Break Every Chain!

Redemption's Journeys

I am honored to have been a part of Redemption's Journeys today! This is a great blog and everyone should check it out regularly!!!

Redemption's Journeys
There is no where redemption can not go, no work redemption can not do and no task impossible. Only willingness is required.

Redeeming Power

I am going to admit some things about myself tonight. First of all, I am a person who has always had a poor self image. I have never felt like I was good enough or worth much. I have never felt like I mattered to anyone. Not until I met my husband. When we first dated I felt like a princess. He treated me better than anyone ever had and he truly became my best friend. After we got married, I felt like a Queen. I had found the person in life who made me feel important and made me feel like I had value.

Here we are getting ready to celebrate our ten year wedding anniversary. I feel like life has beat us up. Life has chewed us up and spit us out and is waiting for our next move to see what else it can throw at us.

While my husband is still by my side, my insecurities and my poor self image have not gone away. I worry about things every day that I can't change. I worry that I'm not pretty enough (ten years, a kid, a college degree, and a full time job can definitely start to show). I worry that I'm not good enough. I worry that I'm gonna say the wrong things. I worry that my emotions are going to be perceived as something they are not. I worry that I'm not a good enough mom. I worry that I'm not making the right decisions for my son. I worry that I'm going to wake up one day and be alone. I worry that everything in life that matters to me will disappear.

A year ago I attended a women's rally in Conway. The message that night I will not soon forget. The message from The Lord I personally received that night, I will never forget.

The message was on the seasons we go through in life and was encouraging us to lean on God and trust in Him through every single season. This was a rough time in my life at home and I felt like my family was going to dissolve under the pressure we were under and I was already watching it happen. I cried everyday to The Lord before that night asking Him to hold my family together and asking Him to change our situation.

That night last January, as clear as if I were sitting next to you talking, I heard The Lord speak to me. He told me that I was going to make it. That I was going to be ok. That no matter what happened in my circumstances, He was going to take care of me and that He loved me. Beginning that night, I just started praying that God would handle it. I gave it to Him and have prayed daily since then that God would work out all things to His glory.

Here we are a year later and He has held true to those promises. He has worked in my life and is restoring the pieces of my life that I thought were slipping away. It has been a process and it isn't over yet, but He is working.

Because the theme for women's ministry this year is Redeemed, I have really been thinking about this. Salvation came for me as a child. But salvation is only the first step of redemption. Salvation is about believing in Jesus. Believing that Jesus died on a cross for your sins so that you didn't have to pay the price for your sins. Jesus did that for you and in return you get to spend eternity in heaven with Him.

Redemption is so much more than salvation alone. Redemption is about taking the broken pieces of our lives, the trash, the nasty stuff we may not even tell our closest friends, and changing those things. Cleaning us up and giving us a new purpose. Redemption is about taking what others may see as the worst situations in your life and giving them meaning and making something better out of them than we could ever imagine.

Redemption is an ongoing process that even the greatest Christians walk through over and over again with each new twist and turn that life brings their way. God can redeem you and your circumstances in life.

As I said earlier, I worry about a lot of things in life, but in the middle of my worries, I pray that I have the strength to trust God to redeem my circumstances and to make the best of them. I trust that God has a plan and that no matter what we get hit with next I know that His redeeming power will get us through.

I'm still a broken person who while trusting in God's redemption struggles with the human emotions attached to my situations. I still worry, I still cry, I still get anxious and stressed out. That doesn't mean that I'm not trusting. It simply means that I am human.

A Knock at the Door

This evening, before we left for church, there was a knock on the front door. I opened to door and standing there was a young single mother. She was involved in some sort of workforce program. She talked for a few minutes and asked me several questions while I waited to find out what exactly she was selling.

She asked me if I believed in working hard and programs like the one she was in to help train people to get a better job in the future. She asked me what I did for a living and asked me where I started and how I worked my way up to where I am now. It was quite interesting as she seemed to be gleaning information about how to succeed in life at the same time she was trying to make her sales pitch.

