Author’s inspirational book changing lives

Twenty-nine-year-old Cherise Cave is the debut author of Beauty for your Ashes: Purpose for Your Pain which was released July 21, 2021, on Amazon.

The former student of Queen’s College said that in 2019 her relationship with God changed and she realised that God was using her as a vessel to make beauty for her ashes.

“In early 2019, my relationship with God drastically changed. I had just begun to understand that He was very personable and that He speaks to us.

During that time, He made me a promise based on the scripture from Isaiah 61:3.

He promised to give me beauty for my ashes.

Throughout that time, I had also begun to write about the varying lessons God was teaching me along my journey to share with others.

“Initially, a book was not within my thoughts for these writings. I simply wanted to share with others from the place of my struggle and so, that’s what I did. God inspired me to begin an online blog entitled, ‘Beauty For These Ashes’.
Within a year of these compilations, He told me that it was time to put the book together.

I immediately knew that He was speaking of the blog entries that had been made over the past year and a half,” she said.
Cave knew that she wanted to be a writer.

Initially she wrote poetry, but God would have a bigger plan for her life to become a Christian inspirational author.

“From as early as nineteen years old, it had been prophesied to me by several individuals that I’d publish a book, and truthfully it was something I desired from very young.

“As a teenager reciting self-penned poems, many would ask me whether I was ready to place my poetry in a book. I always expected my first book to be one of poetic compilations.

“Christian-inspirational was never a genre I expected to author in. As mentioned, previously, my process took the form of various blog posts accumulated over time.

However, many days it was challenging because of the nature of the pieces that were written.

“Each time I experienced something new that caused me to become more self-aware, it presented the challenge to be honest with myself.

“It also initiated some decision-making on whether I would remain the same or change for the better as God was inspiring me to. It was definitely a period of deep introspection and open-heart surgery in the spiritual sense of course.

“As a result, many of these writings of encouragement were penned through tears and frustration.
As God guided my pen though, it gave context to all the struggles I had been facing and I truly began to see that there was a deeper, much greater purpose for my pain,” she said.

The devout Christian who recently graduated from the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs program with the United States Embassy and the

Barbados Youth Business Trust said that despite her being in the church all of her life she struggled with self-worth and kept being involved in toxic romantic relationships.

However, she found strength in the grace of God and made the decision to no longer accept less than she deserves.

“One of the greatest of these was my self-worth. I searched for love in all the wrong places and as a result, found myself in countless relationships that all ended the same way.

“I couldn’t love myself, but I wanted them to love me and eventually this led to accepting anything that even looked like it. What I failed to understand was that true love came from God. My last relationship before rededicating my life pushed me into the arms of my Father.

While it would appear that we were the perfect couple, I was hurting because I accepted much less than I was created for. Over the years, I had compromised on my faith so much just to have this love.

“I wanted so badly to be cherished and while with this guy, God encountered me. He spoke to me during the twilight hours and for the first time,

I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was loved and that my life had a specific purpose. What I had grown accustomed to accepting was not at all what God was giving to me. is love was greater, it was pure, and it did not have any strings attached to it. He gave it to me freely.

Therefore, I had a decision to make. It was either to continue with the norm of what I had known all those years or to wholeheartedly follow the purity that Christ had begun to show me.

Did it hurt? But of course!

However, it was indeed worth it because God brought healing to me that I never even knew I needed. I had no idea of what I was missing,” she said.

Cave said the response to her book since its release has been fulfilling, as many persons have told her that the book has spoken specifically to a situation that they were facing in their life.

“My family members are elated. I think they are just as excited as me because they have been telling everyone. The response from the public, however, has been encouraging.

“There are persons who have bought my book and contacted me to say how much of a blessing it is to them.

“I’ve heard several individuals speak of how each daily entry speaks specifically to their situation on any given day, which I know is only the Holy Spirit. Believers and unbelievers alike have expressed interest in it as a result of the introspection it requires you to do,” she said.

Cave who is also an entrepreneur said that she wants each reader to take away that they must introspect their life and allow the Holy Spirit to turn their tears into a testimony.

“I would like each person who reads my book to know that God loves them. The introspection is not to encourage self-loathing but instead, self-awareness and to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work of making their tears and pain into something that others can learn and grow from.

“Struggle produces testimony, which then produces the ability to sow into the lives of others. The wisdom you garner from your painful experiences are never for you. They are for those you have been chosen to feed and help along the way,” she said. (Write Right PR Services)