At the steakhouse I scooped up the barely used crayons from my children’s menus and tossed them in my purse. They only lay there a couple weeks before I dug them out one night hoping for a less cluttered purse to take to the grocery store. 

Now, they lay like sticks of confetti in front of me, asking me to color with them. “Granny Smith apple,” “plum,” “wild strawberry” – were these crayons especially designed for restaurant packages? I smiled and ran my finger along the shiny tip of wild strawberry. 

God designed me to be a writer and communicator. So I am reentering the world to communicate with it in some wild and uniquely me way. I was made for this. 

I used to think of myself as a crayon created by God for him to draw with. I’d say “Take my life,” and he’d pick me up and draw a masterpiece. But I value and appreciate my God-given will more than I used to. God didn’t make me to be a robot. I get to choose if I want to color my life for him or not. 

Jesus said, “My purpose is to give [my people] a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:10) He made me me, and says, “I love you. Love me back! And love others! In freedom.” He tells us how to live because he knows how he made us to live! God shaped us into beautiful crayons to color the world with beauty. Left to ourselves, like crayons at the bottom of a purse, we break. Or, we choose to scribble on the walls. 

You are a beautiful crayon. The world needs your perfect hue to see God’s love in just the way you can show it off. He’s not a bossy toddler, gripping you and forcing you to do what he wants, breaking you in the process. He’s your designer. And he’s inviting you to come color the world with yourself so people can see his goodness through the beauty he put in you. 

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