Turns out, she was selling books and magazines. I told her I really couldn't purchase anything right now and I wished her well hoping she would take that answer and be on her way. I really don't care much for people knocking on my door trying to sell me stuff.

I almost missed a chance to share the love of Christ with a complete stranger who randomly showed up at my door, but lucky for me, the Holy Spirit gave me another chance!

Before she left, she asked me what advice I would give to someone like her in regards to succeeding in life. That caught me off guard and anyone who knows me very well knows that I am not too good at thinking on my toes and answering a question like that.

The first thing I said was, "don't give up". Then as I thought for a minute, I told this young woman that life gets hard sometimes. Sometimes it gets really hard, but the one thing that has always gotten me through the trials in life is my relationship with Jesus. I told her if it wasn't for Jesus I don't believe I would be here today.

She looked at me for a minute and said, oh yeah, me too. That phrase wasn't near as confident sounding as the rest of her sales pitch was. She quickly said thank you and goodbye.

My prayer tonight is that she hears that echo in her mind and heart and that she finds that relationship with Jesus and the next time she hears that from someone, she can say with confidence that she has that and leans on that daily for help and strength.

I am praying The Lord gives me more of these opportunities and that I don't miss them.

Your Storm Will End

Today was a very dreary day outside. I had to drive from Little Rock to Fort Smith, in the rain and with one stop on the way, roughly a three hour trip. When I left Little Rock, it wasn't sunny outside, but it had lightened up outside and wasn't too dark. It wasn't raining either. As I traveled down the road, listening to my music and really enjoying the drive, it started to get darker. The further down the road I went, the darker it got and it began to rain. The rain itself wasn't too bad. There were only a few spots along the way where the rain was heavy and in those spots it only lasted a few minutes and then stopped. What was bad was the road spray. Driving on Interstate 40, half of the vehicles on the road were large vehicles, either buses or eighteen wheelers.  Those large vehicles can throw a lot of water on a small car and make it very difficult to see very far down the road.

As I neared the end of my trip, I really began to think about how this trip relates to life. We travel through life the same way as I was traveling down the interstate. Sometimes life is sunny and easy to enjoy. Other times in life, things get dark. Sometimes it gets really dark. And while it’s dark, we still have to travel down the road. We still have to navigate all the curves and stay in between the lines. While it’s dark, the rain falls even harder sometimes. And sometimes, like the eighteen wheelers, when we think the rain isn't so bad, something else flies by us and drowns us in even more rain.

Here is the good news, every storm has an end. No matter how dark life gets, no matter how much rain falls, no matter how soaked we get by even more water, there is hope because at some point, the storm will end. I was blessed to see the edge of the storm as I drove into Forth Smith today. As I neared the end of my journey, I drove out of the storm. It was beautiful! If you are going through a storm in life, just keep moving. Keep pressing forward and at some point you will come out of the storm. But there is more good news. Even if I had not been driving and moving down the road, the storm at some point would have passed. If the weight of your storm is so great that you can’t move and all you can do is stand still, the storm will still pass.

Mark 4:35-39 says, “And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

Storms may come when God is moving us. When He is asking us to pass over unto the other side, there may be some storms that come our way. Most likely there will be more storms at those times in life when God is moving us. Just remember, if we are passing over to the other side with Jesus in the boat with us, we have all we need to navigate life’s storms with the assurance of making it through to a great calm.

It's the Most Wonderful Time if the Year

It is Christmas time. For many people it is the absolute best time of the year. Christmas lights, Christmas music, kids plays, presents, family, friends, extra time off work, and the list goes on and on. So many great things going on.

For others, it is a very difficult time of the year. Some have to work extra hours, have to miss the Christmas festivities, and miss spending time with families. Military men and women are spending Christmas away from their families and friends. Many people are missing loved ones who are no longer here this Christmas and just long for one more family Christmas together with them.

For me this Christmas hasn't even felt like Christmas. I can't quite put my finger on one specific reason why, but I just am not feeling it this year. Even among all the hustle and bustle, the lights, the music, the plays; I feel like a Scrooge. I feel like I would rather just skip Christmas all together.

