Beauty for Ashes

Birthdays are always a time of reflection for me. Each year, I find myself looking at the last year of my life, the experiences, the memories made, the lessons learned, the people I’ve connected with, the heartbreak, the challenges, the healing, the accomplishments… It’s interesting because truly no two years are alike. Smile. I’ve had years that seemed like they’d completely break me, I’ve experienced deep losses, grief, tragedy… My heart has been broken, my faith has been shaken, but through it ALL, God has ALWAYS carried me, strengthened me, comforted me, guided me, provided for me, pushed me, pulled me, and paved the way for me. All He’s required of me, is that I walk with Him. Choosing Christ, is one of, if not the very best decision I’ve ever made. Because of His love in my heart, I am a better mother, sister, friend, leader, woman, and yes, now wife. Looking over this last year of my life, I am fully amazed and blown away by ALL that God has done in my life. I can’t do anything but shake my head, close my eyes, and smile.

Looking back, at one of the hardest times of my life after losing my little brother, which brought with it and freshly opened the wound of also having lost my mother, there was a day, a moment, in which I CRIED OUT to God in my overwhelming grief… In that moment, the Holy Spirit in me pressed upon my spirit to pick up and open my Bible. God had something for me. I opened my Bible directly to Isaiah 61. As I began to read, it was as if the voice of God was speaking every single word directly into my spirit. It is hard to put into words, what I experienced that day. However, it was one of the most pivotal spiritual moments of my life. God transformed my life in that moment… He spoke His purpose for my life into me, He revealed to me WHY I had lived the life I had lived, the losses I’d suffered, the pain, the heartache… and the PURPOSE behind all of it. Lord, He put my heart back together in that very moment… He picked me up and dusted me off. He restored my hope and allowed me to see my life through His lens instead of my own. Although, even though in that moment, my life changed… I truly had no idea just how much and/or what God had planned and in store for me. Smile. My God. Nothing comes close to His love.

I could never have imagined or dreamed the plans God had for me. (SN: This is why we can NEVER give up. For those of you who are reading this and you are hurting, feeling alone, broken, hopeless, angry, whatever it is you are feeling, whatever it is you are going through, be encouraged. Don’t you dare give up. Even though you can’t see it now, God has a plan for your life too. He LOVES you. He has things in store for you, that you can’t even fathom right now. You’d never believe He could take you from where you are now to where you will be…. But He will. If you just trust Him. Let Him. Take it ONE day at a time. Just give God time.)

This year has overwhelmed me in the most wonderful of ways. God has showered his love and joy upon me in ways I can’t even begin to express in words. He has opened the flood gate of love and it is gushing in every area of my life. He has filled my life with more joy, peace, love, and hope than I’d ever imagined possible. This is what it truly means to be “blessed.”

Physical tangible things can’t come close to the complete joy only God can provide. Joy that comes from being wrapped in His love. This year, I married my best friend, a man who loves me with the heart of God, and we had a beautiful wedding surrounded by our closest friends and family and centered in Christ. Through our marriage, God has placed an amazing man not only in my life, but also in my daughter’s life. A man who can be a living example for her of what it truly means to love, as a husband and a father, selflessly. He enhanced not only my life, but ours. Blessing her now with two earthly fathers. I am now blessed to have not only my beautiful princess, but I inherited the most sweet loving, sensitive, funny, inquisitive, handsome (step)son to love and cherish and to share God’s love with. I am honored to be Rj’s stepmother and I thank God for blending our family in His love. And as if that wasn’t wonderful enough…. As if my heart could stand any more… God saw fit to bless our family with a new addition. January 29^th (or so), we will welcome into this world, the 5^th member of our beautiful family. Could God have hand crafted anything more perfect than the love story He had in mind for us? (the tears are really flowing now – smile)

My heart is beyond full. I am basking in one of the absolute most amazing seasons in my life. I give God complete Glory for who I am, where I am, and where I’m going. I thank Him for giving me a spirit of obedience and for every blessing that has been attached to my obedience in Him. I thank Him for the purpose He placed over my life and for trusting me with the calling He has for me. I love God more every day. I realize every day how important it is to stay in His presence, to rely fully on Him, and to live my life in His will. The world has NOTHING for me, nothing to offer me, nothing that attracts me, nothing that could ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

As I embark on this new year of my life, surrounded by my family, God’s love for me… I do so with a grateful heart. I do so, with my eyes wide open. I do so knowing, that this season may not last forever and surely there will be other challenges to overcome, but I stand here today, a living testament to the strength and endurance of God, a testament to His love, healing, and joy, a testament that truly, in Christ, we can do all things. You can do all things. Open your heart to Him today… fully… and give Him time. Let Him restore love, hope, joy, peace, and the fullness of the desires of your heart to you. Make up your mind and your heart to live for Him 100% and prepare to give Him all the glory for the plans He has for you are more than you can think to ask or imagine. I know it. He did it for me… and He will do it for you. I love you to life, friends. God loves you more. As I celebrate the end of one of the most beautiful years of my life, and as I embark on this new year of life with an expanded expectancy that has come from a deeper understanding of God’s love, my prayer for all of you is that you would receive the life that God sent His Son to die for you to have – life, and that more abundantly. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

In Christ's Overwhelming Love,

LaCrea Silinzy

P.S – Here is the scripture God lead me to the day He poured His spirit out on me: Isaiah 61. I pray it blesses you, as it has and continues to bless me:

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,Because the Lord has anointed MeTo preach good tidings to the poor;He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,To proclaim liberty to the captives,And the opening of the prison to those who arebound;² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,And the day of vengeance of our God;To comfort all who mourn,³ To console those who mourn in Zion,To give them beauty for ashes,The oil of joy for mourning,The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;That they may be called trees of righteousness,The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”⁴ And they shall rebuild the old ruins,They shall raise up the former desolations,And they shall repair the ruined cities,The desolations of many generations.⁵ Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,And the sons of the foreignerShall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.⁶ But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,They shall call you the servants of our God.You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,And in their glory you shall boast.⁷ Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.Therefore in their land they shall possess double;Everlasting joy shall be theirs.⁸ “For I, the Lord, love justice;I hate robbery for burnt offering;I will direct their work in truth,And will make with them an everlasting covenant.⁹ Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,And their offspring among the people.All who see them shall acknowledge them,That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.”¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,My soul shall be joyful in my God;For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its bud,As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.