1.     Read Proverbs 31:25. What kind of a woman do you see here?

2.     Look over the book of Esther one more time.  Make a list of the positive character qualities that you see. Circle the one or ones that you desire to nourish in your own life this week.

3.     Complete this matching exercise. Look up each verse and circle the word that best corresponds with the correct character quality.

 Choose from the following character qualities: Courage, Patience, Winsomeness, Restraint, Honesty, Kindness, Self-Control, Dignity, Respect, Strength and Dignity.

• I Chronicles 28:20  
• Isaiah 41:13           
• Esther 2:10            
• Esther 4:16            
• Proverbs 31:25         

4.     The Sovereignty of God.

In your own words, describe the sovereignty of God in each verse below.

a.     Psalm 115:3

b.     Psalm 89:11

c.     Proverbs 19:21

d.     Jeremiah 10:23

e.     Isaiah 55:8-9

f.      Psalm 145:3

5.     The Providence of God.

In your own words, describe God’s divine providence in each verse below.

a. Ephesians 1:11

b. Philippians 2:13

c. Romans 8:28

1. Read our memory verse (Psalm 112:7) in several different translations. Personalize it by placing your name in the verse. Read it aloud.
2. Read the story of Esther once again in a modern translation such as “The Message”. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart as you read.
3. Review the Overview of Esther worksheet. Pay special attention to the scenes we marked with the symbol of an eye. Begin thinking about how God was working behind the scenes in each of these scenes.
4. Review the Main Characters In Esther by doing this matching exercise.
   • King Xerxes Cousin of Esther/Governmental Official
   • Vashti Beautiful Jewish Orphan
   • Esther Wife of Haman
   • Mordecai First Queen, now deposed
   • Haman Thugs bent on killing the King
   • Zeresh Evil Prime Minister of Persia
   • Bigthan & Teresh King of Persian Empire
5. Our theme sentences are: God is Sovereign. God is Providential. God is in Control. Using a dictionary, look up definitions of the following words.
   1. Sovereign________________________________________________
   2. Read Esther 4:11 and 5:1,2. Compare them with Prov. 21:11. How does this help you courageously face your future?
   3. Providential______________________________________________
6. Look up these verses. Write the word that you feel best describes each verse, choosing either ‘sovereign’, ‘providential’ or ‘In control’.

Proverbs 16:9 __________

Psalm 37:3 __________

Proverbs 16:33 __________

Proverbs 21:1 __________

Psalm 46:10 __________

Psalm 37:23 __________

Read Genesis 45:5-7and Genesis 50:20. What similarities do you see between the story of Joseph and the story of Esther?

Read Hebrews 13:8. Has God changed since the time of Esther?____________

Read 1 Peter 5:7. Write a prayer to God, giving Him your burdens, worries and cares. _____________________________________________________________

(Homework sheets are posted at www.judynewz.com)

Preparation with God

Memory Verse: Deuteronomy 31:8

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Before we begin our study of Esther next week spend time with this preparation.

1. Read the book of Esther as you would read a novel. Choose a modern translation such as The Message or The New Living Translation.
2. Look up our memory verse (Deuteronomy 31:8) reading it several times each day, perhaps using Lectio Divina. Read it in several different translations. Write out what God seems to be saying to you.
3. Scan the headlines of this week’s newspaper and write down a headline to share with your group.
4.  After reading the book of Esther, write a sample newspaper headline that may have appeared in “The Persian Times”.

1. The most easily recognized Personality is the Popular Sanguine .They are like a ray of sunshine, they love sparkly bright clothing and their motto is ”I just want to have fun!”.
2. Next is the Powerful Choleric personality. They get more done in a day than most do in a week. They walk fast, talk fast, do everything fast. Their motto is “I just want to have control.
3. The Perfect Melancholy people would say their motto is ”I  just want perfection .” They dress to blend into the woodwork and do not like flashy clothes.
4. Least recognizable is the  Peaceful Phlegmatic. They are calm like green, green grass. They love to wear  clothing that above all is comfortable! Their motto is ” I just want to have peace!”

When you learn to recognize and identify these four different Personality types, you are well on your way to “People Watching with a Purpose”. To learn more, read Florence Littauer’s book “Personality Plus”.

“You cannot do great things, only little things done with great love. ” said Mother Teresa.

I considered this, wondering what it meant for me, today.

Little things? Okay, I could do  some little things for You Lord. Where do you want me to begin?

On my morning email was a prayer request from a young Mama . Her son, David was having his tonsils and adenoids out. Of course, the son and the family were concerned about this. I love it that she emailed and asked me to be praying for the whole situation. Of course I did pray, I also stopped and wrote her a very brief email containing a written prayer from my own heart and a verse.

“What was the verse?” you ask. It was Isaiah 41:10.

So, do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Because this verse had encouraged me in the past, I chose it to encourage this young family.

Later in my morning, still having a sink full of dishes, an idea popped into my mind.   “Send a card to David.” 

“Oh, the dishes need to be done, I haven’t started the laundry yet, can’t I do that later?”

Unable to ignore the prompting, I went to my file drawer of greeting cards.

“Well, I don’t have the PERFECT card, maybe I will just wait and grab one at the store later. ..”

That answer didn’t settle right with my soul.

“Okay, Okay.” I said as I began to dig deeper into my file drawer, exploring files other than “Get Well Soon”.

My hand fell onto a darling postcard with adorable barefoot Hawaiian children, dancing on the front of it. You could almost pinch their chubby cheeks and smell the fragrance of the leis around their necks.

“This is it!” I exclaimed, as I grabbed the card, a big Sharpie pen and my postcard stamps.

