There comes a moment in life when you stop asking, “What do I want to be?” and start asking, “Who did God create me to be?”
For most of my life, I helped other people discover their purpose.
I helped entrepreneurs launch businesses. I helped couples celebrate their love stories. I helped families preserve memories. I helped ministries share their messages. I helped others create something meaningful.
Yet somewhere along the way, I forgot to ask myself the same question.
Who was Andrea?
For years, I was so focused on helping everyone else build their dreams that I never fully stopped to examine my own.
Then life slowed me down.
What I thought was a temporary season became one of the most challenging periods of my life. Chronic pain from nerve damage in my back changed everything. Doctor appointments became routine. Medications became necessary. Anxiety, depression, and uncertainty settled into places where confidence and clarity once lived.
At the same time, I was navigating the reality of being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.
Suddenly, many of the things that had confused me throughout my life began to make sense.
The racing thoughts.
The endless ideas.
The inability to stop creating.
The constant desire to build something new.
The dreams that seemed larger than the resources available to pursue them.
For a while, I viewed these things as obstacles.
Then God began changing my perspective.
Instead of seeing limitations, I started seeing gifts.
What if my creativity wasn’t a distraction?
What if it was part of my design?
What if the very things I spent years trying to manage were actually tools God had given me to fulfill my purpose?
As I worked through therapy, prayer, healing, and self-discovery, I began reconnecting with the little girl I used to be.
The girl who made clothes for her Barbie dolls from scraps of fabric.
The girl who loved decorating, organizing, drawing, and imagining.
The girl who was always building something.
The girl who dreamed about businesses long before she understood what entrepreneurship even meant.
The girl who found joy in making other people smile.
That little girl never disappeared.
She was simply waiting to be rediscovered.
One of the greatest lessons I learned during this season was that healing rarely happens alone.
God placed people in my life who helped carry me when I felt too weak to carry myself.
Family members who refused to let me give up.
Friends who became family.
Church members who became community.
Pastors who became counselors.
Therapists who helped me find language for struggles I didn’t fully understand.
And through it all, I learned something that I now say often:
Jesus and therapy work beautifully together.
Faith gave me hope.
Therapy gave me tools.
God used both.
As my healing journey continued, I found myself returning to what had always brought me joy—creating.
Not because I needed a business.
Not because I needed income.
Not because I had a perfect plan.
But because creating was part of who God made me to be.
The more I created, the more I recognized a truth that had been present throughout my entire life:
I was never running toward entrepreneurship.
I was running toward purpose.
When I look back over every version of my life, I see the same thread woven through each season.
Creating.
Building.
Designing.
Dreaming.
Encouraging.
Serving.
Helping others bring their visions to life.
That thread eventually became Create With Andrea.
And later, it evolved into the CWA Creative House™.
Not because I suddenly became someone new.
But because I finally embraced who God had created me to be all along.
Today, I no longer see my journey as a series of failures and restarts.
I see it as preparation.
Every setback taught me something.
Every disappointment shaped me.
Every season of waiting strengthened me.
Every storm developed my wings.
And now, I understand what God was trying to show me all along.
I was created to create.
Not for my glory.
Not for recognition.
But to reflect the creativity of the One who created me.
If you can dream it, together we can bring it to life.
And if you’re still searching for your purpose, know this:
Sometimes the answer isn’t found in becoming someone else.
Sometimes it’s found in becoming who God created you to be from the very beginning.
Andrea L. Brooks
Founder, CWA Creative House™
Built on Faith • Family • Love • Life • Laughter • Art • Legacy
0 comments