Repeated readings of this book were much enjoyed. It was simply written and perfectly understandable, I just reread it to appreciate the overall message of thisinspirational book. Yes, I do believe it to be inspired. Furthermore, I believe I read this gem at the most appropriate time in my life. It seemed as if my daily experiences were perfectly relating to Swindoll's words.

The story of Esther, Ahasuerus, Haman, and Mordecai has everything. Absolutely entertaining, and wonderfully motivating! Particularly, I enjoyed the weaving in of the following Church hymn:

O ZION, HASTE

(O Christian, Haste)

Give of thy sons [and daughters] to bear the message glorious; Give of thy wealth to speed them on their way; Pour out thy soul for them in prayer victorious; And all thou spendest Jesus selects will repay.

This hymn reminded me of the LDS missionary program. Many of the LDS families make a difficult sacrifice as they send a child away to preach the gospel. The amazing part of this program lies in the fact that these missionaries and their families are paying financially for the opportunity to serve. Chuck Swindoll makes the connection to modern times:

Do you stand beside the bedside of your little girl and boy, praying: Lord, raise her up to be courageous, like Esther; cultivate in him the heart of a Mordecai. Speak Your message through their lips. Carry out your great plan through the life of this precious child of mine?

Learning so much from Esther's experiences and characteristics, I find myself wanting to emulate this wonderful woman. The values Esther possessed outlined by Swindoll are as follows. Esther possessed the characteristics of graciousness, self-restraint, (particularly verbal restraint) teachability, modesty, authenticity; winsomeness, and a respect for authority. This list of attributes could serve as recommended qualities for everyone. Swindoll's eloquence and writing talents are quite evident in his touching prayers:

"Help her. Give her whatever it takes to restrain herself from foolish and carnal reactions. Show her how pleased You would be by her doing the hard thing rather than running to the easy thing.., by forgiving instead of retaliating.., by growing closer to Christ through obedience rather than distancing herself from Him through some fleshly, out-of-control excursion. Grow her into a modern-day Esther, Lord, so that she might shine like a star in the midst of this dark and angry generation."

However, one of the final chapters discussing retaliation and forgiveness seemed a bit ironic. The final scenes of Esther's story are not very forgiving. Increased violence is encouraged when Esther requests one more day for the killing spree to continue. This does not seem very forgiving.

Despite this little inconsistency in Esther's heroic personality, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and felt much inspired to create my own monument to my boll weevil, so keep an eye out for my book, Guardian Angels, a chapter entitled "Saving Grace" is my boll weevil experience!