Writing a brief message on the postcard and addressing it to little David only took a moment to do. He hasn’t recieved it yet, but I know he will recieve courage when he gets it.

If you add a little to a little and do this often, soon the little will become great. -Hesiod

Listen to you heart. Let those dishes sit in your sink. Grab a postcard and a Sharpie pen and go give someone courage!

Note: I added several favorites to THIS list that were not on the GEMS Resource Sheet.

• The HoneyWord Bible by Tyndale Kids.
• An Introduction to Family Nights Tool Chest. by Jim Weidmann. You may order this at www.heritagebuilders.com or Focus on the Family.
• The Children’s Book of Virtues. Edited by William Bennett.
• The Singing Bible. 1-800-A-FAMILY. Focus on the Family.
• My Time with God. For 8-12 year olds. 150 days of discovering how awesome God really is! 1-800-A-FAMILY. Focus on the Family.
• Devotions for the Children’s Hour, by Kenneth N. Taylor, Moody Publishers.$11.99 at www.amazon.com
• My ABC Bible Verses, Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts, by Susan Hunt; Crossway Publishers.
• PrayKids! magazine. www.praykids.com
• Newsletter with answers to Parenting Questions, Family Night Activities and Resource Specials. Sign up at the website below for this email newsletter that comes every 2 weeks.  (Go to bottom of home page) www.heritagebuilders.com
• www.motivatedmoms.com My daughters, and daughter-in-laws LOVE this downloadable Printable Chore Planner. It does cost $8.99 for one full year. It includes versions with a Daily Bible Reading inserted and versions without.
• The Bible Answer Book,bythe ”Bible Answer Man”, Hank Hanegraaff. This amazing little book has answers to many Bible questions and will help equip you to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Published by J.Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson.

GO MOM’S! You ARE making a difference in the lives of your children.

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  Deuteronomy 6:6-7.

Don’t you just love those moments in life when God sends something agreeable, surprising, fun, but  totally unexpected and not sought after? Have you had a moment of serendipity this week? 

This event could not have been pulled off had I used all of my resources, yet it happened this morning. Unexpectedly, delightfully and effortlessly God sent me a gift of serendipity in San Diego.

Whether you visit Sea World, the USS Midway,  Lego Land,  or the San Diego Zoo, you can find a ticket for it in sunny San Diego. However, this is one event that I did not need a ticket for. It came to me freely,unexpectedly and effortlessly but with plenty of goosebumps!

After one week of vacation we were set to go home on an afternoon flight scheduled for the next day. Our airline tickets were purchased and our plans were set.However on a whim we decided to stay in sunny San Diego for another four days of vacation. We cancelled our ticket home and began to look for a new hotel to stay in for the remainder of our trip.  A  downtown  hotel had a nice room available, but just for one night, so we moved there.

Waking up to traffic noise and trains, we headed to the lobby for a buffet breakfast before departing this hotel for the suburbs. Filling our plates with omelettes, fruit cups and hashbrowns we sat down and began to eat.

We happened to be seated next to a group of two British couples trying to fit at a tiny table for two. Meanwhile, the two of us were comfortable at a table for four. Graciously, my husband offered to trade tables with them. This small act of kindness was to reap surprising fruit.

Being the grand-daughter of an immigrant from Great Britain, I was very interested when I heard their accent as we began the table switch. You see, my British Grand-dad immigrated to the United States in the early 1900’s from England.

 Amidst the shuffle the shuffle of tea cups, plates of fruit, omelettes and potatoes, I asked where they were from. “The UK, they replied.” Intrigued, I said, ” I have a cousin in Ipswich.” Their eyes opened wider and Jane leaned forward in her chair saying “Why that is exactly where I live!”As they asked me where in Ipswich that my cousin lived, I could not recall the full address only Villa Farm something….Fitting together bits and pieces they said “Could it be Rushmere Villa Farm by chance?”

Excitedly, I said”Yes! That’s it!”. Immediately the husband mumbled to his wife, “Hmmm, the only person I can think of there is Mike and Christine H.”

“Yes!” I said, “She is my Father’s cousin.” By now, we were all getting goosebumps.

Further conversation revealed that Jane, the wife of this particular couple grew up knowing my British cousins very well. In fact she spent many days in their home. Her parents and my cousins were very close friends.

Here we were, strangers all sitting three feet apart in the same city, at the same hotel, choosing to eat breakfast at the same time and serendipity brought us together across the miles of Atlantic Ocean. What an incredibly small world we live in.

After exchanging business cards, it turns out that we are all in the same career field as well. Invitations were made all around to come and visit one another’s home.

Today’s happenstance meeting created a modern day connection to the British family that my Grand-dad left behind almost 100 years ago in England.

How delightful to have this surprising, agreeable and yet totally unexpected meeting take place. Truly it was a moment of serendipity in San Diego.

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.”

So often we allow the things of time to loom larger in our gaze than the things of eternity. “The tiniest of coins, when held close to the eyes, can blot out the sun.” says Selwyn Hughes.

When we worry about something it becomes so large that we cannot see clearly. Our vision becomes clouded and we may lose sight of our trust in God.

Imagine this. You have one eye shut and one eye open. You are holding a penny six inches away from your open eye. This penny symbolizes your worry. Now slowly move the penny closer to your open eye. What happens? It blots out the light and looms very large in front of you doesn’t it?

Worry is like that. As you focus on your worry, it becomes all you can see, it blots out all light and hope around you.

Now imagine this.What if you were to slowly move the penny away from your open eye? What happens? Notice with the penny away from your eye, that you can read the message God has for you on the penny. See it? “In God We Trust.”

Don’t allow your worries to so cloud your vision that you lose sight of your trust in God. Take your cares to Him.