Purim Party 2013

Last weekend we were back at decorating and preparing for a wonderful celebration with brothers and sisters in Messiah.  Typically, our celebrations are just with women, but for this Purim party we were together as families.  What a great time of learning, worshipping, and just having a little fun together.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Esther, which is what the celebration of Purim is about, then you should really read through that book in the Scriptures.  What a fascinating story!  God is never mentioned, but you can see how He moved among the people throughout the whole story.  Without going through the whole story, I want to give you an idea of why certain things were used for decorations.  Esther was a jew.  She was also the queen, married to the king who did not know she was a jew.  This is where the masks and the costume idea comes in.  She was someone different underneath than what the king thought she was.  Just as a costume or mask can conceal who a person really is.  In the end, Esther reveals to the king that she is a jew, which saves all of her people.  From her bravery and obedience to the Father she saved a group of people that another person was plotting to have killed.  So, that is why we went with the masquerade theme.        

Those who came in costume dressed up as Bible characters.  What creative costumes some of them came up with.  And most of the children had a grand time in the photo booth we provided for them.  Friends posed together.  Families posed together.  Was a super, fun time with many laughs and smiles.

This is Christi's little guy, Benaiah.  Isn't he just too cute?  : )

So, as you can see all who came had a wonderful time of fellowship and fun!  This was a CeLeBration filled with lots of memorable moments.  What a joy to come alongside this fellowship of people to help them and celebrate with them.