish. Orphan. Girl. It was a societal four strikes. In a caste system (and it was, of sorts) she would have been on the lowest rung.
Her cousin, Mordecai, had been taken captive from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon under the ruler ship of King Nebuchadnezzar (Esther 2:5-6). Mordecai was raising young Hadassah. Somehow after the death of both of her parents, she found herself in her relative’s care. As the story unfolds, we are relieved to see how devoted he was to her well-being.
However, they were living as outsiders in a foreign land. They were Jewish, and about to face severe persecution to the point of planned annihilation. Hadassah was an orphan in a patriarchal society. And she was a girl.
And yet God, as only He can, gave Hadassah a change of identity. Within a year of being one of the chosen women to potentially replace the rebellious Queen Vashti, Esther would find herself winning the favor of the king and being crowned the Queen of Persia and Media. Without any intermediary steps in between, she went from a position of lowest to highest. It’s remarkable, really! And a lesson we can take to heart of the kind of transformation the Lord wants to do in each of us.
From Rebel to Writer
[Tweet “Thankfully, God is in the business of changing identities and leading us into our destiny”]
Thankfully, God is in the business of changing identities and leading us into our destiny. But rarely does it come without His transformational power on grand display.
I was raised in what appeared to be an ideal situation. Within an intact marriage; with two brothers, and a financially successful father. And yet, like every family since the one in Eden, we had our share of dysfunction. At some point, I began to believe a lie. A lie that seemed to scream at me from the lips of almost every adult in my life. And the lie was this: It’s not okay to be me.
I wasn’t quiet and studious like my older brother. Nor was I docile and winsome like my younger brother. Rather, I was the challenging, wildly curious, hyperactive, rule-questioning, exasperating middle child. I was a horrible student from the moment I entered Kindergarten until I managed to graduate from high school. “Trouble” was my constant companion and we got along just fine.
Because I felt marginalized both at home and in the classroom, a flicker of fury was quietly being fanned into an inferno of rage and rebellion.
The summer I turned fifteen, my parents severed their parental rights and had me placed in a state run home for juvenile delinquents. I felt the sting of rejection and the slap of abandonment in the deepest part of my being. I became even angrier and more rebellious. At one point, I was put on six months’ probation with a potential 8-year prison sentence hanging over my head like a guillotine waiting to be released. (You can read the full story here.)
My identity was clearly defined in my mind and everyone else’s, and all who knew me could see I was racing headlong down a path of destruction.
But God.
I don’t have time in this short blog to tell you how God scooped me up from the miry pit and set my feet on the narrow path. But He did. And in the process, He began to change my identity. Not as swiftly as He did Esther’s, mind you, but every bit as effectively.
I married, had three children, and buried my oldest son three weeks before his 22nd birthday. I was active in our church, attended two Bible studies, and began to put the books of the Bible to rhyme. The Rhyme and Reason Series was born in 2009 and is now eight titles strong. I’ve been an inspirational speaker, sharing strength, hope, and the redemptive power of Jesus for longer than I can remember.
You Are a Destiny Imparter
[Tweet “Like Esther, like you and me, every child has a God-given destiny and identity.”]
Like Esther, like you and me, every child has a God-given destiny and identity. Our job as parents, grandparents, mentors and human beings, is to help guide those God has placed within our families and spheres of influence. When we impart that knowledge to them in their early lives, and reinforce it all along the way, we empower them to seek and discover God’s purpose and plan for their lives.
[Tweet “Our job as parents, grandparents, mentors and human beings, is to help guide those God has placed within our families and spheres of influence.”]
Tools to Inspire
If you have a child in your life between the ages of two and twelve whose identity and destiny you are trying to help shape, consider reading the book of Esther to them in rhyme. And then take advantage of the free coloring pages, word games, and activity sheet that correspond to the book and help reinforce the story.
Use these tools as a natural springboard for conversations about how the child sees themselves. If what they say doesn’t line up with who you know them to be and who God declares they are, begin to gently shift their thinking with words of truth and encouragement.
I leave you with the words of my favorite rhyme mister, Dr. Seuss. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
If you feel so inclined, please share with me and others the practical ways God is using you to make things better for the people in your lives as you help steer them into their identity and destiny.
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With a delicious blend of engaging humor and biblical truth, writer, author and inspirational speaker Catherine Zoller more than lives up to her pledge to, “Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em think, and change their lives!”
Catherine’s life experiences, along with her wit and candid, invigorating style, resonates deeply with her audiences.
At the age of fifteen, she fell in love with the truth found in the Scriptures and experienced its life-changing power. Since that time, Catherine’s singular passion is for divine influence to move hearts toward reverent obedience to God and His Word.
She firmly believes in getting the truth into children’s lives at a young age. To that end, she has put several of the books of the Bible to rhyme. “The Rhyme and Reason Series” began in 2009 and is currently seven titles strong.
Catherine and her husband Jay have been married a very long time and have three grown children, the oldest of whom is with the Lord.
Excellent! Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed Catherine’s post. I’ll enter you into the drawing to receive a free copy of her book.