Secret Identity - Using your powers for good
If you are familiar with Esther’s story you
know that she had a secret identity, she was a Jew. She hid this from the King and revealed it at
the perfect time and saved her people, the Jews, from death. She used “her power” for good.
I believe we all have power, this comes in many forms, it may be your heritage like Esther. It may be a quality of your personality, a talent or ability of yours, something about your physical appearance. Often, we may think it is a weakness, but I disagree, I believe those things can be our greatest strengths. Esther didn’t want to share her heritage because she thought she would be looked down upon, yet in God’s timing she was brave enough to share with the King and because she had found favor with him, she saved all her people.
I have the privilege of being a mother to 3 amazing children who are now all teenagers. I have also had the privilege of coaching junior high and high school girls for nearly a decade. I can tell you that every single person has a special gift, their own “power”. Some have found their power and are already using it for good. Others have been told that their power is a weakness and are living under the lie that something about them was made wrong. Well, I know this - God does not make mistakes. I know this because I also believed this lie for a time, but He has shown me through many different people and situations the power and truth in each person.
The first and most memorable time was with one very strong-willed cheerleader of mine. She had this incredible passion, this fierce spirit, she led and people wanted to follow. She pushed against every single idea that wasn’t hers, she made a fight out of everything even what hairbows the team would wear. In my prayers I asked God to change her, lessen her passion, water down her drive, or give her a love for something other than cheerleading so I didn’t have to deal with it. He very clearly spoke to my heart and said I did not make her wrong, it is your job to direct this passion and fight she has. I made her like that for a purpose, as a mentor in her life, you need to help her find it. WOAH, OUCH, OK God. This is when I started using the phrase “use your powers for good”. We all have POWER, we choose what we are going to do with it.
Recently, I was able to make a trip to Managua, Nicaragua to serve the people of a church there. Each day our team served them through teaching, delivering food to homes, getting to know the people and playing with the kids, doing crafts and just loving on them. It is very hot there, too hot for fancy clothes and make-up, we were not there to impress but to serve. We declared it Celebration Sunday at the end of our time there and celebrated with worship music, singing and dancing, pinatas and delicious food! At the end of the night, as we were about to say good bye to our new friends; my sister queen, Ava and I revealed that we had secret identities, like super heroes, I told the audience through our translator. We showed them our autograph cards that we brought for them. The crowd erupted with surprise and joy. Even through language and cultural barriers, they understood what I was trying to communicate. I explained to them that the reason we wanted to leave these pictures with them was to Encourage and Inspire them, to give them Hope. Something tangible to have as a reminder of what I spoke about, that each are made special by God on purpose and for a purpose. That God puts these dreams in your heart that seem unattainable, but if regular old Jessie can become Mrs. North Dakota International 2019, what can’t He do! If we can accomplish this, an old mom and a young lady that thought her life was no longer worth living……what can He do through each one of them! The feeling I had at that moment on that stage rivals any crowning moment I could experience.
As Mordecai said to Esther in Esther 4:14 “And who knows, maybe you have been chosen to be the queen for such a time as this, [and for this very purpose]?”
Building Strong Leaders,
Jessie Aamodt
Mrs. North Dakota International 2019
I believe we all have power, this comes in many forms, it may be your heritage like Esther. It may be a quality of your personality, a talent or ability of yours, something about your physical appearance. Often, we may think it is a weakness, but I disagree, I believe those things can be our greatest strengths. Esther didn’t want to share her heritage because she thought she would be looked down upon, yet in God’s timing she was brave enough to share with the King and because she had found favor with him, she saved all her people.
I have the privilege of being a mother to 3 amazing children who are now all teenagers. I have also had the privilege of coaching junior high and high school girls for nearly a decade. I can tell you that every single person has a special gift, their own “power”. Some have found their power and are already using it for good. Others have been told that their power is a weakness and are living under the lie that something about them was made wrong. Well, I know this - God does not make mistakes. I know this because I also believed this lie for a time, but He has shown me through many different people and situations the power and truth in each person.
The first and most memorable time was with one very strong-willed cheerleader of mine. She had this incredible passion, this fierce spirit, she led and people wanted to follow. She pushed against every single idea that wasn’t hers, she made a fight out of everything even what hairbows the team would wear. In my prayers I asked God to change her, lessen her passion, water down her drive, or give her a love for something other than cheerleading so I didn’t have to deal with it. He very clearly spoke to my heart and said I did not make her wrong, it is your job to direct this passion and fight she has. I made her like that for a purpose, as a mentor in her life, you need to help her find it. WOAH, OUCH, OK God. This is when I started using the phrase “use your powers for good”. We all have POWER, we choose what we are going to do with it.
Recently, I was able to make a trip to Managua, Nicaragua to serve the people of a church there. Each day our team served them through teaching, delivering food to homes, getting to know the people and playing with the kids, doing crafts and just loving on them. It is very hot there, too hot for fancy clothes and make-up, we were not there to impress but to serve. We declared it Celebration Sunday at the end of our time there and celebrated with worship music, singing and dancing, pinatas and delicious food! At the end of the night, as we were about to say good bye to our new friends; my sister queen, Ava and I revealed that we had secret identities, like super heroes, I told the audience through our translator. We showed them our autograph cards that we brought for them. The crowd erupted with surprise and joy. Even through language and cultural barriers, they understood what I was trying to communicate. I explained to them that the reason we wanted to leave these pictures with them was to Encourage and Inspire them, to give them Hope. Something tangible to have as a reminder of what I spoke about, that each are made special by God on purpose and for a purpose. That God puts these dreams in your heart that seem unattainable, but if regular old Jessie can become Mrs. North Dakota International 2019, what can’t He do! If we can accomplish this, an old mom and a young lady that thought her life was no longer worth living……what can He do through each one of them! The feeling I had at that moment on that stage rivals any crowning moment I could experience.
As Mordecai said to Esther in Esther 4:14 “And who knows, maybe you have been chosen to be the queen for such a time as this, [and for this very purpose]?”
Building Strong Leaders,
Jessie Aamodt
Mrs. North Dakota International 2019
