Elizabeth Ashley. That's my name. I've always thought it was so long, so old fashioned, (elizabeth is 9 letters long. I mean, come on! What 2nd grader wouldn't be overwhelmed with that?!) but I've recently come to realize that it defines me, that it speaks to the core of who I am, who God made me to be.
When my mom was pregnant with me, God gave her a dream in which she had a little blonde baby girl named Elizabeth whom she loved very deeply. Elizabeth means, "consecrated to God". There is no secular meaning that I've ever found, no politically correct definition, it always just means "consecrated to God". I finally looked up what consecrated means and it means "to make or declare as sacred".
God made me and declared me as sacred to Him. I am His and He is mine. I belong to no other lovers besides Him. I am made to delight in His beauty, to live in His love and to be free by His grace.
Ashley means from the ashes.
I think that when God gave my mom my name, He was giving us almost a peek into my life. Letting me know that I would spend time in the ashes...that life wasn't always going to be easy, that I'd have tears and heartbreak, but that none of that mattered because I was made and declared sacred to Him.
So at the first sign of any pain, I run straight to the ashes. It's almost as if the ashes are my comfort zone. But the ashes are never happy, they are always unsettling and I never feel loved. Every time I decide the ashes must be where I belong, God comes along, picks me up and says,
"Oh no, My daughter, this is not for you. Please don't forget that I have made you and declared you as sacred to Me. I died so that you would be consecrated to my love from the ashes of your life. No, this is not where you belong, this is not the life for you. So trade your ashes in for beauty and your darkness in for life, for I have stolen your heart and made it sacred to me."
I am so blessed. So truly blessed. I was made to be sacred to someone so much greater than myself.
Love,
Elizabeth Ashley Senna
2 comments:
Elizabeth~ You are as beautiful as your name...inside and out! God has given you a gift with words, photography and just being you. God makes beauty from ashes!
BTW: Happy Birthday (early)
hugs,
mary f.
Isn't it wonderful to think that God loved just you! He loved you so much that He dropped that beautiful thought of you into your mom's heart & dreams, the thought of you! I have always loved "Elizabeth", and I know your mom did also. How gracious your mom was to go with along with calling you Libby when she named you God's perfect name. She does love you so much and just imagine that that love is only the tip of the ice burg of how much God loves you!
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