I just keep reminding myself what Christmas is really all about. It isn't about the lights and big productions. It is about the birth of Jesus, without which we would still be a people who could only reach God through priests and sacrifices. Because of Jesus birth, we are able to reach the throne of heaven directly through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We have a hope of a future because of the birth of one special baby.

I may not be excited about Christmas this year but I am always excited about that baby that was born on Christmas, not for any other reason but to save you and me and give us the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. I may not be feeling the holiday spirit but am blessed tonight to be feeling the Holy Spirit hug me and wipe my tears just like a true friend does in the hard times.

So for those reasons, all bah humbugs aside, I pray you all have a very Merry Christmas!

His Word Stands the Test of Time

A friend of mine has a Bible that has been used for a long time now. The cover is worn, peeling off and almost gone. The inside is all marked up with underlined verses and notes written in the margins. At times I think maybe I should at least buy her a Bible cover or something. But then I stop and think about the beauty in seeing that Bible that way. Some days it is even convicting for me to look at it.

What is it about a worn out Bible that is so precious? For me, seeing it is a reminder of several things.

• The Word of God will always be and will stand the test of time.
• The Word of God never changes. No matter how many changes happen to the cover, what is written inside is forever intact (spiritually speaking).
• God speaks through his Word. The notes in the margins and the underlines are there because during times of reading that Word, the Lord spoke to the person reading it.

 The picture below is a picture of her Bible next to my Bible. This is the convicting part for me. My Bible (though it is only about a year old) just last week started getting marked up and has not gotten much wear. I used to think that I shouldn't write in my Bible and that I need to protect it. Well, if I am not marking in it then what am I doing? Reading the Word of God is wonderful, but if I only read, I am probably not retaining much and I am certainly not focusing on studying. We encourage our kids to highlight and underline in their books while they study for school, so why would we not do the same thing while studying the Word of God.

 

So, I know it will take some time, but my challenge to myself, is to one day make my Bible look like hers. I want to one day be able to say that my Bible looks like this because I use it so often. I want one day for someone else to tell me that my Bible makes them wish they read theirs more.

If He did it for them He will do it for me!!

Hebrews 13:8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 10:34 says, "Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.""

Believing the truth of these two verses, I realize that I can read a story in the Bible, even in the old testament and see how God worked in the lives of people in the Bible, and know that because Jesus Christ never changes and God is not a respecter of persons, He can work the same way in my life too!

Does that mean He is going to part a red sea for me? Well, I likely won't be in the exact situation, but it does mean that when I am stuck between a sea and an army (between a rock and a hard place) either of which could take my life, He can make a way out.

Does that mean that He is going to ask me to build an ark and bring two of each kind of animal on it and wait for the earth to be flooded? No, because He promised He would never destroy the earth by flood again. However, it does mean that when God tells me to do something, I can do it, no matter how crazy other people think I am, and I can rest assured that He is working for my good. I can follow His direction knowing He is bringing me through the flood and placing me and my family on dry ground on the other side of it.

Does that mean that He is going to save me from the fiery furnace? I don't know about that, but it means that when the heat is on, He is standing with me. He will not leave me to face the fiery furnace alone.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. What He has done before, He can do again! We serve an AWESOME God who cares for us and loves us the same as He cared for and loved everyone else who came before us.

“The Moment – Hot Springs”

Pastor Ben Wiles, pastor of River of Life Church in Hot Springs posted a great blog post concerning an upcoming local event in his area.

Friends, take a moment to read his post. It is amazing to me to think that we have "Christians" who are falling for the lies of satan left and right. They truly are deceived and because of that are deceiving others as well.

Don't make decisions based on what others have to say. READ YOUR BIBLE and make your own decisions based on what THE INFALLIBLE WORD OF GOD has to say!!

Check out Pastor Ben's reflections here!

The Simple Life

I remember a time in my life when things seemed simple. A time where the most important thing I had to worry about was how many boxes of girl scout cookies I could sell this year. A time where the most difficult decisions I had to make was which shirt I was going to wear to school today. Where did the simple times go?

