I can feel it. I can sense the changes 
in the air already and it's early August.

Life is all about change. Life is all about
preparing for change, too.

Every year Marianne gathers seeds from 
some of the flowers growing in our yard. It 
is indeed a clear sign of change here. I was
surprised to find that she has already begun.

Many years ago I read a book by Dr. Robert 
H. Schuller. One line in it has stayed with 
me all these years. The simplicity of the 
thought and the depth and reality of it gave 
me the hope I needed at that time in my life.

He said, "All the flowers of all the tomorrows 
are in the seeds of today."

How incredible is that?

When I hold a seed I can see far beyond today.
I can see all the tomorrows, all the years ahead 
of me when my children's children and their 
children will romp and play in fields created 
by the very same God I worship today. Perhaps
even from the same seed I now hold in my hand.

There on the counter in my kitchen was a single 
seed already chosen by my wife to be planted 
next spring.

I am saddened by the fact that I can feel 
the seasonal change of this year, yet I hold 
the very seed of next spring. Oh, yes and many
springs to come.

When she came home, I mentioned that I had 
discovered it earlier in the day. She picked it 
up, held it in her hand and examined it closely.

"I don't think that this is a good one. It's all pitted
and oddly shaped," she said.

Without hesitation I said something that even 
surprised me.

"You don't make that decision, God does."

I stunned myself. I hurried to get a pen and 
tablet I keep near my chair in the living room
so that I could write it down.

In God's Garden, He decides what will grow and 
what will not. He plants the seeds of faith, hope, 
love, joy, and happiness in our lives. Who are we
to say that this seed will grow and that will not?

In God's Garden, He plants the seed in your mind 
that in the early stages appears as a foolish dream,
a lofty hope of success and happiness. That seed 
is His plan for you. 

Like the mustard seed...Matthew 13:32
Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown,
it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Only God decides which seeds will grow and which 
will wither or be eaten by the birds. Either way,
each and every seed serves a purpose.

Go and find a seed. Hold it in your hand. Close your
eyes and create a vision of that seed growing. Play
along with the vision and see the potential, the plan
within. Fast forward seeing the flowers grow, 
die and grow again season after season through 
all the tomorrows it holds inside. 

You are a seed in God's plan for the world. You may 
appear to yourself and others as "pitted, dried up, 
and useless." But God is the Great Sower of seeds.

He holds you in His hand today and sees all of your 
tomorrows. 

You may be "the largest of the garden plants" or 
the smallest of the flowers.

"You don't make that decision, God does."

But He relies on you to water, fertilize and care for
what He has created.

Right now God is holding you in His hand just like
you held the seed. He closes his eyes and sees
a vision of hope, success, happiness and as he 
fast forwards He can see the impact you will make 
on all the tomorrows you hold inside.

The difference here is, God has given us the gift of
choice. You are His seed and the gardener. How
you grow depends on the choices you make, the 
care you give and your faith in His plan for you.

God won't make those decisions, you will.

"I wish you enough!" 
J 
Bob Perks

Used with permission © 2010 Bob Perks.
"I Wish You Enough!" © 2001.
A special thanks to Bob Perks for use of his writings.