From Meaningless to Purposeful

By Crystal Summers

"A selfish life is a purposeless life." -Crystal Summers

You will be encouraged as Crystal shares this true and inspiring story about a significant period in her life. She was inspired to keep dreaming while she faced challenges, made it through struggles, overcame troubles, and came back from setbacks. During this difficult time

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Nov 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798890411822

Crystal Summers

Crystal is a beloved daughter of God. She is married to Raymond Summers and a mother of three. She was born and raised partially on the South Side of Chicago. She is a cosmetologist and the founder and Bible teacher of Pure Hearts, "Let all you do be done with love," a movement-based business she birthed in 2021

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From Meaningless to Purposeful

Crystal Summers

Trilogy Christian Publishers

TUSTIN, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

From Meaningless to Purposeful

Copyright © 2023 by Crystal Summers

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Cover design by Jeff Sumemrs

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 979-8-89041-181-5

E-ISBN: 979-8-89041-182-2

Dedication

I want to start by first dedicating this book to God the Father and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My story is for His glory. I also want to dedicate it to my mother, who I honor and whom God chose to raise and care for me, my husband, who was chosen by God to love me and for me to help, and my kids, who God entrusted me to nurture.

Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking (Ezekiel 1:28, NKJV).

Contents

Introduction

Perfect Timing

Persevering

New Beginnings

A Shattered Heart

The Journey to Forgiveness

The Call

Spiritual Warfare and Supernatural Deliverance

Trust and Obey

The Promise Concealed

A Bad Doctor’s Report

The Promise Revealed

From a Mess to a Message: My Abortion Message

The Promise Build

Where Heaven and Earth Kiss

Transformed: From Vashti to Queen Esther

Introduction

As women, many of us are fighting so many battles that we did not choose but that seemingly chose us. Most of which began in childhood that we had no control over or may have ignorantly come into agreement with. These battles are childhood traumas like molestation, broken families, abuse, poverty, exposure to sex, drugs, alcohol, or violence in the home, and lack of care, guidance, or love from a parent or guardian we looked to for support. Whether these things happened to us directly or indirectly by witnessing it happen to a loved one, watching it in movies, or even listening to such things in music, it all played a part in affecting how we think, do, or speak today. Whether that part is small or prominent, better or worse, and whether we would like to admit it or not, it is toxic. Toxicity is contagious, and it spreads from one person to the next by thoughts, words, then actions. It affects how we see and treat ourselves and others that may or may not be close to us, like spouses, children, family, friends, coworkers, and strangers. It can cause us to overindulge in work, success, material things, food, entertainment, harmful substances, and sex, just to leave us unfulfilled and in a worse condition than before because they’re all temporary satisfactions. It can send us looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places, thus partaking in toxic relationships, causing even greater damage to our hearts, souls, and situations, and bringing confusion to our minds. This can have us accepting the people who do harm to us and rejecting the people who do good to us. This is all due to the spiritual darkness, therefore, spiritual blindness, and resulting in spiritual death that started at the fall of mankind that took place in the garden of Eden. This has often led many of us on a desperate search for peace, healing, comfort, strength, freedom, and a prosperous life. Although it’s not wrong to want these things, receiving them from misleading sources is dangerous and could be fatal. Sadly, many go on for years, and some even go a lifetime without ever being healed, delivered, and free to see what life could have been had they learned, known, and received the truth and the attached grace to overcome the lies.

This book is full of truth; whether you already know the truth or you are seeking to know the truth, this book will enlighten you to go deep. The grace and mercy upon my life will become apparent as you go on to read some of the most memorable and supernatural moments in my life that I was led to share for you to be encouraged. Don’t despair because there is hope, and I’ve seen time and time again that there is a light at the end of every dark tunnel, including yours. That is the light of this dark world, and He is the true light.

I was one of those girls who was raised by a single mother. I never met nor did I know anything about my father until a later age. It was me and my younger sister, who’s a year apart, and my older brother, who’s ten years older and was the male I looked up to and honored. As a child, I’ve witnessed my mom with one significant man who lived with us for some time and was always nice to us, but at times I’ve witnessed my mom having to be aggressive and demanding with him. My mom tried her best not to expose us to her partying by putting us in separate rooms, but our apartment was small, and we were curious kids, so we still saw the alcohol and drunkenness. Being fondled while left in the care of relatives was also something I’ve experienced at times. The sex scenes I watched in movies when no one was around sparked up a curiosity in me that led me to masturbating and desiring that good feeling and love it seemed the characters were experiencing. By the time I reached my teens, I began to smoke cigarettes and marijuana and drink alcohol. My mom had to work to provide for us, pay bills and rent, so she wasn’t able to look after us as she would’ve liked. Although I was exposed to and experienced all this, my life turned out very different, and many blessings in my life began to unfold as I came to learn to know, align, and follow the truth. I wrote this book as a testimony because I know just as the truth has set me free, it shall set all free who will read and hear it. This book was written with a desire to deliver hope to those who are in despair, to shine light in the dark places, to encourage those who have become comfortable in those places to come out, to show them that there is life outside of the comfort zones, and to lead those who are lost back home.