Is life more difficult because I am an adult now or is life changing all together? Being an adult brings on its own set of responsibilities that I didn't have to worry with as a child, but I really think that life is getting harder over all. Things that used to be simple are so complex now. Things that are supposed to make life simple, add layers of complexity that cause more stress. 

A good example of this is simple communication with a friend. When I was a kid, if I wanted to communicate with someone, you basically either had to talk to them face to face, call them on the phone, or send them a letter by snail mail. When I was a teenager (or around that time) we got the internet at home and added email as a means of communication. Then there were cell phones and pagers and now we add texting and social media outlets to the list of endless ways to communicate with people.

Before all the technology, I could call someone and they would answer and talk to me. Now I don't know how I should try and get a hold of someone and when I try they sometimes don't respond. Come to find out later, they saw your text, email, or facebook message, they just didn't reply. It is easy to hide behind the technology to avoid people and it makes it more difficult to communicate.

This is just one example. I love technology as much as anyone, but some days, I just want the simple life back!!

New Beginnings...

Well, it's that time of the year again! Time for the kids to start back to school! One last weekend before the bell rings again. I know that some folks are definitely ready for the new year while some are already dreading Monday morning.

Back to school time comes with many things that need to be done to be ready for the new school year. Most folks will buy new school supplies, new clothes, new shoes, and get those last minute hair cuts to make sure that the kids look their best on the first day of school. They do this to make sure they are prepared to start out on good footing.

As I was sitting here thinking about this whole back to school process, I realized that there are many things that correlate with salvation. Salvation is all about new beginnings. Every year our kids get a chance to start over again. Praise the Lord, it is a fresh start with a new teacher. Salvation gives us a fresh start and a new beginning. When we ask the Lord to come into our lives and be our Savior, we have a fresh start to life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, with the Lords help, we try and change how we live. We do our best to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10 says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord."

In order to make those changes, we will likely have to make outward changes in our lives. Just like we buy new clothes and new shoes for back to school, we may have to make some changes that are going to be obvious to others. We may have to give up things that we had before. Maybe there is music or television that are not good for you to be hearing and maybe you need to give that up and find good, wholesome, music and television to watch and listen to instead. To live as children of light, we must live in a way that pleases the Lord.

What about back to school hair cuts? While changing the things in our lives that could be a stumbling block to us or open up doors to the devils attacks will be hard, there could be those things in your life that the Lord really wants to change about you. More than something you can take on and off like clothes, it could be something that the Lord wants a more permanent change in your life. Maybe you are hanging out with a group of friends who will do nothing but tear you down.

Psalm 88:8-9 says, "You have taken my closest friends away from me. You have made me sickening to them. I feel trapped. I can't escape. I'm crying so much I can't see very well. Lord, I call out to you every day. I lift up my hands to you in prayer."

These verses really speak to me. The Lord may take away people who you thought were your friends (but I can promise you, if you choosing to make your life better by following the Lord offends, or turns them off, they were never true friends to begin with), but He is right there waiting for you to call out to Him and lean on Him.

Back to school means it's time for a new year, with new beginnings. Is there more in your life that needs a fresh start than just another school year? Are there things in your life you need to turn over to the Lord? Do you need to turn your ENTIRE life over to the Lord? Maybe you have been saved for years, but there is just something, some situation, that you can no longer manage alone. Take this opportunity to seek the Lord and let Him wipe your slate clean! It's time for a fresh, new start!

Love them Anyway

I had the opportunity this afternoon to listen to a man who has lived with dementia for ten years and spends his time traveling around telling his story and encouraging people who are dealing with dementia and alzheimer's, either those who have it, or those who care for people who have it. I want to share a little bit of what he said because while he was talking about living with dementia, he said something that is so profound I can't help but not share it.

