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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 royal position for such a time as this?
Esther 4:14 (NIV)

July is full of sweet memories of vacations and holidays of years gone by. Being with family, having cookouts and picnics, swimming and fireworks. And of course, the monumental year we went camping in Estes Park.

It started peacefully as we headed to the mountains with our extended family and friends. After a ten hour drive, we arrived at our campsite and began setting up. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm with a gentle breeze. It wasn’t long before we noticed the gentle breeze began getting stronger and stronger. Just a half hour after we got the tent up we heard, snap – snap – Snap, the lovely sound of the tent poles snapping into pieces. We were ten hours from home, on a holiday weekend in a National Park, with no place to sleep.

After a three hour trip up and down the mountain to buy a new tent, we began the setup process again. As we fought the wind which was continually getting stronger – we noticed it was also rapidly getting much cooler. That day ended up being the most dramatic weather change in the area in over one hundred years. The wind gusts were incredible, the temperature dropped sixty degrees (from 80 to 20 degrees) and we ended up spending the night in the van scraping the ice off the inside of the windows. By the time morning finally arrived, we were surrounded by several inches of snow.

Our family loves to tell the story of our adventure and we chuckle about it to this day. The lesson we learned: how rapidly things can change.

As a widow it seems like my whole life changed just as rapidly. But through this journey I have learned that when life changes to look for how God can be glorified. In the midst of chaos and turmoil, even loss, I try to remember that just like Esther, “I may have come to a royal position for such a time as this.”

I live with the hope and the understanding that I am holy and set apart, a part of a royal priesthood. Christ died on the cross for me. He loves me, even when it’s hard. Really, really hard.

There isn’t a day I don’t miss my husband’s sweet presence in my life. But I am grateful for God and His Presence in my life. I love to tell God’s story, because I have seen His faithfulness. I want others to know Him. My heart craves for Him to be glorified through my life. My prayer is for my thoughts, actions and deeds to be worthy of this royal position, as His daughter, for such a time as this.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace and your mercy. Help us to share Your story for Your Glory. Amen.