Despite what you may have heard, seen, or experienced, in my book, you will find that there is a righteous option. The righteous option isn’t trending or talked about often. It’s often ignored and overlooked because it’s unpopular and the opposite of culture, what we’ve been taught growing up, or what may have been passed down through generations. Although there will be challenges meant for your growth, you will find that choosing the righteous option is the path that leads to life, and it will cause every area in your life to blossom. This book will also inspire you to dream again and maybe even bigger than before. You will also find encouragement in relationships, whether together or apart, but most of all, this book will surely encourage you to draw close to that righteous option.

I remember being one decision, one move, one word, and even one thought away from being a single and bitter mother and having my kids experience growing up in a fatherless home as I did. I was standing directly on that thin line between love and hate, but it all began to change. The choice I made changed my life from worst to best because I chose to follow and obey the righteous option. I was no longer standing on that thin line anymore. Love began to conquer every area of my life, and things began to fall into a divine order. I went from being a nineteen-year girlfriend to now being a happy and submissive wife. As I continued to walk the path of righteousness, the truth revealed and healed everything that was out of order, broken, and damaged. Restoration has been my portion, and increase my reward.

Assuredly, this book will bring increase to your life. Whether it’s an increase in knowledge, wisdom, understanding, faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, or something else I haven’t named, all you must do is believe to receive. Believe that the same and even better can and will happen for you as well. Believe that the truth I know is also for you to know; the life in me is also available to you, and the way I’m going, you can go as well. Believe the One who found and saved me is here to find and save you too. Believe that He who opened my blind eyes, unclogged my deaf ears, and softened my hard heart desires to do the same for you too. Trust and believe that He who restored, reconciled, and resurrected all the dead areas in my life, then made it all purposeful, will do the same for you, too, just like that.

You have already spent too much time fighting battles that weren’t yours, living in defeat, and receiving generational curses that may or may not have been intentionally passed down to you. Have you taken the time to look around to observe how bad things have gotten in the world lately? If so, then you would know that the time is now. Waiting longer can be disastrous, not just for you but for your family and everyone who you are connected to. The longer you sit in it, the more acceptant and limited you will become, believing that it’s the norm, thus not seeing the deficiency. It’s time to be expectant. Though you may have endured some harsh treatment and unfavorable circumstances, it can all be turned around in your favor and be used for purpose. The world will continue to fall apart, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Don’t take it for granted that you have a part to play in this too, and it can either be used for the good or bad.

The time is right now for you to stand up, put your foot down, draw that line, and say, No more; it ends here with me, and it will not go further. Sometimes we all need to know that we aren’t alone in our troubles and struggles. We want to see that there are others out there just like us with different yet similar stories that they’ve overcome. This is that. My story is one of many adversities that resulted in many more blessings. It is a story that will lead you to the truth and inspire you to go forth, but you have got to want it. I’m sure that if you’ve made it this far into the introduction, you have survived one or more of these battles and dabbled in some activities that you thought would bring relief. It may have to some extent, but not wholly. Promises were made but not kept, and that on its own can cause misery. Now it’s time to look up. You have been called to rise, come out of darkness, and live. You were led here for a reason, and that is because you want it. You want the truth, life, and to know the way. You want love, joy, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, peace, patience, and self-control. You want healing, deliverance, and freedom. You want to overcome, thrive, and live in victory. You want to walk in your purposes. Therefore, I encourage you to keep reading, stay the course, and get ready to receive.

Perfect Timing

It was January 2011 when I rekindled a seven-and-a-half-year relationship with my now husband Raymond. Though Ray and I weren’t married, it was so easy to settle because marriage was rarely ever considered a priority in the culture. Contrary to the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song that we sang growing up, it was first come baby, then marriage was something in the distant future. There were a few popular songs we listened to and loved that spoke highly of marriage, but seeing it and doing it was so far-fetched. From what we heard and saw, the ring and a huge wedding were the main things that determined a marriage, and that we couldn’t afford. Therefore, I went on hoping that we were married in our hearts.

A bit later, I found out that I was pregnant with my third child. A bigger family was something I longed for, and I often said that I was going to have a daughter. At the time, I selfishly felt the news was bittersweet because though I had received an amazing gift from God growing in my belly, I felt the timing couldn’t have come at a worse time. Before my pregnancy, I had started planning a family trip for summer 2011 with hopes of conceiving during the trip. When my plans failed, and the pregnancy came earlier than expected, I felt that my trip was ruined and purposeless. I even began to entertain the thought of having an abortion, but God carefully placed my sister in position to talk me out of it and tell me how foolish it would be to do such a thing.

So, I changed my attitude, decided to be grateful, enjoy, and carried on with the pregnancy. I continued to plan our trip, and since I knew it was a great chance that I would feel hot and bothered during the trip, we decided to reschedule it for the following year. We took the money that we were going to spend on the trip and used it to buy things for our baby. Months later, during the ultrasound, we also found out that we were having a girl and that God had given me exactly what I wanted on His timing, not mine. Months later, in late September, our daughter was born, and we named her Desiray Love.