He was talking about later in the process of dementia when your loved one may get to the point of not even knowing who you are when you come to see them. Or maybe they get depressed or stop talking as much as they used to and aren't as responsive as they used to be. Sometimes when these things start happening, family members may be tempted to start pulling away from their loved one. For many reasons, but he said something that I will not forget anytime soon. He said, "if your husband can't remember your name, does that make them any less loveable?" It shouldn't.

Love, he said, was about giving, not getting. If you woke up every morning to a husband who didn't know who you were and didn't say much to you, would you love them any less? Some people may answer yes, but if you married someone because they knew your name, you settled too fast! Loving someone isn't about what the other person can give you, it is about what you can give them.

This was a humbling statement for me. Even without dealing with dementia, life in general serves up these moments where someone may not be as loveable as they were at another time in life, but if we truly love them, that doesn't matter.

Love isn't about how loveable the person you love is, it is about how willing you are to put yourself aside and love them anyway.

God loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us so that we could spend the rest of our lives with Him. I know there are times in my life where I am certainly unlovable. But I am so thankful for the love of God. He loved us when we yet were sinners. God is in the business of loving the unlovable and turning them into lovable people. We need to accept the love God has shown us and take it a step further to be the hands and feet of Jesus and love those who are unlovable. Show love and kindness to those who don't seem to deserve it.

So many times we dismiss people because they do things to us that make it hard to love them. Love them anyway! Blessings will come for you and them in the process.

One Step at a Time!

Jonathan was such a great baby. He was usually happy and laughing and I never had many reasons to worry too much about him. He always seemed to make me feel like everything was fine. Have a bad day, come home to his smiles and laughs and it all dissappeared. Even when he was not feeling well, he still was pretty happy.

The whole first year of his life the one problem we seemed to have was ear infections. He constantly had an ear infection. We would get rid of one and a month later, we would have another one. We finally saw a doctor who refered us for him to get tubes in his ears.

The other thing that was beginning to weigh on my mind about this time was that he really wasn't walking. Now, I still wasn't too worried about it. He would crawl and stand, he just wasn't actually walking. I don't know what age you would actually worry about that, but being a first time mom, I worried a little about it.

Back to the ear infections. We took him in to get tubes put in his ears. It isn't a long or complicated proceedure but it does require them to be put to sleep. Obviously that was a little stressful just because he had not ever been put to sleep before. We went back with him until they were ready for him. They took him back, we walked around to the recovery area, and it was literally about two minutes and he was back in recovery. It took him five minutes or so to wake up and we were heading home. (One of the craziest experiences ever I think!)

He was cranky afterwards, but we took him home and laid him down for a nap. He took about a two hour nap and then woke up ready to play and as happy as he always was. I took him into the living room and put him down in the floor. The next thing I knew, he was pulling up on the end table. He had done that before so that wasn't a big deal. But then, he let go and just took off walking like he had been walking for months. I couldn't believe it. I guess the pressure and stuff in his ears had him off balance and wouldn't allow him to actually walk. He could stand but he couldn't take those steps.

The Lord reminded me of this story today. I think sometimes we are like Jonathan was. The pressures of life get us off balance and we have a hard time taking the steps we need to in order to move forward. Once something happens to change the pressure, we can start moving again.

This doesn't mean that the pressure will be removed. Maybe it will just be rebalanced or maybe we will just turn to the Lord and let Him hold the pressure up for us. Either way, when the pressure is shifted, we can start moving again. Until the pressure is shifted, as long as we get up and STAND, we will be ready to take off when the pressure shifts. Jonathan first steps were not a few slow steps and then falling back down. He was ready to walk because he had been taking small steps while holding onto the furniture and he had been STANDING when he couldn't walk. His strength was being built in the process.

Sometimes we don't see that the processes of life are building our strength. They are not there to tear us down. They are there to build our strength and prepare us for the next phase of life. So if you are going through a process and feeling pressure, turn to the Lord and let Him hold you up and prepare you for what's coming next.

Ephesians 6:10-13
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to STAND.

God's Got You!

Isaiah 41:13

Lessons from a Queen!

The story of Esther has so many great lessons and just plain interesting things in it.

