A few years ago, my husband, Matthew, came home with handfuls of seed packets and tiny plastic greenhouse-style seed starter kits. I whipped out the legal pad and a pen and started planning what would be our first garden together. The excitement of growing our own food, in our own little suburbia backyard was contagious as the kids joined in on every single step of the way. When it came time to plant the seeds into their neatly organized adorably tiny seed starting squares, I marveled at the size of the seed and what would soon become of it. I held in my hand a tomato seed and wondered, "Should I put more than one or two? What if they don't take?" Better be on the safe side, I thought. To soothe my anxieties, I plopped more than 2 in a few of them and prayed in a harvest. That year we also planted various peppers, basil, cucumbers, and tomatillos.

Every morning, I sipped my coffee proudly and watched our little garden grow. My children tended to the watering and spraying natural pesticides while we all looked on with joy as seedlings were now growing into remarkable plants. We were so proud. Around August we noticed a few of the tomatoes were growing quite robustly and wondered if this would be an issue. Come later that month we had our answer... the tomatoes had completely overwhelmed everything else. I had to push back entire tomato plants in order to get basil for a salad. I was trimming back branch after branch and by the time September hit we were drowning in green tomatoes yet to be ripened by the sun. It. was. Insane. Almost nothing else grew in that garden because of the tomatoes.  I had planted too many.

Around the time they were beginning to ripen to a juicy red, I began to experience some health problems, mostly debilitating heart burn. I later learned it was a sign of chronic stress due to a difficult season in life. After doing some research, I came to the conclusion, with the help of my chiropractor, that I needed to adapt a low-inflammation diet for a while. His main recommendation? No tomatoes... I had a massive harvest that I could not even partake in. Not only was I swimming in tomatoes, but I couldn't even eat anything else grown in my garden because it had been stifled by my overzealous planting in spring. Thankfully the tomatoes did not go to waste long-term (all praise to my husband's salsa-making skills!) but I was totally and completely bummed. 

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You see, I have this habit of planting too many seeds. Not only in my garden, but in my life. Every spring - every follicular even - I feel a surge of energy, excitement and zeal to rush full-fledged into a dream, a project, an idea. I spend all my time shoving these seeds into the ground and praying in the harvest. It's not a rare occurrence that God whispers to me that I've gone and planted seeds our of anxiety, again. Too focused on what these seeds could become with little to no thought on what this zealous method could later be stifling out. 

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Basil is as needed as the cucumbers is as needed as the tomatoes is as needed as the rest of the garden. The same is true for us. As we come into a season every follicular where we feel our zeal returning to us, we must prioritize our seeds and careful consider the nature of how it grows and what it may become.

"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way". Proverbs 19:2

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As you come into your next follicular phase I encourage you to take inventory of your "seeds". Journal your way through, or discuss with a trusted friend or loved one, someone who knows your full load and can remind you of it, what plans are on your heart. Gardening is a part-taking in creation. Reconvene with the Creator. 

written by: Cne' Rodrigue