At this time, I also had a decent-paying government job with benefits and paid vacations working in airport security that I was very grateful for because I knew that God had led me there five years prior. I know because it took me two weeks to decide to fill out the background check because it was so thick, and they wanted so much information that I had initially lost interest and threw it to the side until one day, the Holy Spirit, whom I didn’t know at the time, told me to pick it up and fill it out. Afterward, the process went quickly and effortlessly, and though the interview was perplexing, I was hired in less than four months from the time I applied, whereas most people at the time claimed it took a year or more for them.

Around this time of my life, I did not know Jesus personally, but I’ve always believed in Him. I knew of Him by the few seeds that my mom and family planted in me growing up, what I learned through sermons from the few times I had recently gone to church, watching sermons on TV, and listening to gospel songs. Though I did not truly understand it, I believed that His grace and goodness surrounded me, and I believe that His hands were on my life. I did not read my Bible regularly, and I only knew of a couple of popular chapters and scriptures, and those were Psalms 23, 27, Proverbs 3:5–6, and Genesis 8:1, a scripture that I had recently learned during a sermon that I held close to my heart because the pastor told us to put our names in place of Noah, and when I did, I felt deeply secured that God would remember my family and me. Growing up, I remember my mom making us get on our knees to say our prayers before bed every night, and it is something I often still did because I believed God heard my prayers. He had recently shown me that He heard my prayers when He gave me rest after two years of interceding for a certain nation of people that were in great distress that resulted from a natural disaster, and I came across a random documentary that the nation was now in their healing process and hope was finally starting to be restored. I loved God as much as I could without knowing Him and would sometimes write poetry about my faith in Him, His goodness, and what I’ve seen Him do in my life.

My family and I lived on the South Side of Chicago, the place where I was born and partially raised. Ray, our three kids, Tyra, who was twelve at the time, Lil’ Ray, who was eight, and Desiray, who was just born, my mom, and I all lived together in a three-bedroom apartment. Things were beginning to come together for our family. We had recently purchased new furniture for our place and were looking forward to going on our family’s vacation during the summer.

During this time, my childhood dream of becoming a hairstylist had recently resurfaced. I remembered that when I was five years old, my mom bought me my first Barbie doll for Christmas. Sitting on the floor in my room, I noticed how beautiful her hair was and began to play with it. I randomly took three strands in my hands and twisted them, putting one hand behind the other and moving in a downward direction. I continued in motion, and before I knew it, I had created this beautiful braid. No one sat down with me to teach me how. This was a talent that supernaturally came upon me at the age of five, and I have been at it since. After years of putting it off due to prioritizing my family. I became extremely encouraged and began to talk constantly about it to my family, friends, and coworkers. I talked about it so much that one friend’s words were, I’m tired of you talking about it so much; when are you going to do it? It felt like a hard smack in the face because it had awakened me to it being possible to achieve even with family and work, and the only thing that was stopping me was me. So, I decided to start working on it.

With so many responsibilities at home and work, I wanted to make things as easy as possible so that it would be easy for me to accomplish my dreams, but I soon found out that God had other plans. I started with the school that I dreamed of going to since I was eighteen years old. Pivot Point was a very popular international school that was located on the Northwest Side of Chicago and Evanston, Illinois. It was the good reviews that I received from former students when I was younger that I held on to and was determined to experience, and that was that Pivot Point is diverse and that they teach you how to style and cut all hair textures. Diversity was very important to me because, at the age of ten, I remember my mom moved our family to California’s Bay area via Greyhound. It was a totally different scene and feel than where we were used to living in Chicago’s South Side communities where there were predominantly African Americans. Chicago is segregated, and as a kid, this made us think that only African American, Caucasian, Mexican, and Chinese people existed, and the only time we would see people other than African Americans was when we traveled to stores outside of the communities. Living in California enlightened and exposed us to the unity of so many different nationalities and ethnicities, some of which you’ll rarely ever find in Chicago.

My job was also located on the Northwest Side of Chicago, and the idea of moving my family to that side of town motivated me even more because it was a chance for me to expose my kids to diversity. My plans were to move to the Irving Park neighborhood so that I could walk to school and catch a fifteen-minute train ride to work. I started apartment searching, which was a bit complicated because not only was I very precise about the type of apartment I was searching for, but my paid applications were being denied due to my lack of credit history.

I also submitted an online application at Pivot Point, and after a few weeks of hearing nothing, I called them. When I called, a lady answered, and I told her that I wanted to enroll and asked her for the start dates of their cosmetology classes. She replied, I’m sorry, but we are currently running our last class at this location. We are closing, but our main campus in Evanston will still be open if you want to go there. Thank you, I replied before hanging up, but I was nowhere close to being thankful. In fact, I was crushed and hurt that all my plans had just fallen apart and been flushed down the drain. As I lay on my bed and tears began to fall from my eyes, I wondered how and why this happened to me. I thought about how weird it was that this school had been open all this time, and suddenly when I finally decided to make a move toward my dream, it was closing. So, I cried about it until I could not cry anymore.

Then I sought other options, not