First of all, this book of the Bible is a great example of how NOT boring the Bible can be. Many people think that the Bible is boring, but Esther is far from it. I’ll leave it at that and you can read it for yourself to find out why I say that!

One lesson found all throughout the book of Esther is the importance of obeying the King’s commands or you may end up in trouble. There are several cases throughout the book of Esther where someone went against the King and they ended up being killed by the Kings orders. The King James Version says they were hung on a tree. The New International Version says impaled on poles. The New King James says hanged on a gallows. The New Living Translation says they were impaled on a sharpened pole. Either way, I wouldn’t want that to be me in any case!

Interesting Bible Fact: Esther 2:12 - Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.

I’m not sure if a whole year of beauty treatments would be heaven on earth or torture! I mean think about it. We do crazy things now days like plucking eyebrows. What did they do back then? I don’t think they had tweezers! I’m just saying, Bible time beauty treatments could be a little scary.

Life Lesson #1: Esther listened to her “father”. Mordecai had essentially adopted Esther when she was young, but she respected him and listened to him when he asked her not to reveal to the king that she was Jewish. Had she told the King she was Jewish at first, she likely would not have been his choice to be queen and would not have been able to save her people. We need to listen to our Heavenly Father and follow his instructions. He knows best!

The King had a right hand man, Haman. He was not impressed with Mordecai because Mordecai would not kneel down and pay his respects to Haman as a royal official. This infuriated Haman and he not only wanted to kill Mordecai, but he wanted to kill all of his people as well. When he went to the King about this, the King just handed over his seal and told him to do with the people what he wanted. When Mordecai found out about it, he was distressed and asked Esther for help.

Interesting Bible Fact: Esther 4:11 - All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives.

How awesome would it be to be able to banish everyone you didn’t want to see and only see the people you summoned! I’m just saying, that sounds like a perk to me for being the King!

At first, Esther didn’t want to go to the King as Mordecai asked her to, because she was not supposed to go to the king unless he summoned her. Mordecai said something to Esther that makes me stop and think. He said, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Wow, what a statement. First of all, someone will deliver the Jewish people if you don’t! Secondly, why do you think you were put in a position of power? Don’t you think this could be the reason you are queen? How many times do we think we have no authority in a situation? But what if we are in just the right place at just the right time? We just have to step out on faith and trust that we will make a difference if we do the right thing.

The king liked Esther so much, that when she approached him, he asked her what she wanted. He said whatever she wanted up to half of his kingdom could be hers. She invited the king and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet she invited them to a second banquet. This is when she was going to tell the King what she wanted.

In the meantime Haman passed Mordecai again who would not show the respect he wanted. Haman was furious and at the suggestion of his wife, he set up a pole reaching a height of fifty cubits and was going to ask the King in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it.

The king that night didn’t sleep well. He was thinking about the person who exposed an assassination attempt on him. When he discovered it was Mordecai, he wanted to properly show his appreciation.

So, the King asked Haman what he should do for a man who the King wanted to honor. Haman responded thinking the king was speaking of him. He named off a list of great honors to bestow on the man.

Life Lesson #2: Vengeance is Mine sayeth the Lord! Once Haman listed all the honors he thought should be bestowed upon this man, the King told Haman to go and bestow these honors on Mordecai! (He had to personally honor his arch enemy)! Haman was mortified and ran home, but he still had a banquet to attend. When Esther finally made her request to the king (to spare her people from being killed) the King wanted to know who had planned this terrible act. Esther told him it was Haman. Haman ended up being ordered to be impaled on the very same pole that he had set up for Mordecai and Mordecai was honored. How ironic is that? Not only is he embarrassed by having to honor Mordecai in the streets, but he is killed on the same pole he had set up for the king to impale Mordecai on!

Life Lesson #3: Think before you speak! I am pretty sure that at this point Haman’s wife was wishing she had given him some different advice! Not only did she lose her husband in a humiliating way, she lost everything that belonged to him.

In the end Esther and Mordecai were given Haman’s estate and were able to write their own edict signed by the king to protect the Jewish people.