By It’s spring! And seed catalogs flourish with more ideas than one can imagine. Similarly, I can’t help but wonder when parents, after learning a new addition will soon arrive, how many “Parent’s -To – Be – Catalogues they pick up: the best names, gene determination, and ‘How to Determine’ eye color, height, weight, intelligence, personality, etc! Yet on arrival, the parents’ jaws drop open: In their eyes, the seeds of their ‘blessed event’ had gotten mixed up! God had given gifts far better than they’d imagined from the perspective of the ideas in their garden books! However, as a teenager, I wasn’t pleased with God’s gifts. I didn’t fit into what culture called the perfect body, nor did I exude great athletic accomplishments. Hopelessly I tried to simulate living and looking like those around me who received the accolades I craved. It was like taking one packet of seeds and placing them in another packet, anticipating the blooms would change. But of course, this doesn’t happen. Nor did all my efforts of trying not to be me produce the desired results. What was pre-ordained in the flower seeds and in me, was set. But God’s word promised me, though I couldn’t understand or see He had definite plans for me alone. And they were bigger and better than I could envision (Jeremiah 29:11). In Psalm 139: 13/16 I discovered God had formed my inward parts; and fashioned my length of days in my mother’s womb before my birth! Even Job, during his deep trials of suffering, acknowledged, “Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity (Job 10:8 ). God’s blueprint is never flawed or a mutation. Each seed is programmed for His ultimate, perfect purpose. We may never know till the other side of Heaven, but through faith and trust His seed catalogs come with a guarantee of perfection in His sight every time! Happy Planting!