Purim has always fascinated me. It’s one of the most joyful, colorful celebrations in the Jewish calendar — costumes, noisemakers (groggers!), and plenty of Hamantaschen cookies.👂🎉

And yet, the story at its center is surprisingly quiet in one very specific way.

God is never mentioned. Not once.

No burning bush.
No parted sea.
No booming voice from the heavens.

What looks like a string of coincidences, a king gets tipsy and gives his queen the “royal boot”, a Jewish orphan wins a beauty pageant, a plot is overheard at a gate, is really God working behind the scenes, using ordinary people to carry out his plan.

Esther came from humble beginnings. She was thrust into a situation she did not ask for, riddled with uncertainty about what she should do. Even though she ended up being a queen, she still risked everything, including her own life, not because she felt ready, but because she knew her people needed her.

Sometimes I read her story and think, Yes, Lord. That’s who I want to be. Make me an Esther.

But then life taps me on the shoulder and in reality, I’m more of a Mary and Martha mashup, worshiping with the wrong words and off-key enthusiasm one minute, then reorganizing a drawer that absolutely did not need reorganizing the next.

I’m the woman who wants to sit at Jesus’ feet… but whose head is spinning with the never‑ending to‑do list.

And yet, and this is the part that gets me every time, God meets us right where we are.

Not where we wish we were.
Not where we think we should be.
Right here. In the messy, distracted, imperfect middle.

Esther’s story reminds me that God doesn’t need His name printed on the page to be present in the plot.

He doesn’t need me to be flawless to be faithful. He works through queens and prophets, yes, but also through the off‑key singers, the wannabe organizers, the anxious, the ordinary, the ones who feel like they’re not quite enough.

👑 A Little Gift for Your Kingdom

To help you celebrate (and maybe keep the kids busy while you organize your own junk drawer 😇), I’ve put together some festive goodies to bring the story to life:

Purim Coloring Pages — perfect for reflecting on the story and remembering that courage often grows in ordinary places.
Purim Clipart — great for crafts, cards, teaching, or social media posts!

Remember, you were created for “a time such as this” and if Esther teaches us anything, it’s that God is always at work, even when His name seems absent, even when we feel unqualified, even when our worship is a little off‑key.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s exactly where courage begins. 💛

✨ For Such a Time as This: An Esther Story for Those of Us Living in Sweatpants 😁

👑 A Little Gift for Your Kingdom

It’s Never Too Late to Choose a Word (or Verse!) of the Year