4229 The Colors You Didn't Expect

#IWellspringWednesday #CreateYourNow #HealthAndWellness

Maybe the strength you carried wasn't in the original drawing. Maybe the tenderness that surfaces now catches you off guard because you thought becoming meant toughening up, not opening up. Or maybe you're bolder than you ever gave yourself permission to be — and that boldness feels unfamiliar, like wearing a color you never would have picked off the rack.

TRUTH: God's divine design has never been limited by our crayons.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Notice who's holding the plans. Not you. Not the version you sketched out in your twenties. Not the woman you thought you'd be after the kids were older, after the career shift, after the healing. God holds the plans — and His palette is wider, richer, and far more intentional than anything you could have chosen on your own.

Think about it this way. You planned to be the calm, collected mom who handles everything with grace — and instead you became the fierce, protective one who fights for your kids' well-being with a fire you didn't know you had. That wasn't in the blueprint. But it was in the design.

Or maybe you imagined you'd be leading by now — heading up the ministry, running the business, standing at the front of the room — and instead you've become someone who leads quietly, behind the scenes, through prayer and presence and steady, faithful showing up. That's not less than what you planned. That's deeper.

Sometimes the most sacred colors are the ones you never would have chosen.

"One step at a time leads to miles of greatness." — Kristianne Wargo

And that's what this season is really about. Not arriving at the picture you drew, but falling in love with the masterpiece God is painting. That means letting go — not of hope, but of the insistence that becoming has to look a certain way. It means trusting that the unexpected shades, the qualities you didn't plan for, the version of yourself you didn't see coming — all of it is purposeful. All of it is His brushstroke.

Isaiah 64:8 (NIV) reminds us, "Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."

The clay doesn't get to dictate the glaze. But the clay can trust the Potter. And if you can get to the place where you look at the colors you didn't choose and say, "I see You in this" — that's where freedom begins. That's when you get to embrace the surprise.

So here's the real question: What would it look like to stop comparing who you are to who you thought you'd be — and instead, get curious about who God is creating you to be?

1. LET GO of one expectation you had for who you'd be "by now".

And thank God for who you actually are. Maybe you thought you'd have it all figured out at this age. Maybe you imagined a different career, a different body, a different level of confidence. Maybe even a different spouse than who you married.

Name that expectation honestly. Then open your hands and say, "God, thank You for who I actually am today — not the sketch, but the real thing." Love yourself where you're at, not where you thought you'd be standing.

2. EXPLORE one unexpected strength, interest, or quality that has emerged in this season.

And then lean into it. Maybe you've discovered a compassion you didn't used to carry, or a creative side that surfaced after loss, or a patience that grew out of waiting longer than you ever wanted to. Don't dismiss it just because it wasn't part of the original plan.

Ask yourself: What have I gained from this season that I never would have found on the easier road? That gain is a color worth keeping.

"Sometimes we want to throw away all the broken color crayons. But maybe those broken colors are the ones that are a perfect match." ~ Kristianne Wargo

3. REWRITE one part of your story that you used to see as a detour.

And recognize it as a defining color in your design. That season you thought was wasted? That relationship that reshaped you? That chapter you wished you could skip?

Look at it again — not through the lens of regret or bitterness, but through the lens of a God who wastes nothing. He knew your color before you did. And every shade He's added — even the ones that came through pain — is part of something breathtaking.

Here's what you need to hear today: the woman you're becoming doesn't have to match the woman you imagined. You just have to be real. You just have to be willing. And you have to trust that the Artist who started this work isn't winging it — He's been choosing every color with your name in mind since before you took your first breath.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) puts it perfectly: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Handiwork. Not a rough draft. Not a happy accident. Handiwork, on purpose.

So today, put down the blueprint. Stop measuring yourself against a version of you that was never supposed to exist. And take one long, honest look at the woman you're actually becoming — the one with unexpected colors, unfamiliar strengths, and a story only God could write.

You're not a mistake. You're a masterpiece in motion.

Now go — and Create Your Now.